Knuckles was heading back to the city and that fact alone was enough to enough to bring him close to sitting down and giving up because of what it meant. It meant that he'd been wrong to rule out the city, meant he couldn't be sure his search was effective enough, couldn't be sure of finding the Emeralds even if they were right there, meant he might never find them, meant he might never get back.

He wasn't going to reach this one before Eggman, which meant in spite of Eggman's words about wanting to get home himself, that he'd almost certainly have to fight him for it, and he was in no shape to.

Every instinct screamed 'keep going', every muscle and nerve screamed 'stop' and it was horribly hard to force conscious thought to override both and form a plan.

He struggled to do so anyway. One thing at a time. First: There were houses on the outskirts of the city before the urban sprawl itself began. People must live there who worked in the city. Many would likely be empty during the day as a result. He could put his pride aside, break in and get as much food and water as he needed then find somewhere safe to sleep. If he was going to have to fight for the Emerald then he had to be fresh enough to be sure of winning it.

It was early afternoon and easy to find an empty house. Most had security alarms but any number of times in and out of Eggman's bases made dodging the simple systems in use straightforward enough. He went through the cupboards, eating anything he recognised there and then, and preparing to carry away as much as he could. To his surprise he didn't have to look for a means of carrying water - the cupboards included bottles and bottles of it. He looked with concern at the tap he'd already drank a considerable amount from. Was there something unsafe about the supply then? It was too late if there was and he added the bottles to the bag he'd commandeered to carry his pilfered supplies and headed back out.

With a full stomach for the first time in days it was harder to ignore the tiredness but he pressed on into the city itself, seeking the shelter of the same sewers that had hidden so much of his initial search.

He slept like the dead and only realised the weakness in the location when he woke. In the absence of the open sky he had no idea how long he'd slept. It was dark again when he climbed the ladder and cautiously peered out of the manhole, but that could mean anything from a handful of hours to more than a full day. The latter wouldn't have surprised him. He could feel in the left-over grogginess of waking and the slow heaviness of his limbs as he forced himself out onto the street, how exhausted he'd been. The bandage on his side was grubby and itched and he unwound it. The wound was scabbed and the fur matted but it no longer seemed in danger of bleeding so he left it uncovered.

The grogginess and stiffness wore off slowly as he walked, and eventually he broke into a jog. He'd slept a long time. Anything could have happened. Had Eggman found the Emerald successfully? Was he perhaps already back at his island base? Did Sonic know? Maybe Sonic had already gone after it again himself. If the human had been watching the base did they already know?

It was like starting all over again.

Knuckles sighed. Perhaps the easiest way to find out was to find Sonic. He still didn't want to believe there was anything in Eggman's claims, but he had to be sure. Sonic did everything so last-minute that perhaps he really didn't understand the urgency of their getting back.

And Sonic would be easier to find than the Emeralds. Sonic was entirely incapable of lying low. Knuckles knew he could start at once with the human's news reporting. There'd been a crowd of people taking photos and during that first fight with Eggman on the roof. That would have been reported. So would any attack in search of Chaos Emeralds. Newspapers were common here, all he needed to do was find one.

It was easy, though distasteful, to fish through the waste bins on the street to find what he needed and in an already-discarded evening edition he found a full account of how a 'mysterious gemstone' had been discovered in the city. It went on to relate how Eggman had fought with Sonic over possession of it, accompanied by a dramatic camera angle of Sonic leaping at Eggman in his pod, but was unclear on who had ended up with the Emerald afterwards. Eggman had retreated but the article stated that they remained "...unsure whether this was in triumph or with his tail between his legs. In either case the strange blue hedgehog appears confident it's the latter and has found time in the wake of the battle to kick back and relax."

The article closed with a fuzzy, much magnified photograph of Sonic, stretched at length along a tree branch, eyes half open, giving a lazy thumbs up to someone out of sight on the ground below. There was a sidebar speculating about the properties of the Chaos Emerald which was mostly inaccurate. Knuckles dropped the paper back in the bin.

He wished he hadn't seen the closing photo. Eggman's words echoed in his head. How fast could Sonic search if he was really looking? But the evidence that he wasn't searching was right there in black and white. He'd just either won or lost one of the Emeralds but was apparently in no hurry whatsoever to start looking for another.

Knuckles shook his head, aware that he himself had just slept the moon down twice over. Sonic could just be resting after searching every bit as hard. He'd fought Eggman at least twice since they arrived after all. But that thought didn't help because it only recalled what Eggman had claimed about that first fight back at the base. It was impossible to believe that Sonic wouldn't have cared that Tails was in trouble, that was easy to dismiss. But it was equally impossible to avoid the conclusion that he simply hadn't noticed in his eagerness to get inside the base.

To get to those Chaos Emeralds?

But not for this. Surely not for this.

