"Knuckles!" you shoot up from your seat and hold up your palms, "Full stop! Seriously!"
The echidna freezes, almost looking surprised at you.
"First of all," you say, "You're the guardian of the Master Emerald. It was drilled in your head to protect it at all costs since before you were probably hatched from your egg, I bet."
Knuckles snorts.
"So honestly, I don't blame you for just hesitating for a moment, even if Tails did get hurt. Because I know you would never purposely let him get into this state. And secondly…" You place a hand on your red friend's shoulder, "Now isn't the time to be upset with each other, even if I wanted to be." You motion over to Tails, in his bed. "You didn't cause this. Janae only indirectly caused this… But it's Nega we need to deal with. HE caused this. EGGMAN caused the world to be the way it is. And since he's not here, well…" You narrow your eyes and your tone of voice even goes down a bit, "Nega's gonna suffer in his place…"
Knuckles knits his eyebrows at you, "Sonic… You okay?"
You release your hand. "No… I'm pissed," you reply lowly, "Eggman was a creep, but THIS is beyond unforgivable." You find yourself clenching your fists tightly, "I hate to decide this for everybody, but there is NO way we're going back to the past until Eggman Nega is down and out for good!"
Continue the story on Chapter 21