Author's Note: Sorry this took so long, the chapter ran kinda longer than I anticipated. Hope no one thought I was taking another yearlong hiatus. XD In any event, you know the drill. If you read, please review. Oh yeah, and before I forget, thanks to both of my anonymous reviewers, Gamenoise and myself. And to answer your question, myself, Merlin's disease is causing Tails to age in reverse, meaning that he went from being 10 (his age as of the last game as I know it) down to 8 as he currently is. All right, everybody caught up? Then lets begin.
Addendum: Well since everyone's been pointing out that I missed a whole bunch of typos and errors when I originally uploaded this chapter, I decided to go back and re-edit and upload again. For those of you who already read this chapter, nothing major's changed, I just edited spelling and grammar, so if you don't feel like re-reading you won't miss anything other than my beautiful prose. XD Hopefully this is better, so everyone will be happy.
Present
"Okay buddy, let's go," the G.U.N. soldier barked to Hunter as he shoved the mercenary towards the G.U.N. transport that currently sat next to the Tornado.
"What's the matter, officer, afraid these cuffs aren't going to be strong enough to hold me?" the arrogant prisoner snipped back, even as he moved forward, his hands behind his back. Nearby Sonic watched the procession with half interest. The soldiers would no doubt take Hunter back to Station Square where, hopefully, someone would remember the man needed to be interrogated for the name of his employer rather than shunted into a cell for awhile. Though the Floating Island was recognized, at least theoretically, as its own sovereign landmass, its lack of any sort of holding cells meant Knuckles either had to rely on the local military to take custody of and remove his prisoners, or simply toss them off the island. Since the prospect of bodies falling from the sky appealed to NO ONE on the surface, local governments were fairly quick to respond to a request for pick-up. Of course that didn't mean they were always overly concerned with prosecution. Still, G.U.N. tended to be better about such things than most, having personally witnessed numerous occasions where incursions onto the Floating Island ended up leading to world devastating scenarios.
Satisfied Hunter was secure, Sonic's complete attention now turned to the field technician that had come along with the soldiers to inspect the damaged robots. Tails was peering over the shoulder of the man, no doubt tolerated in deference to what was still perceived as the most technologically innovative mind on the planet. In the fox's current state Sonic knew better, and hoped the cub was not unduly distracting the human from his work. Quickly the hedgehog fast stepped over.
"So have you found anything out, eh, Lieutenant?" he asked, noting the rank insignia on the man's shoulder.
"Too early to tell yet, Mr. Hedgehog," the youth said, with just a bit of deference in his voice. Though probably a touch older than Sonic himself, the man had most likely started his career just about the same time Sonic had started saving the world. Even semi-retired, Sonic couldn't help but feel just a little bit prideful when someone recognized him. "The tech here is old, six or seven years out of date at least, but it's still innovative. Someone who really knows robotics put these things together."
"'Really knows robotics,' huh?" Sonic asked, his mind already compiling a list of the usual suspects such a statement conjured. A list with exactly one name on it.
"Yeah, at least that's what it seems like. But this isn't the first time these boys have been in battle and that's the puzzling thing."
"What do you mean?" a curious Tails asked as he looked at the downed bots.
"Uh, well, they may have been made by a genius, but whoever got them later did a slapdash job of fixing them up." As he spoke, the Lieutenant began to point out what he'd seen; wires held together by electrical tape, shoddy welding on the armor, missing screws, patched hoses, and several corroded mechanisms in the joints. Even the CPU in the head was much less impressive than Sonic would have expected, with missing components on the motherboard and circuits that were just shy of being nigh unusable. The hedgehog almost felt like he hadn't so much as defeated the mechanical men as put them out of their misery.
"Why would someone send such a cruddy robot after Knuckles?" Tails asked, breaking his guardian out of his repose. He might have seconded the cub's question, but a sudden, faint sound came to the hedgehog's ears, causing him to cast a quick glance around. Even as his head did not move, his triangular ears twitched ever so slowly as he zeroed in on the source of the sound.
"I'm not entirely sure keed, but I'm bettin' we'll find out," Sonic finally said. "Uh, if you'll excuse me for a second though..."
"What's wrong?"
"Nothin', nothin'. Just gotta go use the little hedgehog's room," Sonic assured his young friend with a smile. For a few brief moments Sonic's form flickered before he suddenly disappeared.
Not too far away, covered by the bushes and undergrowth of the forest, someone was watching the proceedings with a fair amount of interest. Though Knuckles told himself he was just being a good Guardian and making sure the intruders left his island, the fact that his eyes kept straying to a singular member of the group seemed to indicate otherwise.
'He looks so much younger than I remember him,' the echidna thought to himself as he watched Tails poking around the robots with the G.U.N. Lieutenant. 'Poor guy, I can't imagine what it would be like to live your life backwards like that. Maybe I should speak to him at least. The way Sonic acted, I probably won't get another chance.' Knuckles weighed the option in his mind, but shook his head. Fair weather friends were despicable people, and no one benefitted from having them around. Better to allow Tails to continue believing whatever lie Sonic had concocted for him than spoil it by opening old wounds.
All too quickly a familiar pain came to the former warrior's joints from being crouched too long, a pain that was not helped by the stiffness he felt from his earlier exertions. With a low groan, the last of the echidnas shifted his weight a bit as he tried to get comfortable. When he looked up again he noticed Sonic was now next to Tails and the technician. An instant later the hedgehog had disappeared and Knuckles didn't have to be a genius to figure out why. Quickly, albeit not as much so as he might have during his youth, the echidna turned to leave, heading towards another of the secret passages he used to traverse the island. He got no more than a foot before slamming into a blue obstacle and being sent to the ground. That the force of the blow only caused Sonic to step back while sending Knuckles sprawling was not lost on the echidna.
