Cast No Shadow
                          By Lana MacBeth
                           ***STARRING***
             Sonic the Hedgehog and Knuckles the Echidna


        The huge snake whipped forward, cotton-white mouth opened.
Knuckles threw up one arm to shield himself. He felt the cobra's
weight and fury on his wrist for an instants. Then the reptile
coiled back. Knuckles clawed away, horrified eyes seeking the
wound. But instead of his flesh, the snake had bit his
wrist-communicator. He was unscathed. But the serpent would not let
it's victim escape so easily. It advanced again, it's oily body
pouring over the ground. Knuckles couldn't seem to move fast enough
to get away. Panting, he stopped and turned desperately to face it.
With a loud hiss the top five feet of it's body reared erect, the
hood spread wide. Someone struck an instant before the snake did. A
blur appeared out of nowhere and slammed into Knuckles, sending him
sprawling sideways. The cobra, not caring who it killed, struck at
the person. It's mouth clamped onto his bare arm, the poison fangs
sinking deep. Sonic grabbed the snake by the back of it's head,
then cried, "Knux! Kill it! Kill it!" Knuckles, pale as a ghost but
charged with adrenaline, picked up a large stick and brought it
down on the reptile's head. The cobra released Sonic's arm, only to
be driven to the ground by another blow from the stick. Knuckles
struck with all his strength, again and again, crushing the head of
the serpent. At last the creature was dead. Knuckles, trembling all
over, turned to Sonic. "T-thanks," he stuttered. "Y-you saved me--"
Sonic was standing stock still, staring down at his arm cradled
against his chest. Knuckles looked, too. The bite was deep, but
only a thin stream of pale blood traced down Sonic's arm. Sonic and
Knuckles locked eyes. There was no known cure for a Mobian Cobra
bite. Even the anti-venom often proved useless, and the Freedom
Fighters had none. In a very real sense, Sonic had given his life
for Knuckles's. "Go for help," Sonic said, his voice clipped. "I'll
stay here; if I move it will only spread the poison." "Right," Knux
replied. He was almost sick from what had happened, and very very
scared. He turned and ran in the direction of the Great Forest and
Knothole Village. Tall grass had grown in the outer limits of the
garbage dump surrounding Robotropolis. It had grown and died and
grown again for years, forming perfect snake territory. Knuckles
had been scouting when he disturbed the cobra. Sonic felt no pain,
but he knew it wouldn't last long. Being bitten by a Mobian Cobra
was one of the most painful ways to die. It shut down the bodily
functions one by one, even as it intensified the senses. But
strangely, all Sonic felt was a creeping coldness settle in his
arm.
        Knuckles ran as fast as he could for Knothole Village, a cold
haze filling his brain, stopping all other thoughts except for
getting help for his former nemesis.  It was mildly ironic, for a
few months previously, Knuckles and Sonic had been bitter enemies.
Now, they were friends and allies in the fight against Robotnik.
And Sonic had given his life for his friend.
        Tragically, as Knuckles wasn't watching where he was going,
he stepped onto a weak portion of the ground.  His weight caused
the patch of earth to give way, sending the echidna into a sinkhole.
        "WHOA!!" Knuckles yelped, feeling himself suddenly fall
through space.  He fell for a good twenty feet, then hit the murky
bottom of the hole with a squishy **phfft**.  The wind was knocked
from his lungs, and Knuckles blacked out.

        When he woke up again, he automatically checked his
communicator for the time.  He saw the two punctures in the
aluminum casing, and then he remembered Sonic's predicament.  He
looked up, seeing the green-gray sky above the rim of the
sinkhole.  He punched one of the walls near him, testing the edges
to see if he could climb out.  The wall was mostly mud, so he
couldn't get any foot, hand, or knuckle-hold to haul himself out.
He sat back down in the mud, defeated.  Sonic would die in a matter
of hours, then Knuckles would join him in a matter of days.
He sat there, in the dark, covered with mud, silent for a while.
Knuckles thought morbidly about the fates of himself, Sonic, and
his island.  Without a Guardian, what would happen? Sure, the
Choatix would take care of it, but it was his responsibility.  He
was the last of his kind. Now, the legacy that belonged to his
family was just a few days from ending.  Forever.  A tear slid from
his eye.
        Knuckles shook his head, shaking himself back to reality.
<No>, he thought, swiping the back of a hand across his eyes.
