- Chapter 28 -

Ice Capades

Master Emerald Shrine

Knuckles was in the midst of teaching Kat some moves. She followed as carefully as she could. Her movements were a bit stiff, but her legs now held her weight, her feet now free of bandages. Knuckles had even managed to find her a pair of woven shoes that fit, though she still remained in her Robotnik jumpsuit.

As they finished up their latest drills, they both stopped for a small break. Kat grabbed a water skin that was hanging from a broken column, taking a swig as Knuckles leaned against it

"Not bad today, Kat," he complimented. "You're getting better."

"Thanks," Kat replied, tossing him the waterskin. "I'm just glad I can bend my arm properly,"

"Your injuries are healing pretty well," Knuckles noted as well, gesturing to her arm.
"Yeah, I noticed," Kat sighed. "Still looks ugly though. I hate it."

"Could be worse," Knuckles pointed out, setting the water skin aside. "You could've lost that arm completely."

Kat nodded. "Fair point."

They resumed training for a bit longer, practicing proper punching forms and stances before Knuckles took a look at the sky. Noticing it was almost high noon, he held up his hand, stopping the training.

"Alright, that'll do for now," he told her.

"Another patrol?" Kat asked, sitting back down on the ground. "Still looking for Sonic?"

"It's my duty as Guardian," Knuckles reminded her.

"Right," Kat nodded. "Well, be careful, okay?"

"Always am," Knuckles assured before gliding off of the shrine towards the mountain..

Ice Cap

Meanwhile, Sonic and Tails had managed to find a path up to the top of the mountain. Once they reached the peak, they were greeted by the sight of an area covered entirely in snow and ice, leaving very little scenery and miles of cold ground.

"Cool place they got here," Sonic quipped.

Tails rolled his eyes.

"Figured that was coming," he remarked before jerking his head in a "come on" gesture. "C'mon. We should be able to get a good view of the whole island from the top."

Sonic nodded in agreement.

"And with any luck, pinpoint the Death Egg."

"Exactly."

The two took off. Once they made it to the mountain peak, they looked down. Sure enough, they could see the Launch Base several miles away.

"Whoa," Sonic let out. "Eggman works fast."

Tails shook his head in disbelief.

"No way he could have built it that fast. That base must've already been here."

"Didn't think the Echidnas were that advanced," Sonic noted.

"Maybe it wasn't the Echidnas," Tails pondered.

"You won't need to worry about it much longer," a familiar voice snarled.

Sonic sighed, turning to see Knuckles approaching.

"I told you to get off my island," Knuckles recalled, shaking his head. "But you just don't listen."

"I have a hard time with orders," Sonic shot back. "Especially with hard cases like you."

Knuckles growled, and they were about to come to blows when they heard the sound of mechanical whirring approaching. Tails looked, and gaped at the sight of a sizable army of Badniks all heading their way.

"Umm…" he began, "that's a lot of Badniks."

Knuckles blinked, confused.

"Of what?"

"Those things!" Sonic snapped, pointing to the incoming horde. "What, did Robotnik not tell you what they were called? Guess it would conflict with his 'humble inventor' story."

Knuckles looked shocked at that.

"Like we've been telling you all along, Robotnik's the villain here. I'm the hero," Sonic insisted. "And if what you're about to see next doesn't convince you, nothing will!"

He charged at the incoming horde, Tails moving in to help. Luckily for the shellshocked echidna, the Badniks seemed to ignore Knuckles, who just looked confused as Sonic got to work smashing them. Knuckles' shock grew into mild horror as he saw the small Mobini within the shells scamper away to freedom. Sonic grabbed one in particular, a small rabbit, before running back to Knuckles and practically shoving it in his face.

"See?!" Sonic yelled. "This is how he powers his Badniks! He captures cute little animals and other Mobians and shoves them into robot bodies to encase them! And that's if they're lucky! The alternative is using his Roboticizer to turn them into robots themselves, like he did to my uncle!"

"What?!" Knuckles exclaimed. "It… it can't be…"

"The evidence has been right in front of you the whole time!" Sonic declared. "Dr. Robotnik doesn't wanna use his brains to help Mobius! He wants to take over the planet and turn us all into his mindless robot slaves!"