"You know Knux, you used to be a lot sturdier," Sonic expounded, as though such a fact needed to be pointed out. "Better at keeping yourself hidden too." From where he laid Knuckles merely glared at the hedgehog. Slapping away an offered hand, the echidna angrily got to his feet.
"I thought I told you people to leave my island," he stated, his voice dead and even, a typical tactic he'd often employed when he didn't want to discuss things with someone.
"Yeah but since you're about as capable of making us as a chili-dog is of not being lunch, I thought we'd stick around for a bit," Sonic responded, goading the echidna. "Maybe I'll scope out a good location for a vacation home, you know. I bet the altitude will give Tails and me a real rush."
"Don't push me, hedgehog," Knuckles growled back, trying to put on his best "Shadow Sneer." While such an act might have looked fearsome on the black hedgehog, Knuckles shallow face was not really up to the task of pulling it off. In point of fact it only served to highlight how tired the echidna looked.
"Don't see why I shouldn't. Ain't like you can do anything about it." It was then that Knuckles decided to act, throwing a wicked punch at Sonic. It wasn't a bad punch as far as punches went. Against any average opponent, and indeed some of the better fighters out there, Knuckles's blow would probably have been the last one they ever saw. But against someone like Sonic who knew his former rival's moves inside and out, it was laughably pathetic. The punch was telegraphed almost for a mile and sluggish too compared to other attacks the echidna used. And there was practically no force, no real passion behind it. Just the wounded pride of a warrior already feeling defeated.
It was child's play for Sonic to dodge the punch. The second one fared no better, striking nothing but air thanks to the hedgehog's matchless speed. Knuckles huffed in anger and for a moment Sonic wondered if he should beware some vengeance from the surrounding forest. The echidna was a master of traps afterall. Instead Knuckles recklessly threw himself forward, attempting to strike his opponent with a haymaker. That this attack was slower than his first two jabs meant again that Sonic had little trouble dodging, though this time the attack caused Knuckles to lose his balance and again fall to the forest floor.
For a brief moment Sonic considered laughing at the funny sight. In the olden days he probably would have, if only rub the always haughty Knuckles's face in it. But now…
"Rouge was right. You aren't at the top of your game, not even close," Sonic pointed out again as Knuckles managed to pull himself to his hands and knees, already breathing hard.
"Shutupshutupshutup SHUT UP!" Knuckles practically roared, his hand closing around some dirt that he could throw at Sonic. Not accustomed to dirty fighting from the normally honorable echidna, Sonic was caught completely by surprise as the dirt clod struck him in the eyes, temporarily blinding him. The dirty attack was quickly followed up by a hard punch to the hedgehog's stomach, which was itself followed by an uppercut to the chin. "Still say I'm weak hedgehog?" the echidna growled as he loomed over his stricken opponent, watching as Sonic cleaned the gunk from his eyes, a shifty smile on his face.
"As a matter of fact," Sonic's body flickered just before he disappeared and suddenly a sharp pain came to Knuckles's shoulder as his arm found itself being bent back behind him, his hand almost touching his shoulder-blade as he was forced to his knee, "I do."
"Argh," the echidna yelled as he struggled to escape the arm-lock. Sonic continued to shift his grip with his captive's struggles, holding him in place with minimal effort.
"Come on Knux, I know I'm great but you're supposed to be better than this," the hedgehog chided.
"Let GO of ME!" Knuckles growled, sounding very fierce. The fact that all he could do was growl took a great deal of the intimidation out of it. Beneath his hands Sonic could feel the Guardian's muscles actually straining as he tried to out muscle his captor, something he should have been able to do with no problems whatsoever. Using a quick shove Sonic threw Knuckles forward, stepping backwards quickly out of the echidna's range and into a crouch, ready to spring at necessity's urging.. But there came no retaliation as Knuckles just continued to breathe heavily on the ground. Sonic was still cautious, especially after the surprising dirty trick that had been formerly employed. For a few minutes both combatants remained motionless, the only sound the huffing and puffing coming from the echidna.
Triangular ears prickled a little as another sound was also heard.
"Damn you hedgehog," came a whispered curse, repeated over and over again. It wasn't difficult to understand who was saying such words.
"What's going on Knuckles?" the hedgehog asked, his voice so neutral and serious it seemed almost alien even to Sonic's own ears. "This isn't like you, not at all." When no answer was forthcoming, Sonic decided to appeal to the echidna's pride. "You're supposed to be the best fighter on the planet. Unstoppable to everything except maybe death, and even then that's a big maybe. And here you are on the ground after only a few hits. What's happened?" No answer came from the still echidna. Sonic grunted a bit from where he crouched, his patience with the crimson Mobian growing thin. He was used to Knuckles being obstinate and secretive, that was as much a part of his character as the large fists his physique. But this wasn't stubbornness, this was petulance; like a whining little baby who didn't want to admit he'd been caught doing something he wasn't supposed to. Knuckles was throwing a tantrum, and Sonic would be a slowmo before he had to take care of some overgrown baby. "Fine. You don't want to tell me, fine," he said angrily. "I have enough on my hands trying to keep Tails in one piece; I don't need to deal with a baby puggle too. But you better believe I'm gonna tell this to G.U.N." Suddenly, Knuckles's back straightened as his muscles clenched. "I'm serious. I'm not gonna leave here just to come back a few weeks later cause you let yourself be killed by the next Eggman wannabe and he's now got the chaos emeralds. Maybe I should just take 'em all to make sure…"
"RAWR!" Knuckles growled as he charged forward, swinging wildly and recklessly as he closed with the surprised Sonic. The echidna was running on pure fury and adrenaline as he swung, forcing the hedgehog to block rather than evade. Sonic grunted. Weakened or not, Knuckles was still very much a powerhouse. Suddenly a new surprise appeared as a red leg was thrust upwards, attempting to kick Sonic's gut. Knuckles was a boxer, not a martial artist, and his legs were used exclusively for springing, running, and other methods of propulsion. It was for this reason the kick was wild and it might have been an easy move to dodge if its addition to the echidna's repertoire were not again such a surprise. As it was, Sonic did barely manage to evade the attack, the movement costing him his balance as he did. A giant fist slammed into the side of the hedgehog's face, driving the blue one into a tree where Knuckles could easily use his still very much superior strength to pin him.
