In all the days of triumph and victory,

The blue hero finally knew what it was like,

…To lose.

Chapter 4: Knuckles Retreats

"Look Sonic…The Lake." Sonic heard form his right as he rose up from a grassy patch with lilies poking out randomly from it. The afternoon Sun grew brighter as the clouds moved aside to let the light through and Sonic couldn't keep it out of his eyes. His hands seemed transparent and useless, even if he tried his hardest to block the bright Sun.

"Oh. It's so beautiful. Don't you agree?" The voice was as heart-warming as it was close by. Sonic turned to the source of the young voice and found a young girl with short silver hair and a white dress sitting on the rocks, staring at a large body of water that was so foggy it seemed endless.

"Wait. Say again?" sonic asked confused at where he is. He never remembered coming to a foggy place like this. It was something that made him dizzy just thinking about it. He could feel his head aching like it was screaming inside. "I don't understand? What lake? What's going on?"

"I said…" The small girl turned her head to her back, towards Sonic, and her eyes met his, "The Lake? Isn't it beautiful? Sonic?" His head grew even heavier on his neck and he began to stagger around. "Sonic? What's wrong? Sonic?"

"Sonic…"

"What…"

"Sonic…"

"What?"

"Sonic!"

"Huh!?"

"Sonic! You idiot! Wake your ass up!"

Sonic jumped out of his fur and flipped onto his stomach and onto Knuckles. "Hey! Get off me you moron!" Knuckles yelled shoving the disoriented Sonic aside. Sonic rubbed his eyes and opened them only slightly to avoid the bright Sun, but it wasn't there. "Uhh…who turned off the Sun?" Knuckles raised his brow and murmured, "Sun…Sonic? Seriously…where the hell have you been?" Sonic jumps up in shock and scanned the area, "Wait! Where's the girl? Where's the Lake?"

Knuckles lifted himself up and brushed off his knees. "What girl Sonic? What're you talking about?"

"That girl, the one with the silver hair, she was here a minute ago."

"Damn…you must've been hit hard huh? There is no girl Sonic. There never was."

"But you don't understand! She was this high, in a dress. She was probably Six years old or so! She has to be here!"

"That's the thing! She wasn't here! You just got rammed into a tree! You've been out for two hours! There is no little girl!!"

Sonic was out of breath and sweating bullets. He still felt like his head was three times larger and his legs like spaghetti. "A tree? What tree? What the hell happened?"

Knuckles took a big sigh and shook is head. "Man. He must've been pretty strong to K.O. you like that."

"K.O?" Sonic asked turning to Knuckles, but what he saw scared him half to death. He didn't see the regular Knuckles, what he saw was a severely battered echidna with a black eye and cuts all over his body, and was barely standing up even with a stick from a nearby branch. Sonic then hovered his hand over his forehead and found a bump that stung when he touched it, and scared him when he realized it. Then a picture of a brown wolf with a red scarf occupied his mind.

"Spyke…" Sonic said above a whisper. Knuckles replied, "Bingo."

Sonic stumbled to the ground and landed on his behind, covering the bump on his head. "Looks like he got the best of us this time huh?" Knuckles said sitting down next to him, "It was even hard enough to get away from him that's for sure." Knuckles let out a weak laugh. Sonic glared at Knuckles like he wasn't serious.

Getting away? What the hell Knuckles? You can't just "Get Away". Then Knuckles slouched, for he was still trying to catch his breath. This got to Sonic. At first he was being himself, beating up eggbots like it was his profession. Then these new guys came along and trashed his party into a pile of nothing, knocked him to the ground and kicked the confidence out of him. He never ever experienced losing from anyone. And if he ever did, it would've been from Tails beating him in a game of chess. Sonic never lost an all out battle, and he never even wanted to. With that, his ears warmed up in his anger.

"Whaddya mean…getting away. You could've had him. What was wrong with you!? You can't just run from a battle like that you know! Don't you echidnas have pride?" Sonic said to Knuckles in a shaky tone. Knuckles straightened up his back and looked to Sonic and saw he was gritting his teeth and giving him a disappointing glare. Knuckles was sweating more than he was after the fight. "What could I do huh? He got the better of me; he beat the living crap out of me until I had only a spark of energy left to throw away. He put me in a position where I had no choice but to gather my last breath, grab you, and high tail it outta there! There was nothing I could do! And if I can remember right Sonic, you were the first one that he thrashed!"

Sonic became stunned and his mouth opened without any fighting words coming out. Whether Sonic liked it or not, Knuckles was right. He was right about every word he said to Sonic and he had to face them with open ears. Being scolded to was something that he was familiar with, but what Knuckles said was enough to stop you from breathing. It wasn't his tone, but the painful truth of it all.

