Why is it that evil must so often come beautifully wrapped?

-Professor Charles Xavier

Chaotix
By Scott Kelly


july 19, 2022
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Chapter I.............................................The Box

"Luke," Larissa Mitchell called up the winding steps of the attic. "You'd best be
coming down right now, or else we'll be moving without you."
Fifteen-year old Luke Mitchell did not laugh at his mother's wry joke. He hated his
parents, Larissa and David. They're always doing something to annoy me, he thought
hatefully. This morning, the morning they were to move out of their old house at 625
Tallyho Lane and go to another state, Luke, incensed at the interstate relocation and
the loss of his school, his neighborhood, and all his friends, had stormed up to the
attic at early morning and refused to budge until the move was called off. His parents
tried to explain that the move was necessary, that David's commute to his new
workplace should not involve crossing a state boundary, and that the loss of his
neighborhood and friends were just inevitable side effects, but Luke had remained
stubborn and contradictory, saying that no, he refused to move, and they weren't
leaving without him anyway. But yet sitting in the totally empty attic, he felt
overwhelming loss. This was unavoidable, even if his parents had to carry him bodily
to the moving craft.
        Feeling sudden despair and hopelessness, he fell backwards from his sitting
position. His head hit a plank of the attic floor as he flopped down. Surprisingly,
the plank in question flipped over on a hinge. The solid oaken plank came whirling
around and smacked Luke square on the nose. He jerked upright, surprised and smarting.
Oddly, as he watched the plank, it swung back to its original position. It must be
weighted, Luke thought. His heart started to thump, his mind conjuring images of
magnificent treasures and jewels from another time. Trembling with excitement, he
pushed the plank again. It swung easily on well-oiled hinges. With one hand on the
plank to steady it, he groped around in the cavity beneath it to find the contents
therein. He felt the touch of rough, scratchy fabric—no, vinyl. His hopes sputtered
and died. What good was a dumb piece of vinyl? Regardless, he hauled the thing out of
the hole.
        When he set it upon the ground, the dust of countless ages erupted from its
surface. Touching the vinyl, he discerned that it was not just a piece of vinyl, but a
case of sorts. He found a scrap of fabric with lettering on it sewn onto a corner of
the case. He read it slowly and deliberately: DYNASOUND. Luke was puzzled. What was
Dynasound? He then noticed a zipper running along the length of the case on the sides.
Newly excited at what the case may contain, he grabbed the zipper and zipped the case
open.
        Inside was a jumble of wires. He moved the cords gently aside and there it
lay.
        It rested in a niche carved into the bottom of the case. It was a small,
hand-sized black box. It had a screen of sorts and some switches and dials on the
side. On the back were two plates. He moved them aside and saw, altogether, six
batteries, three beneath each plate. He took no notice of the plastic cartridge that
rested in a niche in the box's back. It read: "Knuckles's Chaotix."
        Luke's eyes opened in astonishment.
        "Batteries," he whispered reverently. He had heard of them before and seen
pictures of them, but never had he really seen any. This thing must be truly old,
thought Luke, to run on batteries. Batteries were a hopelessly outdated form of
portable power. They were no longer available to the public and what few of them did
exist were in private collections or museums. If they still work, wouldn't that be
great? Perhaps it was a cathode ray tube of sorts, a . . . TV? He had heard the term
in science class. The TV was an antiquated version of today's CRT's. TV's had been
abandoned ever since the CRT was developed. But how truly small it was! Luke tried in
vain to find the activation switch, for time and the touch of many fingers had worn
the lettering away. What a hunk of worthless junk! In frustration, he tossed the thing
over his shoulder. It landed in a corner, ricocheting off of a vertical beam before
coming to a stop, resting face up on the floor. The collision with the beam had nudged
one of the box's switches into a different position. The switch was a small orange one
on a corner of the box. The ancient screen flickered to life, but the frail speaker
was broken by the throw and remained silent.
        Looking not at the box, Luke lay down to take a nap. After all, he had come up
here at 4:00 in the morning and had noisily protested since then without sleep.
Grateful to be rid of his parents' complaints for awhile, he lay down and rested.
        Only seconds later, it seemed to Luke, he was awoken by a strange noise. It
was a queer whining sound, like an oral hygienist's drill. The noise grew in pitch.
Luke cowered in a corner, afraid of what might happen, for he did not know where the
noise was coming from. The strange little box he had thrown away was glowing eerily
with a pale white light. The glow and whine increased, until he was shocked both blind
and deaf by the display. The glow subsided, and Luke fell into darkness, blacking out.
        The glow disappeared entirely, and the attic was empty.

