Guardian Angels

by KatherineTheMoth

After saving the Sol Dimension from being taking over by Battra, Kathy the Moth teleported him and herself to Sonic's dimension where she will stay there as her new home dimension and protect it from Battra and from other evil forces. By Battra's meddling, Kathy had crash-landed on Angel Island and was found by Knuckles. But little did he realize that he had found Mothra herself.

6. Angel and(pt 1)

Guardian Angels

S1:E6: Angel And...(Pt. 1)

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

Knuckles had knocked on Tails' front door again after arriving at his house at around 9: 30 AM. He figured that Kathy would want him to be at Tails' house in the morning so that she could feel at ease with her new environment with him being around to guide her. To be fair, she didn't specify what time that he should drop by anyway. So, he decided to be there early. Perhaps even before she had woken up. As Knuckles crossed his arms and waited for Tails to open the door, he pondered to himself with a calm look on his face.

I wonder if Kathy is still asleep? Does she like to sleep in or get up early? Well...considering how jovial and bubbly that she normally is...I'm betting that she's a morning person. Maybe she'll be the one to answer the door. Hmm...

Knuckles smiled a little as he pondered some more at that idea.

That would be a warm welcome. Heh. I can imagine it now. The moment that she opens the door, she'll greet me and say, "Welcome home, Knuckles!". Because that's just who she is. She's so simple and happy, and nothing is going to stop her from doing that sort of thing. Because who would want to? Definitely not me! I...I don't want to. I kind of feel like I...I...I want her to do that. I want her to welcome me back home. Back to...my home.

Knuckles then sighed fondly and looked warm after thinking those thoughts. He can feel his heart being elated again as he imagined Kathy smiling and giggling at him after opening the front door. He was imagining her sweet, warm face and her twinkling, light-blue eyes. Just by imagining her in his mind is making him feel even more excited to meet Kathy again. In fact, he tried knocking on the door again to see if Kathy will answer it.

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

Knuckles then waited again with a huge smile on his excited face. Never had he felt so excited to meet someone and talk to them again. He's wondering if he's actually gone off the deep end on this one. Probably because his "thing" had been driving him crazy ever since yesterday. I'm honestly surprised that I had managed to fall asleep last night. I just can't keep Kathy out of my mind. I'm just so curious about her. I've never met a girl like her before. There are no girls in this dimension that are half Kaiju like her. I just...I just want to know everything about her. She's so mysterious and fun that I...I just know that I'll never get bored with her. I'll...I'll certainly be happy as long as I'm with her. There's no doubt in my mind about that. Knuckles pondered calmly yet brightly with a fond smile on his face.

He smiled even wider in excitement when he saw the knob turning slowly. He honestly can't wait to see and hear Kathy again. He's so excited that he actually greeted first.

"Good morning, Kathy!" Knuckles greeted brightly with a huge smile on his excited face.

"Well, isn't this a first. Knuckles being enthusiastic in the morning. Now, there's a sight that I never thought I'd ever see. Heh," Sonic replied calmly with a teasing smirk as he opened the door fully.

"Ack!" Knuckles exclaimed in shock and in embarrassment after he saw Sonic standing in the doorway instead of Kathy. Knuckles' eyes went wide, and his mouth went agape in shock. His face went red as he felt embarrassed that Sonic had heard him address him as Kathy. Sonic smiled even more in amusement as he saw Knuckles' flustered face.

Oh, don't tell me that he was expecting Kathy, is he? Because oh my goodness, that's adorable! What a sucker! Hahahaha! Sonic thought calmly with an amused smile on his face.

"Knuckles?" Sonic asked calmly yet coyly with a teasing smile.

"...Y-Yes?" Knuckles replied calmly yet awkwardly with a shocked yet flustered face.

"Were you hoping that Kathy would be the one that you'll see first thing in the morning? Were you waiting for her to answer the door?" Sonic asked calmly yet teasingly in amusement with a playful smirk.

"NO!" Knuckles shouted with a shocked and embarrassed expression on his face.

"Hahahahahahahahah! You really were expecting her! Hahahahahahah! That's so cute! Hahahahahaha!" Sonic exclaimed in amusement with a huge smile as he laughed a lot while face-palming himself.

Knuckles' face turned beet-red after hearing Sonic's teasing remarks. He had never felt this humiliated before in his life. He then covered up his embarrassment with anger as he yelled back with a grimace and with furrowed eyebrows, "Oh, just shut up, Sonic! It's none of your business! Besides, why are you even here?!".

"Hahahahahaha! ...Did you forget already? I had told Kathy yesterday that I was planning to come back here tomorrow morning. I want to check up on her and see what else that she wants to tell us about herself," Sonic replied calmly in amusement with a bright smile after he finished laughing.

"Ah. Oh..." Knuckles replied calmly yet awkwardly with a little frown and with wide eyes. I...I did forget. Whoops...Knuckles thought calmly in awkwardness with an embarrassed frown and with a sweat drop on his head.

"But enough about me...Heh..." Sonic replied calmly in amusement with a mischievous smirk and with his hands on his hips as he coyly continued in curiosity, "...Why are you here, Knuckles? Shouldn't the Master Emerald be a higher priority to take care of than...some girl?".

Naturally, that last comment got to Knuckles very hard.

"Kathy is not 'some girl' to me! She had requested to me that I should come back here tomorrow! I've promised her to do that yesterday! If she wants me to do something for her, then I'll gladly do it! I'm not going to ignore her! She needs me now!" Knuckles yelled passionately with a furious look on his face as he raised a fist at Sonic.

Sonic gawked at Knuckles after hearing him boldly say that. Knuckles is glaring hard at Sonic now. Sonic was speechless as he had a surprised look on his face. Knuckles was getting impatient since Sonic wasn't saying anything now.

"Well?! Does that answer your question?!" Knuckles exclaimed irritably with a deep frown and with narrowed eyelids as he kept glaring hard at Sonic.

"..." Sonic was still silent. But eventually enough, he started to smile very widely in amusement. Oh...my...gosh...it really is true. Kathy had wrapped Knuckles around her little finger, and she doesn't even know it. Heh...And neither does Knuckles apparently. So that means...he really does have a crush on her! Hahahahahaha! Sonic pondered calmly with a huge smile before he broke into laughter again.

"Ahahahahahahaha! Oh! So, Kathy is NOT some girl then, huh?! I see how it is now! Hahahahahahaha! So, that's what's going on then! Hahahahahaha!" Sonic exclaimed happily in amusement with a huge smile as he laughed again.

Knuckles blushed again in embarrassment after hearing Sonic laugh at him again. He then growled in irritation before he yelled back in frustration with gritted teeth and with furrowed eyebrows, "Grrrrr! Stop laughing at me! Do you want a bruised eye first thing in the morning?! Because I'm going to give you one if you don't stop laughing now!".

"Hahahahaha! Okay! Okay! Geez! Calm down, Knuckles! I get it!" Sonic exclaimed back in amusement with a huge smile as he chuckled a bit. He had his hands in front of him in mock surrender as he said it.

Knuckles sighed deeply in exhaustion as he replied tiredly, "...(Sigh)...Thank you...".

Sonic then grinned widely as he calmly teased, "...You just want to see Kathy now, don't ya?".

"Gah! Uh! Uh! ...Grrrrrrrrrr! Sonic! I'm-!" Knuckles exclaimed in shock and in embarrassment before he yelled in anger again as he had his fists up. He had a vein bulging in his head since he's so ticked off now. He was so ready to beat Sonic up into a pulp. However, he didn't expect Sonic to grab his fist and pull him inside the house instead.

"Well, why didn't you say so?! Come on! Let's go meet her upstairs! Oh! But we must stay quiet though because she's still asleep! Tails is also in her room while waiting for her to wake up! So...let's go to her room and wait for her to wake up!" Sonic exclaimed brightly in amusement with a cheerful smile as he closed the front door while pulling Knuckles along. Knuckles was then shocked and confused as Sonic does this. With some reluctance, Knuckles allowed Sonic to drag him upstairs and towards Kathy's room. As they both got upstairs, they walked quietly towards Kathy's room and stood in front of the door. Sonic then lets go of Knuckles' hand, and Knuckles rubbed his hand while giving Sonic a cold glare.

"Grrrrrrr...Sonic..." Knuckles growled lowly with an unamused frown.

"Shhhh!" Sonic hushed with a finger near his lips. Knuckles stared at Sonic with a deeper frown after that. Sonic then smiled a little as he whispered, "Hey...Be quiet, Knuckles. You don't want to disturb the Queen of the Monsters from Her slumber, right? What if she wakes up and attacks you just because you've woken her up prematurely? Heh. You don't want that to happen, do you?".

"..." Knuckles was silent as he glared at Sonic after his teasing remarks.

Sonic smirked in amusement as he added, "I thought so. Now, just stay quiet and wait until Kathy wakes up".

"Hmph..." Knuckles grunted quietly with a solemn frown as he watched Sonic open the door to the guest room. Once Sonic opened the door quietly, they then see Kathy's restful body on the bed and Tails at the computer on the right side of the room. They can hear the television being on, but it was on a low volume so that it wouldn't wake Kathy up. Tails then stopped typing on the computer for a bit to look back at Sonic and Knuckles. Tails smiled and waved at Sonic and Knuckles. Sonic smiled calmly and waved back at Tails. Knuckles just looked at Tails calmly and nodded curtly at him.

"Just stay comfy as you wait for Kathy to get up. You can watch some T. V. if you want, Knuckles. It might take a while, you know?" Tails whispered quietly with a smile.

Knuckles nodded as he whispered back, "How long were you and Sonic been waiting for?".

"About an hour at least. Kathy does like to sleep in it seems. It's possible that it would take her another hour to get up at this rate. So...sorry, Knuckles. Guess that you'll have to wait with the rest of us here," Tails whispered back with a sheepish smile and a shrug.

Knuckles shrugged slightly as he whispered calmly, "An hour is no problem for me. You do know what my job is, right?".

Tails smiled a bit in amusement as he whispered back, "Yeah, I know. Emerald guarding is not the most exciting job in the world".

"Pfff! You can say that again. (Hahahah)..." Sonic whispered back with a snicker as he covered his mouth with his hand.

"Grr...Hmph. Whatever..." Knuckles replied quietly with a solemn frown as he looked away from Sonic and Tails while crossing his arms. He then looked at Kathy's sleeping body instead. He can see that Kathy was resting on her stomach and had her arms on the pillow with her head. Her wings were covered under the blanket, so, Knuckles couldn't see them unfortunately. As Knuckles slightly tilted his head to the side, he can see Kathy's content smile on her face as she rests peacefully. Seeing that smile also gave Knuckles a smile as he saw that Kathy is okay.

...You know...Just seeing that smile again makes all the hassle into dealing with these two idiots worth it. I...I feel calm again. Sigh...Knuckles thought with a little smile on his face.

Sonic smiled in amusement as he stared quietly at Knuckles. He even saw Knuckles sighing again but this time in fondness.

"...(Sigh)...Kathy..." Knuckles whispered softly in fondness as his eyelids were lowered halfway.

Sonic bit his lip and shook his head in amusement. Oh, he is so crushing on Kathy now! It's both cute and funny to me! Hahahaha! I've never seen Knuckles act like this before! Ohohohoho, this is going to be great. Sonic pondered calmly in amusement with a huge grin as he stared at Knuckles. With a mischievous smile, he then put his hand on Knuckles' shoulder and gently shook it to get his attention.

"Huh? What?" Knuckles whispered as he looked back at Sonic in confusion.

Sonic smirked as he whispered coyly, "You can sit right next to her on the bed if you like. I'm sure that Kathy won't mind if you do that. After all...".

He then winked as he added coyly, "...You did say that she needs you, and that she wants you to be here, right?".

Knuckles blushed in embarrassment again and had sheepishly rubbed the back of his head in response. "Uhh...Err...Y-Yeah...I did say that...and so did Kathy...Umm..." Knuckles replied quietly yet awkwardly with an embarrassed look on his face.

"Heheheh...Go on, Knuckles. You know that you want to," Sonic teased quietly with a grin as he gently pushed Knuckles forward a bit with one hand.

"Ah!" Knuckles exclaimed in shock as he was shoved forward. As he stumbled a bit, he then placed his hands onto the bed to save himself from falling. He didn't want to disturb Kathy, so, he had to save himself from falling to the floor. With a huge sigh of relief, he looked back at Sonic and glared hard at him in annoyance. Sonic just smiled back at him with his hands behind his back.

Grrrrr...Sonic...What are you up to? Knuckles brooded in annoyance as he gritted his teeth at Sonic.

Sonic continued to smile in a coy way while raising his eyebrows teasingly. He then whispered with a shrug, "Don't mind me. I'm just going to hang back and watch T.V. instead. You can do what you want, Knuckles. I'm not stopping you".

"...Hmph..." Knuckles grunted quietly in annoyance as he rolled his eyes and stood back up again. He looked back at Kathy again and saw that she was still resting. He sighed again as he calmed himself down. Somehow, just by looking at Kathy gives Knuckles the ability to relax and cool down. It's possibly because Kathy is resting that motivates him to relax as well. He smiled again as he stared at Kathy resting peacefully. ...Well...Since I'm here now...I might as well join her and rest up too. Knuckles thought with a calm smile as he then walked quietly around the bed's left side. Once he had reached the other side of the bed, he carefully sat on it and scooted next to Kathy while not disturbing her. As he sat next to her, he placed his hands on the other pillow behind him to relax. He smiled in fondness as he stared calmly at her. He can see her calm smile more closely now...and it was adorable to him.

…Awwwwwwwww...She's so adorable...Knuckles thought fondly with warm look on his face. He sighed deeply with a huge smile on his face.

As Knuckles was busy fawning over Kathy, Sonic just stared at him with his arms crossed and with a huge smile on his face. Tails was a bit confused as he watched Knuckles. However, he just shrugged and looked back at the computer again. Hmmm...Maybe Sonic was right by saying that Knuckles has a crush...But I still don't know...Oh, well...Tails pondered calmly with a frown as he types into the computer again.

Sonic then decided to close the door behind him and lean on it as he watches Knuckles some more. He's such a sucker. I love it! Sonic thought with a grin.

"Thank you, Ms. Justine, for the weather report. Now, ladies and gentlemen, our next topic that we'll focus on now is on the unexpected tragedy that happened yesterday at Central City," the news caster said calmly as he held onto his notes.

The guys gasped quietly in shock as they all looked at the T.V. now. Even Knuckles had his focus broken when he heard that. They can all see the footage of Battra destroying Central City while the news caster spoke calmly over it.

"The mysterious, flying monster now officially known as Battra the Moth had terrorized and destroyed the eastern portion of Central City. Ever since he had arrived at approximately 5 PM, he had destroyed countless skyscrapers and shops throughout the city. Rubble and debris were scattered throughout the eastern section of the city. Twenty billion rings worth of property was lost through this horrible attack. Luckily, the western portion of the city had survived the ruthless attack, however, this should not be a cause for celebration. Because we don't know if this monster is going to return or not," the news caster continued calmly. The guys frowned solemnly as they heard the report. They weren't the only ones listening to this devastating report.

---

[At Cream's House]

"Due to the monster's speed and power, he could arrive at any destination in our world at any moment. He can strike onto any city without warning and cause catastrophic damage just like with Central City. With Central City's attack, two thousand casualties had been reported. Among the casualties, over six hundred of them were deaths. This terrible attack is warranted for worldwide concern. This isn't just a national crisis but rather a worldwide crisis," the news caster continued calmly as the footage continued to show Battra destroying the city while the bottom screen shows the results of the attack.

"...!" Cream gasped in shock as she and her mom saw the news report. She and Cheese covered their mouths with their hands and had looked sad.

"Oh my goodness...How awful..." Ms. Vanilla muttered in sadness as she also covered her mouth with her hand.

[At Adabat's Resort Hotel]

"And as unfortunate as it is to say it, it seems that even our renowned hero, Sonic the Hedgehog, is incapable of stopping this new threat. The townsfolk were shocked as they witnessed Sonic getting beaten up by this powerful monster. Sadly, Sonic had lost in his attempt to battle the monster. This too is also warranted for worldwide concern," the news caster calmly said while sounding sad as well. The footage now showed Battra and Sonic battling with Sonic losing of course.