Sonic glanced at the echidna. Knuckles looked furious, his teeth gritted and his eyes blazing as he glared at Sonic. What got the hedgehog's attention most, though, was the trail of tears going down the echidna's muzzle.
"If you want those stupid, worthless rocks so much, then go ahead and take 'em, but LEAVE! ME! ALONE!!" With that, Knuckles jerked to the side hard, throwing Sonic roughly into a tree. Sonic grunted as he crumpled to the ground, his head aching as he fought to remain conscious. Thus it was that he caught sight of Knuckles as he hobbled over to a tree stump and flipped open the top. Casting an angry, hateful look back at Sonic, the Guardian of the Floating Island disappeared down the secret passageway.
Past (12 and a half years ago)
"Come on Sonic, wake up," Miles's voice quietly called as he gently shook his son's shoulder. For a brief moment the hedgehog cringed as he lay on his belly, his face buried in his arms, but soon he slowly lifted his head. Sonic's large eyes were red and puffy, a clear indicator he'd been crying for an extended period of time. That there were dark lines under them showed he had not slept much the night previous either, something that was not overly surprising to his adoptive father. Sonic looked a Miles in silence for a moment before sniffing, noticing the vulpine's own blue eyes were also tinged in red. "Come on kid, we gotta get ready." Miles strode over to the suitcase he had hastily packed before they'd left Station Square, opening it so he could begin rummaging around. "Go clean yourself up. Grandma won't like such a disheveled face." Still not saying a word, Sonic sniffled again, but slowly and almost grudgingly slid off the bed that had once served as his father's when he was a boy. Dejectedly grabbing hold of a towel he shuffled through the bathroom door, turning on the light as he went. The sound of running water soon reached the fox's ears, as did the slow splashing sound of hands catching the water.
Soon Sonic re-entered the bedroom, his facial fur just a little damper than it had been before, but his eyes a bit clearer as moisture returned to them. Soon they fell upon the small suit that had been laid out on the bed, clearly in expectation of being worn. A part of hedgehog boy wanted to ball the thing up and throw it out the convenient window, but the last thing he wanted to do right now was cause Miles more grief. Carefully Sonic slipped on the shirt, a custom made job his father had gotten him. While the material was not impervious to cutting or tearing, it would hardly be useful if it was, it was far more resistant to such acts than any other fabric that existed. Supposedly it had a metal mesh woven into it that allowed it to endure constantly being rubbed and poked by sharp hedgehog quills. All Sonic knew was that the thing could get hot to wear, even more so when he had to put on the jacket that went with it. The pants were a similar material, at least in the seat where the last of Sonic's quills protruded and could still provide embarrassing tears, but all that meant was that they were equally hot to wear. The thing he hated the most was the shoes. They were the standard fair for a suit; black, shiny, and, most irritatingly, inflexible. They were also not made of the same material as Sonic's normal sneakers, which meant he could not run in them, at least not like he could in his sneaks. Not that he'd want to as the dress shoes pinched his toes and could rub his feet raw. Miles had told him he could wear the things around the house to break them in, but Sonic had preferred his normal footwear. Now as he slid his sock covered feet into them, the hedgehog wished he had taken the advice.
Leaving the dreaded jacket for later, Sonic draped the dark blue silk tie around his neck and headed off to find his father to tie it for him. The house on Emerald Hill had never seemed so empty as it did now. Usually Sonic liked how peaceful and quiet the place was in comparison to the hustle and bustle of Station Square but now, it just seemed like the whole building was in a type of quiet mourning. He would have given anything to be anywhere else other than here, maybe even back at Green Hill. Angrily the hedgehog huffed, banishing such an insufferably churlish thought from his mind. As he passed the living room he noted the large number of flowers sitting on the table, gifts of condolence from friends and well wishers. If Sonic never saw another flower in his life again he'd be very happy. Finally he arrived at the guest room Miles usually stayed in when they visited his parents.
The door was slightly ajar, allowing for a touch of light from inside to grant some minor illumination to the dreary hallway, but Sonic could hear no sound coming from within. For a moment the hedgehog wondered that his father might have gone somewhere else to get ready. Timidly the yourh opened the door. Miles was indeed inside, sitting on the bed in similar attire to Sonic, his head in his hands. At the creaking sound of the door the fox looked up. The light from the nearby lamp illuminated the wet patches on the fox's muzzle for the briefest of moments before Miles wiped them away, a sharp intake of breath punctuating the fox's mood.
"Hey kid," whispered the vulpine, trying to pull off a reassuring smile, and only half succeeding, a novel sensation for him. "You gettin' ready?" Sonic approached slowly, holding up the two ends of his tie.
"I need help with this," he explained in a subdued tone that didn't sound at all like him. The elder Prower gave another sniff and then took hold of the silk article, his hands moving clumsily as he tied up the tie, having to restart three times. His task done, Miles rose to his feet and moved over into the bathroom so he could comb the bangs on his head into order and then tie his own tie. When he came back out, Sonic was still standing there, a lost look on his face.
"Why don't you go get yourself something to eat, an apple or something that won't make a mess, 'kay? I'll be ready in a bit." Obediently Sonic left, heading for the kitchen as his father had suggested. He was just on his third apple (Sonic wasn't overly interested in coming up with his own ideas at the moment) when he heard the sound of footsteps approaching. Miles had both of their jackets in his hand. "Car should be here. You ready?"