day 1
the thirty-eighth of Rritt, 4968
—————————————————————

Chapter II.............................................The Hut

Luke lay in the long grass of an alien forest, unconscious. He was not aware of
anything going on around him; of the chirping of strange birds, the sun shining
through the trees' leafy canopy, nor did he hear the sound of feet stomping through
the brush to where he lay. He did not feel the gloved hand that reached down and
patted his sandy blonde hair, did not hear the voice that mumbled, "Well, what've we
got here?". And last of all, he did not experience the sensation of being picked up by
strong arms and carried through the forest, to parts unknown.


        "Luke? Luke? Luke, you'd better come down from there, or there's going to be
real trouble . . ."
        44-year-old David Mitchell wearily climbed the steps to the attic. He was
hoping to convince his son to come away with them peacefully. He was glad, however,
that they would finally be moving, moving away from that which had caused him so much
trouble so many years before. That which was hidden in this very attic for over thirty
years. As he reached the top step, he looked around to spot Luke, but he was nowhere
to be seen. Then, David's eye alighted upon a glowing object in the corner. His heart
leaped. A film of sweat stood out on his brow. He warily advanced towards the object
in the corner. He picked it up. It was . . . the Game Gear!! David yelped, dropped the
Game Gear as if it had bitten him, and stood there for a moment, shocked, not
believing that his secret was discovered. And now his son was casualty to it! He took
off, galloping down the steep stairs, running, running away from his past . . .


        Luke shifted, feeling something beneath him . . . sheets. They were rough,
though, they felt . . . alien. He suddenly was struck by the thought that he was
asleep in his new bed—in his new house! Angrily, he sat up. A cool wind whipped his
face. He smelled, oddly enough, vegetation, and the smell of flowers he had never
known. Wanting to know why he smelled such things, he rubbed his eyes and opened them.
Luke was shocked.
        He sat on a bed made from bamboo poles lashed together by some kind of hide.
His sheets were woven from some sort of rough fiber. He sat in . . . a hut. . ? Luke
rubbed his eyes again, believing his sleepy eyes were playing tricks. When he reopened
them however, he was still sitting on the bamboo bed, in the hut. Another cool breeze
caressed his face. He got off the bed and stood. He walked unsteadily about and
surveyed the hut. It was simple: one room, with hardly any decorations. There was only
the bed, plus a bamboo table that sat in a corner, with a chair accompanying it. He
saw the doorway to the outside. Still disbelieving, he stumbled out of the hut.
However, the instant he set foot outside, a red blur came out of nowhere and knocked
him to the ground. Luke felt a blade being pressed against his chest, and a voice
growled, "Okay, pal, you gotta lot of explainin' to do . . ."

Chapter III....................................The Stranger

"Larissa!" David shrieked as he bounded down the steps. "Larissa!"
Larissa ran into David as he rounded a corner.
        "Honey, what is it??" Larissa was near to tears at his spouse's histrionics.
        "Luke . . . attic . . . Game Gear . . . must save . . ." stammered the
incoherent David. His eyes were wide, his pupils dilated in terror for his offspring.
        Larissa shook David, trying to calm the demonstrative man. "Honey, honey,
please try to calm yourself!!" she said, her eyes watering. She had never encountered
this kind of spontaneous situation before, not with his usually calm and composed
husband.
        David soon stopped his babbling and stood there, sweating, wide-eyed, and
unblinking.
        "Dear, what happened to you? Is it about our Luke?" Larissa asked.
        At the mention of his son's name, his mind went reeling again, and this time
he could not bear the shock. He clutched his head and keeled over, swooning onto the
rug of the empty living room.