"Oh no! Sonic! Please oh please tell me that you're alright!" Amy exclaimed in worry as she watched the news on her bed. She had her hands clasped together as she begged in her heart that Sonic is alive and well. Her prayers were answered as the news caster said next.

"Despite this, there is one silver lining in this story. Sonic is still alive and well," the news caster continued calmly.

"Oh, thank goodness!" Amy exclaimed with relief as she clutched her heart with her hands.

"According to the footage, it seems that Sonic was saved by another moth monster of some kind. A female monster to be precise," the news caster continued as the footage shows Kathy standing on the rooftop across from the one that Battra was standing on.

"A female monster? That's a new one. Hmm...Huh?! Hey! Is that Knuckles?!" Amy replied calmly with an intrigued look on her face before exclaiming in shock when she saw Knuckles holding onto Kathy.

"As strange as this was, it seems that this female monster also brought along one of Sonic's friends, Knuckles the Echidna. We have no idea as to why this monster had brought him along; however, we do know that after they showed up, Battra had stopped tormenting Sonic and had fought the female monster instead," the news caster continued as the footage showed a close up of Kathy and Knuckles before transitioning to the part where Battra fights Kathy.

"Whew! What a relief. I don't know who this girl monster is either, but I'm glad that she had saved Sonic. But still, this is worrisome. I want to go back home and see Sonic again! I'm worried for him and for his safety! Ooooh, no doubt that he would be willing to fight a monster that is way beyond his league! He can be so reckless at times! Ugh! That's it! I'm going back home!" Amy said in relief before exclaiming with worry and with annoyance. As Amy then grabbed her phone to call the airport receptionists, she then thought. What a waste of a vacation. The one time that I want to go on a solo trip, this happens! Aw well. Maybe next year.

[At Dr. Eggman's Wrecked Base]

"In a surprising turn of events, this female monster had managed to beat Battra with her own strong prowess. After beating him, Battra had retreated to an unknown location, leaving the female monster behind. Now, we won't say that this female monster hadn't destroyed any buildings too because she clearly did with some skyscrapers. However, it was mostly because she was battling Battra. It's not to say that she deserves to be ruled out as someone to be feared of, however, compared to what Battra had done, she's more likely to be the lesser of the two evils. But this is mostly out of speculation due to the footage alone. We're not sure if she is a good monster or an evil one like Battra is. Because of this, an investigation done by the Neo G.U.N. agents is going to be carried out," the news caster continued calmly as the footage showed Kathy and Battra fighting followed by Battra losing and retreating.

"Well, whoop-de-freaking-do, I still lost my hardware store!" Dr. Eggman exclaimed in annoyance as he sat in his comfy chair with Orbot and Cubot. He had his own breakfast of eggs and toast on his plate. He drank his milk with a frown.

"You're still going on with that?" Orbot asked in confusion as he stared at his boss.

"Yes! Because it was my favorite store! I've stolen hundreds of tools from that store ever since I've started my villainous career! And now, I'm upset that I can't go and rob it anymore!" Dr. Eggman exclaimed back with a frown as he stared at Orbot.

"Then go and rob a different hardware store, boss. It's not that hard," Orbot replied in annoyance as he rolled his eye receptors.

"But it won't be the same! I have nostalgic memories for my old hardware store! I can't help but get sentimental for my old, evil crimes that I did in the past!" Dr. Eggman exclaimed in sadness.

Orbot sighed and face-palmed himself after hearing that. Meanwhile, Cubot ignored that and had responded happily to what he's seeing on screen.

"Wow! That girl monster looks pretty!" Cubot exclaimed happily as he pointed at the T.V. screen where Kathy is being shown.

Orbot and Dr. Eggman turned their heads to stare at Cubot in annoyance. Cubot looked back at them and asked simply in confusion, "What? I'm not wrong, am I?".

[At Club Rouge]

"This order had been made by the president of West Island, Walter Walrus. He even made the executive decision to deploy Neo G.U.N.'s new artillery weapons all over globe to prepare for another monster attack. Originally, these weapons were supposed to be used on Dr. Eggman's robots whether he makes another attempt to take over the world. However, now that this new threat is here in our world, the original plan was scrapped just so that the threat would be eliminated first. Because of these drastic changes, the president has this to say," the news caster continued calmly as the footage showed Neo G.U.N.'s new tanks, new navy ships, and new air fleet being sent in different countries.

Shadow was taking a sip of his coffee as he watched the news in Rouge's room upstairs. Rouge was busy putting on her make-up as she sat beside Shadow on the couch. They both saw the president on T.V. and listened to his speech with calm expressions on their faces.

"I will admit on the record that I had no plans for this to happen. None of us did when that tragedy had occurred today this late afternoon. So many lives were lost and so many loved ones are grieving in this horrible day. For this reason, I am determined that I must save not only our country but the whole world as we battle this heinous monster known as Battra the Moth. It is a risk to be sure, but something must be done in order to save our wonderful world. We owe to Sonic a lot for saving this planet, and now, it is our turn to save it. As much as I want to save these weapons when Dr. Eggman attacks again, I have no choice but to use them against our new threat. We don't know what this monster will do next or where he will go next, but we need to be prepared to fight back in order to save billions of people around the world. That is why this must be done. ...But on a side note, we also don't know much about this female monster either. So, in response to this, I plan to send out my best agents to investigate this matter. We'll soon find out if that female monster is to be trusted or not with their report later. To my fellow agents and troops, you have my prayers and gratitude. I bid you all good luck. Thank you," the old-looking purple walrus spoke calmly yet wisely. The president then bowed and waved at the crowd as they clapped after his speech.

"Hmm...So, that's his reason as to why we're given this new assignment. Well, I can't blame him for being paranoid after what we've seen through this news report," Rouge commented casually as she finished putting on her lipstick.

"Hmph...(Sip)…" Shadow grunted quietly as he took another sip of his coffee. Naturally, he had a bored look on his face as he stared at the T.V.

"Regarding the female monster, it is still a mystery to us as to why she had saved Central City from destruction. Is she a friend or a foe? Also, why did Sonic and Knuckles seem to be unfazed by her when she had approached them and being at their side? The identity of who she is and her motives will be revealed when the Neo G.U.N. agents finish their investigation. Until then, we must wa-" the news caster continued calmly as the footage showed Kathy again as she flew towards the building where Sonic and Knuckles were at and had knelt next to Sonic.

"Not my problem," Shadow commented casually with a frown as he turned off the T.V.

"But Shadow, you can't just ignore this new assignment. The president was the one who had ordered it to us. We have to do our job or else...we won't earn enough money to buy jewel-Err...I mean...more coffee for you. You don't want that, do you?" Rouge replied with a frown as she looked at Shadow in confusion.

"No, I don't. But like I had said, it's not my problem. ...It's your problem, Rouge. You handle the assignment," Shadow replied calmly with a bored look on his face as he stared back at Rouge.

"Why do I have to do all the work here?! We're a team, Shadow! You, Omega, and I are going out there and find out what that girl monster is about! Give me one good reason as to why you're not going!" Rouge argued with an annoyed look on her face.

"Because I've already finished my assignment just by watching the footage in that news report," Shadow answered with a frown.

"That's not investigating! That's just being lazy!" Rouge argued back in irritation.

"No, it's not. Because unlike the news media who couldn't figure it out just by watching the footage, I can see that this girl monster is a good person and someone that we can trust," Shadow retorted while looking annoyed.

"What? How? How could you even arrive at that conclusion, Shadow?" Rouge asked in confusion as she looked intrigued.

"It's called 'common sense', Rouge. Think about it. If that girl monster is untrustworthy, then why did Knuckles decide to hold onto her? Secondly, why didn't Sonic look afraid when she had approached him?" Shadow replied calmly while rolling his eyes a bit.

"...Umm...Hmm..." Rouge muttered awkwardly with a frown as she understood where Shadow is going with this.

"If that girl monster is untrustworthy, then Sonic and Knuckles wouldn't act so calm with her. It's obvious that they're friends with that girl monster. I don't know why they had decided to befriend a monster, but at the same time, I don't care. So, in other words, my job is done," Shadow finished with a frown before sipping his coffee again.

Rouge frowned as she crossed her arms and glared at Shadow in annoyance. "Taking the easy way out, huh?" Rouge replied in an unamused tone.

"Hey, I had finished the assignment in my own way. If you want to work harder and finish the assignment in your way, then be my guest. Go for it. Just leave me out of it. You can bring along Omega if you want to. While you do your research, I'm just going to relax," Shadow replied with a frown after he finished drinking his coffee.

Rouge growled a bit in annoyance before she looked away and replied, "Hmph. Fine. I guess that I'm on my own then".

"I guess you are," Shadow replied calmly with a casual shrug.

"I might even go 'research' on Knuckles then too since he appears to be rather 'close' to that girl monster for some reason," Rouge added with a haughty look on her face.

"You go do that," Shadow replied casually as he stood up from the couch and walked over to the kitchen to have another cup of coffee.

Rouge turned her head around and frowned even deeper in annoyance at Shadow's response. As she watched Shadow refilling his coffee mug, she pondered to herself. Well, this isn't the outcome that I was expecting. I was hoping that he would come along so that I could make Knuckles jealous. Shadow is clearly uninterested in me. Such a shame. He really is good-looking though. I wouldn't mind settling for Shadow if Knuckles is dead-set into not dating me again. I still believe that Knuckles has a thing for me, and I wouldn't mind getting back together with him just so that we could have fun again. Maybe this time it'll be different. Hmmm...

However, Rouge couldn't think anymore beyond that when Omega had barged in unexpectedly.

"ROUGE. SHADOW. WE HAD RUN OUT OF COFFEE DOWNSTAIRS. THE CUSTOMERS ARE DEMANDING MORE OF IT. DO YOU GUYS HAVE SOME?" Omega said as he opened the door loudly.

Rouge jolted a bit before looking at Omega with a frown. "Omega! How many times do I have to tell you to knock before opening the door?!" Rouge exclaimed in annoyance as she stared at Omega.

"I AM BETTING A HUNDRED," Omega answered Rouge as he looked at her.

Rouge sighed as she face-palmed herself. She then replied tiredly, "Shadow can get more coffee for you, Omega. Right, Shadow?".

Shadow ignored this as he was pouring his coffee in his mug. Rouge looked even more irritated since Shadow wasn't responding. So, she yelled louder, "Shadow! The coffee!".

Shadow finished pouring his coffee, picked up his mug, and drank it while still ignoring Rouge. Rouge growled in frustration as she yelled, "For crying out loud, Shadow! Give Omega the coffee already!".

"Fine. Whatever," Shadow replied calmly with a frown as he looked back at Rouge briefly before opening the cupboards to where the coffee is usually at. But when he opened them, he saw that they were empty. Shadow frowned as he answered to Rouge and Omega, "We're all out of coffee. Also...I think that I had used the last of it with this cup".

"Ugh! Are you kidding me?!" Rouge exclaimed in exasperation as she slapped her forehead with her hand.

"I DON'T SEE THIS AS A JOKE, ROUGE. IT SEEMS THAT WE NEED TO GO GROCERY SHOPPING," Omega replied as he stared at Rouge again.

"I can see that! Ugh...This is definitely not the outcome that I was expecting today," Rouge replied in annoyance as a vein was bulging in her head.

"WHAT OUTCOME WERE YOU EXPECTING ANYWAY?" Omega asked in curiosity.

"Never mind! Let's just go already. Besides, we have to do our assignment anyway," Rouge replied in annoyance before in reluctance as she stood up from the couch and walked over to Omega.

"IS SHADOW COMING?" Omega asked once Rouge got near to him.

Rouge glared at Shadow, and Shadow just sipped his coffee casually while leaning on the counter. Rouge looked back at Omega as she answered, "No. He wants to stay out of it. Looks like it's just you and me, buddy. Might as well get this done sooner than later".

Rouge walked out of the door after saying that, and Omega looked at her briefly before looking at Shadow. Omega then said, "PLEASE HOLD THE FORT FOR US, SHADOW. WE NEED TO KEEP THE CUSTOMERS HAPPY. UNDERSTAND?".

"Whatever," Shadow replied casually with a bored expression on his face while sipping his coffee.

"ALRIGHT THEN. FAREWELL, SHADOW. WE'LL BE RIGHT BACK," Omega replied simply with a nod before closing the door. There was some silence after that.

...

...

"...(Sip)…...Peace and quiet..." Shadow muttered calmly after taking another sip of his coffee.

---

[Back At Tails' House]

"In the meantime, the eastern side of Central City is currently undergoing reconstruction. While the reconstruction is going on, thousands of townsfolk are seeking shelter in the northern and southern parts of West Island. Some had even gone to the Casino district to find a place to stay while their homes and workplaces are being reconstructed. We can only hope that Battra won't come back and destroy more of Central City than he already has. ...In other news..." the news caster finished his report as the footage behind him changes from showing construction vehicles moving rubble and new support beams to a graph depicting a decrease in stocks in the West Island. However, Tails turned off the T.V. after that with the remote.

"Boy, that turned ugly really fast," Sonic commented quietly yet casually with a frown as he still had his arms crossed.

"I agree, Sonic. Who knew that just one Kaiju monster could cause this much damage? Battra was even just the size of us, and yet, he had caused so much damage to one city. ...Oooh...This just makes me even more worried on what Battra will do if he manages to take over the world. The amount of destruction that he will do to achieve that. ...Ugh...It's making my fur stand on its end," Tails replied quietly with a worried look on his face as he stared at Sonic. He placed the remote back onto the desk while saying that.

Sonic stared back at Tails and nodded solemnly in agreement. "I don't blame you, buddy. This just makes it even more prominent that we should protect Kathy at all costs. The only way that we can stop the world from ending is through her," Sonic replied solemnly with a frown.

Tails nodded too as he replied calmly, "I know. We mustn't fail this. We're going to protect her as much as we can. Our future depends on it".

Sonic smiled a little as he exclaimed with a wink, "You bet it does!".

"Hey! Shhhh!" Knuckles exclaimed before hushing loudly with a frown. Sonic slightly flinched when Knuckles hushed him and had turned to look at him. Sonic could see Knuckles frowning in disapproval for what he did. Sonic smiled sheepishly at Knuckles and had rubbed the back of his head with his hand.

"...S-Sorry..." Sonic muttered quietly with a sheepish smile. Tails just looked at Sonic and shook his head with a little smile on his face. For someone who had suggested to us to be quiet, he really is bad at staying quiet himself at times. Tails thought with a shrug.

"Hmph..." Knuckles grunted quietly with an annoyed look on his face while still glaring at Sonic. However, his concentration was broken when he heard Kathy yawning cutely.

"...(Yaaaawn)…Mmmmm...Numm...Mmmm..." Kathy yawned and stretched her arms a bit before placing them down on the pillows again. She nuzzled her head back into her pillow again to rest some more.

Knuckles immediately looked back at Kathy after hearing that yawn and had the most amused expression on his face. As he watched Kathy nuzzle into her pillow with a sweet smile on her face, he had a huge smile on his face as he gushed in his mind. AWWWWWWWW! THAT IS SO CUTE!

Once again, Sonic had to bite his lip to keep himself from laughing at this silly sight. He can see Knuckles smiling like a giddy child as he stared at Kathy fondly. Oh boy, he really has it bad for her. Heheheheh! Sonic thought in amusement.

As Knuckles stared at Kathy, he noticed that she was slowly moving her arms again across the pillows. Kathy was gently patting the pillows from both sides. As she did that, she then accidently placed her right hand onto Knuckles' right hand. Knuckles' eyebrows were raised at this and had smiled a little more in amusement. He can feel his hand being gently squeezed for a bit before having it being pulled to her. Kathy pulled Knuckles' hand next to her and had wrapped it around her arm as if she was holding a plush toy.

"Mmmm...Mine..." Kathy mumbled quietly in her sleep as she snuggled Knuckles' hand.

Knuckles could only smile in amusement of that adorable action that Kathy just did. He shook his head while having a huge smile on his face as he thought. Oh no...Not this. Please. This...This is ridiculous.