In all honestly the hedgehog certainly didn't feel ready, but he wasn't about to tell his father he didn't want to go. Carefully Sonic tossed away the apple core and followed. Outside a car was indeed waiting for them. Since the only method of transportation Miles owned that was present was a plane, and that would hardly be suitable, the CEO had opted to hire a taxi to ferry them to their destination.
"Miles Prower?" the cabby, a dingo with a checkered porkpie hat, asked, yawning due to the early hour of the day.
"Yes," the fox responded as he opened the door and let Sonic hop inside before taking a seat himself. "Emerald Meadows Funeral Home if you would please." The dingo nodded and began moving. They drove in silence, Sonic wallowing in his thoughts as he tried to wrap his head around what had happened over the past few days. He'd been at Samantha's place, spending the summer day, and the next thing he'd known Tails had come home agitated and in a rush. He'd told Sonic that they were leaving, much to Mrs. Axelby's surprise. She'd asked what had been wrong, but all Tails had told her was that he and Sonic needed to go to Emerald Hill and would be gone for a few days. Sonic had been quite surprised when he'd noticed a somewhat more solemn looking Mr. Cervid busily packing their suitcases. Without even giving Sonic an explanation, they'd gone to the airport, run a check on the Tornado and been off.
It wasn't until much later that Sonic found out what had happened. Evelyn Prower had suffered a sudden, intense heart attack and, despite the efforts of the paramedics, had passed away that morning.
Sonic hadn't cried once on the trip over to Emerald Hill. He hadn't even cried as the taxi had taken them from the airport over to the Prower home. Even as the two of them had walked up to the front door, Sonic had held out a faint hope that the door would swing open and the matronly fox would be waiting for them, just as she had all the other times Sonic had visited. But the house was empty, not a soul alive in it. The hedgehog had come to find out his grandfather was currently with some friends who were taking care of him, leaving Miles to take care of the details himself, and leaving Sonic with nothing to do other than putter around the house trying to stay out of the way. And each day he kept hoping that this was all just some stupid joke, that at any moment the Grandmother he'd grown so attached to during his time with Tails would appear in the kitchen making cookies, or be sitting reading one of her books in her favorite armchair. Heck he'd have even settled for walking into the bathroom and finding her scrubbing out the bathtub, even if that usually resulted in him being roped in to help.
But time had passed and no such thing happened, much to the hedgehog's grief.
The taxi slowly pulled into the parking lot of Emerald Meadows, the morning sun shining down on the place and giving it an altogether too cheery look. Sonic was not amused.
Miles handed the cabbie his fare and exited the vehicle, followed closely by his son. They were among the first guests to arrive and very soon a weasel in a black suit came scooting out of the funeral home, his hand extended towards Miles in greeting.
"Mr. Prower," the weasel spoke as his hand was gripped by the fox's, "I'm the funeral director here at Emerald Meadows, Mortimer Klimer."
"Hello Mr. Klimer," the CEO said in a neutral, controlled voice.
"On behalf of Emerald Meadows I just wish to convey our sincerest condolences for the loss of your mother. I'm not speaking in mere platitudes when I say Evelyn was a fixture in the community and that her passing came as a tragic shock to everyone."
"Thank you," responded the fox. That was when the weasel director noticed the small hedgehog standing beside Miles.
"And you would be… 'Sonic,' am I correct?" he asked, a smile on his face that he probably hoped was comforting but came off as just a bit creepy. Not feeling in a particularly personable mood, the normally outgoing hedgehog took a step closer to his father, attempting to disappear into the adult's bushy tails. Klimer seemed to take the hint, carefully ruffling Sonic's head quills before turning his attention back to Miles.
"I do believe we've done your mother's memorial service very well Mr. Prower. Not that we didn't have a great deal to work with."
"Fine, fine, Mr. Klimer, I'm sure it's all very well and good," Miles said, waving the Mobian off. "If it's not too much trouble, I believe my son and I would prefer to head on in."
"Of course, of course sir, do not let me keep you." The weasel stepped aside as Sonic and Miles continued onward. Inside the funeral home was colored in a deep red, with several red flowers sitting everywhere in vases of varying colors. Prints of various pieces of arts were hung on the velvety wall, as though adding a bit of culture and class could hide the facts about this place. The whole place smelled far too sweet to be real. Sonic didn't like it. The pair made their way through the main hall, Miles directing the hedgehog to a large set of double doors with a plastic placard on an easel displaying the words "Prower Funeral" plus an expected starting and ending time. Behind the doors a red headed human stood by a pedestal that held an open book, his arms crossed as he nodded solemnly towards an old fashioned pen sitting in an inkwell. That the pen only looked old fashioned and that the inkwell was completely empty spoke only to the inefficiency of such things. Miles took the pen in hand and wrote out his name in the registry, after which he went down a line to write another. Before pen touched paper, the fox stopped, glancing down at Sonic.
"Would you like to be the one to write your name?" he asked quietly, offering the writing implement to the hedgehog. With a quick nod, Sonic was handed the pen and allowed to get upon a step stool to better see the book. There weren't a lot of names to be read, only about five so far, but that was to be expected for now. With a steady hand, Sonic also put pen to paper just under his father's signature and, in the most controlled and legible script he could make, carefully entered "Olgilvie Prower" into the ledger. The human cast a glance at the name, making sure the young boy had written it correctly, and then nodded them onward into the viewing room.
Two wreaths of flowers sitting on easels sat on either side of a large wooden box the like of which Sonic had never seen before, though he knew what it was. It was a coffin made of a dark brown wood the hedgehog couldn't readily identify. Though most of it was barren of any real ornamentation, there was what appeared to be a carved etching of a vine just under the top. The lower half, or at least what Sonic took to be the lower half, of the lid was closed, a white cloth draped over it as a display of bluebonnets could be seen sitting on it. The whole display was simple and pretty, just the way Evelyn Prower had been in life.