Knuckles looked around the darkened city and retreated further from the main street into a grubby alley. He didn't do well in cities as a general rule, and this one he was rapidly coming to truly hate.

He needed to think and his concentration was as scattered as it had been since he had arrived here. His legs ached again already and he found himself reluctantly seeking somewhere to rest. There was no way back underground here and the alley was litter-strewn, but he dragged one of a stack of discarded metal barrels upright to sit on, promising himself it would only be for a moment. He drew up one knee to rest his elbow on, pillowed his head in his hand and tried to think without dropping off.

The picture of Sonic had been taken on the outskirts of the city, perhaps not even very far from where he'd broken in for supplies the previous morning. He recognised the kind of houses, the formal, tree-lined gardens. He could go back, search there. If human newspaper reporters could find him to take photos Knuckles was entirely sure that he could find him too. He only had to get close enough - then, like the Emeralds themselves, he hoped he'd be able to pick out the distinctive flicker of chaos the hedgehog gave off.

And then what? Ask him outright? And ask what exactly? "Hey, Sonic, are you dawdling here just for kicks and giggles while I get driven out of my wits with worry? How about you give me that Chaos Emerald you might or might not have, then get a damn move on looking for the rest? I want to go home..."

He could just imagine the mockery that would bring on.

Feeling a little bit homesick?

Eggman's words but it was far too easy to hear them in the light, laughing tone the hedgehog used when he'd decided Knuckles was over-reacting to some piece of Sonic-ish nonsense.

He stifled a groan, slumping lower on his makeshift seat, because 'sick' was exactly how he felt. Fatigued and sick of this place. In the absence of Angel Island and the Master Emerald he was just not fully himself in some fundamental way that went deeper than words.

He knew he couldn't explain that to Sonic, couldn't even begin to try.

The wind stirred his quills, whisking the litter into eddies and snatching another discarded newspaper from the overflowing heap to plaster itself against his dangling leg. He pulled it free, staring once more at a picture of Sonic and Eggman. Fighting for the Chaos Emerald while he staggered about, lost.

Frustrated, he flung the paper away, watched it sail into the dark sky. Yes, he wanted to go home. Wanted it so badly that everything he saw was like a rasp against his senses because it wasn't home. He closed his eyes against it, giving in momentarily to the temptation to follow the shaky winding trail of the Master Emerald's energy back to its source, back to the worlds-away Island, seeking that distant whisper of familiarity.

It was cold comfort, weak, indulgent, when he should be searching instead of sitting here. Even so, it took the sound of footsteps to stir him, the sight of Eggman to bring him leaping to his feet, still atop the barrel.

He was so rattled at being caught unaware that he might actually have attacked first this time except that Eggman had thrown himself to the ground looking positively hysterical himself.

"Please, help me Knuckles! If we don't do something fast, Sonic could make us prisoners on this planet forever!"

Knuckles stared down at him. It was an unusual viewpoint - all the humans were so unreasonable tall, he was used to glaring up at Eggman, not this. But the question of who had the Chaos Emerald was presumably answered.

"What happened?" Knuckles demanded.

"I want to get us back," Eggman seemed to pull himself together. "I'm trying to get us back. I found one of the Chaos Emeralds, like I told you, but when I reached it, d'you know what happened?"

Knuckles cut across him before he could answer.

"Sonic was looking for them after all?" His heart lifted. Eggman had been lying. Of course he had. But then if that was true why come to him now to tell him this?

"Sonic snatched it from me, and said he's going to stay here for as long as he pleases!"

Knuckles frowned.

"I offered him a truce," Eggman went on, looking up. "Told him we could have peace between us until this is over. Until we get home."

Knuckles stared at Eggman trying to interpret the look on his face. Trying to work out how much, if any of this to believe.

"But Sonic won't agree! He won't even give me a chance to fix things!"

Sonic didn't believe him, obviously.

Or else he did and Eggman was right that Sonic was simply enjoying it here too much to leave.

Knuckles fought back his anger at the thought because in terms of his next steps it almost didn't matter much which was the truth. After days of confusion he knew what he had to do. He had to find Sonic and secure the Emerald. It didn't matter what either Sonic's or Eggman's motives were. The Emeralds were what mattered. He had to find them, keep them safe, and get them home. Sonic and Eggman could do as they liked. They weren't his problem.

He was done wracking his brains and running himself ragged over it. Sonic could either give him the Emerald he'd already found or Knuckles would take it from him.

Eggman had picked himself back up and was watching him.

"If you're thinking of asking him for it, be careful! Sonic says he'd destroy me if I tried to get it back. Me… or anyone…"

Knuckles' fists clenched at his sides. He wasn't afraid of a fight with the hedgehog, but if Sonic was really determined not to give up the Emerald there'd be no avoiding an almighty, bitter showdown.