With a fond smile, he tried to lift his hand up and away from Kathy. He was successful into doing that and had placed it back onto the pillow. But Kathy soon felt around the pillows again and had found Knuckles' hand again. She tried to pull his hand back to her, but Knuckles had lifted his hand away from her again. This had caused Kathy's hand to land back onto the other pillow. Knuckles kept smiling in amusement as he watched Kathy moving her right hand again. Just as he was about to raise his hand away from Kathy's hand again, Kathy had instead held onto his lower arm. Knuckles' eyebrows were raised again in surprise of this. He then felt her hand rub his lower arm a bit before going down to his hand. Once Kathy had a firmer hold onto his hand, she then...to Knuckles' surprise...had moved her whole body to her right and had her right arm holding not only his hand but also his arm. Knuckles was shocked when Kathy had done that. His eyes were wide, and his mouth went agape in shock of this. He can see her smiling happily as she snuggled his arm.

With a sweet smile, Kathy then mumbled quietly, "Mmmmmm...Mine!".

"..." Knuckles was speechless after hearing that again. Yet, he felt a huge grin coming onto his face after seeing Kathy do that. …Ooooh...For goodness sakes, Kathy! Stop being so adorable to me! Knuckles thought in amusement as his face blushed red in embarrassment. As his heart melted after seeing that adorable scene, so too did his face as he looked warm now. He sighed deeply again as he stared at Kathy's restful face.

Sonic and Tails only smiled in amusement of this. They couldn't deny that what they just saw was utterly adorable. They both looked at each other and nodded in understanding. Okay. I think that it is safe to say that Knuckles does indeed have a crush on Kathy. There is no better proof than this! Sonic and Tails thought at the same time with knowing smiles on their faces.

As Sonic looked back at Knuckles, he smirked mischievously as he pondered to himself. Which means, I'm going to have a ball teasing Knuckles about it. Oh, he is so going to lose it every time I do it. I can't wait to mess with his head BIG TIME!

Tails also looked back at Knuckles but with a sympathetic look on his face. Poor Knuckles. Sonic is so going to drive him insane with his teasing and taunts. I feel rather bad for him. But there's nothing much that I can do about it. I just hope that Knuckles doesn't strangle Sonic for it because...that would be bad. To put it simply. Tails pondered calmly with a sheepish look on his face.

…

…

…

"...(Yawn)...Numm...Mmm..." Kathy yawned and stretched again after ten more minutes of silence. This time, she stirred from her sleep as she slowly opened her eyes. …Ahh...What a good night's sleep. I felt rather exhausted from yesterday with my fight with Battra. But I'm glad that I'm all rested now and that...I'm in a really comfy bed. Why are beds so much better than hammocks? I felt like I was sleeping on a cloud the whole time. How did I live my life sleeping without one? Heh. Who knows? But I'm rather grateful that I have a bed now. After all, I...Hmm? What am I holding? Kathy pondered sleepily with a restful smile before she looked confused. Even though she had her eyes open, her vision is still blurry from sleepiness. So, in confusion, she raised her right hand and then held onto Knuckles' arm again. She rubbed it while thinking with sleepy eyes. ...Ehhh? It feels rather firm. Is this another type of pillow that Tails brought to my room?

She lets go of Knuckles' arm and had proceeded to reach out towards his stomach. Once she felt Knuckles' stomach, she then gently pushed it down in several places since she thought that it was a pillow. Hmm...Maybe it is a pillow. Hehe. It's rather soft. Kathy thought calmly with a sleepy smile as she looked at Knuckles' stomach.

"Pillow..." Kathy muttered sleepily with a little smile as she pressed onto Knuckles' stomach some more.

"Pffft! (Heheheheheh!)…G-G-Good morning, K-Kathy. (Heheheheheheh!)…" Knuckles muttered calmlt in amusement while muffling his chuckles with his other hand.

"Ah!" Kathy exclaimed in surprise as she quickly lifted her right hand off of Knuckles' stomach and had rubbed her sleepy eyes. As she looked up with a shocked face, she saw Knuckles grinning widely at her in amusement.

"...Heh. Slept well?" Knuckles asked calmly in amusement with a huge grin. As Kathy quickly sat up from bed, she apologized to Knuckles with a worried look on her face.

"Oh, my goodness! I'm so sorry, Knuckles! I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable! I was just...Uhh...sleeping...and...Uhh...was still feeling...sleepy...Umm..." Kathy exclaimed in worry before becoming sheepish as she looked embarrassed. Her antennas went down, and her cheeks blushed pink in embarrassment as she said that. Knuckles also blushed after seeing that cute look on Kathy's face. Awwwwww...Her antennas went down! That's too cute! And...my word...she's so adorable by the way she blushes. Heheheh...Given enough time, those two things are going to become my weaknesses. Knuckles pondered in amusement as he grinned widely at her.

"Heheheheh...Relax, Kathy. I'm fine. It was nothing. Even I know that you were just sleeping at the time. I saw you doing that. All of it," Knuckles replied calmly in amusement with a snicker and with a huge grin.

"..,! You were watching?!" Kathy exclaimed in shock with a gasp as she covered her mouth with her hands.

Knuckles smirked deviously at her as he answered teasingly in amusement, "Well...Someone was clearly determined to snuggle with my hand and arm at the time. So, you can't blame me for having a hard time ignoring that. Sorry".

Kathy blushed even further and had wide eyes on her shocked face. Uggggggh! This is so embarrassing! I'm such a childish mess! Kathy thought with an embarrassed look on her face. She then covered her face with her hands and lowered her head down as she blushed in embarrassment.

"I'm so sorry!" Kathy apologized even louder in humiliation.

"Ah...Ah...Awwwww...Kathy..." Knuckles muttered softly in fondness as his face looked warm again. He blushed as he pondered calmly in fondness and in curiosity with a warm smile. Aww, she's still apologizing to me even when I told her that it was nothing. The poor thing. I do wonder why she keeps on apologizing to me at times. It could be because she's doing her best to be like a gentlewoman, but...I'm not too sure about that. Maybe I'll ask her about that some other time.

"Well, I hate to be the one to break this sweet, enduring moment between two lovebirds, but anyways, good morning, Kathy! Great to see you first thing in the morning!" Sonic interrupted with a cheerful smile and with a thumbs-up.

"What?! 'L-L-Lovebirds'?!" Knuckles and Kathy exclaimed in shock and in embarrassment as they both looked at Sonic with flushed faces.

And it begins...Tails thought with an amused smile as he had his arms over his chair.

"Oh, come on, Knuckles. It's so obvious that you have a 'crush' for Kathy here. Tails and I had to be idiots to not notice that," Sonic replied calmly with an amused grin on his face.

Knuckles blushed very hard when Sonic had said that. Even Kathy blushed very hard too as she meekly stared back at Knuckles to see how he would respond to this. Could he really have a...a...crush for me? …Nah...It can't be...There's...There's no way that's possible. I mean...It's like one in a billion chance that he would like me back...Wait a minute! Did I say, "Like me back"?! D-D-Do I have a...a...a...No...Nonononononono! That can't be possible! NOW?! THIS EARLY?! I BARELY EVEN WOKEN UP AND NOW I HAVE THIS TO DEAL WITH?! I AM SO NOT READY TODAY! I WANT TO GO BACK TO SLEEP AND PRETEND THAT THIS WAS ALSO A DREAM TOO! Kathy pondered in curiosity before in panic as her eyes went very wide and panicky.

And apparently, even Knuckles was panicking.

HOW COULD HE KNOW?! HE'S GOTTA BE BLUFFLING! HE'S GOTTA BE! BECAUSE IF HE DOES KNOW THEN...THEN...! AW CRUD! HE'S GOING TO TORTURE ME WITH HIS TEASING! GRRRRR! I HATE THAT! I HATE THAT SO MUCH! Knuckles brooded in panic as he had a shocked and embarrassed face before having an irritated one instead.

"Sonic! I don't have a crush! It's...It's nothing!" Knuckles yelled back in anger while crossing his arms in irritation.

Sonic had a smug look on his face as he teased, "Oh, really? Then why were you smiling all the time while Kathy was just sleeping? You can't possibly be in that good of a mood if you smile while someone sleeps".

"I...I...I...I swear that it was nothing! I was in a good mood! But now you've ruined it by running your stupid mouth again!" Knuckles yelled back while looking even more embarrassed.

"True. I may have ruined it. But then again, what had caused you to be in a good mood in the first place?" Sonic replied calmly with a mischievous grin as he had his hands on his hips.

"Uhhh...Ummm..." Knuckles muttered as his blush deepened after hearing that question. The worst part about it is that all of his answers point toward Kathy. Gosh darn it, Sonic! Stop asking tough questions to me! Knuckles thought with an irritated look on his face.

He growled in irritation before he yelled out, "Grrrrrr! Who cares if I was in a good mood?! I just was! Okay?!".

Sonic smirked mischievously at Knuckles as he rubbed his nose playfully while he replied calmly in a teasing way, "Well, someone seems to be caring right now. Heh. Especially since it's about a cru-".

"I DON'T HAVE A CRUSH! KATHY AND I ARE...ARE...UMMMM...WE'VE JUST MET! OKAY?!" Knuckles shouted in fury and in embarrassment as he briefly looked at Kathy before back at Sonic. Even though Kathy is still embarrassed by this, she can't help but smile a lot since seeing Knuckles yelling and shouting defensively at Sonic is funny to her. Hehehehehehehe! Knuckles is so funny when he's all fired up and angry at somebody. He's so cute too when he does that...Ack! Did I really think that he's cute?! How...How long had I thought that? Since...yesterday? Gulp...Maybe I do have a...a...a..."thing" for him then. Oh no...This is going to be awkward. Kathy pondered in amusement before in embarrassment again as she blushed.

Sonic chuckled a bit as he countered with a cheeky grin, "Heheheheheheh! ...For someone who claims that you've 'just met with Kathy', you seem to be dead-set into fulfilling your promise to her at least".

"...!" Knuckles gasped in shock as his face turned into a deeper shade of red.

"Heh...And knowing you, Knuckles, you don't flippantly say promises to anybody. Including strangers. So why...did you make a promise to Kathy anyway when you said that you've just met her? Are there...other promises that you had made to her?" Sonic continued with a knowing grin and with lowered eyelids as he stared at Knuckles smugly.

"ACK!" Knuckles yelped in shock and in embarrassment as he had a freaked-out expression on his face after hearing Sonic say that. Knuckles knows by now that he had been cornered with those questions. He doesn't even know how to argue back at them. With a sweat drop on his head, Knuckles thought with a nervous expression on his face. Aw crud...Me and my big mouth...

"J-J-JUST SHUT UP, OKAY?!" Knuckles shouted back in embarrassment as he covered his reddened face with his hands.

"Ahahahahahahahah! Looks like I won that argument! Hahahahahahaha!" Sonic exclaimed in amusement as he laughed in victory.

Poor Knuckles...Sigh...Tails thought in pity with a sad smile on his face as he stared at Sonic and at Knuckles.

You're the absolute worst, Sonic. The worst...Knuckles thought in frustration with a grimace as he still had his face covered with his hands. He soon felt a hand on his right shoulder. "Hmm?" Knuckles mused quietly as he opened his right hand a little to see Kathy looking at him.

He can see Kathy smiling gently at him with a sympathetic look on her face and then felt her hand rubbing his shoulder and arm in a comforting way. He had half-expected her to say, "There. There. Little doggie" or "It's okay, little doggie" or something along those lines. But he was surprised to see that she didn't say anything at all. She was just silent as she rubbed his arm and shoulder while having a sweet, sympathetic look on her face. Knuckles smiled a little as he appreciated Kathy comforting him.

...Kathy...You're so sweet...Very sweet to me...Knuckles thought calmly in relief with a little, fond smile on his face as he stared at Kathy. "Thank you..." Knuckles whispered softly with a gentle look on his face.

"Anytime, Knuckles..." Kathy whispered back softy with a gentle look too.

"Ummm...Errr...E-Excuse me, Kathy...Knuckles..." Tails interrupted awkwardly with a sheepish look on his face.

"Uh! Yes?!" Knuckles and Kathy exclaimed again in embarrassment as they looked at Tails with flushed faces. Sonic had to muffle his laughter with his hand this time after hearing that response. Oh my gosh! That's like the second time that they had said the same thing together today! They really are in-sync with each other! Hahahahahahah! That's so adorable that they can do that! Hahahahahahah! They are made for each other! It's great! Hahahahahahahahah! Sonic thought in amusement as he laughed.

Tails glared a bit at Sonic after hearing those muffled laughs before looking back at Kathy and Knuckles. Tails replied politely with an awkward look on his face, "Umm...Kathy? I don't mean to butt in, but I was hoping that you can tell us more about your Sol Pendant and about Battra since we know next to little about your situation with him. I...I know that you just woke up and all...but...umm...could you try to tell us at least? I'm very curious to know about your Sol Pendant and about Battra. I'm sure that all of us is curious about that. Right, guys?".

Sonic had calmed down after hearing Tails say that. He put down his hand and had replied with an amused smile, "Heheheh...Yeah, I'm certainly curious about that, Kathy. That's why we're all here in your room in the first place. We want to know about you and your history with Battra. Please tell us. Take your time to explain it to us. We'll listen".

Knuckles nodded in agreement as he looked at Kathy. "Yes, Kathy. Please tell us. We're ready to hear it from you. Even if it takes a long time to explain, we'll be patient with you. So, go on ahead if you're ready," Knuckles replied calmly with a solemn frown. Kathy blinked her eyes at Knuckles before looking at Tails and Sonic. She can see that they are all eager to listen to what she would say. She can see the curious expressions on their faces as they stared at her. She looked back at Knuckles and saw that he was smiling at her. "Don't be shy, Kathy. I'm right here if you need me. I'll listen to you," Knuckles encouraged gently with a calm smile.

Kathy gasped quietly in shock before she beamed brightly at him. She then readjusted her sitting position so that she's sitting right beside Knuckles. With a bright, happy smile, Kathy exclaimed, "Then I'll be happy to tell you! I'm happy that you'll listen to me, Knuckles! You're so sweet!".

Knuckles blushed deeply after hearing Kathy say that with that adorable expression on her face. He can feel his heart melting again after that cute response. While blushing deeply, Knuckles smiled sheepishly at Kathy in embarrassment. He muttered shyly with an embarrassed smile, "Uhh...Ummm...I...I...Uhh...I-It's n-nothing...".

Kathy beamed happily at Knuckles after hearing that response, and Knuckles felt even more embarrassed the more she stares at him with that cute, innocent expression on her face. …Argh! It's only the beginning of second day, and I'm already turning into a puddle of mush! Make it stop! Please! Knuckles thought with a shy, warm look on his face.

Sonic and Tails looked at Kathy and Knuckles in amusement before staring at each other. While shrugging, they both thought with smiles on their faces. We're going to be here all day if those two don't stop interacting with each other in this sweet way.

"Okay then! I'll tell you all about the origins of the Sol Pendant! Ready to hear another story?!" Kathy exclaimed brightly with a smile as she looked at Sonic and Tails too.

Ah. Never mind. Kathy is willing to stop it herself. Sonic and Tails thought in amusement as they stared back at Kathy and nodded to her.

"Good! Well, hang on for a moment, guys. Because this will take a while to explain, but I'll do my best to abbreviate it a bit," Kathy replied calmly with a smile.

"Well, go on ahead, Kathy. We won't stop you from telling your story," Sonic replied brightly with a smile as he leaned back at the door while crossing his arms.

"Yeah, tell us, Kathy. Tell us all you know," Tails encouraged calmly with a nod.

Knuckles nodded to her too as he replied calmly, "Anything you tell us will be useful to know for the future. So, don't leave any detail out, okay?".

Kathy smiled at Knuckles as she exclaimed brightly, "Okay! I won't!".

"Hmph..." Knuckles grunted with a smile as he stared intensely at her as she tells him and the others another story.

"It all started back when my mom was the current Queen of the Monsters. Back before I was born..." Kathy started calmly as she looked at Knuckles, Tails, and Sonic respectively. She looked calm yet solemn with a gentle smile on her face as she continued.

