Chapter 3

Redemption in the Bar

I'll leave my identity secret until the end of this chapter for your safety. Yes. YOUR safety.

The hardest thing I've struggled with is death. It's not so much the fear for me dying as for the little kids who are at risk. My reason for the strong concern is unknown to most…and shall remain secret to you until the time I right.

My story begins late one night at "Mona's Bright Tavern". Some of us would go there every night after making a lot of money at Casinopolis. Others would only come in once or twice a week. And only a few men with good sense left in them, like me, would come in every once in a while.

Reasons varied. Most would go because their girlfriends or boyfriends left them. Some would go to hear the latest gossip or get for the heck of getting drunk. Others would come in to have a good time. Some would gamble, try to get dates, and celebrate something good. As for the other 45% left unmentioned? We mourned the dead. I was part of that 45%, and was glad I didn't easily get drunk or high.

It took about twelve drinks to make me fall asleep. I never become high, all I got was tired. I drank Mona's "Cure for a Heartache" potion. I didn't know what was inside of it, nor did I want to know. All I knew was that it was good.

Lately I had visited Mona's every other night. I bled for information. I was so close to my goal it wasn't funny. In fact, it was agonizingly stressful.

Jericho was telling the story of how he had fallen to Earth in the other dimension. It always changed, seeing how he never began it until he had seven very strong drinks. Of course, the main story was true. I was an eyewitness.

It was funny, since he never could control the slur in his speech, the strange random entices and phrases that came up, and the helpless girly giggles he would break into.

Here's a little about Jericho. He was an old bird, an eagle to be exact. He was green with blue markings from his extinct tribe named, "The Babylon Rogues" or something. He forgot that he came to the bar to mourn the death of his son. He also was missing a grandson. But he never returned to his old wife, and so she died of grief for her husband. I happened to be the only one at that funeral to represent him.

I had just finished the 3rd drink when HE burst in. He was a reed echidna with a white crescent mark on his chest. He had a determined look on his face. I had never seen him before, so I was totally surprised that he actually knew-

"Jericho!" He went over to the old bird. Those who were listening to the story groaned at this interruption.

"What Dorothy?" Jericho replied, looking directing at the echidna.

"Not Dorothy, I'm Knuckles! Don't you remember me?"

"Oh yeah, I remember!" Jericho smiled. I couldn't help but laugh at Jericho's slur. "You're the dry-cleaner's daughter, right?"

The echidna was about to blow. "Hey," I called, "you're not gonna go anywhere with him."

"And you would know, why?" the echidna replied.

"Because I'm a good friend of his. Come over and have a drink." My mouth shook and had a hint of a slur, but I was still thinking straight.

He came and sat down on the stool next to me at the bar. "How'd you know Jericho?" He asked.

"Simple." I replied. "Hey Mona! Pass me another, will ya? Oh, and bring a cherry margarita with you for my friend over here!"

"Simple, what?" He persisted.

"Well," I said, turning back to him, "I like to travel. I met Jericho on a trip to the desert wastelands. That's back when he actually could think. Our group was attacked by raiders. Jericho tried to block their attacks with his 'mystic' staff. He would've ended up dead if I hadn't of seen the attack coming. I'm a 3rd degree black belt and higher. Boy! Did I scare them or what? Ever since, I've been keeping an eye on him." Mona came back with the drinks. "Thank you," I told her.

"Welcome, tomcat." Mona smiled. She was a fat, orange with red stripes tabby-cat. She wore an apron around her belly and a single rose in her hair. "Who's your friend?"

"I'm Knuckles." He replied.

"Ok, Hun. Just so you know: I make the best drinks in town." She flashed her pointy smile at the echidna. She then left to tend to another customer.

"So," I began. "How do you know that old birdbrain?"

"When I was about eight or nine," Knuckles took a small sip of the margarita. He wouldn't drink a lot. "I woke up with amnesia. No, I don't remember anything before that. After a few weeks of exploring the area, the Mystic Ruins, I came upon a group of gem thieves. My instinct was to attack the thieves, because they had the gems I was supposed to protect."

"Chaos Emeralds?" I inquired.

"Well, yes. How'd you know?" He seemed surprised.

I took another huge gulp of the drink. "Jericho told me this way, way back." I took another gulp. "He told me that you came out with a spear and tried to just take the jewels."

"Yeah." Knuckles continued. "Jericho actually managed to take away the spear. So I threw a very hard punch and almost killed him. Then, one of the men banged me over the head. When I woke up, I was chained to a tree. Jericho laughed and said, 'So, boy, you want these jewels? Then you'll have to help us first!' Of course, I didn't understand a word he spoke, because I didn't understand his language yet.

"After that, he taught me everything I know about treasure hunting, and a bit more. I was very mad when I learned that he wanted me to be a thief just like him. He was teaching me to control my strength for the wrong reason. Like I said, I'm a protector, not a rogue."

I took two gulps. I only had a third left in the glass. "And you're too honest to be in the thieving business anyway." I replied. The drink was kicking in finally. I felt tired now. "What did you want to tell Jericho?" I blinked hard.

I could tell the echidna thought I was getting drunk. I was going to have fun squeezing info out of him, even though he didn't know what I was doing.

"His jewel-shop was robbed."

That took me by surprise. I looked him in the eye; still acting. "Which section was robbed?" I asked.

"Don't know. Somewhere near the back window. Here's something you should know: I haven't tried to contact the bird in over a decade. I only knew where to find him if I needed…"

"Help?" I finished.

"Something similar to that."

"What was stolen?" I persisted. I finished my glass. "Yo Mona! I'll take another refill!"

"Three flamestones and another unknown gem. Yeah. I knew that amount was scary too."

"I assume that the police have covered the crime-scene?"

"Yeah."

Time to go. I finished the glass in one streak. "Well," I spoke after topping it off. "I need to go. Hope I see you again, ok?" I started to go, but he kept on staring at my right eye. "What?" I asked.

"What's wrong with your- I mean, you have a robotic eye!"

I should've known. Making eye-contact was dangerous for me. I DID have a robotic right eye. I smiled. "Nothing's wrong with either of my eyes." I said.

I turned quickly around and started walking toward the door.

"WAIT!" Knuckles called.

I stopped. "What now?" I mumbled.

"What's your name, tomcat?"

"Myzak. My name is Myzak."