<Today will not be the day I die.>  He forced himself up, gasping
as he did so.  Every breath was like a thousand knives stabbing him
at once.  He probably had a few bruised or fractured ribs, but he
didn't care.  He needed to stay alive, and get out of the hole.
Then things took a turn for the worse.  When he looked up to see
how far up the walls reached, Knuckles was shocked to notice that
the roof of the sinkhole was rematerializing.
        "NO!!" Knuckles shouted.  He tried to scramble up the wall,
but succeeded only in sliding back to the bottom.  "NO!" he shouted
again and again, until finally all light from the sky vanished.
        Knuckles sank to the floor, stunned. Sinkholes didn't just
cover up automatically. It just didn't happen.
        <This is one very bogus situation I've gotten myself into, >
Knuckles thought. He remembered the small blue crystal he'd kept
from a mission to one of the quartz mines in Downunda. It was a
luminescent crystal, and it would come in handy right then.
He removed the crystal from one of the secret compartments in his
shoes. The metal plates on his shoes had a few compartments,
allowing for easy storage for anything small. From one of these
compartments he removed the tiny crystal. It was about the length
of the pencils used to keep track of golf scores, and the width of
a little finger. It was a rich cerulean blue. As soon as Knuckles
held it in his palm, the crystal glowed brightly, casting its blue
glow about the cavern. It tingled a bit, revealing its mystic
properties. Nicole, Princess Sally's mini-computer, had scanned the
crystal, and revealed traces of chaos emerald in its crystalline
structure. It was a lucky find, as well as an advantage to the
Freedom Fighters as a power source they could use to rebuild
Mobitropolis.
        Knuckles stared into his crystal for awhile, turning it over
in his palm. Suddenly he became aware of another light. It was
purple, and seemed to be coming from behind him.  He stood slowly,
turning to face the source of the light.
        He saw a round crystal the size of a softball.  It was a
shade of smoky amethyst, yet it seemed to have a myriad of other
shades flickering in the depths of its multi-faceted surface.  It
slowly rotated on some unseen axis, and hovered a few feet off the
floor of the sinkhole.  Intrigued, yet scared all at once, Knuckles
limped back a few feet.  The crystal didn't move.  He waved the
blue crystal in his hand a little bit in a circle.  To his
amazement, the crystal sphere matched his pattern exactly.  The
more complex the patterns, the better it matched up.  Knuckles
laughed weakly, smiling for the first time, and forgetting his
problems.
        Suddenly, the purple sphere stopped moving, changed color to
a deep royal blue, then blinked for a few seconds.  It then started
to move towards one of the walls of the sinkhole.  A white light
shot from the crystal's surface, opening up a hidden wall.  When
the wall was completely revealed, the orb changed color again, this
time to a dark emerald.  The new tunnel sent a cool breeze wafting
into the humid sinkhole, and Knuckles stood, dumbfounded, not
knowing what to do.  The orb spun in its orbit and blinked again,
slower this time.  Knuckles recognized the pattern; it was a code
he and the Chaotix used in dark places with flashlights. The code
used a series of short and long flashes to deliver any message,
letter by letter.
        <~U FOLLOW ME NOW~> the sphere blinked again.
        "Alright.  If you say so," Knuckles said quietly, then
followed the crystal orb down the tunnel and into oblivion.
<()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()>
        Sonic was shivering.  Knuckles had been gone for about an
hour and a half.  The guardian had never taken so long to run for
help, especially on an adrenaline rush.  Things were looking bad,
and all he could do was pray, and ponder his situation.  Mobian
Cobra venom poisoning was incurable, except in rare cases, and even
then, those who survived were often left paralyzed, brain damaged,
or catatonic.  No Mobian had ever survived a Cobra bite.
        His teeth began to chatter.  His body was on fire, but his
heart and mind were frozen.  He felt an immense sadness creeping
over him; he was only sixteen, veteran of a war against a dictator
whose implements of control were worse than any ever known, and yet
he was dying of a natural event.  He thought of his friends and
kin.  It was a bitter ending, since he'd only found his sister and
brother so recently, and he'd never get to grow up, marry, have
children, or even die an old man.  He'd been deprived of a lifetime
of memories to come, simply because he'd been bitten by a snake.
        <No>, Sonic thought, scolding himself.  <I was bitten because
I did what Knux would've done for me any day.>  It was true.  He
was a Freedom Fighter, and he'd taken a fatal hit for an ally, as
well as a friend.  Somehow, that made him feel better.  Not a lot
better, but better.
