Ch.9: Howl of Devastation

Ironic how quickly things could turn around. Only a few days ago it was Zelkova lying on the medical bed, unconious and hurt, no one knowing when he would wake up or what he would do. And now Knuckles had the unfortunate luck to take up where Zelkova had left off.

The Guardian's eyes remained closed, and his breathing was slowly growing more steady. Zelkova sat in a chair a few feet away from Knuckles, keeping a watch on the red echidna while he slept.

At first, Sonic and the others had refused to give Zelkova the chance to be anywhere near Knuckles, but with a little help from Cosmo the Metarex was allowed to stay in the medical room. And he hadn't left since.

As a long three hours passed Tails went into the medical ward to check on how Knuckles condition was doing. When everything checked out fine, the twin-tailed fox's eyes turned to Zelkova.

The Metarex was still sitting in his chair, arms crossed, and eyes closed. It looked like he was possibly asleep. A tray of food lay on the floor to the right, by Zelkova's foot. The food had been brought in earlier by Sonic so Zelkova would have something to eat.

However, it was clear that Zelkova hadn't eaten a thing. Cause all the food was still on the tray.

"He must be really worried about Knuckles," thought Tails, walking out of the ward. Sonic was there to greet him as soon as he walked out.

"Any news?" asked Sonic, reffering to Knuckles.

"Nothing yet" said Tails " his condition seems to be stabilizing, but there's no telling what time he'll wake up,"

"I hope it's soon" said Sonic " we need his help to locate Fenris,"

"I know" said Tails, then spoke hestitantly " Sonic...I think Knuckles was right about Zelkova. Zelkova seems really worried about him. He's not even eating his food,"

"I know" said Sonic, with a sigh " I thought Knuckles was crazy the first time he brought Zelkova on board, but they really bonded as friends. And well, any friend of Knuckles is a friend of mine,"

"Wha...where am I?" came Knuckles raspy voice, as he drifted into concisousness.

Scanning the room with his voilet eyes, Knuckles could tell from the interior that he was inside the Blue typhoon's medical ward. His eyes widened in surprise when he noticed a sleeping Zelkova sitting on a nearby chair.

"Zelkova?" Knuckles though, confused " did he bring me here? What happened to Dark Oak and the other Metarex? Where's the machine I was strapped to?"

The subject of Knuckles thoughts suddenly came awake. His face lit up in joy when he saw Knuckles alive and well.

"Thank goodness your alright," said Zelkova to Knuckles.

"What happened to me?" asked Knuckles.

"Dark Oak and the others were planning to sacrifice you to Fenris once he was free of his temperal prison" said Zelkova " seeing you in pain was one thing, but I didn't want to see you die. I owe you that much for saving my life,"

"So" said Knuckles, sporting a slight grin " you rescued me only to pay back the debt,"

"No" said Zelkova " I rescued you because...you are my friend,"

"Thank you," said Knuckles.

There was a moment of silence between the two before anyone dared speak.

"What about Fenris?" asked Knuckles.

"He dissappeared with the seven Chaos Emeralds after destroying Dark Oak's ship" said Zelkova " we thought that you might be able to use the Master Emerald's power to track them and find out where he went,"

"Then let's go," said Knuckles, hopping out of bed with a slight groan of pain.

"You're still to injured" said Zelkova " you need rest,"

"When the universe is in danger" said Knuckles " there's no time to rest,"

With that said Knuckles walked limply to the control room. Shrugging his shoulders, Zelkova grabbed the echidna's hand, steadying his pace, and guided them both to the control room.

Meanwhile, in the center of the galaxy, Fenris appeared with the seven Chaos Emeralds circling around him. His eerie, yellow eyes scanned the horizion, making sure he was alone. Once certian no intruders were anywhere in sight, Fenris lifted up his head and howled.

The gaint, purple wolf's howl envoked the power of the seven Chaos Emerald, and a deadly blue vortex started to appear about ten feet above Fenris's head. Grinning at his deadly creation, Fenris declared...

" The End... Begins Now!"