Rows and rows of chairs filled the rest of the room, with a center aisle cleared for people to walk through. Still tired from lack of sleep Sonic took a seat in one, his eyes never leaving the coffin and what he knew was resting inside.
"Stay put Sonic, I'll be right back," Miles said gently before walking off, heading towards the coffin. The hedgehog was grateful for the respite, and even more so that he had not been asked if he would like to come up with his father. He didn't have to let anyone know he didn't want to.
Soon more and more people began to file into the room, filling in the registry and taking seats or milling about talking to each other. A few even did as Miles did and walked up to the coffin to pay their respects. Some had apparently thought it a good idea to bring their children, as evidenced by the rising sounds of discontent. Anger welled in Sonic's heart as he took in this display of disrespect.
'If the little jerks don't want to be here fine, but they could at least try to make the best of a bad situation and shut their stinkin' traps.' Quietly the hedgehog wondered if he'd be able to move fast enough without his shoes on to bop some of these little brats over the head before any of their parents noticed. As if sensing his son's thoughts, the returned Miles gripped Sonic's shoulder and shook his head.
It was at that point the only other person Sonic actually cared to see at this event finally arrived, his grandfather. Bartholomew Prower held himself with a certain amount of dignity at all times, even now, but Sonic could see the older fox was struggling to maintain his composure. If anything the fact that he'd been unable to stay in his own house for the past few days proved the vulpine was not doing too well. He wore an old military uniform that the hedgehog guessed was a holdover from his days in the airforce, complete with several medals pinned to his chest. Quickly Sonic hopped out of his chair and walked up to greet the elder Prower, surreptuously kicking the shin of a rather annoying stout that had been busy lamenting not being able to play ball with his friends.
"Hey Grandpa," Sonic greeted lamely, not really knowing what to say. At the sound of his grandson's voice Bartholomew's attention turned away from the elderly panther he'd arrived with.
"Sonic. So good to see you here," the former pilot returned, his voice quiet and neutral, as though all the emotion had been played out of it. Sonic didn't like it. He was far too used to the normally boisterous proclamations that the old vulpine liked to make. Again the hedgehog's head was patted as the panther, whom Sonic had met before but whose name escaped him at the moment, whispered his own greetings. Sensing there would not be any further conversation, Sonic chose to guide the two Mobians over to where Miles sat. Everyone else in the room took a seat as well as a well dressed squirrel in black entered the room, walking straight to the podium that had at some point been set up in front of the coffin.
"Ladies and Gentleman," the squirrel began as everyone quieted, "We gather here today to pay remembrance to the memory of Mrs. Evelyn Rosemary Prower…"
Present
Sonic raced through the forest of the Floating Island, a clear destination in his mind as the trees blurred by. He'd considered following Knuckles through the tunnel the echidna had leapt through, but decided against it. The tunnels crisscrossed the entire interior of the island, and they didn't always end in particularly safe places. Knuckles had once joked that, during his brief partnership with Eggman, he'd actually hoped Sonic and Tails would follow him into the secret passages, just so he could have sent them crashing into Lava Reef's unprotected section. Needless to say neither Tails nor Sonic found that particular joke funny.
Sonic had also considered simply leaving Knuckles to his fate. It certainly didn't take a giant fist to the face to let the hedgehog know when his help was not wanted. Of course there were a number of reasons he couldn't, one of the biggest being that, with Knuckles in charge, the Floating Island, and more importantly the powers of the chaos emeralds, were effectively neutral in all world events. That meant no invincible war machines fueled by the awesome powers of the emeralds. If Knuckles died, how long would it be before some enterprising nation decided to take custody of the Floating Island and its treasures for the "good" of the world? And then how long would it be before Sonic was asked, or even forced, to deal with the problem?
And more importantly, even after all that had happened between them, Sonic still considered the hot headed echidna a friend, and it wasn't in the hedgehog's nature to give up on a friend. Thus it was that Sonic now raced towards the one place he could think of that Knuckles was still likely to go; the Shrine of the Master Emerald. The special zones of Angel Island flew by as Sonic sprinted, blasting through Sandopolis, flying through Aquatic Ruins, and crashing through Casino Night. He soon found himself passing through the all too familiar remains of Hidden Palace, the former site of the shrine. From there it was only a hop, skip, and a jump, quite literally in Sonic's case, to his destination. When he arrived, the hedgehog could only stop and stare, his mouth opening in complete shock.
In the entire world, no wonder was more unique than the Floating Island. An entire landmass that been cut free of the forces of gravity, rising into the air and sailing throughout skies as free as a bird. This was only possible thanks to the power of the mighty Master Emerald, a power supplemented by the seven chaos emeralds. Thus it was little wonder that such powerful artifacts would rest in a place of honor, a sacred site that could be used to channel their powers into the island they kept aloft. The shrine was a platform made of solid marble obtained from a hidden quarry, a pit dug in the center to hold the gigantic gem in a bed of smaller seed crystals. All around the perimeter there were seven thick marble columns at the tops of which the seven servers traditionally rested, at least when they weren't part of some harebrained scheme to either conquer or save the world. The shrine had stood for thousands of years unblemished, surviving first being taken to Hidden Palace and then even the destruction of that hidden home. And that wasn't even counting the number of windstorms, hurricanes, and other natural disasters the elements would have thrown at the ancient edifice at this altitude.
And here it was, looking worse than it had ever been to Sonic's recollection. The white marble that made up the shrine was filthy looking, covered in dirt and grime that could have been an inch thick at its base. One of the chaos emerald's columns had actually collapsed and the jewel itself currently lay on the ground in a bed of mud. Carefully Sonic lifted the gem and scraped off some of the earth, revealing the emerald to be the red one. All the emeralds looked duller than normal, not as if they'd been drained, but more as if no one had cared for them in quite a while. There were even the remnants of a bird's nest sitting atop the pink one. Silently Sonic ascended the Master Emerald's platform, his hedgehog ears prickling a bit at the sound of loose marble falling away at his steps.