Sonic his head between his knees and covered his face. He didn't say a word to Knuckles. The red echidna saw this and patted him on his shoulder. "I know how bummed you feeling man. I really do, No mistaking about that." Sonic didn't make a move at all, still bundled up and quiet.

"However, it is true about what you said. Pride is a serious thing to my people, but another thing that we keep in mind in the heat of battle is our lives. One must not dive head first into a snake pit without bringing a ladder with them. You must always think of the consequences when you happen to be in a state of defeat. Yes. It doesn't help your pride much, hell it will probably dent your honor a small bit, but as my ancestors said to me, 'There is no honor in defeat, but there is no sense in fighting a battle you can't possibly overcome.' We lived as a peaceful race and we didn't intend to be wiped out because of our foolish well being!"

Sonic removed his head from his knees and looked at the sky above, gazing at the evening clouds. Knuckles continued:

"Survival is painful at times Sonic, but it's the only way to stay alive. Besides…"

Knuckles looked at Sonic with a smile. "…You'll want to stay alive so you can train yourself, and face your opponents again."

Sonic's eyes widened from the ending of Knuckles' speech and he looked directly at him. That last sentence signaled him that Knuckles planned to fight him again, and beat him. And Sonic might as well do the same with that hedgehog girl. Funny thing is, Knuckles hasn't made a speech like that in ages, nor was he even known to say anything involving running away, but it seems battle experience has a way of changing a persons attitude.

"Now. Our main priority is getting well as soon as possible. I fear the emeralds are in danger again, and we'll probably have to fight Spyke again." Knuckles then flipped up and stretched his arms like they were already healing up. He then reached out for Sonic's hand. Sonic just looked at it, still down but hopefully not out. "Let's make way for Angel Island. It would be smart to lay low there."

Angel Island!? That's where the emeralds are! Knuckles is really thinking of preparing for a huge battle. Sonic already knew, if the emeralds are going to be in the mix, then Super Sonic is likely to make an appearance.

"As long as we take that speedy bitch down, I'll do anything." Sonic then grabbed Knuckles' hand and the echidna hoisted him onto his feet. "Speedy bitch huh? Was he really that fast Sonic?" Sonic then realized he was referring to the hedgehog girl when he planned in the past on keeping it to himself. "Oh!" Sonic replied, "I mean…he was pretty speedy taking me down right? Now let's go make a battle plan!"

Knuckles nodded. "Well said Sonic the Hedgehog!"

And in the darkness of the great castle

Looms a powerful being born from the sword

And has the blood of many on his hands

In the darkness of the scholar's room

Spyke's partner awaits the news of the emeralds.

"My friend. We have our headin'." Spyke said to the dark figure sitting on a regal chair behind an elegant desk with ancient engravings on the sides. The room was dark. The only light that resided was from a strange candle that presented a blue flame. The light from two thin windows also emanated, but not enough to reveal the entity's face. Although was can be seen is his hand holding an open book. The steel plates on the gauntlet he wore reflected the blue light like a curved mirror.

"The emeralds…" The figure said with a more English voice that was lower in tone than Spyke's strine accent. The voice easily conveys a young and experience warrior, but is nonetheless terrifying. Spyke folded his arms as usual. "So ya already knew eh? That pretty much defeats the purpose of me buggin' ya. Doesn't it?"

The figure let out a long sigh showing that he hated Spyke's sense of humor. Spyke stepped back once after the figures eyes began to glow a blue light. The contents of the desk shook up from his frustration towards Spyke. "Ignorant fool…you realize that I grow tired of you exceptionally quicker with your sarcasm." Spyke laughed nervously at his statement that nearly made him sweat. He figured he should get serious as of now.

"Although…" The figure said calmly, "I'm quite eager to know where those emeralds are. The echidna. You tracked him down did you not?" Spyke smiled with success. "Ahh…that I have. Of course, an echidna's spirit power is easy to track in clear weather such as this. Sad really. Ya could expect more from such an honorable race." Spyke tried to laugh at least a small bit, but the figure's tolerance was long gone. Spyke's laugh was easily weakened. "Very good Spyke…you're personality is pathetic, but you proceed with your tasks obediently. Well done." The figure didn't sound very pleased in his tone, but Spyke still let out a sigh of relief. Spyke's arms unfolded and he placed his hands on his hips. "So…how would ya like to bag us a few little shinies eh?"

"Very well…by tomorrow you will lead the way." the figure replied.

So it was decided.

The emeralds were to be seized after the rise of tomorrow's sun

Sonic and Knuckles, know not of their arrival.

What will become of this meeting?