"Due to her duty as the Goddess of Peace, my mom was concerned on how peace can be maintained within the Sol Dimension. Since the Sol Emeralds exist, anyone with a corrupt heart could take advantage of that power and send the entire world into destruction. Even though it was the guardian's duty to protect the Sol Emeralds, my mom had wished to help those guardians out by preventing evildoers from taking control of the emeralds. She had believed that if she could find a way to block evildoers from seizing control of the Sol Emeralds' power then she would not only protect the Sol Dimension but also help the Mobians realize that monsters can be trusted. It was at this point in history where the Mobians had forgotten about Mothra and the other kaijus in general. They were very sensitive on whether monsters exist or not, and just by having one monster destroy a village would make them fearful easily. But of course, this is something that my mother didn't want to happen. She wanted the Mobians to trust her and her people again and to show them that they are very friendly to visitors and whatnot. She desired to finally bridge the gap between kaijus and Mobians so that they can intermingle with one another. Having kaijus protecting villages, islands, and the kingdom itself would be beneficial to the Southern Islanders as they provide the strongest defense force imaginable. No corrupt individual worth their salt could dare to take over a kingdom or a dimension if powerful kaijus were the ones protecting it. If that were to happen, then peace can finally flourish in the Sol Dimension. However, in order to do that, my mom had to create a power source that is stronger than the Sol Emeralds...and...any other power source that could potentially control them..." Kathy continued calmly with a gentle smile.

"...!" The guys gasped in shock when they heard that last part.

"...You mean...the Chaos Emeralds?" Tails asked in shock as he had wide eyes.

"...And the Master Emerald?" Knuckles added with a shocked look on his face.

Kathy nodded to them as she answered calmly, "Yes. It is essential that this power source should control them too because any villain could be crafty enough to control the Sol Emeralds through a different source of power. Either that or make them stronger than they usually are by combing powers together. Since my mom wanted to stop the evildoers from doing this kind of thing, she was determined to create her power source as powerful as it can. It was the only way that could prevent the Sol Emeralds from being taken over".

"Hmm..." The guys mused on this for a bit before nodding in understanding.

"I can see why that's necessary. Dr. Eggman and Dr. Eggman Nega had tried to take over both dimensions twice in the past. They were able to cross both dimensions by using the Chaos Emeralds and the Sol Emeralds respectively, but luckily for us, they hadn't tried to combine both of the emeralds' power together. If they did, then who knows what would happen to both dimensions? They would probably collapse if they had tried to combine them," Sonic replied solemnly with a frown.

"Yeah, it's a good thing that neither of them hadn't even thought of that. Even though they both have an I.Q. of 300, they were very stupid to not take that opportunity when they had met up. Their lack of hindsight had been beneficial to us," Tails replied solemnly too with a frown.

"I wouldn't even want to imagine how it would go if they had succeeded into powering up the emeralds. I'm very grateful that didn't happen to us," Knuckles replied solemnly as well with a frown as he looked at Sonic and Tails before at Kathy again. Sonic and Tails nodded in agreement of that. Kathy was a bit quiet as she looked at Sonic and Tails before looking at Knuckles. She was staring at him with a tentative expression on her face as she wondered if she should continue speaking or not. Knuckles noticed her hesitance and had smiled gently at her to ease her nervousness.

"Continue," Knuckles encouraged gently with a smile.

Kathy smiled brightly at that and had replied gently with, "Thank you, Knuckles. Anyways...".

"...My mom had made it her mission to create this new power source. She then had decided to leave the planet and head for space to find Planet Familia, the home of the Shobijin. She flew-" Kathy continued calmly with a smile.

"Wait a minute! Huh?! The Shobijin have their own planet?! What?!" Sonic exclaimed in shock and in confusion. Tails and Knuckles looked confused too as they stared at Kathy with shocked faces.

Kathy smiled a little as she looked at Sonic while answering his question patiently, "Yes, the original Mothra's interpreters themselves have their own home planet. When Mothra had turned into a half kaiju-half Mobian hybrid, the Shobijin could see that Mothra could talk on her own. Since they saw that their interpretations weren't needed anymore, they left the planet and returned to their own planet where they had belonged. They have faith in Mothra to protect the world and the dimension on her own, so, that's another reason why they had left".

"Ahh...That makes sense. Now, I get it. Sorry that I had interrupted you there, Kathy. Again, please continue. You said that your mother went to Planet Familia. What did she do there and what is that planet about?" Sonic replied calmly with a smile.

"Thank you, Sonic. Now, as I was saying..." Kathy replied calmly with a nod.

"...My mom flew in space for about a month and had soon found the planet that she was searching for. Planet Familia is a place where you can create power sources in the shape of jewels. Whatever type of power you want to create, you can make them there yourself. With the Familia people's power, it is possible to make any power source that can be beneficial to others. Once my mom had made it there, she was happy to be reunited with her Shobijin again since it had been centuries when they had left her home planet. After that, she then requested to the ruler of the planet to allow her to create gems of her own desire. Since the ruler saw that my mom was honest and had pure intentions, he had trusted her to create the new power source. Thus, this was the beginning of the Sol Pendant's creation," Kathy continued with a smile as she looked at the guys.

"Wait. Hold up. Sorry that I have to interrupt you, Kathy, but...umm...I was just wondering about something..." Tails replied with a frown as he looked slightly apologetic for interrupting Kathy.

"Oh? What is it, Tails?" Kathy asked curiously as she stared at him with intrigued eyes.

"Umm...You said that planet is a place that one can create jewels of power. Right?" Tails replied with intrigue as he had his fingers under his chin.

"Yes. That's right," Kathy replied gently with a nod.

"Well...uhh...Is that the place where...the Chaos Emeralds were created? And possibly...the Master Emerald?" Tails asked tentatively with a frown.

"Ah! Yeah, Kathy. Is it?" Knuckles replied in surprise as he stared at Kathy curiously with a stunned look on his face. That could answer one of my questions surrounding the Master Emerald! If that planet was the place where it was made, then it could also explain why it's so powerful to begin with! Someone wanted a jewel that could override the Chaos Emeralds' power! Please, Kathy...Please say that it is so. Knuckles thought with anticipation on his face.

Unfortunately for Knuckles, the answer that Kathy gave wasn't what he was hoping for.

"It's possible," Kathy answered casually yet calmly with a shrug.

"Ah!" Tails exclaimed in surprise of that answer.

"Huh?! 'It's possible'?! What do you mean by that, Kathy?! Don't you know it or not?!" Knuckles yelled in shock and in confusion as his eyes went wide.

Kathy flinched a bit in fear when Knuckles yelled at her. With sad, worried eyes, she replied nervously, "I...I...I'm sorry, Knuckles. But I really don't know. It's...It's...It's only a theory that they're created there. I don't even know who had created the Chaos Emeralds, the Sol Emeralds, or even the Master Emerald. It's only in speculation now. I could give an educated guess as to who's responsible for their creation, but I have no proof that they're the ones who did it. So, please...please don't get mad at me or...or yell at me anymore, Knuckles. I'm sorry. That's all I can say".

Knuckles gasped in shock when he saw Kathy's sad face. He cringed as he felt guilty for yelling at Kathy again. With a grimace, Knuckles apologized gently, "Kathy...I'm so sorry. I'm sorry that I had yelled at you like that. I...I didn't mean to scare you or make you nervous. I was just...just...hoping that I would understand my Master Emerald more by knowing where it was created. It was my fault for overreacting there. Please forgive me, Kathy. It's okay. There's no need to be scared anymore".

"..." Kathy was still silent as she looked at Knuckles with worried eyes. Knuckles looked at Kathy with a sad frown on his face. He could see Kathy's light-blue eyes shaking in fear, and he hated himself for making her afraid. As Knuckles lowered his eyelids at Kathy, he whispered softly, "...Kathy...Don't be scared...Please...Don't be scared...".

Kathy still looked nervous as she held onto herself. I'm...I'm so sorry. There was nothing that I could do. I...I tried. I really, really tried. What else did you want me to do? Kathy thought in fear as she stared into Knuckles' violet eyes. Soon, her painful memories of her past resurfaced in her mind.

---

[Eight Years Ago]

"I'm so sorry, sir. But I couldn't save your daughter in time. I...I had tried to fight off that Anguirus monster but I was-" Kathy said with her head down in shame.

"Why couldn't you save her fast enough?! She was my only daughter! I have no other children left! She was the only source of joy that I have, and you couldn't even save her! You were the only one there to save her!" the male wolf yelled angrily.

"I know! But I did try! I did! But there was nothing else that I could do! I...I could only spit silk out of my mouth to distract the monster! I couldn't kill it! It was too strong for me!" Kathy exclaimed back in sadness.

"Then what good are you then?! Why did you want to help me then if you couldn't even save her?!" the wolf yelled in exasperation.

Kathy slowly looked up at the wolf's face with tears in her eyes as she answered meekly, "Because I...I...I wanted to help my...my...mom by saving others too...".

"Your mom should've left you behind! You're useless!" the wolf yelled back with disgust on his face.

"But I tried!" Kathy exclaimed back in sadness as she cried while covering her face with her hands.

"Well, you didn't try hard enough!" the wolf yelled in frustration as he face-palmed himself while looking away from Kathy. While feeling upset that he lost his daughter, he then muttered in defeat while walking away from Kathy, "...(Sigh)...I guess that...all that's left for me to do is find my daughter's dead body...Why did this have to happen? Why?".

"...(Sob Sob)...I'm sorry...(Sob Sob)" Kathy whimpered while crying.

…...

"(Sob! Sob! Sob!) Mommy! Daddy!" the girl koala bear cried loudly as she was on her knees while watching her home burn in flames.

Kathy slowly approached the crying girl with a shameful yet sympathetic look on her face. "I'm sorry..." Kathy meekly said with a frown.

"(Sob Sob)…'S-Sorry'? 'Sorry'?! My parents just died right before my eyes! And all you can say to that is 'sorry'?! You should've saved them!" the koala bear yelled in sadness and in anger as she glared harshly at Kathy.

"I had tried to! But I didn't expect that Rodan monster to swoop in and knock me away from the hut! I was almost there!" Kathy exclaimed back in sadness as she looked down at her shoes instead.

"Yeah! 'Almost' you did! But you were too late! I should've tried to save them myself! But nooooo...you had to come along and promise me that you could get them out yourself!" the koala bear yelled back with tears in her eyes.

"But you could've been killed if I had let you go! I...I...I...I had to protect you as well!" Kathy exclaimed back while choking up in sadness as tears came down from her eyes.

"And yet you couldn't save my parents! Ugh! Just what is wrong with you?! I could have done a better job into saving my parents than you can! Why did you want to help me out anyway?!" the koala bear yelled in frustration as she gritted her teeth at Kathy.

"I...I...(Hic)...I wanted to do it for my mom...(Sob)...That's all..." Kathy answered weakly as she started to cry.

"I wanted to go into that house for my mom too! But I can't see my mom now since she's dead! Now, go away! It's all your fault that my parents are gone!" the koala bear yelled back with bitterness in her tone before she covered her eyes with her hands and bent down towards the ground again. She sobbed once more in sadness.

M-M-My fault? Kathy thought with tears in her eyes.

"...(Sob)…(Hic)...I'm so sorry..." Kathy apologized weakly in sadness.

"(SOB! SOB! SOB!)...I DON'T CARE THAT YOU'RE SORRY! JUST GO AWAY, YOU STUPID WORM!" the koala bear wailed before she shouted in anger.

"...(Sob Sob Sob)…B-B-But...(Sniff)...But I'm a silk worm..." Kathy whimpered sadly as she cried.

"I DON'T CAAAAAARE! GO AWAAAAAAAAY!" the koala bear screamed in anger.

…...

"I'm sorry, miss. But there was no way to save your two sons. The Kamacurus monsters had surrounded them when I got there," Kathy apologized meekly with a frown as she stared up at the female moth.

"What kind of an excuse is that?! You said that you and your mother are heroes! What kind of a hero leaves two children to die without even trying?!" the mother moth yelled in anger.

"But I did try! I had run as fast as I can towards them, but then the monsters jumped out of nowhere and had surrounded the kids! There was nothing that I could do there! I can't run very fast!" Kathy exclaimed back with a sad look on her face.

"Didn't you at least fight them?!" the mother moth yelled back in frustration as she glared coldly at Kathy.

"But...But...They were too big for me to fight them...I...I can't fend them off...I'm...I'm too weak..." Kathy replied sadly as she looked down in shame.

"Well, it seems that you are, you worthless kid! If you can't run very fast and can't fight, then why did you decide to help me?!" the mother moth yelled in frustration as she gritted her teeth.

"I...(Hic)...I...(Sob Sob)...It was something that my mom would do..." Kathy answered weakly as she started to cry.

"Why did your mom even bring you here if you can't save anyone?! You're no hero! You're a failure!" the mother moth yelled as she looked down at Kathy.

"But...But...(Sob Sob)...But I am a hero...My mom says so..." Kathy muttered weakly as she covered her eyes with her hands.

"Well, your mom had lied to you! You're not a hero! And you never will be! Ever!" the mother moth yelled in anger before she walked away in disgust and in disappointment. She face-palmed herself as she muttered to herself in sadness, "...(Sigh)...Anthony...Taylor...I wish that I could see you two one last time before you died. But now...I can't...Ugh...".

"...(Sob Sob Sob)...But I am a hero! I am! …(Sob Sob Sob)…" Kathy exclaimed in sadness as she cried.

…...

"Where are my kids and grandkids?! Shouldn't they have run out of the forest already with you?!" the old, male rabbit yelled in panic as he stared at Kathy.

"I'm sorry, sir. Even when I had found them, they were already surrounded by the Destroyah monsters. I...I was so scared of fighting those huge monsters. I couldn't just run in there and get your family out without having one of those monsters killing me," Kathy apologized sadly as she looked at the old man with pitiful eyes.

"Well?! Where are they?! Did they escape?! Are they alive?! Please! Answer me!" the old rabbit yelled in fear as he grabbed Kathy's shoulders and shook them in anxiousness.

Kathy's face turned even sadder and more worried as she stared back at the old rabbit in nervousness. "Well...Well...They're...They're..." Kathy muttered weakly with a guilty look on her face.

"'Well' what?! Please answer me!" the old man cried in despair.

"...They're...They're...gone...I...I saw them...getting killed by the Destroyah monsters...The monsters...They've...They've pierced through your family's hearts with their...their...own mouths...and...had given them...Micro-Oxygen into their bodies...They've died immediately after that...I'm...I'm so sorry..." Kathy answered meekly with a sad frown on her face.

"..." the old rabbit was speechless after hearing Kathy's answer. He then lets go of her shoulders and had covered his eyes with his hands as he weeps in sorrow. "...(Sob Sob)...No...No, it can't be true! They can't be dead! (Sob Sob Sob)... I...I loved every one of my children and grandchildren! They have been with me my whole life! Don't tell me that they're gone now! Because they can't! They can't! …(Sob Sob Sob)…" the old rabbit yelled in sadness as he was grieving.

Kathy frowned in sympathetically as she stared at the sad, old rabbit. She can see him bending down towards his knees and wailed in despair. "NOOOOOOOOOO! (SOB! SOB! SOB!) WHY?! WHY SHOULD THIS HAPPEN?! WHY?!" the old rabbit shouted as he wailed.

"Ummm...S-Sir? Do you...want...a hug?" Kathy asked softly as she got a bit closer to the grieving, old rabbit.

"NO! I DON'T WANT A HUG RIGHT NOW! JUST LEAVE ME BE!" the old man shouted with tears in his eyes as he felt frustrated.

Kathy flinched in fear as she replied nervously, "...B-B-But...h-having a h-hug...is a...g-great way to...to...comfort someone...and...m-m-make them...f-feel better...".

"HOW CAN I POSSIBLY FEEL ANY BETTER WITH A HUG AFTER KNOWING THAT I'M ALL ALONE NOW?! MY WHOLE FAMILY IS GONE! AND I'M THE ONLY ONE LEFT! …(SOB! SOB! SOB!)…" the old man shouted in frustration as he glared at Kathy before wailing again.

Kathy cringed after hearing that and felt even more nervous. She tried to console the old rabbit again as she said, "...B-But...You have to at least t-try...H-How...How else would you move...f-forward from this...without...any c-comfort?".