<()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()>
        Knuckles finally saw a light at the end of the tunnel the orb
had led him down.  He smelled the heavy, pungent aroma of medicinal
plants and wood smoke.  Undaunted, the sphere continued its path
down the tunnel until it reached the threshold of an opening to
another cavern.
        <~U WAIT HERE~> The orb blinked.  It flew over into the
cavern to where a figure was hunched over a desk, writing furiously
with a quill pen and ink.
Knuckles took a deep breath, wincing as he did.
        <~HE IS HERE~> The orb blinked over the figure's shoulders.
        "Ah, thank you Llyr," the figure said, setting down his pen.
He stood, then said, "You may enter, young guardian."
        Knuckles took a step into the room, limping slightly.
"Who... who are you?" He said quietly.
        "I am known as Brynach," the figure said, not turning around
to face Knuckles.  He had a firm, but careworn voice.
        "How do you know who I am?"
"Simple. The mark on your chest. I've known may of your ancestors.
You seem to have a problem, young... er, what do you call yourself?"
        "Knuckles," the young echidna said, perplexed because he'd
never seen the figure turn to look.
        "Knuckles.... Ah yes!  Son of Locke,"  Brynach said, turning
around.
        Knuckles gasped when he looked upon the countenance of the
old man.  He was a weathered old echidna, forehead wrinkled from
countless years of thought.  His eyes were a clear shade of copper,
and seemed to focus on many things at once.
        "You are amazed?  You've not seen one of your kind before?"
Brynach said, his aged voice echoing off the walls.  "Yes.  You've
been on your own for quite some time now.  Did you think you were
the last of your kind?"
        "Yes... you knew my father?" Knuckles asked, not quite out of
his shock.
        "Knew him, I did.  Know him, I do.  He lives, but not in
front of your eyes," Brynach said.  He noticed Knuckles wince as he
took a deep breath.  "You're injured.  Come, I will help you," the
old enchanter took Knuckles' heavy, spiked hand and led him to on
old cot lined with an old goose-down mattress and comforter.
Knuckles gratefully lay down, grateful to be off his feet.  For a
while, neither he nor the enchanter spoke.
        "He's a friend of yours?" The old echidna said, not taking
his eyes off the poultice he was concocting.
        "Yes.  He risked and forfeited his life to save mine, and now
he's on the surface, dying from a cobra bite," Knuckles said
morosely.
        "He's brave.  It was good of you two stop quarreling and
become allies... as well as friends.  Llyr, come here," Brynach
said.  The violet orb hovered over to his master's table.  "Take
this to the guardian's friend.  Be swift, for he has little time
left,"  the old enchanter tied a leather sachet to the sphere, then
sent it back through the tunnel.
        "What was that?"  Knuckles asked, frightened.
        "Medicine. Your friend will survive."
        Knuckles couldn't believe what he'd heard.  "A cure?"
        "Yes.  You were lucky you crashed into my home when you did,
Knuckles.  Relax, all has been attended to."  Brynach said, turning
back to his mortar and pestle.
<()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()>
        It was dusk.  Sonic looked lethargically up at the stars.  He
was flat on his back, sweating heavily, and muttering to himself.
He'd gotten rapidly worse since the afternoon, and now he knew he
was close to the end.
        <At least I got to look at the sunset one last time...> Sonic
thought to himself.  He suddenly thought of a verse from an old
song he picked up in his wanderings before he was a Freedom
Fighter.  He'd heard it while waiting for Tails in a hospital when
he'd become seriously ill with a case of Mobian Bush Flu.  In his
head, he heard the music, but he sang acappella to the stars.
        When he finished his singing -- it wasn't singing, just
muttering or humming to an old forgotten tune --  Sonic felt
himself slipping from consciousness, a clear sign that his time was
nearly up.  He fought for his consciousness the only way he knew
how:  Singing old tunes, forcing his mind to be active, searching
for forgotten lyrics and melodies deep within the chemical storage
of his memory.  Sonic sang, not caring whether or not he  got the
words right, or the lyrics in the right order.  He sang off-key and
on-key, wailing guitar solos and soaring through bass and
percussion riffs.  He sang songs of joy, hope, anger, and sorrow.
He didn't stop, literally living in the music of his on mind, until
he noticed a soft blue light hovering at his feet.  By then, he'd
been fighting unconsciousness for nearly an hour and a half.