And all the while he couldn't help but get a terrible sense of wrongness. This collection of emeralds was Knuckles's most prized treasure, the very purpose of his life; or at least they were supposed to be. And yet here they sat like some forgotten old clutter one would find in an elderly person's attic. Even Sonic, for whom material things were of no real import, would have treated these stones better than they had been.
'This settles it, something's up here,' the hedgehog thought. Suddenly the hedgehog became aware of a scuffling sound, the kind of sound shoes made when they were dragged along the ground. Quickly he turned around and there stood Knuckles, a cross look on his face but otherwise immobile.
"Can't you just leave me alone?" the echidna asked in a quiet voice, letting out a defeated sigh.
"Not after I've seen this," Sonic responded, his hand waving towards the neglected shrine. "What happened here Knux, this place looks like a disaster area?"
"Really? To me it just looks like ruins no one's bothered to come near for a few years. Isn't that the way all civilizations that die are supposed to look after a while?" Sonic couldn't help but be surprised by that statement.
"But these are supposed to have a caretaker; you," he pointed out, just before indicating a rather large crack at the base of the Master's pedestal. "And this wasn't just time taking its toll, I've seen places like that. This was deliberate on someone's part." Knuckles merely shrugged.
"Ooh, you caught me." Then he turned his back to Sonic. "I don't get why you're so concerned. Like I said, if you love those stupid rocks so much, go ahead and take them with you if you want. I'm done wasting my life being whipping boy for pebbles."
"'Whipping boy?' Since when were you a whipping boy?"
"Since the first day I opened my eyes and had to spend every waking moment caring for these things," Knuckles growled, turning back to face Sonic. "Since I haven't been able to leave this horrible island for a single day without them calling me back. Since I've had to give up on every single damn dream I've ever had because someone has to stay here and make sure these 'precious artifacts' aren't captured and used for evil deeds! And I'm sick of it!"
"When did this happen?" Sonic asked, taking a step back down to approach the beleaguered warrior. "I mean, granted, I always thought the same things and if it was me up here I'd go stir crazy, but you always seemed so proud to do it. Annoyingly so." A derisive laugh was heard.
"Yeah. I thought I was so special," the echidna began. "Sure I was stuck up here, away from everything else, but I was the 'Guardian.'" This last word with spoken with contemptuous venom, as though it were the most laughably absurd thing in the universe. "It was my honor, my privilege to protect this island, to serve these emeralds, and all I had to do was not think about what I was missing out on. And I actually thought that was great." An angry look crossed Knuckles's face and for a brief moment Sonic's muscles tensed as he anticipate the disturbed Mobian doing something stupid. But Knuckles didn't move, his shoulders slumping in defeat as his eyes closed. "And then Robotnik came, and you, and… Tails. And I got the opportunity to see just what it was I was missing out on on the surface. More and more I got a taste of the outside world and the next thing I know I had companions, I had friends, and I had enemies. I wasn't the solitary figure I had been and heaven help me but I liked it. That the emeralds got occasionally stolen, that my home was put in danger, that my life became more complicated didn't matter, because finally I felt like I was living life. I even started to think I could count on the two of you, do you know how odd that is?"
"Well, I guess," Sonic admitted, though really he had no idea. Having been a social creature all his life, though at times a maladjusted one, the idea of being an island unto himself was anathema to the hedgehog's very being. "But that still doesn't explain why you're so upset, or why you'd let the shrine fall apart like this. If anything it just raises the question of why you turned on Tails and me so quickly when we came to you for help." Again Knuckles made a snorting laugh.
"How many times have you used the chaos emeralds to save the world?" he asked calmly, quietly. This question seemed a bit out of place, but still the blue hedgehog's ears twitched as he struggled to remember.
"Six or seven times I'd say." Suddenly the sprinter smiled, his arms folding behind his head. "They do come in handy when Eggy's on a rampage." The laughter stopped when Sonic caught a look at the glare Knuckles was giving him.
"Yeah, real handy. Comes with being so powerful, doesn't it?"
"Well they are 'sposed to be the most powerful things on the planet."
"Uh-huh. Infinitely so. Course it stands to reason that if the world went all to hell, the emeralds would get the shaft too. Heck with a big enough explosion, they might find themselves scattered across the universe, never able to re-unite again. So they'd have something of a stake in making sure the world was able to be saved, right?"
"I… guess so," Sonic responded. "At least in as much as rocks can have a stake in anything." The hedgehog knew the spirit of Tikal and the water monster Chaos were bound up inside the Master Emerald, but there was a difference between that and actually considering the individual emeralds to be sentient, to be capable of having their own desires and demands.
"Yeah, they're powerful enough to help save the world they live on. Strong enough to face down a god. And I get to be the one who takes care of them," Knuckles said. Then his eyes closed as he looked down at his feet. "And when we actually needed them to do something for ourselves, when we begged them to save the life of someone who had helped them so much, they did nothing." Suddenly the echidna moved, his fist thrusting downward as he punched the step on which he stood with all his might. A thunderous crack resounded throughout the area and beneath the fist the marble seemed to shatter as it was bent downward by the force of the blow. Sonic took a step backward, unwilling to suffer the same fate as the shrine's step. "They can save the world, but they can't save a single fox to whom they owe as least as much as either of us."
"Well, maybe they couldn't."
"Don't hand me that!" Knuckles snapped back. "No force on Earth has more power than the chaos emeralds, and the Master Emerald is even stronger. Working in concert, there's nothing they're not supposed to be able to do. And that means if they didn't cure him, it was purely because they chose not to. Tails is going to die because some stupid rocks can't muster up the desire to help him. And I can't do anything to make it otherwise…" Again the echidna took on a sad countenance, his brow wrinkling as he let out a huff of breath. "Do you know what that's like? To have access to power like that and be so powerless to help one of the first people you could call friend?"
