Ch.8: Shadow Bound

When the light vanished this time, Sonic and the gang were standing back in front of the present Master Emerald's alter. Knuckles semi-conious body lay at the bottom of the shrine stairs. Relieved to see his friend was alright, Sonic immediately rushed over to help Knuckles stand.

"Glad to see your finally out of the Master Emerald buddy," said Sonic.

"Sonic?" said Knuckles confused " uh, what happened to me?"

"You mean you don't remember?" asked Tails.

"I remember being trapped in the Master Emerald and the next second you guys were gone" said Knuckles, recovering from his woozy state " after that, I don't remember anything,"

"Well, it's good to have you back either way old pal," said Vector, giving Knuckles a quick hug.

"Now that if you got all the bonding out your system" said the Master Emerald " it is time for my Guardian's question to be fufilled,"

"So" said Espio " who did you choose as his successor?"

" I studied your actions through the trials of past, present, and future" said the Master Emerald " and the one I feel most confident to take once Knuckles is gone is you...Shadow the Hedgehog,"

"Why me?" asked Shadow, as everyone else gasped in shock.

"Who kept Knuckles in a sane mind when Sonic and the others were killed?" asked the Master Emerald " who is the only other one around who understands the Guardian's pain? Who else has suffered through being made the "ultimate" lifeform?"

Knuckles, Sonic, and the others stayed silent. The Master Emerald was right, no one else seemed fit for guarding Angel Island once Knuckles was gone except Shadow. Knuckles let the Master Emerald's decision mull around in his head a bit more before turning to Shadow.

"Do you want to be?" asked Knuckles.

"Huh?" said Shadow, looking at Knuckles.

"In order to become the Master Emerald's new Guardian " Knuckles explianed " the previous Guardian must vouch for whoever the new Guardian to be, so that they tap into all of its chaos powers,"

"Complete access to the Master Emerald's powers" thought Shadow " can I really handle that kind of responsibility?"

Motioning with his hands, Knuckles climbed up the steps of the alter until he was standing in front of the Master Emerald. After a few seconds of hesistation Shadow joined Knuckles at the top.

Knuckles put one hand on the Master Emerald's surface and told Shadow to follow suit. Muttering a few words in ancient echidna tounge, Knuckles body was surrounded in a bright green glow. Only a few seconds later Shadow was consumed by the glow as well. A glowing, white symbol appeared on the hedgehog's arm, before vanishing as soon Knuckles broke contact with the Master Emerald.

"There" said Knuckles " we are bonded. Congradulations Shadow,"

A few days, talk about the gang's strangest adventure was still a major conversation topic. Knuckles was still in the dark about all the things his friends probably seen or heard while on there trip.

"Whatever it was" thought Knuckles " it sure has changed their attitudes around me,"

Its true, with Shadow now working as a part-time Guardian, everyone else was jumping at the chance to hang around with Knuckles. Sonic and Tails had gotten overly protective around Knuckles everytime Eggman decided to declare an attack. Hopefully, the Guardian thought he talked them to tone it down a bit.

Meanwhile, the Chaotix had officaly declared themselves the fun police. Vector and Espio, along with Charmy wanted to make sure Knuckles got at least some fun in lonely life. It worked, about half the time.

Shadow was still a bit quiet and stubborn, but he wasn't to bad to have a conversation or good spar with. Even though his home was still on the Space Colony Ark, the black hedgehog always made an exception whenever Knuckles called him in for training and guard duty.

With Rouge, what can you say, Knuckles was having the time of his life! The bat had admitted her feelings for Knuckles and he had did the same. They were now, offically, a steadily growing couple and seemed to sped more time with each other than with anyone else. In fact, he was with her right now, sipping drinks at the cafe.

Rouge edged closer to Knuckles, and the echidna took that as a sign to encircle his strong arms over her body. Staring into each others eyes for a few seconds, the couple's faces slowly moved towards one another. As Knuckles lips crossed paths with Rouge, a single thought couldn't help but pass through his mind.

"If this is how my future is meant to be, please don't let it stop!"

The End