        Sonic studied the light, allowing his bleary eyes to scan as
much as possible.
        "You're here to take me away, aren't you?"  He said, his
voice hoarse and defiant.  "Well, sorry, but you're gonna have to
wait 'til next time;  I ain't going out this way!"
        The light bobbed from side to side, spinning and shifting
colors furiously.
        <+NO I HELP YOU SIT UP I HELP+>
        Sonic started, then sat up.  He'd felt it in his head.  The
thing was talking in his head.
        <+TAKE POUCH HURRY EAT CONSUME HURRY QUICKLY+>
        He felt the voice in his fevered mind again as the light
floated over to his eye level.  In the blue of the light, he made
out a small packet.  Sonic fumbled with the slipknot, then opened
the packet.  A sour, medicinal smell reached his nostrils, and he
paused; he didn't know if this was help from above or harm from
below.  He could be saved, or he could die swifter.  It didn't
really matter, for he could do nothing else.
        Sonic closed his eyes, tilted his head back, opened his
mouth, and then downed the contents of the packet.
<()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()>
        Knuckles gladly accepted Brynach's offering of a thick,
steaming bowl of hot root stew.  It was soothing, and it warmed his
chilled insides.  His ribs had been healed, as had his ankle, by
magic.  Knuckles was still puzzled by the entire ordeal.
"What else bothers you, young guardian?"  Brynach spoke up after a
long silence.
        Knuckles shrugged.  "Why have you helped me?  And how do you
know my father?"
        The old enchanter smiled, his weathered features crinkling in
a reassuring way.  "I helped you because that is what happens
eventually.  I have helped several guardians, starting a few
generations before the one known as Robotnik came to be.
Talysette, the only female guardian, was first.  Her son, Athair
was next."
        Knuckles put up a hand.  "Wait a minute.  Athair was never
guardian.  He refused the title.  Jareth, his brother, took the
mantle."
        Brynach nodded.  "Yes, but Jareth was second.  He was my
apprentice.  A good portion of what he knows he learned from me."
Brynach paused for a spoonful of stew.  "Many years have I been
aiding those of your clan, Knuckles.  And I had hoped to continue
for many more years, but illness has kept me from my work," he
finished.
        Knuckles let the enchanter's words sink into his brain, then
put two and two together.  "You're dying? From what?" he asked,
looking into the older echidna's careworn face.
        "The attack of the terbium last summer has weakened me.  I
originally moved down here to escape the terbium, as I am quite
allergic to it.  This most recent attack has been the worst yet,
and it infiltrated my domicile.  I've fought the reaction for a
year, but I cannot keep on.  It is now my time to leave this life.
Thus, I need a successor," Brynach said, his voice sobering.
"Athair is too far away to help me with this situation, so I need
someone close enough to "be" him."
        "Whoa, wait a second.  Are you saying what I think you're
saying?" Knuckles asked incredulously.
        "It depends on what you think I'm saying," Brynach
responded.  "I need a blood relative of Athair to help me.  I know
where your father is, but I've no means of contacting him, so the
only alternative is you.  I will not force you into doing this,
Knuckles.  But, it would be greatly appreciated if you helped me.
The decision is yours and yours alone."
        Knuckles let the older echidna's words sink into his brain.
It was altogether too much excitement for one day.  Brynach had
helped him, as well as saved Sonic's life.  <This is seriously
getting weird> Knuckles thought.  For some reason, Knuckles trusted
the dying echidna incessantly.  It was unlike him to immediately
trust anyone upon a first-time basis.
        Knuckles' train of thought was interrupted by a harsh,
barking cough.  He looked up to see Brynach doubled over, his
shoulders bucking from the force of the spasms.  He tried to
straighten up, but all he succeeded in doing was fall over.
Knuckles strode over to the echidna's crumpled form, lifted him up,
and laid him on the cot.  When the spasms eased and Brynach's
breathing quieted, he focused his brown eyes on Knuckles' face.
"You see...my time...is running out,"  He wheezed, his sentence
broken up by his ragged breathing.
        Knuckles nodded, then said, "What do I have to do?"
<()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()>
        Sonic screeched to a halt beside the crystal sphere.  He'd
chased it for about five minutes, and his internal compass told him
he was less than three miles away from Knothole Village.  However,
he stood in a clearing, which bore no sign of the guardian.
