- Chapter 32 -

Grave Escape

Sandopolis Desert

Sonic's makeshift sandboard landed perfectly on a dune, and he rode down it with glee, Tails holding onto him tightly.

"Oh yeah!" he whooped. "Woo! This is fun, isn't it Tails?!"

"You and I have two very different definitions of fun!" Tails shot back.

Just before they landed in an approaching valley, Sonic pulled to a stop expertly, jumping off the door with Tails still clinging to him.

"You mind easing up a bit?" he asked. "You're kinda squeezing the life outta me."

Tails was shaking on Sonic's back. "We're not doing that again."

Sonic pried the fox off of him, setting him down. "You can handle aerodynamic stunts in the Tornado, but not a little freestyle sandboarding?"

"I have control in the Tornado," Tails defended. "I'm not freefalling on a dented door you're using as a sandboard."

Before the conversation could continue, Sonic looked up, seeing a familiar figure gliding in from afar. He and Tails immediately tensed as Knuckles touched down before them.

"Relax," the echidna told them. "I'm not here to fight."

He held up his hands to show he came in peace.

"You'll understand if we're a bit skeptical, given the number of times you've tried to kill us already," Sonic retorted.

"Circumstances have changed," Knuckles explained. "I've seen how you've been acting, and it's... nothing like the villain Kat and the doctor made you out to be."

"Wait... just how much has Kat told you?" Tails asked. "How do you not know what's going on?"

"She's been in shock since I found her," Knuckles said. "And I don't want to push until she's ready to talk about it."

"Wow…" Sonic let out. "That actually explains a lot."

He stepped forward. "Look, clearly you're a bit more willing to hear us out. Maybe we can try and talk this time."

"Let's walk and talk," Knuckles insisted, looking into the valley. "We're right at the foot of the Kohenyu Graveyard, and I'd rather not stick around any longer than I have to."

Tails blinked. "Kohenyu… Graveyard?"

They began walking as Knuckles explained.

"The one place on Angel Island I've never visited," he began. "It was once the home of a race of dinosaurs called the Kohenyu, which nearly went extinct decades ago. The elder Guardians declared them a protected species, but there still aren't many left. All that's left of them here is their bones, half-buried and preserved by some mysterious power. Stories abound of ghosts and restless spirits roaming the place."

"Seriously?" Sonic asked. "That sounds like some scary story to me."

"Regardless, I very much want to get through this place and get out before sundown," Knuckles insisted. "And I advise you to do the same."

"I'm not afraid of ghosts," Sonic retorted. "They don't exist. I think it's just some old tale told to keep kids from wandering where they shouldn't."

Knuckles shrugged. "Here's hoping you're right."

As they went in, the first thing they saw was a cluster of cacti topped with purple flowers, emitting some kind of blue mist or spores.

"Poison Dryalid," Knuckles informed them. "They only grow here. The spores they emit are a potent hallucinogen. In the most extreme cases, it can knock you out or even kill you."

"Whoa…" Tails went out.

"Hallucinogen?" Sonic asked. "Maybe that's what causes your ghosts."

Before Knuckles could retort, a light suddenly shone above them, an ominous voice sounding.

"Who dares to enter this place?"

The light formed into the ethereal head of a Styracosaurus-like dinosaur. Sonic blinked, rubbing his eyes.

"Uhh…" the hedgehog began, "you seeing this?"

"A Kohenyu…" Knuckles realized.

"Still think they're tall tales?" Tails asked.

Sonic shook his head. "Knuckles... I apologize for earlier."

"I am the Spirit of the Herd. All that remains of the ancient Kohenyu," the Spirit explained before glaring at Knuckles. "Murderer! Echidna are not welcome here! Why have you come?!"

"Hey. Easy, ghost dino," Sonic said, holding up his hands. "We're not looking for any trouble. We're just passing through."

"SILENCE!" the Spirit bellowed, Sonic flinching.

"We mean no harm!" Knuckles insisted.

"The words of an Echidna mean little to us," the Spirit spat. "You are a liar and a murderer, just like all of your kind! Now it is time to make amends for your sins!"

