Chapter 12

Sky Sanctuary

The beam carried the three up, up and up. The cave shot by, then they were out and the island was falling away below. There were in a bubble of complete silence, but all around the beam was a rushing, roaring sound. "Where the heck are we going?" Sonic said, showing interest in life.

"Like I said," Knuckles replied cheerfully, "the sky's the limit." But he gazed down at the Floating Island with sadness in his eyes.

A cloud swished by, then another. "We aren't going into orbit, are we?" Tails queried nervously.

Knuckles shook his scarlet head. "Nope. You'll see in a minute."

Another cloud engulfed them, plunging them into grey haziness. "Okay," Knuckles said. "Hang on, you two. We're about to land." He grabbed their hands and gazed upward. Sonic and Tails did the same, noticing that the transporter was slowing down.

"We're not gonna freefall, are we?" Sonic asked.

The echidna looked at him quizzically. "You don't think I'd do all this if I was gonna kill you, do you?"

The beam faded away suddenly. They were still surrounded by thick grey fog, but they could feel something solid beneath their feet. The air was startlingly cool after being in the warm underground for so long. "Where are we?" Tails asked faintly, holding Sonic and Knuckles's hands for all he was worth. The fog was so thick he could barely see their outlines.

"Stand still," Knuckles commanded. "The fog will clear in a minute."

"But where are we?" Tails persisted.

"Sky Sanctuary," Knuckles replied.

Slowly the grey walls around them faded to white. Overhead became tinted with blue. Patches appeared, and a faint breeze was felt as the cloud swept away. In the misty light, they could see they were standing on a yellow brick platform. Moss and creeping vines grew all over, their roots squeezed between the bricks.

"Can we move yet?" Sonic wanted to know.

Knuckles shook his head. "Not yet. It's not safe until you can see the edges of the platform. The guardrails rotted off a long time ago."

A few more minutes passed, and the air grew clearer. Sonic and Tails looked around. The floating platform seemed to be on a level with the clouds. The sky above was rapidly becoming the purest shade of blue imaginable. The air was clear and pierced to the bottom of their lungs.

Shafts of golden sunlight struck down, intensifying all color, burning away the last of the mist. Sonic noticed Tails's fur looked frosted-each hair was beaded with fine droplets. Sonic and Knuckles were drenched as well.

Wordlessly Knuckles flung his wet hair out of his eyes and walked away. Sonic and Tails glanced at each other, shrugged and followed.

The echidna led them across the broad platform. It was built in segments, and each had a certain amount of flexibility. Because of this, the cloud beneath could somehow support it. A closer look at the clouds all around revealed the other platforms, some narrow, some broad, some sporting the remains of great stone buildings. Everything was covered in moss and slender vines. Somehow, it reminded Sonic of Marble Gardens and Sandopolis ... He doubted that any of it would hold together without the island below supplying the power of the Master emerald.

Knuckles stopped and looked around. They had reached the edge of the platform. Before and below spread the blue-green ocean, the mainland hazy in the distance. Other islands were visible on the horizon. It took the breath away to realize how high they were.

Tails stepped back involuntarily. He looked queasy. "Uh, Sonic," he murmured, "we're a looong way up."

Sonic nodded. He too stepped back. Knuckles smirked at them, but not unkindly. "You get used to it. Watch this."

To their horror, he dove off the edge of the platform. But instead of falling, his thick dreadlocks caught the air like an open umbrella, lifting him through the air. He soared like a hanglider across open space, and landed lightly on a platform several dozen feet away. There he turned, gave them a thumbs-up, then knelt and fiddled with something on the platform. A moment later a thin catwalk thrust out of the cloud beneath him and extended until it locked into their platform. Knuckles beckoned to them.

Sonic inched across first, and was followed by Tails. Neither could keep from staring into the vast depths below their feet. Knuckles, seeing their vertigo, walked out halfway to help them across. "Nothing to it," he told them as they stepped onto the other platform.

"Right," Sonic replied. "That's easy for you to say."

Cool breezes wafted across the platform, scented faintly with the moss and greens. It seemed odd to be on a level with the clouds, which smoked up all around. There was something dream-like about it. Knuckles stood with them and looked around. After a moment he said, "I never thanked you guys for helping me out in the Ice Cap. I'd like to do that."