        Sonic had been right to down the herbal poultice when he
did.  He'd no sooner swallowed the mixture when the final stage of
the cobra poisoning began:  uncontrollable convulsions.  Once up to
this point in the poisoning, a victim had maybe ten minutes to
live.  The convulsions were the result of the toxins in the venom
causing an anaphylactic reaction with the membrane surrounding the
spinal cord and brain.  When the white blood cells arrive to
neutralize the toxin, the chemicals eat away at the membranes,
allowing the toxin to penetrate the spinal cord and cause further
damage.  The damaged spinal cord pulsates with electrochemical
signals, sending the muscles into spasms.  Eventually, the heart,
too, is affected, causing fibrillation, and death.  The victim
literally dies of a heart attack.
        It was a wonder how Sonic could still move about.  Under
normal circumstances, he'd be paralyzed, but, thanks to some help
from the sphere, Sonic could walk, run, and basically live.
Sonic wasn't concerned with this  at present.  He was more focused
on finding his friend, not biology.
        "So, where's Knux?"  he impatiently asked the sphere,
crossing his arms.  When the sphere didn't respond, he started
tapping his foot.  Finally, he said, "I'm waiting!"
        The sphere chose that moment to shoot up into the air,
gaining altitude at an alarming rate.  Then, it turned and headed
for the ground, increasing its speed.  It hit the ground, then went
through it with a muffled thump.  Sonic looked down into the hole
it created, and noticed he was standing on a sinkhole.  He decided
to follow suit, leaping into the air, curling up into a ball as he
did.  When he neared the ground, he used the technique he'd used on
Badniks three years prior to that day.  He broke through the top of
the sinkhole, then uncurled and landed on his feet in the thick mud
at the bottom of the hole.
        "Great.  It'll take forever to get this crud offa my kicks!"
Sonic muttered under his breath.  He then noticed it was growing
darker in the hole.  He looked up in time to see the last shreds of
moonlight vanish from the hole.  "What the--!"  he exclaimed,
staring dumbly into the dark.  The luminous sphere was nowhere to
be found, so he was without light.  "Rats!"  he exclaimed to no one
in particular, then plopped down in the muck to figure out a means
of escape.
<()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()>
        Llyr burrowed through the mud, intent on reaching its master
in the cave.  Behind it, the mud thickened and concealed the
sphere's track.
        Llyr was something of an oddity.  It was an enchanted bauble,
long fought over and searched for by the various treasure and
bounty hunters.  Its origins were shrouded in mystery, as many
oddities are.  Some were miraculous, other said to be cursed, while
others were simply scapegoats for the follies of their possessors.
Not that Llyr really pondered its origins.  It was content only to
serve its master to the best of its ability.
        Llyr arrived at its destination, coming out of the muddy wall
cleanly, as if he'd traveled through air or water instead of mud.
It saw its master looking rather weary and sitting on the old cot.
He was explaining something to the guardian.  In its blurry,
fragmented understanding of its master's words, Llyr knew he was
talking about a Transfer.  A Transfer involved one being
transferring its knowledge to another.  That's how Llyr came to be;
supposedly an older, more powerful enchanter had his dwindling life
force into a crystal.  It was because of this that Llyr had gained
sentience and became an enchanted aid to many enchanters,
enchantresses, and the like over the years.  Luckily, Llyr had
never fallen into the possession of anyone evil.  It was still a
danger, yet Llyr knew it was powerful enough to escape an evil
force, to some degree at least.
        Llyr knew three means of communication to the Others, as he
called the flesh beings it interacted with:  blinking in a code
which those who knew it understood, which it had used with the
guardian, changing colors in response to a situation, and
telepathy, which, it had used with the hedgehog friend of the
guardian.  It could send a telepathic message, but it could not
receive them.  It understood the vocalizations of the Others, but
was unable to return them, because it had no vocal cords.  Llyr was
a sentient being that needed no food, water, or shelter.  It did
need companionship, but it got that from its master and any other
being it encountered and befriended.
        "Llyr."  It "heard" its master addressing it.
        <~YES~> it blinked for the benefit of the guardian.  Its
telepathy was rarely used, so the blink was most appropriate to use
in a situation like this.
        "I need you to act as a conduit for a Transfer," its master
said.
        <~WHEN YOU ARE READY I AM READY~> Llyr blinked. It hovered
over to the table in the corner and waited.