"Where is he?"

Eggman shrugged. "I don't know. He turns up when he feels like it."

"Fine." Knuckles turned away. He'd follow his original plan of searching the suburb then.

"We could send him a message," Eggman said, behind him. "Draw him out to somewhere we choose."

Knuckles turned around, frowning at 'we'. But he could hardly complain that Sonic wasn't willing to be pragmatic enough to work with Eggman long enough to get home and then turn down his help himself.

"Fine," he said again. "But I deal with him. My way. You don't interfere."

Eggman spread his hands wide. "Whatever you say."

Knuckles eyed him, suspiciously. "And not here. Somewhere outside the city. Somewhere no one else will get hurt."

If he and Sonic really set to, there would be collateral damage. Eggman might not care about that, but Knuckles did. As little as he liked the place, he had no desire to wreck the city or bring people's homes down around their ears.

"I know somewhere," Eggman said.

Knuckles hesitated. Was it safe to let Eggman choose the location? He didn't have anywhere in mind himself - the rocky offshore islands he'd explored were totally unsuitable terrain if it came to a fight. One misstep and you'd be looking at a broken ankle or worse.

He sighed.

"Alright," he said. "Show me."

It was an uneasy ride, perched on the edge of Eggman's floating pod. It wasn't the insecure seating way up in the air which bothered him - he'd ridden the Tornado the same way more than once - but the fact it was physical confirmation of the decision he'd made. A decision he still wasn't entirely sure of. A decision he'd made wrongly in the past and which had almost cost him the Master Emerald on that occasion.

What would it cost him this time if he was wrong?

What was there even left to lose? The Master Emerald was already lost to him while he was trapped here. If he couldn't either persuade or defeat Sonic, then the Chaos Emerald which was the first step on the way home would be lost to him too.

It was hard to see beyond that. Vaguely, Knuckles was aware that Eggman might be lying, might want the Emeralds only for their power, might intend conquest in this world, but that knowledge felt distant, dim, a step removed. This was another world and it was impossible to focus fully on it over the yammering of his nerves screaming of the danger to his own, of the unprotected, unguarded Master Emerald. Eggman was not the only one who would misuse it given the chance and it was undefended.

Eggman was landing and the place he had chosen was unexpectedly beautiful. Knuckles looked around in surprise, wondering if Eggman even realised it.

A lake shimmered in a broad hollow of a steep sided valley, surrounded by lush plant-life, trees and shrubs. The fertile land around the lake on the valley floor gave way to rocky foothills climbing into wooded mountains and further to bare peaks.

"Like it?" Eggman asked over his shoulder. "I thought you might."

Knuckles frowned. He did like it. It was a lovely spot. But it only sharpened his desire to see his own hills again, his own lakes and trees and sky. He grunted acknowledgement without turning round, eyeing the nearest stand of shrubs and trees, bearing the last of the wild summer fruit.

Eggman was still talking and Knuckles sighed and turned back to him.

"Ready to send Sonic a message?" Eggman asked before beckoning over a small imp-like robot. "Bokkun, bring the recorder."

Knuckles stared at the device.

"Tell him it's Silver Valley. Whenever you're ready..." Eggman swept a hand towards the device, smiling.

Knuckles scowled at him. Eggman was thoroughly enjoying the fact he was stuck working with him.

Irritated, he looked back at the recorder.

"Sonic," he started but hesitated at once. What did he need to say? Want to say? I want to go home, Sonic. Even if it's Eggman who gets us there. Please.

He shook his head. No. Not an option. Sonic would laugh and Eggman would know it for weakness. He couldn't admit anything remotely like that.

But he could admit to the anger. The frustration at this whole situation. That would get Sonic here just as effectively.

He glared into the recorder.

"Eggman told me what you said, Sonic. Is it true? 'Cause if it is, and this is just some selfish stunt then I'm sick of it! If you thought everyone would just go along with it, if you thought no one would challenge you on it, you're wrong. I'm challenging you. Silver Valley. One hour." Knuckles paused then added the one thing he knew for certain Sonic wouldn't ignore. "Don't be late!"

He waved the little robot off curtly and turned away.

"Almost perfect." Eggman's voice had a distinct glee in it. "Bokkun, edit that and get it to the hedgehog."

Knuckles looked back, anger fading back into worry. "Edit it?"

Eggman waved a hand. "Nothing much - clearing up dead air, compression and so on. Don't worry. Sonic will get the message."

Knuckles sighed. It was too late now even if Eggman did intend to meddle with the message. And he did need Sonic here so what did it really matter?

An hour. He could rest, forage, find somewhere without Eggman breathing down his neck, to watch for Sonic- he'd be able to see him coming a long way off from further up the hills.

Then they could resolve this. One way or another, with words or with blows.