        Luke gurgled unhappily, feeling the sharp blade touching his chest.
        "Answer me!!!" the voice repeated insistently.
        "Ah . . . ah . . . I . . . well," Luke babbled. His mind was racing to explain
his situation to the aggressive stranger.
        The stranger's blade slashed a thin line down his freckled cheek. He whimpered
in pain, and his eyes watered. He didn't know what to do. He was at the mercy of the
stranger. He opened his watering eyes and wiped them free of tears. Kneeling beside
him was what appeared to be an anteater. He was red all over, save a white crescent on
his chest. He had what appeared to be hair on top of his head, stringy dreadlocks in
the same red shade as the rest of himself. His nose, black, squat and olive-like, was
perched on the end of a tan snout. His hands were gloved, and as he looked at them, he
noticed four points protruding from his knuckles, two to a hand. One of them was
stained crimson with Luke's blood. As he lay there, clasping his hand to his bleeding
cheek, the anteater repeated his demand: "Tell me where you came from!! What're you
doing here?"
        Luke sat up. The wary anteater directed his pointed knuckles at Luke's throat
and emitted a low growl. Luke, still sobbing from shock, fear, and pain, was able to
gasp, "I don't know."
        The anteater did not move or flinch. "Yeah, right, pal," he snarled.
        "I—I'm not kidding!" Luke panted back. "I really don't know." There was an
uncomfortable silence.
        The anteater's expression went from ferocity to confusion. "You sure, man?" he
queried.
        "Yeah, I . . ." Luke stopped. It seemed that underneath his tough exterior,
the anteater was kind. Luke felt that he could possibly be friends with this stranger.
"I, uh, I have no quarrel with you, friend," he said, not sure how to talk to this
animal.
Then, oddly, the anteater stood up. Luke was surprised. He had never seen bipedal
animals, much less anteaters, before. "But you haven't told me what you're doing
here." The anteater said.
        "I don't even know where 'here' is!" Luke said, with a short laugh. The
anteater, too, gave a  fidgety chortle.
        "Well, let me explain..," the anteater began.
        Luke interrupted, "I think I need to explain some stuff, too . . ."


        ". . . So that's the story," David said to Larissa.
        Larissa was dry-eyed, her hands laced on her lap. "How come you never told me
about this . . . Game Gear?" she asked.
        "Well, I figured that the Game Gear was gone from my life forever," replied
David. "and I was hoping that we could move sometime, to get away from it."
        "But what can we do?" Larissa quavered.
        "Nothing," David moaned. "We can only wait . . ."

Chapter IV.........................The Floating Island

        ". . . So that's the story," Luke said to the anteater.
        The anteater looked doubtful. "You mean to tell me," he said, "that there's a
whole 'nother world out there?"
        Luke chuckled, feeling greatly relieved. "My thoughts exactly!" he responded.
"Plus, you still haven't told me who you are . . . or where I am!"
        The anteater seemed at ease with Luke. He extended his gloved hand to the boy.
"Not, a problem, man," he said. "I'm Knuckles, an echidna."
        "Echidna?" Luke echoed. He, in school, had heard of the echidna, but his
instructor had said they became extinct around the turn of the century. Now, with a
fabled echidna standing before him, he felt awe, more so then when he had seen the
batteries in the box.
        "That's right," Knuckles replied. "What's wrong? Ain't you seen an echidna
before?" He gestured down the length of his body with his hands, as if introducing
himself.
        "Well, I . . . uh..," Luke began, but he was stopped by a lancing pain than
ran the length of his cheek. He clasped his hand to his bleeding cut and winced.
        Knuckles noticed his discomfort and remarked sympathetically, "Sorry that I
cut you, pal. Can't be too cautious on the Floating Island."
        Luke stopped rubbing his cheek, the pain suddenly forgotten in his curiosity.
"The Floating Island?" he repeated.
        "Uh-huh. Didn't I tell you? That's where were are now. C'mon, I'll prove it to
you," Knuckles offered. Luke took him up on it, and together, they went into the thick
vegetation of the Floating Island's jungle.