The trio gaped in shock as the ancient bones began to rise out of the sand. "The Herd rises!"

"Uh, Knuckles?" Sonic began. "Not to try and tell you what to do, but you should run."

"I think we all should run!" Tails exclaimed.

The skeletal Kohenyu began to charge after them. Instinctively, Sonic and Knuckles fought back. However, even as they punched and kicked off limbs and heads, the skeletons kept coming.

"It's no use!" Sonic shouted.

"Foolish hedgehog," the Spirit scoffed. "Your efforts are futile. You cannot kill what's already dead!"

"Listen to me!" Knuckles pleaded. "I'm not your enemy! The Kohenyu are protected now! There is still hope for your species!"

"They are a mere shadow of what they once were, because of the Echidnas!" the Spirit snapped, unmoved.

Knuckles was slammed into the wall by a skeleton and knocked out cold. One of them snatched him up in its jaws, running into the valley as the Spirit turned to Sonic and Tails.

"I give you one chance at mercy, now that the Echidna is in my clutches," the Spirit declared. "Leave this valley and never return. The Spirit has spoken."

With that, the head vanished.

"Sonic, what should we do?" Tails asked.

"We go after him, of course," Sonic said. "If we leave him at the mercy of those things, we'll just be confirming everything he thought about us. Besides..." He clenched his fists, remembering Kat's rage and sorrow at being left behind before turning to Tails. "I'm not leaving anyone else behind, Tails. Never again."

Tails looked at his eyes, then gave a nod. "Alright. Let's go get him."

-X-

They followed the skeletons, soon coming into an ancient mine where Power Gems were merging into Chaos Emeralds, just like the Hidden Palace Zone on Westside Island.

"Just like on Westside…" Tails mused. "This must be how and where they mined the Master Emerald!"

"Where's Knuckles?" Sonic asked.

Tails spotted him, trapped inside a cage made from the ribs of a Kohenyu. The Spirit was hovering before him, glaring with malice as Sonic and Tails hid behind a rock.

"Just let me out of this cage, and I'll leave the valley," Knuckles offered. "You'll never hear from me again."

"You will never leave."

"What we did to your people was an accident! My people specifically avoided overhunting!"

"Ah, but what you didn't know was that there were only twenty males. The Echidnas killed them all, since they were the largest and slowest. It was only by sheer luck some eggs were male, and that's why my species remains. Regardless, it's time for you to pay the price!"

The ribs began to constrict, threatening to crush Knuckles to death, and that's when Sonic decided to make his entrance. He launched at the Spirit in a Spin Dash, only to pass right through it.

"Well, I'll be damned," he remarked. "You really are a ghost."

"You idiot…" Knuckles snapped. "Get out of here!"

"You were warned to stay away!" the Spirit added. "Why do you insist on protecting this destroyer?"

"Two good reasons," Sonic answered. "One: I find it stupid that you think that Knuckles here has to take the heat for something his ancestors did a very long time ago. And two: I don't turn my back on people in trouble."

"What a pity, hedgehog," the Spirit sighed. "If you're so insistent on protecting the Echidna, then you will perish alongside- Wait. Where has he gone?"

They looked. Sure enough, a hole had been tunneled in the floor beneath the rib cage, and Knuckles was nowhere to be seen; he had apparently dug his way out while the Spirit was focused on Sonic. He then came bursting out of the ground, a pair of strange, metal gauntlets on his hands.

"What are those?" Tails asked.

"The Shovel Claws," Knuckles explained. "Artifacts left behind by my people when they were digging up the gems here. I found a pair when they dragged me in here."

"Cool," Sonic remarked. "Now let's beat it!"

They ran through the mines, being accosted by more skeletons as they went before they came out into a large cavern. Before them was a massive glowing crystal resembling multiple Power Gems fused together. The Spirit appeared over it, panicked.

"No!" it screamed. "Stay away from the Soul Crystal!"

"Soul Crystal, eh?" Sonic mused, scratching his chin. "Now that sounds important."