"Gee no, I have no idea," Sonic said, sarcasm in his voice. Knuckles looked up, fully expecting to see that familiar annoying smirk on the hedgehog's face and ready to angrily glare at him. Instead what he saw was a hurt face staring back at him and a feeling of shame welled up in the echidna's own gut. "Is that why you made us leave before? Because you couldn't help him when you thought you could?" Purple eyes looked away, and Sonic knew he'd struck a chord.
"I couldn't bear it. I couldn't bear looking at him, realizing what I'd done, what I'd failed to do," he admitted. "I spent my life in the belief that there was nothing the chaos emeralds couldn't do, but in that instant…"
"You got angry. And when you get angry, you don't think straight," Sonic pointed out. "So you just lashed out."
"The 'wise' and 'powerful' Guardian of the Floating Island," the red Mobian snorted derisively. "All I could think to do was get the shame as far away from me as possible. I figured you'd be furious I'd failed and have no qualms about leaving."
"Well yeah I was angry. You were screaming at my Dad and acting like it was his fault the ritual didn't work," Sonic said, his voice rising in the end as old memories were dredged up. Time had helped to settle the hedgehog's hot temper and he calmed himself again as Knuckles, tired of standing, took a seat on the step. Footsteps sounded as Sonic made his way down to sit beside his old rival. "If it makes you feel any better, I can understand how you feel. I can't tell you how badly I've just wanted to scream each time some new treatment just didn't cut the mustard. Half the reason I left Mystic Ruins and just kept globetrotting was because I thought if I didn't have to see Tails… see MILES, I could pretend he was all right. I could believe he wasn't sick and dying. And then I came back one day and…" Green eyes closed as a small sliver of a tear ran down the hedgehog's cheek. He didn't like remembering that awful day he'd come home. Those frightened eyes; that terrified face, all the begging and screaming.
Sonic's head shook wildly as he banished that horrible memory back to the dark pit from which it had escaped.
"Was I bummed that the Big Shinies weren't able to help him? Yeah, I was, and surprised really. Like you say, they're the 'most powerful things on the planet.' I figured if anything coulda fixed him up, they'd be it. But I didn't think you'd done anything to prevent it." And then he said something else. "And Tails didn't blame you either." Knuckles looked at the hedgehog, unsure of what he'd just said.
"I thought you said his memories of day to day events were fuzzy?"
"I told him man. I told him everything. That's how sure I was, that's why he was so willing to do whatever we told him. I sat him down before we left, and I sat him down before you started. I told him he was dying, I told him you were gonna try to save his life, I told him everything man. And, even after you kicked us off the island, he still didn't think it was your fault."
"And yet I can't help but notice this is the first time I'm hearing this."
"Well I did mention I was mad about the treatment we got AFTER the fact, didn't I?" Sonic pointed out, chuckling just a bit, though he stopped when he noticed the shamed look on Knuckles's face. "Look, for what it's worth, I get what you were going through. You're still a dummy for it, especially since it seems you've decided the answer to this is let yourself die or whatever you're doing here. But it's not like this was a singular event. We had just as much disappointment with the Time Stones on Little Planet, and I thought for sure they'd be able to do something too."
"They didn't have a guardian who felt betrayed."
"No, and ninety-nine percent of the year they're completely safe from any schlub trying to get his mitts on them," Sonic sighed. "Look, we could sit here all day going over why or why not the emeralds weren't able or 'didn't want' to help, and how worthy they are of having a Guardian and all that. But it ain't the emeralds you're angry at; they're just a convenient target. You're doin' the same thing with them that ya did with me and Tails, and you're still feeling guilty about it so you're tryin' to punish yourself by," the hedgehog took stock of his red colored rival, "let me guess, not sleeping and not eating?" Knuckles jerked away a bit at the accurate observation. It had been at least four weeks since he'd had more than a couple moments sleep and as to food well, the sudden growl of his belly said something in and of itself.
"I appreciate the analysis, but…"
"But nothing. Now that I got you talking I'm not stopping. Besides, if I go back down there without helping you, you have any idea how long Rouge will scream at me? And that lady knows some rather nasty words for 'Screw-Up.'" Knuckles chuckled for a moment at the image of the white bat trailing behind the blue hedgehog, her fist shaking as she called him all manner to impolite things. Then his face took on a serious tone again.
"Is he really as young as he looks now?" There was no need to clarify who the echidna was asking about.
"He gets younger day by day, and smaller year by year," Sonic admitted. "But so far it's been strictly that since he backed through puberty. With no more hormones running around in his body, his regression has slowed." Knuckles nodded. Unsteadily he got to his feet, dusting off his rear to hide his lack of finesse. Then he walked over to the shattered column and hefted the mud encrusted red emerald from where Sonic had laid it on its side.
"You know, I always liked this one best. It was red just like me so I thought it and I had some kind of special connection," the echidna commented as he scraped the rest of the earth off the gem's faceted surface. "Small wonder its pedestal was the one I struck, huh?" A second later a precision strike on top of the column's base created a hole to hold the emerald, wherein it was gently placed. "I guess I'm gonna have to quarry enough marble to make another pedestal for it, aren't I?"
"There's no rush. I mean you got time," Sonic pointed out. "You know, if you want to, you can come back with me to see the gang. They'd both be…"
"No!" the echidna said, and then mastered himself. "I mean no thanks. Maybe I can go see him some other time, but… not now… not this soon."
"Fine," Sonic said, nodding his head as he tried to understand. "It's not like I could make you." Then his voice took on a playful air. "Well, obviously I COULD make you, 'specially now."
"In your dreams hedgehog. I'm still the baddest creature on the planet. Even like this I coulda cleaned your clock earlier," the echidna responded, his own voice puffing with that old pride Sonic had so often had fun with.