"There, that'll do it." Knuckles said patching up the last cut from his right leg. After the supposedly fierce battle that he had, he was left with a lot to patch up. He practically looked like an Egyptian mummy. Sonic just stood there leaning on the wall of one of the houses they were resting in on Angel Island. He too had some wounds, but weren't as numerous as what Knuckles had to deal with. Right now the sun is setting for the night ahead. "You really think you can fight looking like that. Seriously you look like you had a tangle with the Sharmen bear." Sonic laughed his head off to that joke he made. Even Knuckles chuckled a bit. "Well you don't look so hot yourself Mr. One-hit-and-you're-out Wonder." Knuckles laughed away at his own comeback, Sonic wasn't laughing. Sonic then decided to walk up to a fruit bowl on the counter and help himself to one of the mangos. Knuckles finished off the last patch.

"Listen," Knuckles said, "We're going to need to take it easy tonight, if I am right, that Spyke fella is good at sudden appearances." Sonic just shrugged and took a huge bite out of the juiciest mango he could find. "Really now? That's a quick hunch you got." Knuckles stretched out his back from patching himself up for a half hour and went to grab a water bottle next to his medical supplies. "What I really wanna know is, how did the fight go between you and him? I mean…how strong was he?" Sonic turned to Knuckles waiting for a reply and saw he was taking a huge swig of the drink in the bottle.

"Urpp! Well, let's just say it was a pretty one sided fight. The guy was fast, he was strong, I had to give it everything I've got to dodge his blows, And well, I came out pretty bad after that battle. I managed to land a blow on him, but he was able to flip up and counter in a fraction of a second. He was an unpredictable fighter, no mistake about that. It was like he changed fighting styles in the midst of the brawl."

Sonic shook his head, "Man, that's nuts." He said. Knuckles chuckled. "Although. I was able to point out a small flaw in his tactics." Sonic's ears perked up. "Well let's here it!" Knuckles wiped his mouth from the drink and took a slow breath.

"He was reckless. He nearly took out every tree that was in his path. Not the most graceful fighters I'll tell you that much. In fact, I saw that he nearly tripped over that huge scarf of his. He was a real klutz to be fighting like that. That's pretty much the reason I was able to grab you're lifeless ass and lose him in the dense forests."

Sonic nodded. If that's how the big monster fought, then all Sonic has to do is confuse him. From the start, running at him head on was foolish, and he did just that back at Requiem. Sonic will never make that mistake again. "Okay," Knuckles said walking into one of the rooms, "If we are to fight him again, we might as well take a rest. No sense in opening up these wounds while the medicine is trying to heal them." Sonic looked puzzled, "What medicine? I don't remember taking any." Knuckles turned around to Sonic. "Oh! That's right. Drink this."

Knuckles throws the water bottle to Sonic and the hedgehog popped open the top and took a whiff of it, "Oh jeez! That's a strong smell." Knuckles nodded, "Just like the effects of it. I mixed it with healing herbs that grew on the island. Drink that stuff after a nap, and you'll wake up feeling like a million rings." Hearing that, Sonic took a sip of the medicine, "Don't drink too much now. We need it to last. Besides, you don't have as many wounds as I have. Take it easy" While drinking, Sonic gave a thumbs up and finished his dosage early. "Well, You going to rest up or what? The medicine works faster when you sleep." Knuckles said. "Oh…I'll crash in a minute. I just want to go outside and watch the sun set."

Sonic answered. Knuckles nodded an okay and shut the door to his own room. With that, Sonic made his way outside and jumped up on the roof to get a better view of the horizon. He sat down on the very top of the roof, for it was well rounded off and even stable enough to sit on. The sun was already an orange hue that made the clouds glow magenta. Sonic chuckled and said to himself, "Heh. Amy was right about these sunsets. You really can see her in them. That's just great. Now when I see pink, her face pops up in my mind. There's no escaping it. Heh." Sonic's smile faded. He also saw a hue of blue in the top part of the sky, which reminded him of that girl glaring at him with a smile of her own.

"Man. That girl was so fast. It was amazing. I have to beat her next time I find her, or else…" Sonic's fists tightened, "Or else I can't even call my self 'The Fastest Thing Alive'. I have to beat her. I must beat her!" Sonic stood up, but did nothing. The adrenaline that he got from thinking of that girl just made him want to stand tall. "Oh yeah. She's toast. I won't just beat her; I'll make her pay a hundred times over! " Then, the sky dimmed as the sun went down, and the moon became clear from the eastern sky. Sonic looked at the moon. It reminded him of another person he knew. "Hmm…that silver haired girl. Was she just a dream? Was she even real? I can't put my finger on it. Wish I didn't have so many images of her." Sonic sighed and continued to look at the moon. It was a crescent moon, just came out anew, but the white reflection of its surface was still full enough to be recognizable. "Well. Whoever you were, you've really invaded my mind." Yawning loudly, Sonic saw it fit to jump down and head back into the house for a well needed nap.