        Turning his attention back to Knuckles, Brynach spoke again.
"When the Transfer is complete, I shall be dead.  Llyr will then be
yours to command.  I trust it will aid you in any way possible."
        "Well, if you're gonna be dead, how the heck am I gonna get
you back to the island to bury you without causing a ton of
suspicion?"  Knuckles asked.
        Brynach stopped, and looked at his younger counterpart.
"Oh... good point.  Well, no problem.  Llyr here can teleport," he
said, indicating the blue sphere.
        "Why didn't you mention that earlier?  You could've
teleported Sonic here to treat him," Knuckles asked, frustrated
with Brynach's answer.
        "Well, because it can only teleport twice every year.  At
each solstice, its teleportation powers are renewed.  Once it uses
the 'port, it must wait for the next solstice.  That's the deal
with mystical oddities, I suppose,"  Brynach said matter-of-factly.
        "Oh," Knuckles said.  In his head, he asked himself, <What
have I gotten myself into?>
<()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()>
        Sonic resolved to stay put.  He was filthy, covered in the
muck from the bottom of the sinkhole.  He wasn't exactly a blue
hedgehog anymore.  He'd tried to spin-dash through one of the
walls, but  only succeeded in getting stuck to the wall by his
quills.  He tried running around the circumference of the hole and
up the walls, letting centripetal force keep him anchored to the
wall, but he only wound up making a tornado of mud, which had
nearly buried him alive.  So there he was, stuck in a sinkhole,
covered in mud, looking rather silly.
        Then, all at once, his prison was filled with a bight
blue-green light.  It blinded him, and Sonic had to cover his eyes
to protect against the barrage of light.  Sonic felt himself fading
away, into the light, and then he was out of the hole.
        The next thing Sonic knew, he was standing in the middle of a
vast expanse of ruins.  He recognized some of the structures as old
temples and causeways.  By the light of the moon, he looked at his
wrist communicator... and noticed it wasn't where it should have
been.  Sonic remembered throwing it away in the sinkhole when it
had gotten filled with muddy water, destroying the LCD screen, so
it was basically useless.  Sonic was so concerned with figuring out
where he was, that he didn't realize he was alone in the ruins.
<()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()>
        Julie-Su  watched the figure cautiously.  It had simply
materialized in front of her, and it was definitely not from around
the island.  For a moment, Julie-Su thought the figure might be
Knuckles, but quickly ruled out that possibility.  For one,
Knuckles normally teleported to the Hidden Palace, then came to the
surface.  Second, the figure was too tall and lanky to be the
guardian.  And third, Knuckles hadn't had pointy ears and quills
the last time she'd seen him.  She slowly removed her pistol from
its holster.  She flicked a switch, changing the setting from
'STUN' to 'NET'.  She took aim, placing the crosshairs on the sight
just a little bit above the figure's head.  Julie-Su whistled
shrilly through her teeth, then fired.
<()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()>
        Sonic jumped when he heard the whistle, whirled to face the
source.  A fine netting flew into his face and over his head.  The
momentum of the weighted edges of the net drove him to the ground,
then wrapped around his ankles, effectively binding him and
preventing any possibility of him escaping.
        He heard footsteps dashing up to him then winced as a light
shot on, stinging his eyes.
        "Oh, frag!"  He heard a female voice mutter.  In the glow
from the palmtorch, Sonic recognized the face of the only other
echidna resident of the Floating Island, Julie-Su.
        "Hey Julie, what gives?  New island policy?" Sonic
sarcastically asked the pink echidna.
        "'Scuse me for tryin' to do my job!" Julie-Su replied,
stooping to free the hedgehog from the net.  "If your looking for
Knuckles, he ain't here.  He's planetside."
        "Duh, I knew that.  I was teleported here, by something, so
I'm guessing Knux is probably back too.  But first, where the heck
am I?"  Sonic said, kicking his legs out to restore circulation to
his feet.
        "Marble Garden," Julie-Su replied, offering a hand to the
hedgehog.  He took it, and she pulled him to his feet.  She looked
at him in the light of the palmtorch.  "Jeez, Sonic.  You look like
you've been in a mud wrestling match!"
        "Ha-ha, very funny," Sonic said, deadpan.  He crossed his
arms and glared at the former legionnaire.