"Yeah, yeah. Big talk from a guy who's all swagger, skin, and bones," Sonic called back, jumping over the echidna and off the shrine steps in a display of aerobatic finesse. "About now someone's probably getting worried that I've taken an hour long potty break, so I've got to head back. Unless you want G.U.N. tramping through your island?"
"No thank you," the echidna said. Sonic still didn't move though, and Knuckles gave him a curious look. "What?"
"Not for nothing, but we're good now, right? I'd hate to think this is all just an act to try to get rid of me." For a brief moment Knuckles flushed angry, insulted that the hedgehog would dare question him like that. But the building temper tantrum quickly deflated. He hadn't exactly been acting like himself, so he couldn't really blame Sonic for not trusting him wholesale. Getting angry was what had started all this.
"On my honor as an echidna, on the names of my fathers and the virtues of my mothers, I promise I'm not just giving you a show," he said, holding up one massive fist. Sonic seemed to accept this.
"Okay then Rad Red. But you should probably know Rouge is gonna be doing flybys here, and if she thinks you're not on the mend, she might not decide to be so concerned with you and just 'adopt' the emeralds into her own care." Knuckles chuckled.
"I'll be sure to keep an eye out." Convinced now, Sonic waved a good-bye and took off, leaving Knuckles to take stock of the shrine he would have to rebuild.
It took only a few minutes for Sonic to make it back to the landing strip, where he found not only those he'd left behind, but a new G.U.N. ship and two more soldiers. The other ship Hunter had been loaded into had apparently left.
"Sonic!" Tails cried happily as he spotted the hedgehog, running up to pounce on his blue buddy. "Where were you? We were getting worried," the cub asked, concern in his eyes that seemed far older than a child his age should have been able to generate.
"Yeah, the Lieutenant over there was worried you might have run into some of Hunter's friends," Amy said as she ran up, explaining the two armed soldiers. "They were getting ready to release a whole mess of Recon Beetles to find out what happened." Sonic cast a look at the soldiers, both of whom seemed somewhat disappointed they'd gotten all dressed up and had nothing to do. Sonic waved an appreciative hand at them, wondering if he'd have to do anything special to make it up to them.
"So any new news on the ol' bots?" the hedgehog asked as they began to walk back to the where the Tornado and G.U.N. ship were parked.
"Dave found some serial numbers that weren't completely corroded on some of the parts," Amy said as Tails "hrrmph"-ed at her. "Sorry, Tails saw the numbers. Are you happy now?" The cub smiled proudly. "Anyway, they're waiting for the computer to track down who they were registered to."
"Fifty bucks says it's you-know-who," said Sonic.
"Eggman hasn't been active for a full year Sonic. Why would he start up again now?"
"The man's an egomaniac, Ames. He can't help himself. If he ever did manage to take over the world I half expect he'd start trying to bully Mars and Venus." Sonic let out a sigh. "Of course ten to one odds who they're gonna ask to go check up on him."
"Aren't you supposed to be retired?"
"Some things I can't just cut loose with," the hedgehog responded just before realizing the voice that had asked this question had belonged to neither Tails nor Amy. Looking to his left, Sonic was quite surprised to find a familiar red figure keeping stride with him as he and his entourage walked back to the planes. He did a double take to make sure he wasn't just seeing things. "Knuckles?" The red echidna smiled even as Amy nonchalantly reached for her hammer, just in case.
"I decided repairs could wait," he admitted as Sonic signaled his girlfriend to relax. "Besides, I didn't want to miss my chance to see my friends again."
"Glad to see you again," Tails said with a smile, offering up his hands to the Guardian. Knuckles gladly pulled the cub up into a rather clumsy hug, perhaps the most affectionate gesture he'd ever displayed. Even as he did so, he couldn't help but notice the suspicious look on the female hedgehog's face. Before he could move to resolve that obvious rift though, Tails decided to continue his greeting. "Sonic said you and he got mad at each other and he wasn't allowed to come visit anymore, but he never told me what it was about. What happened?"
Knuckles took a deep breath as his brain struggled to come up with a plausible story. Never the most creative of creatures, he instead opted for something close enough to the truth to pass.
"It was something stupid, an old grievance," he said as he put the kit down. "He thought he was right, I thought I was. In the end it turned out he was and I was too hardheaded to admit it." Knuckles looked at Sonic again, wondering if he'd done right. When no disapproval came from the blue one's direction, he continued. "Fortunately, Sonic is apparently more forgiving than I am." Tails beamed at this.
"Of course he is, my big bro never holds a grudge." The fox's furry chest puffed out a bit more with pride. Knuckles had to laugh at the sight. He'd forgotten how comical the cub could be.
"Uh, pardon me," another voice said, cutting into the reunion. "I hate to interrupt here, but the findings from the computer just showed up." The G.U.N. technician looked very much like he was, in his mind at least, intruding on sacred ground. After all three of these Mobians were practically legendary in their exploits and Amy wasn't exactly some unknown in her own right. Still this was fairly important.
"Okay, so let's have it tech-head," Sonic said.
"Tracing the serial numbers present revealed they were each part of a separate bulk shipment purchased by several different companies. Each company has in turn been confirmed to have been a dummy corporation set up by a single entity; MeteoTech." As he heard this, Sonic was not surprised. MeteoTech was the legitimate side to Dr. Robotnik, aka "The Eggman's" criminal empire, and the primary source of funding and supplies for the doctor's exploits. As such the corporation employed a legion lawyers whose sole duty was to keep the company operating, even while Eggman remained a rather public super-villain. Despite that, if MeteoTech was involved, it was a sure thing the Doctor would be nearby. And if that was the case, Sonic's next stop for answers was very clear. He had to go to Eggtopia.
To Be Continued…
Author's Note 2: Anyone out there who is currently crying may now go have a cookie on me,