"Oh, you're welcome," Tails said.

Sonic added, "It was a good thing, too. We wouldn't be here otherwise."

The red echidna looked at them thoughtfully. "You guys wouldn't be hungry, would you?"

Sonic and Tails looked at each other and nodded. "We haven't had anything to eat since ... Mushroom Hill," Sonic said weakly.

Knuckles gave him a pitying look. "Good grief, that was two days ago. Well, come on. I've got something that'll brace you up."

He led them to a low stone building in the center of the stone platform. It was grown over with ivy and moss, but did not look as ruined as the rest of the Sky Sanctuary. They stepped inside. It was the size of a good-sized shed. Moss padded the floor, and relief carvings adorned the walls. There was nothing else in the building but a tall stone urn in the corner. It was the urn Knuckles was interested in.

He walked to it, lifted the lid and pulled out a dipper. He waved Sonic and Tails forward. "One drink each," he said, filling the dipper and handing it to Sonic.

Sonic took it. It looked like clear water, but his recent adventures had taught him that looks were deceiving. "What is it?" he asked gingerly.

"It's called 'Ent-Wine'," Knuckles replied. "Don't worry, it's not alcoholic. Drink it."

Sonic obeyed. At first it tasted like water, but by the second swallow it was more like liquid gold, or honey. He was reminded of how the woods smelled in springtime, of fresh water, of damp earth after the snow melts. By the time the dipper was empty, he felt like he had eaten a six-course dinner.

Knuckles watched him with a grin. "Good, isn't it?" He filled the dipper again. "Here, Tails. Your turn."

The young fox hesitantly took the dipper, watching Sonic. "What's it taste like?" he asked nervously.

Sonic fondled the taste in his mouth, searching for words. "Like how the Floating Island smelled when we got there."

Tails's ears came forward. "Gosh." He drank slowly, eyes brightening. As he finished, he licked his lips and said, "Boy, I think that was the most exciting thing that's happened to me yet."

Sonic agreed, and Knuckles chuckled. Knux drank a dipperful, himself, then replaced the dipper and closed the urn.

"What was that stuff?" Sonic asked. He felt re-vitalized, such as he hadn't felt since the first day, before the super emeralds. Knuckles shrugged and folded his arms. "Family secret," he said. "We learned it a long time ago. You make it with the emeralds, water and some roots that grow up here. I like to keep some on hand-it's faster than eating. And just as good for you."

They stepped back into the cool outdoors. Knuckles walked to the edge of the platform and looked down. Sonic and Tails joined him. The Floating Island was below, and didn't appear to be sinking at all. "It will, eventually," Knuckles said, as if reading their thoughts. He bowed his head and turned away, but not before Sonic and Tails had seen the raw pain in his eyes.

After a moment they heard him murmur, "I have a confession to make."

"Fire away," Sonic said.

Knux turned to face them, hands dangling limply at his sides. "I stole your bi-plane," he said simply.

Sonic and Tails stared at him. "What did you say?" Sonic blurted.

"I stole it," the echidna repeated. "It didn't burn."

Sonic and Tails looked at each other, then at Knuckles. "Knux, you big creepo," Sonic said, a huge grin creeping across his face. "I never thought I'd thank somebody for stealing something. Where is it?"

Knuckles looked away. "Well, that's the bad news. Doc put it on the Death Egg."

"Oh."

Silence a moment.

Tails said, "Let's go get it."

"Can't," Sonic said glumly. "Last time I boarded it, it was as a stowaway on his cruiser. The thing's impenetrable."

Another pause. The only sound was the sighing of the breeze across the platform.

"There IS a way." Knuckles's eyes were suddenly alight. "I just had a brainwave. Listen. You two can become super and hyper, right?"

"Duh, yeah."

"That means you can both fly."

Sonic and Tails exchanged glances. They were beginning to see his point. "And?" Sonic said.

"And," Knuckles finished, "I'm a complete idiot." He slapped his forehead. "Gee! When Death Egg launches, it goes straight up. It'll come right by us! You guys can hitch a ride easy."