        "No, really!  It's a good lok for you!"  Julie replied,
baerly concealing a laugh.  When all she got from Sonic was an
angry glare, she sighed.  "Well, come on.  You can get cleaned up
back at Angel Base,"  she said.  Angel Base was the makeshift
headquarters for the Chaotix, constructed a few months prior.  It
was set up a few kilometers from Marble Garden.  Julie-Su clicked
off the palmtorch, plunging the pair into darkness once again.
They headed off towards Angel Base, Julie-Su leading.  They'd
gotten a quarter of the way there when a flash of azure blue light
lit up the sky.
        "What the--?" Julie-Su and Sonic said in unison.
        "This day is getting way past bogus!" Sonic exclaimed.  He
grabbed Julie-Su's hand and sped off at top speed for Angel Base.
<()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()>
        The images sped past like miniature comets.  Flashed of the
old man's life zipped past Knuckles' own eyes.  It was all he could
do not to pull his arm away from the blue orb and run.  Muffled
sounds boomed, mixed, and intertwined in his brain.  Suddenly, a
blue bolt of what he thought was lightning flashed and thunder
rumbled.  Then everything went dark.
        Knuckles slowly opened his eyes.  The clearing was dark.  He
sat up slowly and rubbed his eyes.  At his feet, the crystal ball
he knew as Llyr lay.  It wasn't lit up, and it appeared to be just
another big crystal.  Knuckles picked up the ball, examining it by
the pale light of the crescent moon.  He turned it over in his big
hands.  He didn't know what had happened to the little orb, but he
caught sight of Brynach's crumpled form a few feet away from him.
He got to his feet and walked over to the body.  He knelt beside
the enchanter and felt for the pulsepoint in the neck.  Sure
enough, as Brynach had said, he was dead.  Numbly, Knuckles used
his spiked fists to dig a grave.  He laid the enchanter inside,
then covered the hole.  Knuckles stood up, brushed the dirt from
his hands, then started to walk towards Angel Base.  He picked up
Llyr, who had started to glow again, as he walked by.  He decided
to return the next morning and mark the mound where Brynach the
Enchanter slept eternally.
<()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()>
        Sonic and Julie-Su reached Angel Base just as Knuckles did.
Knuckles temporarily forgot about his previous exertions, taking
advantage of this occaision to needle Sonic about his less than
clean appearance.  The hedgehog stalked off, muttering, to the
infirmary, where he could clean up and have someone tend the
snakebite wounds, now that he was alive and well.
        "From what Sonic told me, you two had one heck of a day,"
Julie-Su commented.  The two echidnas were waiting for Sonic to
return from the infirmary in Knuckles' cabin.  The other Chaotix
were also waiting, hoping to hear more of the day's events than
they'd heard from Julie-Su, whom they didn't quite trust just yet.
        "It gets better, but I'll wait for Sonic to get back before I
say anything," Knuckles said, putting his feet up on the table.
        "I don't get it.  Sonic survived a Mobian cobra bite?  This
had better be good," Vector the croc remarked.
        "Since this involves the Freedom Fighters, maybe you should
get ahold of them, Knux," Charmy Bee said, checking his watch.
"It's still only about nine o' clock down there.  They could
probably make it up here before it's too late."
        "Sure, but I think we all need some serious shut-eye if were
gonna pull an all-nighter.  At least a couple hours' worth,
anyway,"  Espio the Chameleon said, putting a hand down on the table.
        "Fine.  I'll send Pidge down with a message, letting the
Freedom Fighters know Sonic's with us, and arrange a meeting for
tomorrow morning.  Sound good?"  Knuckles said, taking his feet
down.  The Chaotix nodded, then got up and headed towards their
respective cabins.
        Knuckles got out a pen and paper and wrote out a message for
Pidge, the resident carrier pigeon, to deliver:

        Knothole Village:
        Sonic is up here on the island.  We had quite a day today,
so, to make it interesting, why not have the group come on up for
the whole story.  I don't think Robotropolis will give us any
problems.  Come on up about 0900 tomorrow.
        Regards,
        KTE

        Knuckles rolled up the note, then walked over to a small nook
in the wall of the cabin.  He stuck his had in, and poked the
sleeping bundle of feathers inside.  "Pidge, wake up.  Late
delivery," he said, trying not to yawn himself.
