The next day, Knuckles dared to venture down to the baseball field. It had enough cover to make Knuckles feel able to not be seen. However, he wasn't expecting a ton of military dudes to be there.
"What in the-"
He crept a tiny bit closer. Was Sonic's overload really that powerful?
Vrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
Knuckles turned to look at the approaching truck. Large and black, with a red circular light thing above the windshield. It didn't look too out of the ordinary from the outside, yet for some reason the sight gave Knuckles chills.
One part of the side of the truck opened. A ramp extended to the ground, and steps quickly popped out of the ramp, and a man wearing all black and strange sunglasses with a mustache came out and walked out them, with an air of "I am superior" around him. Another man came out of a black car parked next to the truck.
The strange mustached guy spoke to an officer. "Are you in charge here?"
"Yes Iā"
"NO."
"I ā"
"WRONG."
"Does Major ā"
"I'm in charge."
Knuckles shook his head. "Strange and arrogant."
The man continued. "Allow me to clarify." He turned his head, making zzt noises, as if he were pretending to be a robot. It weirded Knuckles out even more. "In a sequentially ranked hierarchy based on level of critical importance, the disparity between us is too vast to quantify. Agent Stone?"
The other man, apparently named Stone, announced "The doctor thinks you're basic."
Now Knuckles was really creeped out. He wanted to get out of there, but for some reason he couldn't tear himself away from this.
The doctor began tapping on his glove. "I'm initiating a sweep sequence." Knuckles at first was confused about how he planned to do this with his glove, but that was answered when a bunch of egg-shaped drones came out of the truck. "Ten miles in every direction should suffice. Is he still looking at me funny?"
"Yes, he is."
"Tell him to stop, or I'll pull up..."
Knuckles didn't hear the rest. Whatever was keeping him stuck to the spot had evaporated, and he was running back to the cave. He wasn't sure how far the cave was from the baseball field, but it probably wasn't ten miles. As his feet pounded through the forest, he desperately hoped Sonic was in the cave. He didn't have a lot of time to find him if he wasn't.
Thankfully, he didn't have to. Right as he reached the cave entrance, Sonic crashed into him. They'd both been out, heading back to the cave.
Sonic got back on his feet. "Earth isn't safe anymore!"
Knuckles also got up. "I figured that out!"
He grabbed his friend's wrist and jumped into the cave.
Sonic said, "Okay, plan B. Mushroomville. We gotta take our stuff. Okay, essential items only." He sped around the cave, grabbing items and throwing them into a red backpack. "Okay, toothbrush, toothpaste, hair gel, night-light. Funny hat."
Knuckles had to ask, "Do we really need that?"
"This half-eaten cantaloupe."
"Why have you not finished that?"
"Oh, my scented candle. My entire comic book collection. The necklaces you made us. Wait, we're wearing those. Beanbag chair. Can a beanbag chair fit in a backpack?"
"Doubtful."
"Of course not. That's stupid. Okay, what else? The rings! The rings, yes, of course!"
"I already have them. Hurry!"
In a flash, Sonic was at Knuckles' side. "Ring time. Mushroom planet, here we come."
Knuckles heard a noise. Barking dogs, stomping feet, a whir from the drones.
Sonic heard it too. "Oh no! It's too late!" He turned to Knuckles. "What do we do?"
Knuckles had an idea but didn't want to use it. He looked around the cave, for something that could give him an idea of what to do. Nothing. And everyone moment he waited; the odds were higher they'd be captured.
Knuckles sighed. He handed the bag to Sonic. "You go find somewhere safe to use a ring. I'll buy you as much time as I can."
Sonic's eyes widened. "What?! But-but you'll be captured! Or... worse!"
Knuckles stood firm. "Sonic, I don't have a power they can exploit. You are in more danger here than I am."
Sonic couldn't come up with a good comeback. He tried to find a reason for Knuckles to come with him.
"There's no other way, Sonic!"
A drone flew down into the cave. Knuckles demolished it with one punch.
"Just go!"
Sonic ran to the back entrance. But before leaving, he looked back.
"Goodbye, Knuckles."
Then, he ran off.