"Is there a way to board from the outside?"

"Sure. You know the docking bay on the eastern side? It's right under the mustache," Knux added with a snicker. "Access is easy through there."

As the three made plans, they were unaware they were being watched. A red-eyed robot was perched on a platform three clouds away, watching and listening with his equipment. "Yesss, Knuckles, you ARE an idiot. You are selling them straight into our hands. I would relish killing all three of you." He turned on his internal intercom. "Sir? They are planning to board the battle station. No, not Knuckles. He will remain here, the fool. May I please attack him, as soon as the others leave? Thank you, sir. It will be a great honor."

Fifteen minutes later found the intrepid three on the far side of the Sky Sanctuary, watching and listening to the Death Egg launch. Knuckles was correct, for it was launched straight up. As they watched the grey sphere rise toward them, they noticed the rocket-flames were a brilliant yellow-green, instead of orange.

"Doc's already using the Master," Knuckles said grimly, clasping his hands behind his back and leaning dangerously out into space. "It's so powerful ..."

"Knux," Sonic said. A horrible thought had just struck him. "Could he use the Master as a laser crystal?"

Knuckles whirled, the blood draining from his face. "Don't even say it!"

"But could he?" Sonic persisted, alarmed at Knuckles's behavior. "He could build some powerful doomsday weapons, couldn't he?"

Knuckles turned away. "You don't understand," he growled into the cool air. "If he builds any, it will be using MY blueprints."

"You-you mean YOU-"

"Yeah." The echidna turned back, eyes dark with anger at himself. "_I_ designed weapons for him. Doomsday weapons. I was just playing around, because I knew he'd need a power source like the Master emerald to make them work. But now he has one. So if he takes over Mobius, it'll be MY fault. _I_ helped him!"

His voice was drowned out by the roar of rocket-engines. They turned. Death Egg, silver and sinister, was slowly rising above the clouds. Sonic watched it silently, body rigid. As soon as speech was possible again, he snarled, "No Knux, it will be MY fault. I'm gonna go up there and get the Master back. If I fail, it will be because I will have died trying."

He looked at his sidekick. "Tails, you can stay here if you want."

Tails shook his head emphatically. "No way! I've toughed it out this far. I'm sticking it 'til the end."

"Good. Ya got grit, kiddo."

Sonic turned to Knuckles and thrust out a hand. "Thanks for helping us, Knux. I guess this is goodbye."

Knuckles shook his hand, noticing the difference in their hand sizes. "Thanks for being on my side, even if I don't deserve it. And this is my goodbye, too. If-when you get back-" he swallowed. "-and I'm not around, you'll know that Doc retaliated. He never lets a traitor survive."

Sonic slowly withdrew his hand. "You mean we might never see each other again?"

"Right, buddyroe. I won't have much to live for, anyhow, once the island goes down." Again, the deep grief flashed through the echidna's eyes. Sonic saw and felt a sharp pang. His new-found friend might soon lose everything, possibly even his life. He patted the echidna on the back. "Maybe it won't go down."

Knuckles looked at him dully. "What's going to keep it up?"

Sonic looked down and didn't answer.

Knuckles pushed him gently. "Get a move on, you two. Death Egg won't stay there forever."

Sonic nodded, the glanced at Tails. Tails stepped forward and held out the chaos emeralds. "Here, Knux. We both run off the supers."

Knuckles shook his head. "No. Look at what happened last time I took them. Besides, the supers can't supply double power for very long. Don't lose them, now."

Sonic and Tails charged up as Knuckles watched. Just as before, Sonic became hyper and Tails super. The power flickies (who had flown away into the Sky Sanctuary when they arrived) returned to be his guardians. Together they waved goodbye to Knuckles, then soared off toward the imposing Death Egg.

A pair of crescent red eyes watched the glowing specks recede into the distance. "Once they are too far away to hear his screams, I will act," the robot muttered. "Prepare to die with your island, Knuckles."

A pair of green eyes were also watching Sonic and Tails out of sight. "You befriended Knuckles at last," she murmured. "And Metal Sonic is all set to kill him." She turned to face the place the robot was hiding. "You may try, Mecha, but anyone who attacks my friends will pay the price. MY price."