        <Yawn> "Alright, alright.  I'm up," Pidge's sleepy voice
said.  Knuckles removed his hand, allowing Pidge to exit.  The bird
was scarcely bigger than Knuckles' fist, and had deep greyish blue
plumage.  Her eyes were wide and a smoky blue shade.  She resembled
a flicky more than a pigeon, but resemblance was the only link
between her and the mystical birds of Flicky Isle.  "Lemme guess,"
Pidge said, stretching her wings, "Knothole Village?"
        "Right.  Make it quick, alright?"  Knuckles said.  He was
about to say more when the radio link in the corner of the room
crackled to life.
        "-Island Angel Base, this is Knothole ComCenter, do you
copy?"  the static-filled link said.
        "Hold that thought, Pidge," Knuckles said.  As he walked over
to the mike, the speaker in Knothole repeated the message.  He
frowned; he didn't recognize the voice.
        "Knothole Com, this is Angel Base.  I copy," Knuckles said.
"If you're looking for Sonic, he's up here, safe. Over."
        "Good.  Princess Sally's been throwing out audio calls and
search teams for the past two hours, and Tails has been worried
sick.  Over." The speaker said.  It was definitely female.
        "Copy that.  I assume I'm not talking to the princess
herself, so who'm I talking to? Over."
        "You're talking to Lana MacBeth, Knux.  I think you've been
up in high altitudes too long! Over."  The speaker laughed.
        "Oh. Sorry, Lana.  Just didn't recognize your voice.
Shouldn't you have been on the search team yourself? Over."
Knuckles replied, his frown disappearing.
        "Oh, I was.  I just got back.  The princess is over here,
signalling at me to let her talk.  Here she is, over." Lana replied.
        "Roger that, Knothole. Over."
        "Knuckles, you're sure he's there?  What the heck happened to
you two? Over." Sally's voice filtered through the static
        "That's a surprise.  So, you guys have won an all-expense
paid trip to the island tomorrow morning.  0900 sound good to you?
Over."  Knuckles smiled at his own joke.
        "Ha ha, Knuckles.  Funny.  0900 is good. See you then.  This
is Knothole ComCenter, signing off.  Over and out."  Sally said.
He heard the click that signified the end of the communication, so
he clicked off his own mike, then turned back to Pidge.  "False
alarm, Pidge.  Sorry 'bout that."
        "Hey, no biggie.  Dumb luck and coincidence.  See ya!"  Pidge
said, returning to her hole in the wall.
        Knuckles was about to hit the sack when he heard a knock at
the door.  He opened the door to find Sonic standing there, now his
customary blue. He had a clean bandage over the snakebite on his
forearm.
        "They're coming up tomorrow morning.  We can tell them what
happened then," Knuckles said.
        "Sounds good," Sonic said.  He turned to leave for the spare
cabin, when Knuckles said, "Hey, Sonic."
        "Yeah?" he asked.  He turned to face his friend.
        "Thanks."
        "No problem.  You woulda done the same for me," Sonic said.
He caught the look on Knuckles' face and said, "Even if it had
happened a few months ago."
        "You're sure about that?"
        "Positive.  No one deserves that much pain.  I can say that
from experience."  Sonic said.  He was staring at a spot just over
Knuckles left shoulder.  "Hey!  That's the light!  How'd it get
here?"
        "Huh?  Oh, that's Llyr.  He's some artifact from the
enchanter I met when I went to get help.  He's the one who gave you
the antidote,"  Knuckles explained, pointing at the sphere.  It was
a contented azure blue, and it hovered over the two Mobians.
        <~IT PLEASURE TO MEET YOU, SONIC~>  Llyr blinked.
        "Back at you.  So, Knux, where's this enchanter guy?  I wanna
thank him,"  Sonic asked, scratching the back of his head.
        "Dead."
        "Er.... oops, sorry about that."
        "No problems,"  Knuckles said, kicking off his shoes and
sitting down on one of the overstuffed chairs in the room.  Sonic
followed suit, stretching his aching legs out as he did so.  After
a brief silence, Knuckles began to reiterate his bizzare story.
<()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()><()>
Elsewhere....

:<>:Time is it to attack?:<>:
:():Soon, little sister, soon.  These mortals are recovering.  They
will need all their strenghth to fight the two of us. You do want
strong toys to play with, don't you?:():
:<>:Oh, yes!  Yup-yup-yup!  That is what I am wanting!!:<>:
:():Enough.  We will see when we will move.  Father always said
patience was the key to attaining what you want....:():
:():And I shall have what I want.:():


                                                TO BE CONTINUED.......