"HOW CAN I MOVE FORWARD IN LIFE WITHOUT HAVING MY LOVED ONES AT MY SIDE?! LIVING IS POINTLESS NOW TO ME SINCE I'VE LOST EVERYTHING! YOU CAN NEVER UNDERSTAND THE PAIN THAT I FEEL RIGHT NOW! STOP TRYING TO CONSOLE ME, YOU NAIVE, LITTLE GIRL!" the old rabbit shouted back in frustration as he gritted his teeth at Kathy.

"But sir! Comforting others who are grieving is something that my mom would do! I...I have to help you somehow!" Kathy exclaimed back in determination as she clasped her hands together.

"I DON'T WANT HELP FROM SOMEONE WHO IS A COWARD! YOU COULDN'T FIGHT OFF THOSE MONSTERS YOURSELF! YOU COULDN'T HELP ME BY SAVING MY FAMILY! HOW CAN YOU POSSIBLY HELP ME NOW WHEN YOU'RE SO USELESS?!" the old rabbit shouted in anger as he glared harshly at Kathy with tears in his eyes.

"...! …'U-U-Useless'? 'C-C-Coward'?" Kathy gasped in shock before she repeated those words while having her hands over her mouth. She started to have tears in her eyes again.

"YES! THAT'S WHO YOU ARE! YOU ARE JUST A KID! KIDS ARE JUST COWARDLY AND WEAK! THEY CAN NEVER BE HEROES AND HELP PEOPLE LIKE ME! NOW, JUST LEAVE ME BE!" the old rabbit shouted in anger before he clutched his head in frustration.

"...(Sob Sob)...But I...I want to...(Hic)...I want to...(Sniff)...help you...It would...(Sob Sob)...It would make you...h-happy...(Hic)…" Kathy muttered meekly as she cried softly.

"I DON'T WANT YOUR HELP! …(Sob Sob Sob Sob)…JUST...JUST GO AWAY!" the old rabbit shouted in frustration while crying.

"...(Sob Sob)...You don't...don't...want me? You don't...want me to help you? …(Sniff)…" Kathy muttered sadly as she cried.

"NO! I DON'T WANT SOMEONE LIKE YOU HELPING ME! I DON'T WANT A WEAK HERO HELPING ME! GET LOST! NOW! …(Sob Sob Sob)…" the old rabbit shouted in frustration as he continued to cry in agony.

'W-W-Weak'? Am I not useful because I'm...weak? Since I'm...weak...I can't...help anybody? I...No...Noooooooo! Kathy thought in sadness before she cried loudly. She then ran away from the old rabbit while crying.

…...

Kathy was sitting on the ground while having her hands in her eyes as she cried. Useless...Useless...Useless...Useless...Useless...I don't want to be useless...I want to be helpful...Why can't I help anybody? Why can't I save anybody? I...I'm not useless...I'm not...I'm not! Kathy brooded as she cried loudly. She then cried out in her native, kaiju language.

KEEEKEEEKOOOO! (I'M NOT USELESS!)

KIYO! KEEEE! KIYO! (NO! I'M NOT!)

KEEEKEEEKOOO! (I...I REFUSE!)

I'm not useless...I'm not useless...I'm not useless...I'll get stronger...I'll get stronger...I'll get stronger someday...Soon...And then...I'll never be seen as useless ever again! Kathy brooded while she cried.

"...(Sob Sob Sob)...I'm not useless...(Sob Sob Sob)...I'm not..." Kathy muttered softly to herself while crying.

"...I'm not..."

---

[Back To Present Day]

"I'm not useless...I'm not useless...I'm not useless..." Kathy muttered softly as she stared at Knuckles' eyes while looking fearful.

"Ah! Kathy?! What's wrong?!" Knuckles exclaimed in shock and in concern after hearing Kathy say that repeatedly. Sonic and Tails also looked worried as they stared at Kathy's fearful expression on her face.

"...I'm not useless...I'm not useless...I'm not useless..." Kathy repeated while having wide eyes and an open mouth.

Knuckles then immediately held Kathy with his right arm and shook her a little to try to help her snap out of her trance. "Kathy! Hey! Kathy! Snap out of it! I'm...I'm right here! Hey!" Knuckles exclaimed with worry in his tone as he shook Kathy.

"Ah! I'm so sorry that I wasn't helpful to you, Knuckles! Please forgive me!" Kathy exclaimed back in shock and in sadness as she looked as if she was about to cry.

"...! Hey! I said that it was alright! It was my fault for making you upset! You don't need to apologize to me, Kathy! Really! Honest!" Knuckles exclaimed back with a worried and sad look on his face as he stared back at Kathy.

"...(Sniff)...I...I don't?" Kathy muttered in confusion as some tears formed in her eyes.

Knuckles grimaced after seeing Kathy's tears. He then wrapped his other arm over Kathy as he whispered softly with a sad frown on his face, "...No...You don't need to, Kathy...Honest...You're...You're okay...You're...okay...".

"..." Kathy was silent as she stared at Knuckles with teary-filled eyes. ...Don't cry...Please...Don't cry...Kathy...Knuckles brooded with a sad look on his face as he stared back at Kathy. Kathy sniffed a bit before she hugged Knuckles for comfort. She hugged his waist and had cried over his left shoulder. Knuckles hugged Kathy back tightly as she cried softly. Sonic and Tails looked sad too as they stared at Kathy crying again. Knuckles frowned even more in sadness as he hugged Kathy in comfort. He even rubbed her back to further comfort her.

"...Shh...Easy there, Kathy...Easy..." Knuckles whispered softly with a sad frown as he looked at Kathy.

Kathy cried softly for a while before she calmed down again. She was silent while she held onto Knuckles. Kathy and Knuckles were quiet for a little while.

...

"...Hey...Are you feeling better, Kathy?" Knuckles asked quietly as he gently rubbed Kathy's back.

"...(Sniff)...Mmmhmm..." Kathy mused softly to answer Knuckles' question.

Knuckles smiled a little in fondness as he then pulled Kathy away a bit to hold onto her arms instead. With a gentle smile, Knuckles replied softly while wiping Kathy's tears with his thumbs, "...There now, Kathy...It's alright...It's alright now...".

"Hmm..." Kathy mused a bit again after Knuckles had wiped her tears away. She still had a frown on her face as she stared into Knuckles' eyes. I wish that I could help Knuckles know more about the Master Emerald, but I couldn't give him an answer. He looked so disappointed when he realized that I don't know the answer to that question. If only that I can help him out in some other way...I just...don't know what else I could do to help him...I'm...I'm still sorry, Knuckles. Even though you don't want me to say that anymore...Kathy brooded with a sad frown on her face.

Knuckles frowned a little when he saw that Kathy isn't smiling. He then rubbed Kathy's arms as he said, "...Kathy? Is there something that you want to tell me? You still seem upset. You can tell me...if you want to...".

Kathy still looked pitiful after hearing that. But she shook her head as she answered quietly, "No...It's fine, Knuckles. Don't worry about me. I'll...I'll be okay. Besides, I need to continue telling you about the origins of the Sol Pendant. We've...gotten sidetracked from that...didn't we?".

Knuckles frowned even more in sadness as he saw that Kathy won't tell him what's bothering her. Why couldn't she just tell me what's wrong? Is it...too upsetting for her to think about it? It might be...considering how she had acted before. Sigh...I guess that I'll have to wait for her to tell me about it then. Knuckles pondered with a sad frown on his face.

He sighed as he replied, "...(Sigh)...If that is what you want, Kathy, then let's continue where we last left off. We did get a bit sidetracked though. I'll admit that".

Kathy smiled a little in relief as she replied, "Thank you, Knuckles. Thank you for comforting me".

Knuckles smiled back as he stroked Kathy's head a bit while saying, "I'm glad to have helped you, Kathy. You're welcome".

Sonic and Tails smiled in relief as they saw that Kathy had cheered up a little. They then thought at the same time. I'm glad that Knuckles had cheered Kathy up. Still, I wonder why she had reacted so strangely there. Is it...something to do with her past? Hmm...

Knuckles then lets go of Kathy's arms and had readjusted himself in his seat. While smiling at Kathy, he then held his right arm out to encourage Kathy to come close to him. Kathy looked at Knuckles and saw that he had his arm out. She smiled a little in amusement as she scooted closer to Knuckles and had wrapped her arms around his waist again. Knuckles held her with his right arm and had squeezed her gently in fondness. Kathy beamed at him in response to this, and Knuckles just smiled back at her in fondness.

...Awww...Now, that's really sweet. Sonic and Tails thought at the same time with fond smiles on their faces as they stared at Kathy and Knuckles.

"...Hey...You ready?" Knuckles asked gently with a smile.

"Yeah!" Kathy exclaimed brightly with a cute smile.

Knuckles grinned at that response as he calmly replied, "Well then...Continue, Kathy. We're listening".

Kathy smiled gently at Knuckles before looking at Sonic and Tails. She can see them smiling calmly as they nodded to her. Since she saw that all three of them are ready to continue with the story, she then held onto Knuckles a little tighter while saying, "Alright, guys. Let's continue where we last left off...".

"My mom had stayed in Planet Familia for about four months as she created her power source with the Shobijin looking after her. She was very specific about what she had wanted to make. She had told me that her creation was 'special and meaningful' in its initial design, and she had said that 'it is something that she holds dear in her heart'. I didn't know exactly what she had meant by that when I was a kid, but she did tell me that it will be very important when I get older. But nevertheless, she put a lot of thought into her creation, and that creation...would naturally be...the Sol Pendant," Kathy continued calmly with a smile as she held onto Knuckles.

"...Ah...So that's why..." Knuckles muttered quietly with a curious look on his face.

Kathy looked at him and smiled a lot at him. "Yeah, I still don't know what's so 'special and meaningful' about the Sol Pendant other than the fact that my mom wanted to fulfill her duty as the Goddess of Peace. The only thing that I know that she holds dear to her heart is maintaining peace. I wish that I could know what my mother had meant by that, but..." Kathy replied gently with a sad smile on her face. She frowned a bit as she finished with, "...It's too late to know now...".

"Hmm..." Knuckles mused quietly as he slowly nodded in understanding. Because she's gone, isn't she? Knuckles thought with a solemn look on his face.

"Kathy? Umm...I'm sorry for asking you another question, but...why didn't your mother tell you the meaning behind the Sol Pendant? It would certainly help you understand why it is important to protect it since you're the guardian of it now. Why couldn't your mother say what it was?" Tails asked curiously with a sad look on his face.

Kathy frowned even more when she heard that question. She answered while having her eyes closed, "...She said that I was not ready to handle the truth behind the Sol Pendant. I was still a little kid at the time when she had first told me about the Sol Pendant. She said that she had wanted to protect me from harm. So, she had refused to answer that question".

Tails frowned in slight disappointment of this and had replied, "I...I understand. I assume that your mother had wanted you to solve that mystery yourself, right?".

Kathy nodded and replied calmly, "Exactly. She had told me that I would more likely to accept the truth if I had figured it out myself than by hearing it from somebody else. Like my mom for instance. Even when I had told her that I would accept it with her telling me the truth, she still refused to tell me about it. So, it's up to me to figure out the mystery behind the pendant".

Tails sighed a bit before replying, "...(Sigh)...I guess that makes sense".

"Yeah, whatever this secret is, it must be very vital to have your mother protect you like this, Kathy. Perhaps it's something that Battra could use against you if he knows about it," Sonic replied solemnly with a frown and with crossed arms.

"You might be right about that, Sonic. My mother would always protect me from Battra. So, that's probably the reason to why she did what she did," Kathy replied calmly with a nod and a smile.

Sonic smiled back and shrugged as he replied, "I guess so".

"Still, it certainly sounds like a pain though. Don't worry, Kathy. We'll help you figure out the mystery behind that Sol Pendant. Even though I won't get to know my Master Emerald more, I still think that it's fair to have someone else know their own jewels better. I'm sure that if you know your own pendant better, then you might have a chance against Battra. So, just do your best, Kathy. We're here to support you," Knuckles encouraged calmly as he stared at her with a frown.

Kathy looked at Knuckles and smiled brightly at him after hearing him say that. Knuckles smiled brightly too as he saw that he had made her happy with his encouragement. Kathy beamed again as she held Knuckles tightly while replying happily, "Yay! My little doggie is supporting me!".

Knuckles snickered in slight amusement as he held Kathy tighter too. As he did that, he replied gently yet calmly with a smile, "Heheheh...Anything for you, Kathy. Heheheh...Anything for you".

Tails smiled in amusement too and had slightly rolled his eyes at that response. Sonic just chuckled quietly at that response as well. Oh, good grief. Knuckles is such a sucker for Kathy. It's ridiculous. Sonic thought in amusement.

"Well then, let's continue with the story!" Kathy exclaimed brightly as she looked at Sonic and Tails again.

"The first part of the Sol Pendant's creation was the Sol Gems themselves. My mom had crafted them out of pure silver and gold. Once the outside portion was complete, she then gave the gems her own radioactive power as a part of its energy supply. The other part of the gems' energy supply was from...Familia's Power Tree-" Kathy continued calmly with a smile before she got interrupted again.

"Wait! What?! 'Familia's Power Tree'?!" The guys exclaimed in confusion.

Kathy smiled even more in amusement as she explained, "Yes. You see, gentlemen, Familia's Power Tree is a tree that contains power sources in the form of hearts. The multiple hearts on that huge tree are used to protect the planet from any harm that comes to it or from inside it. Those hearts were the source of Familia's peace, and my mom had the brilliant idea of wanting to have some replicas of those hearts for her Sol Pendant. She had believed that those hearts would help her protect the people in the Sol Dimension from any evil force imaginable. She had believed that Familia's Power Tree was the reason why the planet hadn't been taken over by evildoers. So, that's why she wanted replicas of the hearts and use them to make the Sol Gems".

"Ohhh...I see..." The guys muttered in shock as they looked intrigued. Kathy nodded and continued her story while having a calm look on her face.

"Anyways...My mom had requested to the ruler again if she could have his people make seven replicas of the hearts that are on Familia's Power Tree. Naturally, the ruler approves her request since he trusts her and her judgement. Afterwards, my mom had asked several families in Planet Familia to make replicas of the seven hearts that she wants. The people were generous to her and had taken her request to make the hearts. The seven hearts that my mom had wanted were these: The Heart of Life, The Heart of The Sea, The Heart of Light, The Heart of Fire, The Heart of The Unseen, The Heart of The Soul, and The Heart of A Warrior. Once each of those hearts were created, she had decided to name them as 'the Sol Hearts'. She then used their energy on her Sol Gems and at that point...the Sol Pendant was nearly complete," Kathy continued calmly.

"..." The guys were silent as they had stunned looks on their faces. …"The Sol Hearts", huh? Knuckles, Sonic, and Tails thought at the same time. Kathy continued as she saw that the guys were still listening to her and hadn't said anything yet.

"Eventually, my mom had made the final touches on the Sol Gems by making a pendant for them. The pendant was required so that the Sol Gems could be carried around. Although the Sol Pendant was technically finished, it was still in its prototype stage. There was one last thing that my mom needed to do before the pendant was fully complete, and that was to return to her home planet to test it out. Once the pendant was complete, then no corrupt person could take control of it. By then, her plan for peace would have been a success," Kathy continued with a calm smile.

"Ah! Really? 'No corrupt person could take control of it by then'? Are you serious?" Tails repeated in shock as his eyes went wide.

Kathy nodded her head and had answered with a smile, "Yes, I am. My mom was determined to protect her people and anyone from evildoers who would want to take over the world. She wanted to stop this level of corruption with her own pendant. But of course, she wouldn't want anyone to take control of her pendant too so that's why she had designed her pendant to be that way when it's finished".

"Oh, I see then. But since it was in its prototype stage, it was still possible for a person with a corrupt heart to take control of it. Right?" Tails replied calmly with an intrigued look on his face.

"More or less. Yeah," Kathy replied casually with a shrug.

"Hmm..." Tails mused with a frown.

"Wait...Don't tell me...Was Battra...the one who had seized your mother's Sol Pendant?" Knuckles asked curiously with a concerned look on his face as he stared curiously at Kathy.

Kathy looked at Knuckles and frowned sadly at him. She answered solemnly, "It's...It's complicated...".

"Hmm..." Knuckles mused solemnly after hearing that answer. He nodded to her to continue with the story, and Kathy did just that.