"No…" Knuckles shook his head. "I- I don't believe you! He said... and the crash… Kat…"

Sonic perked.

"Kat? So someone did survive the crash other than him! He told me he killed the rest!"

Knuckles immediately turned on Sonic, grabbing him.

"No!" he roared. "She told me you killed them! Left them to die! Those deaths are on your head, hedgehog!"

"That's… half-true," Sonic confessed. "I saved a small group, but I had no idea there were others. I didn't know anyone else was on the Death Egg, but I swear, if I had known, I would've saved them all no matter what. You're right, though. Those deaths will haunt me for the rest of my life."

Knuckles snarled, tossing him to the ground.

"Save it," he spat, scooping up the rabbit. "Next time, I won't go easy on you."

With that, he glided away. Sonic kicked a snow bank in frustration.

"You freaking moron!" he screamed after the retreating Echidna.

Sonic, however, had no time to linger on his annoyance with Knuckles, as more Badniks were coming in.

"Sonic, the Death Egg's gotta be almost ready for relaunch!" Tails realized. "Robotnik wouldn't be so desperate to take us out otherwise!"

"Then we better make sure that thing stays grounded," Sonic declared. "Fast!"

"Right!" Tails declared. "Let's crack these bad eggs!"

Sonic blinked. "Really?"

Tails scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, felt wrong the second I said it."

They ran directly into the Badnik horde, smashing every bot in their way as they made their way forward.

Launch Base

Robotnik was continuing to oversee the Death Egg's repairs when Knuckles came gliding in for a landing.

"Robotnik!" the echidna declared. "I need to have a word with you!"

"I'm terribly busy, Knuckles," Robotnik said casually. "I don't have time to-"

"You're making the time," Knuckles spat, holding up the rabbit. "Mind explaining why this came out of one of your robots Sonic smashed?"

Robotnik turned, his eyes widening behind his shades before he quickly thought up another lie.

"Ah, that," he remarked. "Nothing you need to concern yourself with. It's a simple life support unit."

"What?" Knuckles questioned.

"I'm well aware of the dangers my robots can cause," Robotnik insisted. "Thus, each one comes with a preservation unit to protect the local fauna. It carefully seals the creature in a protective bubble, concealing it within its impenetrable Megatal shell."

Knuckles took that in, before looking down at the rabbit. Just the mere sight of Robotnik was putting absolute terror into the poor creature.

"Then why is this thing terrified of you?" he questioned.

"Well, I'm not exactly the handsomest of fellows," Robotnik said defensively. "I've even made the occasional baby cry."

Knuckles wasn't entirely convinced by that. He set the Mobini down, allowing it to run away, and affixed him with a suspicious glare before departing. Once he was out of earshot, Robotnik sighed.

"Close one," he let out as a drone floated over.

"This could be problematic, Doctor," it pointed out. "The echidna's suspicious. It's only a matter of time before he realizes the truth."

Robotnik waved a hand, dismissing it. "By that point, the Death Egg will be operational again, and it'll make no difference."

Master Emerald Shrine

Kat had spent her time going through some of Knuckles' training regimen on her own. At that moment, Knuckles flew in.

"Hey, Knuckles," she greeted before taking in his appearance. "You okay? You look like you've been through the wringer."

"Kat…" Knuckles began, "can I ask you something?"

Noticing his tone, Kat sat down. "Yeah. What's wrong?"

Knuckles looked at her, then his eyes drifted to the lapel of her jumpsuit. He saw the Robotnik logo and his fists clenched. He closed his eyes, turning away.

"You… want to try stepping up your training?" he asked. "You seem to have the basics down."

"Sure," Kat nodded. "It'll give me a bit of a challenge."

She hopped up to get herself ready. Knuckles watched her, the torrent of questions on the tip of his tongue. However, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't voice them. Deep down, he was afraid of what the answers would be…

Author's Note:

Well, Knuckles is finally starting to realize the truth about Robotnik. He's not quite there yet, but give him time.

Next chapter, it's a race against the clock as Sonic and Tails do everything in their power to make sure the Death Egg doesn't make it back into orbit.

Please R&R. Until next time!