        About fifteen minutes later, Luke figured, he had suddenly collapsed on the
forest floor, the pain from his laceration felt again. Knuckles offered to help him,
and when Luke gave acquiescence, the echidna had tromped off into the forest, saying,
"Wait here." Luke had waited, and, about a minute later, he had come back, bearing a
small, greenish, spiky-looking branch from some plant. Knuckles had snapped it in half
and when he did, a clear, sticky cream came oozing out. Knuckles had applied the
ointment to Luke's wound. He had then snapped a broad frond off of a nearby fern. The
echidna had dipped the leaf in a puddle to clean it, and then torn it into a long
strip. The clean strip was pressed to Luke's scar. The sticky ointment—Knuckles had
referred to it as "aloe"—was viscous enough to hold the leaf in place. With his new
botanical band-aid in place, the duo had continued walking onward to their
destination.


        After some more walking, they came to the edge of the island. Luke walked up
to the edge and peered down. He could see the ocean, but something was not right about
it. He extended his leg to dip his foot into the water, but he instead felt nothing.
He leaned over a bit, hoping to touch to water still. Again, he couldn't feel anything
other than thin air. Suddenly, he was hit by a shocking thought: they were in the air,
above the sea! Startled out of his wits, Luke screamed. His equilibrium left him,
replaced by a nauseating sense of vertigo. He lost his balance and toppled over the
edge, with a mile of air between him and the cold, angry sea.

Chapter V...............................................Saved

Luke could see the edge of the island, with Knuckles standing there not six feet away,
start to recede from him as he fell. He turned over and over in the air, not having
any control over his motion in mid-air. Suddenly he started to gain speed, and soon
Knuckles, still standing shocked, was nothing more than a red dot on the edge of a
brown circle. Luke, shut his eyes, feeling the sting of sudden tears. He cried as he
plummeted downward through the atmosphere, waiting for the wild sea to envelop him in
its cold embrace and untamed fury.


        Standing on the end of the island, Knuckles watched Luke sink downward towards
the ocean. At first his body was frozen with shock and horror. He was, to say the
least, surprised. He hadn't counted on this. He had to get him, because he had yet to
do the job. And his job was something he had to do. Then his guardian instincts took
over, and, after briefly primping his dreadlocks, he dove off of the edge. Knuckles,
too, became a dot as he, too, sunk downwards towards the ocean. He had to get the job
done.


        Hot tears stung Luke's face as he fell. He opened his eyes and looked down at
the sea. Through the curtain of Luke's tears, It seemed to be a vast expanse of dark
blue. He looked up again, and this time he saw a small maroon dot growing steadily
larger. He raised a hand and wiped his watery eyes clear. Yes indeed, it was a thing
in the air above him, and it was steadily advancing on him. Could it have been
Knuckles? No!, Luke thought. Why would Knuckles jump with me? He can't fly  . . . can
he?


        Knuckles, with his dreadlocks flapping madly in the wind, sailed downwards to
where the terrified Luke still fell. Using some inner effort, he forced himself to go
downwards faster, to the brink of terminal velocity. Knuckles's body crept closer to
Luke, as did the angry sea . . .