"Anyways, my mom took the Sol Pendant and the Sol Hearts with her on her trip back to her planet. It had taken her a month to get back to her planet. Once she had traveled back home, she was very excited to tell her best friend about the greatest achievement that she had ever made. That best friend was...was..." Kathy continued calmly with a frown before she paused and had closed her eyes as she finished solemnly, "...Battra".

"AH! WHAT?!" The guys shouted in shock as they didn't see that one coming.

"Y-Y-You can't be serious! Battra?!" Sonic exclaimed in shock as his eyes were wide and as his mouth went agape.

"Th-That can't be right! Didn't you say before that your mom and Battra were on a long war with each other?! I thought that they had hated each other!" Tails exclaimed in shock too as he had a surprised look on his face.

"Are you telling me that Battra was her best friend?! Battra?! The one who had tarnished your mother's good name?! HE was her best friend?! H-How?! Why?!" Knuckles exclaimed in shock too as stared at Kathy with a surprised expression on his face.

Kathy had opened her eyes and answered solemnly , "I...I know. I was shocked too when I had heard it for the first time. But it's true. My mom and Battra were once best friends. It may not be so apparent now with Battra thinking less of her with his cold attitude, but he was once good friends with my mom".

"How could they ever become good friends?! What do they have in common?!" Sonic asked in shock as he was still stunned by this revelation.

Kathy frowned sadly as she answered, "I was just as confused as you were Sonic when my mother had told me about this. But apparently, Battra used to be a good person who cared about the connections between our people and the people of the Sol Dimension. Back when he was good, he was vice governor of a village on Monster Island".

"What?! He was vice governor?!" The guys exclaimed in shock and in confusion.

Kathy nodded as she explained, "Indeed. He was. Battra wanted the kaijus and the Mobians to connect and associate with each other in peace. He desired to reform Monster Island as a family-community centered place so that the Mobians can see them as friendly individuals instead of threatening beings of destruction. He didn't want the Mobians to fear them any longer. He wanted them to trust our people and to live peacefully with them. In fact, he even desired that Mobians could visit Monster Island because of how loving and friendly they are to others. So, Battra was very determined to make that a reality".

...That...That sounds nothing like the Battra that we know! Sonic and Knuckles thought in shock as they stared at Kathy with stunned looks on their faces.

"I...I don't believe it..." Tails muttered quietly in shock.

"But it's true. That was what Battra had in mind at the time. It was his determination and passion for peace was what had caught my mother's attention. My mom had said when she and Battra had met they both had hit it off very easily. Since my mom was determined to fulfill her role as the Goddess of Peace, she had easily caught Battra's attention right away. I don't know how they became friends, but I do know why though. It's because they both want the world to have peace. Thanks to them for having similar goals, they became best friends. Yes...as hard as it is to believe...they did get along with each other at one point," Kathy explained calmly with a sad frown on her face.

"..." The guys were speechless at this. They still had shocked looks on their faces as they stared at Kathy. They were now more interested to hear this story after hearing that truth bomb. Kathy could see that the guys were focusing on her while being silent. So, she continued the story while having a solemn look on her face.

"When my mom had returned from space, she wanted to talk to Battra about her newest creation, the Sol Pendant. However, she couldn't find Battra anywhere. So, she wrote Battra a note and had placed it at his workplace, the governor's hut. The note had not only said to meet with her at Infant Island in the Sacred Springs at around 6 PM, but it also had said that she had returned from her trip from space. Eventually, Battra had read the note and had gone to visit Infant Island to meet his best friend once more after six long months. My mom was of course happy and excited to have met Battra again, however...well...Battra...didn't seem to share the same sentiments that my mom has for some odd reason. Unfortunately, at the time, my mom hadn't noticed Battra's cold demeanor as she explained to him all the wonderful things that the Sol Pendant would do for the whole world once its complete. She was so thrilled to have shown Battra her greatest creation ever that she hadn't realized that he was furious with her. She...(Sigh)...She had only realized it too late when he...had punched her and...had beaten her up very brutally..." Kathy continued solemnly with a frown before she looked down in sadness in the end.

"...!" The guys had gasped in shock when they heard that last part. Kathy still looked sad as she continued.

"As Battra beat her brutally, he was yelling out lies at her by saying that she's a liar and a backstabber. He kept claiming that she had betrayed him and because of what she did...she doesn't deserve having the Sol Pendant anymore. My mom had assumed that Battra had mistakenly thought that she was going to use the Sol Pendant for selfish purposes such as gaining power and dominance over the world. To be fair, it is understandable for Battra to think that since my mom had explained to him that the pendant would be the strongest power source in the world once it was completed. At that point, nothing could really stop my mother as she controls the pendant. Apparently, this is what Battra had feared. He believed that my mom had lied and betrayed him by seeking power instead of peace. He truly believed that my mom had gone astray from her beliefs and had decided to rise even more in power. Of course, my mom was baffled by these false accusations that Battra had said. She had tried to convince Battra that it was not the case, however, her protests were in vain since he doesn't believe in her anymore. He felt like his trust was broken, and that he's all alone again. Just when my mother thought he couldn't lose any more sanity than this shocking outburst, he then...decided to take matters into his own hands by coercing my mother to split her Sol Pendant into two..." Kathy continued solemnly.

"..." The guys were just stunned as they heard this. They couldn't believe that this was the reason for Battra to hate Kathy's mother. They were still silent as Kathy continued after she paused.

"...Battra had choked my mother's neck and had demanded her to give up half of the Sol Pendant. Of course, my mother refused to give in to this demand since she felt determined to finish the pendant. She was very close into finishing it and had wanted to fulfill her duty no matter what. Unfortunately for her, Battra was more determined to kill her if she doesn't compromise here. He had wanted to stop my mother from taking over the world with her own unstoppable power source. He needed the other half of the Sol Pendant's power so that he could battle my mother just in case she does decide to conquer the world. Since my mother saw that there was no way to convince Battra that she's telling the truth, she reluctantly decided to give in to his request and create a second Sol Pendant. He then-" Kathy continued calmly with a frown.

"Wait a minute. Sorry about interrupting you again, Kathy, but I just want you to confirm something for me," Sonic replied calmly with a frown while looking confused.

"Oh? Yes, Sonic? What is it?" Kathy asked curiously as she looked back up again.

Sonic then looked even more confused as he scratched his head. "...Umm...Are you saying that Battra...wanted to stop your mother from finishing the Sol Pendant...because he thought that she was going to take over the world? ...This isn't a joke, right? Battra wouldn't have such...uhh...good intentions...right?" Sonic asked in confusion.

"I don't understand why you're so confused, Sonic. Everyone has good intentions. Even our enemies. Remember Shadow, Sonic?" Tails replied with an eyebrow raised in confusion as he looked at Sonic.

"Well, yeah! I do know that! But...But...But...Battra is such a stuck-up jerk!" Sonic exclaimed while looking confused.

Tails shrugged as he countered, "So was Shadow".

"And me for the most part..." Knuckles added in a dead-pan tone as he stared at Sonic with a frown.

Sonic looked at Knuckles and frowned even more. Sonic then sighed as he replied, "...(Sigh)...Okay. Fine. You guys have a point, but...Battra...he...he just called me 'boy'! No one has ever called me that before! It's because of that haughty attitude of his that I feel like Battra couldn't be doing this for good! Heck! We all saw him destroy Central City! And you're telling me that he's doing this out of righteousness?! That can't be right!".

Kathy frowned in sympathy for Sonic as she replied, "I know that it's hard to believe, Sonic, but yes, he is...well...in his mind at least. He genuinely believes that he's in the right in this war. He really believes that he's a hero, and that he's going to save the world from disaster. Yes, he's that delusional, Sonic. It's rather pitiful if you think about it".

Sonic frowned solemnly after he heard that. Tails and Knuckles shared the same expression as Sonic. Knuckles then replied solemnly as he stared at Kathy, "And let me guess...Battra believes in his own lies, doesn't he?".

Kathy looked at Knuckles and nodded solemnly to him. "Yes...Unfortunately..." Kathy muttered sadly with a frown.

"...(Sigh)...I see..." Knuckles muttered with a sigh and a nod.

"Hmm...Carry on, Kathy," Tails replied quietly with a curious look on his face. Kathy nodded to Tails and continued the story.

"Battra then released my mom, and she immediately used the Sol Pendant to create a copy of it. She commanded the Sol Pendant's energy to make the second pendant. However, since the Sol Pendant wasn't fully complete, the split wasn't 50-50. Rather, it was 50-49 with the original pendant containing the higher end of the split. So, in other words, the original Sol Pendant was the stronger one of the two. But of course, Battra hadn't known that at the time. He was just happy that he had thwarted my mother's 'plans' to take over the world by having the half of the Sol Pendant. After receiving the pendant, he then used them immediately to knock her unconscious and leave Infant Island after that," Kathy continued with a sad look on her face.

...

"...That's...That's just awful..." Tails muttered sadly after the short bit of silence. Kathy nodded in agreement as she continued her story.

"When the next morning had arrived, my mother had woken up while feeling deep regret with what she had done. She was worried for Battra as she wondered what went on in his head when she was gone. So, she left Infant Island to go find him and to go talk with him. She believed that she could reconcile some things with him and help him sort out some issues that they're having currently. She had hoped that having a long talk with him will help him to be calm again. So, she went to Monster Island first to see if Battra is there. However, when she got there...she was absolutely horrified at what she found. She saw...nothing but fire and ruins on the island as huge, dark kaiju monsters were busy destroying the place. My mother was rather distraught as she watched the monsters destroy the villages and kill dozens of people. It was very shocking," Kathy continued solemnly with a frown.

"What?! 'Dark kaiju monsters'?! What kind of monsters are those?!" The guys exclaimed at the same time in shock.

Kathy sighed sadly as she answered, "(Sigh)...Those monsters are dark versions of the original kaiju monsters of the past. Yes...The very same ones that the original Mothra had killed".

"...! Where did those monsters come from anyway?!" The guys exclaimed in shock as they stared at Kathy.

Kathy frowned in sadness as she answered, "I...I was about to tell you that anyway...".

"As my mom was still shocked by what she's seeing, she then heard deep, evil laughter in the distance. That laughter...had belonged to Battra as he created more dark monsters from his very own Sol Pendant. When my mom saw that, she was immediately heart-broken. Her own best friend is destroying Monster Island with the copy of her very own creation, the Sol Pendant. She was already heart-broken when Battra had yelled out those false accusations at her, but this just shattered her heart completely. She had realized then that Battra had lost it. He can't be reasoned with now, and this had made my mom very sad. At this point, she can't discuss with, reconcile with, or beg to Battra to stop his violent and angry rampage. When Battra had looked at her, he yelled to her something that she wouldn't forget for the rest of her life. 'This is the punishment that you deserve, Klara! The punishment for wanting power and domination! For all evildoers who want power, they're basically asking for destruction, and I shall deliver to them what they want personally! Especially...to you, Klara the Moth! You shall rue the day for ever wanting power to begin with!'" Kathy continued calmly with a with a frown before yelling a bit as she quoted Battra at the end.

"..." The guys were speechless when they heard that. It was already baffling to them that Battra was the one who had created those dark, kaiju monsters, but it was even more baffling that he had destroyed the villages on Monster Island just to "punish" Kathy's mom. He...He really is insane...Knuckles, Sonic, and Tails thought with shocked looks on their faces.

Kathy frowned in sadness as she finished the story with, "When my mom had heard that crazy declaration, she knew at that moment that her friendship with Battra is over. She can tell that Battra is determined to destroy and to rampage across the world just to make her feel guilty about what 'she had done' even though she is clearly innocent. But since she doesn't want Battra to destroy the world and take it over just to punish her, she had no choice but to...fight him herself. Thus...it was the beginning of a 14-year-old war between my mother and Battra, and sadly...it's still ongoing even after my mom is...gone...forever...".

---

Kathy looked down at her lap and had held onto Knuckles much tighter after she had finished her story. The guys gasped in shock after hearing that last part in Kathy's story. They were stunned by this. Apparently, the war that Kathy is in was much longer than they had thought. They had never assumed that the war was about as long as Kathy's age or slightly older than that. But...they had guessed wrong. Who knew that this was how the whole war had started? It's...It's rather unbelievable. Knuckles, Sonic, and Tails thought with stunned looks on their faces.

Knuckles stared at Kathy and frowned even more in sadness as he saw how sad she is right now. He held her tighter as brooded solemnly. Poor Kathy. Her mother doesn't deserve any of this, and neither does she.

"Hey, Kathy?" Knuckles asked quietly as he rubbed Kathy's right arm.

Kathy looked back up to Knuckles and replied, "Yes, Knuckles? What is it?".

"When Battra had said that he's going to build a utopia where lying and betrayal doesn't exist...was that a part of his plan to further punish your mother for what she had supposedly done? Was that the reason why he wanted to build a utopia like that in the first place?" Knuckles asked curiously with a frown on his face.

Kathy looked sad as she nodded. "Yes. That was the reason for it. He was bent to reform the entire world to become a safe and trusting environment so that he won't get hurt by anyone again. My mom had no idea at what she did that had hurt Battra so badly that he wanted a utopia like that. She couldn't think of a single thing that she did that could warrant his change of behavior. But regardless of the reason of why he's changed, it's still rather despicable that he wanted my mom, me, and the rest of the world to suffer due to what he believes is right. He's not going to quit until he has his way in the end. Along with his destructive conquest, he's going to manipulate the people in the world just so that they could be against my mom and me. He's going to go great lengths to prove to everyone that my mother and me can't be trusted, and that we're going to be the ones who would rule the world someday. He's going to 'stay' in the role of the 'hero' until I give up," Kathy answered solemnly with a frown.

Knuckles frowned in sadness after hearing that answer. He replied quietly in sympathy, "Kathy...I'm...I'm so sorry. I'm sorry that you had to deal with that sort of thing your whole life".

Kathy frowned in sadness too. She simply hugged Knuckles even more in comfort and nestled her head onto his right shoulder. She softly replied while closing her eyes, "It's okay, Knuckles. I'm...I'm used to it. Even though it hurts so much".

Knuckles looked rather sad for Kathy. Sonic and Tails shared the same sad expressions on their faces as they stared at Kathy. They wished that they know what to say to Kathy at this moment, but...they don't have a clue. They figured that it's best for Knuckles to comfort her instead. Poor Kathy. Sigh...Sonic and Tails thought in sadness.

Knuckles squeezed Kathy gently and had rubbed her right arm even more to comfort her. Kathy liked the gentle comfort tactics that Knuckles is doing and had snuggled against Knuckles' shoulder to thank him. Knuckles was frowning in sadness but had soon smiled a lot when he felt Kathy's soft antennas brushing against his neck as she snuggled her head onto his shoulder. He held Kathy even tighter in response to this.

"Heheheh...There. There. Kathy. I-It's alright. It's going to be a-a-alright. Heheheh..." Knuckles replied gently while snickering a bit as he felt Kathy's light nuzzles to his neck.

Kathy smiled a little in relief and had opened her eyes again. She stopped snuggling Knuckles and had lifted her head up again. Knuckles stopped snickering and had smiled gently at Kathy. Kathy smiled back at him in happiness. Sonic and Tails were relieved that Kathy was better again and had smiled too.

---

…

"...Knuckles is right, Kathy. You're going to be okay in the end since you're with us now. Remember. You're not alone in this war anymore. You got us to rely on!" Sonic encouraged calmly with a smile after the short bit of silence.

Kathy and Knuckles looked back at Sonic and smiled at him too. "You sure are right, Sonic! I've never had this many friends before! I'm sure that with you guys here I'll be able to defeat Battra once and for all!" Kathy exclaimed brightly with a smile.

"Heh. We know that you will! In a way, you are our Queen now! Heheheh!" Sonic replied brightly with a chuckle as he gave Kathy a thumbs-up in encouragement.

Kathy beamed after hearing that. Sonic smiled a bit too before he looked solemn again as he continued, "Anyways, Kathy, there are still some things that we want to know about. Sure, you had told us the origins of your Sol Pendant and the war between your mother and Battra...but...".

He then crossed his arms again as he asked solemnly, "But what about Battra's Sol Pendant and the Sol Hearts? We still don't know very much about them aside from how they were created. Can you please explain of them to us, Kathy?".