"The Soul Crystal keeps the Spirit of the Herd alive!" the Spirit shouted. "If you damage the crystal, I'll be destroyed! The last trace of us will be gone forever!"

"Well, all you have to do is stop us with your skeletons before I smash it," Sonic warned. "You feeling lucky?"

He raised a foot, preparing to bring it down as more skeletons ran in. Tails and Knuckles smashed them, before Knuckles ran over, grabbing Sonic's arm before he could strike the final blow.

"Wait," the echidna insisted.

Sonic blinked in surprise. "What?"

"Don't destroy it," Knuckles pleaded. "It's all they have left."

"But that's not true," Tails pointed out. "You said so yourself that there are other Kohenyu."

"Maybe, but they'll never be the great herd they once were," Knuckles said. "And that's on my people. Besides, I know how it feels to be the last vestige of an entire race…"

The Spirit seemed just as surprised, while Knuckles turned to it.

"My people left me alone on Angel Island. I don't know why, or where they went," he explained. "I don't care if you believe me or not, but I know how you feel. And for that reason, I can't allow the destruction of the last trace of your herd."

Hearing this, Sonic nodded and took a step back. The Spirit seemed equally moved.

"I sense the truth in your words," it remarked. "After the way I attacked you, you were well within your right to destroy me, and yet you did not. Perhaps I have misjudged you, Echidna... and perhaps it is time for the ancient hatred to end."

"I'm willing to try if you are," Knuckles offered.

"Yes, of course," Another skeleton emerged, this one carrying the blue Chaos Emerald in its mouth and holding it out to Sonic. "One of the ancient gems fell a few days ago. As a sign of good faith, it is yours."

Sonic took it, smiling. "Thank you."

-X-

Bidding the Spirit farewell, the group exited the valley, finding themselves standing before a giant pyramid as Knuckles looked back into the graveyard.

"It must have been an incredible sight," he mused. "Hundreds of Kohenyu roaming that valley in peace."

"I'm sure it was beautiful," Tails agreed.

"I bet it was…" Knuckles said wistfully.

"So…" Sonic began, "since I saved your life, do you finally believe that I'm not the bad guy here?"

"Honestly… I don't know what to believe," Knuckles admitted. "Everything's so mixed up and confusing. But, I do know you're not the monster Robotnik said you were, and Kat seems to really regret what she did."

"You want the full story, talk to her," Sonic told him. "It's better you hear it from Kat than me. And tell her I'm fine, that I'm healed up and I'm not carrying a grudge."

Knuckles nodded and turned to go. He stopped only briefly, turning his head back.

"If you want to get to Robotnik, the fastest way is through the pyramid before you," he informed them. "But watch your back. The pyramid is home to a legendary treasure, which is safeguarded from the unworthy by its protectors."

And with that, he was gone.

"Huh…" Tails pondered. "And you thought we'd never get through to him."

Sonic shrugged, a small smile on his face. "Even I make mistakes from time to time."

Master Emerald Shrine

Knuckles glided back to the shrine, seeing Kat practicing on her own with Chomps off to the side. She had managed to find herself a full Echidna-esque outfit and was currently wearing it. It consisted of a cream colored crop top and a traditional skirt with beige, green, and red triangular patterns. She'd even found herself a headband similar to Knuckles, which helped hold back some of her messy hair. Her old jumpsuit was currently sitting in the campfire, acting as its latest fuel source. Knuckles approached her, getting her attention. When she saw the look on his face, she paused her routine, her own expression becoming serious.

"Kat…" he began, "we need to talk."

Author's Note:

And that's done. This story arc was yet another adapted from Sonic the Comic, only I threw Sonic and Tails into the mix.

Next chapter: Knuckles finally realizes Robotnik is up to no good after his chat with Kat, while Sonic and Tails brave the tricks, traps, and dangers of the Sandopolis pyramid.

Voice cast for this chapter:

* Spirit of the Herd - Corey Burton (Hugo Strange from Batman: Arkham City, Zeus from God of War, Captain Hook from Disney's Peter Pan)

Please R&R. Until next time!