"I agree with Sonic here, Kathy. We are very curious about them. Well? Can you tell us?" Tails replied calmly with a little frown as he stared at Kathy.

Kathy smiled a little and nodded in understanding. "Yes, I will tell you," Kathy replied calmly with a smile.

"Alright. So...how does it work exactly? In fact..." Knuckles replied calmly with a nod before he looked curious as he continued, "...How does the Sol Pendant work exactly? Sure, you have to have them in your hands to power them up, but how do you activate them specifically? That's one thing that I don't understand. Please explain that to me too".

Kathy smiled brightly at Knuckles and nodded. "Well, I was going to explain that to you guys anyway. So, yeah, let's start with my Sol Pendant first. Explaining my Sol Pendant would help you understand how Battra's Sol Pendant works," Kathy replied calmly with a smile as she looked at Knuckles before at Sonic and Tails.

"Go ahead, Kathy. Give us all the secrets," Sonic replied calmly with a shrug. Kathy beamed again before she explained.

"You see, gentlemen, my Sol Pendant gets activated when I communicate to it with my mind. It's usually done through telepathy or as I like to call it...imagination..." Kathy explained calmly with a smile as she lifts up her pendant for emphasis.

"'Telepathy'?" The guys repeated in unison as they all had curious looks on their faces. Is that how she does it then? Knuckles and Sonic thought at the same time.

"That's right. Telepathy. If there is something that I want to produce like a shield for instance, I visualize it in my mind and then command the Sol Gems to create what I just thought of. That goes the same with the other abilities that the Sol Pendant can do such as teleport, heal, or punch. Sometimes, I even yell out the commands, and they work the same way as me thinking of them," Kathy explained further with a nod.

"Ah! So that's why..." Sonic and Knuckles muttered in shock as they understood why Kathy was yelling out those commands like "teleport" and "shield" in her battle with Battra yesterday.

Kathy nodded happily as she continued, "Uh huh. I was making split second decisions during my fight with Battra. So, at times, I did have to yell out so that the gems would activate fast enough to do what I had commanded them to do. It was pretty dicey though. I'll admit".

"Sounds like it. But hey, that just raises another question. Can the Sol Pendant do more than just those four commands? It must be if it's made to be the strongest power source in Mobius. Although...since your mom had given almost half of its power away to Battra...I'm guessing that it's less powerful than it once was," Tails replied calmly with a contemplative look on his face.

"Yes, the Sol Pendant has more commands that it can do. It can take control of any power source like the Sol Hearts for instance. If I had those hearts, then my range of abilities grow larger than before. Also, it's true that the Sol Pendant is still not at its strongest point, but it's still very strong at least. I mean. Knuckles had said that it's stronger than the Master Emerald. So, at least its original purpose is still there," Kathy answered calmly with a smile.

"Wait! What?! It's stronger than the Master Emerald?! Knuckles! Do you know about this?!" Sonic and Tails exclaimed in shock as they stared at Kathy before at Knuckles.

Knuckles nodded as he answered calmly, "Yes, I do know about it. I've asked Kathy yesterday to allow me to hold onto her gems, and they were no doubt stronger than the Master Emerald. I was just as shocked as you guys were when I first discovered that. I...I didn't want to believe it either".

Sonic and Tails were just stunned as they stared at Knuckles. They soon stared at Kathy next while looking even more curious than before. Kathy saw this and had continued.

"Anyways, that's the basis of what the Sol Pendant can do, and now...you might have a picture of what Battra's Sol Pendant could do," Kathy replied calmly with a smile before she frowned. The guys were solemn again as they listened attentively to Kathy's next explanation.

"Now, you see, Battra's Sol Pendant...or as it's better known as...the Dark Sol Pendant...is controlled by telepathy. Battra uses his evil thoughts to control his pendant, and most of his commands are the same as my commands with my pendant. However, there is a huge difference between the two. Unlike the original version, the Dark Sol Pendant can create Dark Thoughts that can aid the user in battle. The Dark Thoughts could be anything that the user thinks of...and sadly...Battra's Dark Thoughts are the original kaiju monsters of the past. In other words...those were the dark monsters that my mother saw on Monster Island 15 years ago," Kathy explained calmly with a frown.

"Huh?! He can do that?!" The guys exclaimed in shock.

Kathy nodded as she continued explaining with a frown, "Sadly, it is the case. Even though Battra's Sol Pendant is weaker than the original, it's still advantageous against mine by creating strong, powerful monsters from it. When it lacks in strength, its numbers make up for that".

"I'll say. No wonder he's so confident to begin with. He's like a military commander or something! He must have given your mother a hard time then if he can create monsters as much as he pleases," Sonic replied calmly with a frown and a shrug.

"Yeah, he did. He certainly gave Blaze and me a hard time too when he had created those monsters and sent them across the Southern Islands. They had caused a lot of trouble for us and for the people who had lived on those islands," Kathy replied calmly with a frown too.

"Ugh. That doesn't sound pleasant," Tails commented with a frown.

"It wasn't. However, for me, it was predicable that Battra would do that. He had done this for years, and it would be no shock to me if he decides to take over this dimension by using his Dark Thoughts too," Kathy replied solemnly while shaking her head a bit. The guys had grimaced at this discouraging news.

"...Kathy? Is this why the Chaos Emeralds and the Master Emerald won't stop Battra? Because his Sol Pendant is about as strong as your pendant is?" Knuckles asked solemnly with a grimace as he stared at Kathy.

Kathy looked at Knuckles and nodded solemnly. "Yes, that is right. Even though it is a copy, it is still powerful enough to overcome the Chaos Emeralds and the Master Emerald. After all, that was how he was able to injury me in the first place. By taking control of the Master Emerald with his Sol Pendant, he was able to harm me and make me go unconscious for a bit. If he can take control of that emerald, then it would be the same with the Chaos Emeralds. He can use them to take control and destroy the world too in that way," Kathy answered solemnly with a frown.

Knuckles grimaced even further as he closed his eyes. He moved his head away from Kathy and replied tiredly, "Is there no way to stop this monster? Our planet will be in ruins by the time we had figured out a solution to stop him".

Tails grimaced too in sadness. He asked Kathy with worry in his tone, "Kathy? Is there anything that you can do to stop him? Is there a way to halt his progress of world domination?".

Kathy smiled a little in sympathy for Knuckles and for Tails. She nodded as she answered calmly, "Don't be nervous, Tails. There is a way to stop him even though it won't destroy his Dark Sol Pendant".

"Oh? What is it then, Kathy? What are you going to do?" Tails asked curiously while looking intrigued.

Kathy smiled even more brightly as she answered, "I'm going to fight Battra and his Dark Thoughts with the Sol Hearts! Like I had told you before, my mom wanted those hearts as tools for her Sol Pendant. Those hearts were useful to her in past as she had fought Battra and his monsters. It will surely help me too when I get to use them again because...ah...well...".

Kathy then looked sheepish as she rubbed the back of her head with her right hand. "...I lost the Sol Hearts after Battra had attacked me with that lightning attack. So...they're probably somewhere in your world by now and are ready to be taken by Battra any time soon. Umm...Yeeeeaaah...Not looking good right now..." Kathy replied awkwardly with a sheepish smile as a sweat drop went down on her head.

"YOU MEAN THAT YOU DON'T HAVE THEM?!" The guys shouted in shock as their eyes went wide and as their jaws had dropped to the floor.

Kathy smiled even more in awkwardness as she shrugged while saying, "Unfortunately...Yes...".

"...Oh noooo..." The guys muttered exhaustion as they all had sweat drops on their heads. We're screwed. The guys thought in tiredness.

Kathy looked down on her lap in shame as she apologized with a frown, "I'm sorry, guys. But...there was nothing that I could do there. Please don't be upset with me...".

"...!" The guys sobered up again after hearing that pitiful apology.

"Hey, it's okay, Kathy. It's not your fault. I'm sure that you'll get those Sol Hearts back before Battra does. We'll help you find them," Knuckles reassured gently with a little smile as he rubbed Kathy's arm again.

"Yeah, Kathy. We're not upset at you. We're just worried and discouraged is all. I'm sure that things will eventually turn around in our favor. It always happens with us. So, you're all good, Kathy. Really," Tails reassured gently with a smile.

"It's true. Cheer up, Kathy. We'll do what we can to help you win against Battra. We'll be with you all the way!" Sonic encouraged gently with a little smile.

Kathy looked back up at the guys and saw that they were smiling a little for her as a way to reassure her that she's alright. She smiled a little too as she saw that they had meant at what they had said. "Thank you so much, guys! I want to help you guys out as much as I can! I won't let you down!" Kathy exclaimed brightly with a smile as she stared at the guys. They all smiled at each other as they were glad that Kathy's happy again.

Tails then looked curious as he had his hand under his chin. "Hmm...Say, Kathy? What are you going to do when you do get the Sol Hearts? What do they do? And what would happen if you get all of them?" Tails asked curiously as he stared at Kathy.

Kathy raised her eyebrows at those questions, but she smiled calmly as she replied, "Ah. I guess now would be a good time to tell you about the Sol Hearts. Alright. Here's what The Sol Hearts are like...".

Kathy looked serious again as she explained calmly, "...Each of the Sol Hearts have special properties inside each of them. The Heart of The Sea for example is about water, and The Heart of Fire is of course about fire. If I collect just one of them, I can control it with my Sol Gems and use its powers for battle. Of course, I'm not the only one who can use those Sol Hearts. Battra could get them too and destroy the world with them too. Like I had said, the Sol Hearts are just tools. Just like with the Sol Emeralds and quite possibly the Chaos Emeralds, the Sol Hearts can be used for good or for evil. Battra could use those hearts in battle too. It would be quite a disadvantageous situation if Battra has a Sol Heart against me. Certainly, things won't go well if he does have one, and since the Sol Hearts are scattered to random locations, who knows which one of us will find it first?".

"Hmm..." The guys mused quietly after hearing this important piece of information. So, in other words, our chances of finding the Sol Hearts are no different than the Chaos Emeralds. I hope that we'll be alright in the end. I won't let Battra get the Sol Hearts. Not when Kathy's life is on the line. I'll make sure that I'll find them for her. For her sake. Knuckles pondered solemnly with a frown and with closed eyes.

"Kathy? Is there a way to track down the Sol Hearts?" Sonic asked with a solemn look on his face.

"Yes, there is. My Sol Pendant can detect its energy whenever I'm close to one. Unfortunately for us, Battra also has that ability with his own Sol Pendant. But that's just how it is. Nothing we can do to change it," Kathy answered calmly with a frown and a nod.

Sonic frowned a bit at that, but he smiled a little as he replied, "Yeah, but at least we can track them down. So, in a way, business as usual".

Kathy smiled a little too as she replied calmly, "I take it that you guys look for the Chaos Emeralds the same way?".

"Yep! Been doing that for a long time! Right, guys?!" Sonic exclaimed brightly with a smile and a wink as he stared at Tails and Knuckles.

Tails and Knuckles smiled too and nodded in agreement. Tails replied calmly with a smile, "It's what we do. We're always looking for the emeralds. Better make a habit of something I'd say".

"I agree. Don't worry, Kathy. We have experience in hunting down emeralds. We can help you find the Sol Hearts too if you're struggling. Okay?" Knuckles reassured calmly with a smile as he looked at Kathy

Kathy beamed again as she replied brightly, "Well, that's a relief! To be honest, this is my second time searching for the Sol Hearts, so, I'm a bit of a novice into searching them. I could use all the help that I can get!".

"Hmph. And we'll be here for you. Understand?" Knuckles replied calmly with a smile as he rubbed her right arm gently.

Kathy stared fondly at Knuckles and replied happily to him with a grin, "Yep! I understand! Thank you, Knuckles! I know that you will help me a lot!".

Knuckles grinned a bit at her as he replied calmly, "Hey, it's no problem, Kathy. You can ask me for help when you feel like it".

"Yay!" Kathy exclaimed happily with a silly smile. Knuckles grinned even more in amusement after seeing that cute smile. She gets happy so easily. Especially when I say something comforting or encouraging to her. It's really sweet. Knuckles thought with an amused grin.

Sonic and Tails smiled in amusement after seeing Kathy and Knuckles bond a bit again. There's no doubt in my mind that Knuckles will help Kathy out the most. Out of everyone here, he'll be the one who will care about the Sol Hearts the most. That's clearly something that he would do. Sonic and Tails thought at the same time with smiles on their faces.

"Well, anyway, getting the Sol Hearts will definitely be beneficial to me as I confront Battra. If I get all seven of them, then I'll turn into Rainbow Kathy. In fact, when I first arrived here in your dimension, Sonic, I was still in my Rainbow Form. But after I was hit by that lightning attack, I had lost that form and had turned back to normal," Kathy replied calmly with a smile as she looked at Sonic now.

"I see that you have your own form too! I turn into Super Sonic when I collect all seven of the Chaos Emeralds," Sonic replied calmly with a smile as his eyebrows were raised in surprise.

"Really?! Cool! I guess that we're very lucky to have our own forms then!" Kathy exclaimed brightly with a smile.

Sonic smirked a bit and had scratched the back of his head while saying calmly, "Yep. Very lucky. That form had saved us a bunch of times when we needed it the most".

"Unfortunately for us, it doesn't look like it will this time," Tails replied sadly with a frown.

Sonic frowned a bit as he looked at Tails. "Aw, there's no need to be such a downer, Tails. I'm sure that Kathy will beat Battra with that form, right, Kathy?" Sonic replied calmly with a frown as he looked at Tails before looking at Kathy.

Kathy smiled sheepishly as she answered awkwardly, "Well...yes...and...no...".

"Huh?! What do you mean by that, Kathy?!" The guys exclaimed in confusion.

Kathy looked even more awkward as she explained calmly, "Well, it's not as easy as you think. Sure, I can get into my Rainbow Form and beat Battra up easily, however, in the end, he will still have his Dark Sol Pendant with him. There was a reason why this war had lasted over 14 years, and that reason was that my mother couldn't destroy the Dark Sol Pendant no matter how many times she had beaten Battra. The war wages on despite my mother having so many victories against him".

"..." The guys were speechless after hearing the reason as to why Battra is still technically undefeated. No way...That's why the war is still going? Because Battra's Sol Pendant couldn't be broken? The guys thought in shock.

Knuckles got over his initial shock and had asked solemnly, "Kathy? Is there any way to destroy the Dark Sol Pendant? There must be a way or else our world will keep on getting destroyed by Battra and his monsters. Surely, you know how, right?".

Kathy looked at Knuckles and answered calmly with a solemn look on her face, "Yes, there is way...however...it's going to be very, very difficult to do so...".

Knuckles looked curious as he asked calmly, "Hmm? How so?".

Kathy frowned a bit as she answered solemnly, "...It requires solving the mystery behind the Sol Pendant itself. Once its solved, then you can unlock the pendant's secret weapon. That weapon...is what will destroy the Dark Sol Pendant for good".

"...!" The guys gasped in shock after hearing that answer. That's how we'll stop Battra?! By solving some mystery?! The guys thought in shock and in confusion.

"Ooooh, Kathy...maybe your mother should've told you the truth behind that Sol Pendant. If you knew, then maybe it would help you understand what the answer was," Tails replied sadly with a worried look on his face.

Kathy shook her head and replied solemnly, "It wouldn't work even if I knew the answer. That's the first clue to solving the pendant's mystery. I mean. That was what had stopped my mother from unlocking the secret weapon. She did know the answer, but she couldn't go and get what she wanted to unlock it".

Tails' ears had drooped in response to this. He frowned even further as he muttered, "O-Oh...I see...Hmmm...I guess that it can't be helped then. We have no choice but to solve the mystery then...Hmmm...What could the answer be though?".

"Hmmm...Are there any more clues that we could know that would help us?" Sonic asked calmly as he rubbed his chin with his finger.

Kathy nodded as she answered calmly with a frown, "There are some clues. The fact that my mom had wanted the Sol Pendant to be 'special and meaningful' to begin with is a clue. Another clue is that the answer should be 'natural' in essence. Meaning that it's not something that can be created or made".

"Ohh...So basically it's not a handmade object of some kind," Sonic replied in understanding as he nodded.

"Is it something that occurs in nature of some kind? Like a plant or a rock?" Knuckles asked curiously as he pondered on this mystery too.

Kathy shook her head as she explained, "Just because it's natural, that doesn't mean that it belongs in nature. Besides, even if it was, it wouldn't be the answer because of this clue. The answer is something that can't be sought out or be found out by your own means".

"Oh. I understand. I guess that I'm wrong then. Hmmm..." Knuckles replied calmly with a frown as he rubbed his chin too in thought. Man, this sure is one tough mystery to crack. Could we even figure out what it is? Knuckles pondered with a frown.

Sonic had crossed his arms and sighed. "I hope that we could figure out the mystery soon, Kathy. I'd hate to think what would happen if Battra figures out the secret himself and use the secret weapon against you. It certainly can't be good if that happens," Sonic replied calmly with a frown.

"Not to worry, Sonic. There is some solace to this predicament. Even if Battra knew the answer, he can't unlock the weapon either," Kathy reassured with a little smile.

"Huh? He can't? Why?" Sonic asked in confusion as his eyes had widened in shock. Tails and Knuckles looked at Kathy again with confused looks on their faces.

Kathy smiled calmly as she answered, "It's because of this clue. The answer is something that can't be restricted or controlled. Villains will always want to have control of everything around them to feel safe and secure of themselves. They can't risk sacrificing anything that they have to others so that they can be happy. How the world sees them is their identity, and Battra's identity is him being a kaiju monster. He wants to be the new King of the Monsters, and if he doesn't achieve his goal, then he'll just be lost at what to do for himself. He wouldn't know how to live his life without having that title in his life. That is why I am confident that Battra won't unlock the secret to the Sol Pendant".

"Ah..." The guys muttered in astonishment after hearing those words of wisdom. They soon smiled at Kathy as they felt relieved by that truth. I guess that we don't have to worry about that. Whew! The guys thought in relief.

"Boy, you really do seem to be knowledgeable of these clues, Kathy. Do you have an idea as to what the answer could be?" Sonic replied calmly with a smile.

Kathy smiled sheepishly again as she answered awkwardly with a shrug, "To be honest...I wish that I did. I've been trying to solve that troublesome mystery ever since I was a young larva. No matter how many times that I think about it, I couldn't get any closer to the answer. But don't worry, I'll keep on figuring it out until I eventually arrive at the answer. I have to at this rate".

The guys smiled sheepishly too as they had some sweat drops on their heads. Of course, it's not going to be that easy. Aw well, it looks like we're going to have to wait and see what happens now. Hopefully, Kathy will save us in the end. I'm sure of it. The guys thought while smiling as they stared calmly at Kathy.

---

But of course, the serious conversation ended when Kathy's stomach started growling again.

Growl...

"I'm hungry!" Kathy exclaimed happily yet simply with a cute smile.

"Hmph. That's no mystery. It's morning, silly girl," Knuckles replied calmly with a smirk as he looked at Kathy playfully.

"Hehehehehehehehe!" Kathy giggled happily again as she looked at Knuckles with a sweet smile.

Knuckles smiled fondly at her as she giggled some more. Now, there's the sound that I've been waiting to hear all morning. It's music to my ears. Knuckles pondered fondly with a warm look on his face as he stared at Kathy's happy face. Kathy hugged Knuckles tightly again while giggling, and Knuckles hugged her back happily with his right arm.

Sonic and Tails smiled fondly at them again. As Tails got off his chair, he then replied calmly, "Yeah, I think that it's time to give you some breakfast, Kathy. I'll make you some pancakes and bacon as your first breakfast for today. You'll love it, Kathy! I know that you will!".

Kathy looked at Tails while still hugging Knuckles and had exclaimed brightly, "Great! I can't wait to try them out!".

Tails nodded and smiled happily at her before walking towards the door. "I'll go right downstairs then," Tails replied calmly as he grabbed the doorknob after Sonic moved away from the door.

"Okay! I'll see you there in a few minutes!" Kathy exclaimed brightly with a smile as she still hugged Knuckles.

"Alright. See you there, Kathy," Tails replied calmly with a smile before he opened the door and left.

Sonic waved Tails "goodbye" before looking at Kathy and Knuckles again. Sonic smiled even more in amusement as he saw Knuckles hugging Kathy fully with both arms now. He can see Knuckles' goofy smile on his face as he kept receiving the warm hug that Kathy is giving him right now. Kathy has a huge smile on her face as she gently rubbed Knuckles' back with her hands while hugging him. Knuckles couldn't resist chuckling to this as he enjoyed the warm affection that Kathy is giving him right now.

"Heheheheheh...Kathy...Heheheheheh...S-Stop...Heheheheh...That...That feels good...Hahahahah..." Knuckles protested weakly in amusement as he chuckled.

"Hehehehehehehe! Aww, but the little doggie likes to be petted! I know that you do, Knuckles," Kathy replied sweetly with a giggle as she stroked his back even more in fondness.

"Hahahahahahaha! I do not! Hahahahahaha!" Knuckles protested much louder as he laughed in amusement.

"Oh, yes, you do," Kathy countered calmly with a knowing grin as she stroked his back much faster to prove her point.

"Do not!" Knuckles argued back while smiling wider and hugging more tightly in response to this.

"Do," Kathy argued back playfully.

"Not!" Knuckles argued back with a huge smile.

"Do!" Kathy argued back again happily.

"Not! Hahahahaha!" Knuckles argued back while laughing a little.

"Hehehehehe! Ooooh, yes, you do! Who's a good doggie? You are! Yeah, you are!" Kathy replied teasingly with a mischievous grin as she stroked not only Knuckles' back but also his head.

" Oh Nooohohohohoho! Dohohohohon't!" Knuckles protested weakly while laughing in amusement to this. Argh! My weakness! P-P-Petting! Not the petting! No! Nohohohohoho! Knuckles thought in amusement as he laughed happily while Kathy pets him a lot.

"Heheheheh...So, you don't have a crush on Kathy then. Okay, Knuckles. I get it," Sonic commented teasingly with a chuckle and with a devious smirk while having his arms crossed.

ACK! Knuckles thought in shock with wide eyes as he had finally gotten his senses back.

He then immediately stopped laughing and pulled away from Kathy before glaring at Sonic with an angry look on his face. "Grrrrrr! Oh, shut up! I told you before that it's nothing! End of story!" Knuckles yelled back angrily with a growl. He still held onto Kathy's arms as he glared at Sonic.

Sonic then had a smug look on his face as he countered with, "For someone who claims that they don't have a crush, you seem to be pretty okay with Kathy petting you and hugging you. Heh. You don't mind if I...pet you too, do you?".

"GRRRRRRR! PET ME ONCE, AND I'LL TEAR YOUR ARMS RIGHT OFF!" Knuckles shouted furiously back at Sonic while barring his teeth at him to threaten him.

"Hahahahahahahahaha! Oh, my goodness, you ARE a guard dog, Knuckles! Hahahahaha! Okay! I won't do that!" Sonic exclaimed happily in amusement as he laughed.

"THANK YOU! HMPH! GRRRRRR!" Knuckles shouted in frustration as he lets go of Kathy and crosses his arms again while closing his eyes. Kathy couldn't resist giggling a little after hearing that response from Knuckles. Aww, he's all grumpy right now. Poor guy. Hehehehehe! Kathy thought calmly in amusement as she giggled a little.

"Heheheheheh...Okay...Okay then. I'll leave you two alone. Also, Kathy? Thank you for telling us as much information that you know about Battra and the war between you and him...or should I say between your mom and him, but you get what I mean. It has been a long talk, but I think that it is time for you to eat your breakfast and do whatever you want after that. I'm just going to chill in the living room in the meantime. So, see ya!" Sonic replied calmly with a chuckle before he turned around and walked out of the room. He waved "goodbye" to Kathy and left as well.

"Bye, Sonic! Have a good day!" Kathy exclaimed happily with a cheerful smile as she waved back at him as he left.

"You too!" Sonic exclaimed back while in the hallway.

"Hehehehehehe!" Kathy giggled innocently again before she looked at Knuckles. She smiled even more in amusement as she saw that he still had his eyes closed and his arms crossed while having a pouty look on his face. She giggled quietly at this as she thought. Aww, he's so cute when he's pouting like that. Hehehehehe! Maybe I can cheer him up!

"Knuckles?" Kathy asked softly with gentle eyes.

"Nrgggh...Grrr...Hmph..." Knuckles grumbled with gritted teeth. Stupid Sonic. Always...interrupting me when I'm...I'm...Argh!...He's so annoying sometimes! Knuckles thought in irritation as he growled.

"Knuckles?" Kathy asked again with a gentle smile.

"Grrr...Stupid...Stupid...Wise guy...Tch..." Knuckles grumbled in irritation with a deep frown.

"Knuckles?" Kathy asked again in curiosity as her eyebrows were raised at this since Knuckles still hadn't responded to her.

"...Grrrr...Grrr..." Knuckles was quiet but growled sometimes.

Kathy's antennas went down when she saw that she isn't getting Knuckles' attention now. She frowned a bit as she thought calmly. Now what? Hmm...Should I...Hmm...Maybe...

She then smiled playfully as she gently prodded his stomach again. "Pillow!" Kathy exclaimed innocently with a silly smile as she waited for Knuckles' reaction to this.

...Tch...Stupid hedgehog...Sigh...Why can't he ju-H-Huh?! H-Hey! Hey! S-Stop that! I-! Knuckles thought in annoyance before in amusement as he felt his stomach being prodded again. His eyelids immediately flung wide open, and his mouth had changed from a frown to a huge grin as he stared at Kathy in surprise.

"K-K-Kathy?!" Knuckles exclaimed in surprise and in confusion while stuttering a bit with a huge, fixed grin on his face.

"Yay! You're smiling again! The doggie is happy again!" Kathy exclaimed happily yet innocently in joy with a bright smile. She was kept prodding Knuckles with a happy look on her face.

"Heheheheheh!...Stop that! Kathy! Stop! Heheheheh!" Knuckles protested playfully as he chuckled in amusement again. He tried to push Kathy away from him, but Kathy was being rather playful as she kept prodding his stomach and eventually his sides.

"Heheheheheh! ...Come on! Stop! Quit it! Heheheheh! ...I...Thahahahahahahahahaha! Stahahahahap!" Knuckles protested loudly while chuckling before laughing as he felt both of his sides and stomach being prodded repeatedly. He backed away from Kathy to try to get away from her playful pokes, but when he did that, he had accidently fallen off the bed.

"Ahahahahahahahah! Kathy! Please! Stahahahahahap! I...Aaah!" Knuckles exclaimed happily while laughing a lot before he yelped in surprise as fell to the floor on his back.

"Ah! Knuckles! Are you alright?!" Kathy exclaimed in shock as she quickly crawled towards the edge of the bed and looked down at Knuckles with a worried look on her face.

Knuckles slightly cringed a bit from the fall, but he soon opened his eyes and looked at Kathy's worried face from the floor. Kathy frowned sadly at him as she apologized gently, "I'm sorry, Knuckles. I didn't mean to make you fall off the bed. I just wanted to make you feel happy again, and...Uhh...".

She then looked slightly guilty as she calmly added, "...I'm sorry for poking you earlier...".

Knuckles smiled widely at this and replied calmly with a little chuckle, "Hey, it's nothing, Kathy. It's alright. Also...thanks. Thank you for cheering me up. I guess I...Heheheh...I needed that".

Kathy smiled gently in relief as she saw that Knuckles was okay and not upset at her. That's good to hear. I thought that he would have been very uncomfortable with me after that. Whew! Kathy pondered brightly with a relieved smile as she stared at Knuckles' calm look on his face.

...Heh...I've forgotten that Kathy was here at my side back then. To be honest, I kind of deserved that. Why should I try to stay frustrated when I have someone who wants me to keep on smiling? After all, "Every day should be a day of laughter", and clearly, I've been "punished" dearly by the silliest girl in the world here. ...Sigh...Today is going to be another long day. I can tell. Knuckles pondered calmly in amusement with a fond smile as he stared at Kathy's happy face.

"Do you need a hand, Knuckles?" Kathy asked tentatively with a gentle smile on her face.

Knuckles smiled even more at that before shaking his head at her. "No. No thanks. I'm fine," Knuckles replied calmly with a gentle smile as he sat up and stood back up to his feet. Kathy beamed at him when he stood back up while he smiled back at her in amusement.

Kathy then smiled playfully at him as she asked coyly, "Knuckles?".

"Yeah?" Knuckles asked back curiously with a little smile.

"What was that?" Kathy asked coyly with a playful smile.

"Huh? What's...'what'?" Knuckles asked in confusion as he frowned a bit while having one eyebrow raised at her.

"Having you laugh while I was poking you?" Kathy clarified with a mischievous look on her face.

Knuckles' eyes went wide, and he had a sweat drop on his head since he looked nervous. "Uhhh...Ummm...That was just...just...Ummm..." Knuckles muttered awkwardly with a little frown since he doesn't know how to answer this.

Kathy smiled even more playfully as she tilted her head in a cute way while asking coyly with a light giggle, "Hehe! ...Are you ticklish, Knuckles?".

Knuckles blushed very hard at that humiliating question. No way am I ever answering that question! Knuckles thought with an embarrassed look on his face. He then crossed his arms and closed his eyes as he calmly answered, "That...That was nothing. It was all nothing".

"Hehehehe...Are you sure?" Kathy asked playfully in amusement with another giggle and with a sweet smile.

"Yes!" Knuckles exclaimed in embarrassment as he blushed some more.

Kathy just lost it again as she giggled silly yet cutely as she exclaimed brightly in amusement, "Hehehehehehehehe! Aww, Knuckles! You're so funny! Hehehehehehehe!".

Knuckles opened his eyes again and smiled a little in amusement as he saw Kathy giggling again. ...Tch...And you're so silly, silly girl. Knuckles thought calmly with an amused look on his face.

Kathy then got off the bed and stood with Knuckles while saying happily in amusement with another giggle, "Hehehehehe! I guess that's one mystery that I'll have to figure out myself!"

"Heh. Yeah...looks like it..." Knuckles replied calmly with a little smile as he puts his arms to his sides again. Kathy beamed at him again, and Knuckles smiled gently at her in fondness. He then lowered his eyelids at her as he added quietly, "Hey...Let's go downstairs for breakfast. Okay?".

Kathy nodded happily at him and exclaimed brightly in amusement, "Okay! Let's eat! I'm starving!".

"Hmph...Right..." Knuckles muttered quietly in amusement as he and Kathy walked towards the hallway together. As Kathy got close to the hallway, Knuckles then grabbed her left shoulder and added gently, "And another thing...Kathy?".

"Yeah?" Kathy asked curiously as she looked at Knuckles with gentle eyes.

Knuckles smiled hugely at her as he softly replied in amusement with a little chuckle, "Heheheh...Don't do that. That...ah...actually got me. You...got me pretty good back then. So...".

He then chuckled lightly in amusement as he rubbed her back a bit while finishing with, "...Just keep your hands to yourself, little missy. Heheheheh...Now, come on. Let's go".

He then winked at her before letting go of her and walking towards the stairs at his left. Kathy smiled in amusement as she closed her door before following Knuckles to the kitchen. With an amused smile on his face, Knuckles thought to himself. There are some mysteries that are best left unsolved. That's for sure. Heheheheheh.

It certainly is going to be another long day with Kathy here, but Knuckles knows that it's going to be a wonderful day since Kathy is in his life now. He's certainly excited for having a new adventure with Kathy today.

And that ends part 1 of this episode. I've decided to divide episodes into parts due to how long they usually are. Before, I was fine with completing the episode in its entirety, but it seems to be a bit unconventional for chapters to be really long. So, for now on, the new "extra long" chapters will be around at least 20, 000 to 26, 000 words. It's more doable to read in that way. Also, thanks for the support and the reviews!

Anyways, I hope that this chapter had cleared up what's going on in the story and why things are as it is. It does have a lot of exposition though, but I hope that the little interactions between Kathy, Knuckles, Sonic, and Tails gave the "exposition dump" some needed breaks. But at least, the explanations are done for now! So, it's back to adventuring and bonding time between Kathy and Knuckles! Onwards to part 2!