        Luke still fell, with his eyes shut. He wished that he could just die and save
himself all this grief. Suddenly, he felt strong hands clasp the back of his shirt. A
voice cried out through the howling wind, "I've gotcha, pal!" Luke suddenly lost his
feeling of falling. He opened his eyes. He was still facing the ocean, but this time,
it was not advancing on him, but instead, the waves started to shrink as the vast sea
moved away from him. Or rather, Luke thought, me, from it!  He twisted around to see
his savior. Knuckles, with his dreadlocks waving like the breakers beneath him, had
him by the shirt and was carrying him slowly upwards! Luke felt his heart melt with
relief. Upwards now Luke and Knuckles flew.  When Luke was dumped back on the edge of
the Island, his face was wet with tears and his hair was haphazardly arranged due to
the wind. Knuckles glided to and fro several times before stopping and dropping
expertly to the ground, landing like a cat.
        Luke choked on the lump in his throat, gulped several times, and was able to
gasp, "Thanks." Then he added, "How did . . ."
        Knuckles grinned, and ran his fingers through his long dreadlocks.
        Luke stared at the ground. He wouldn't be studying aerodynamics until next
semester (if there was a next semester for Luke), but he guessed that Knuckles's
dreadlocks altered the air currents around them. He recalled something named
Bernoulli's Principle that worked on a basis like that, but all that would have to
wait till next semester.
        "Here." Knuckles interrupted his train of thought. He grabbed a  broad, dark
green leaf seemingly at random. With a few deft twists and folds, the leaf was
fashioned into a makeshift cup. After dipping it in a nearby pond, he handed it to
Luke. "Drink," he commanded.
        Luke grabbed the cup and gulped down the liquid. It was sweet and cold and it
soothed his throat that had been parched dry with terror. When he had chugged all of
the water, he threw the cup away. He stood up, feeling much refreshed.
        "Well," said he, "why don't we—" He stopped speaking because he suddenly felt
quite dizzy. He swayed, then plopped back onto the grass. He looked up at Knuckles,
who was gazing at him indifferently. His image seemed to waver back and forth in his
vision.
        "Knuckles," he said weakly. "What . . ." his vision began to dim. "Is..," he
gasped. "hap...pen . . ." He got no further because he had slipped away into the dark
void of forced sleep.

day 2
the thirty-ninth day of Rritt, 4968
—————————————————————

Chapter VI............................................Chaotix

Luke was reclining. That was the first thing he noticed. He was reclining on his
stomach on a soft surface. Then he heard sound.
        "Is that the guy?" Luke heard. The voice seemed alien to Luke. Luke also heard
a slight buzzing noise as well as far-off music.
        "Mm-hmm," came Knuckles's voice. Luke rolled over, attempting to locate
Knuckles.
        "Hey! He's moving!" came the strange voice again.
        "He's big," came another, deeper voice.
        Luke groggily opened his eyes.  He could see only an intense light. Luke sat
up straighter and shaded his eyes from the shaft of light that was shining in his
face. He saw, gathered around him in a rough semicircle, a motley looking group of
bipedal animals: a crocodile, an armadillo, and a chameleon who, at the moment, was a
light shade of ochre. They all appeared to be about waist-high to Luke. Standing in
the middle of this group was Knuckles. He extended his hand to Luke.
        "How ya doin', kid?" he asked, with surprising equanimity for someone who had
just drugged an unsuspecting stranger.
        "Knuckles," Luke gasped weakly (he was too groggy to be angry yet), "How did—
what . . . what happened?"
        Knuckles held up the leaf that had been used for his impromptu cup. It was
partially dissolved, thinned out in some places, totally broken through in others.
        "The Manbi plant," he explained, "has leaves that are composed of a strong
depressant that dissolve in water. The Manbi is a nicely inconspicuous way of
sedating."
        "But why," gurgled Luke. "why did you—"
        Knuckles held up a hand. "I still can't trust you, kid," he said.
        "Well," Luke responded. "Why did you save if all you wanted to do was drug
me?"
        "In addition to being the guardian of the Floating Island, I've become a scout
of sorts," Knuckles began. "I check out visitors to see if they'll fit into our team."
        "Oh," replied the incoherent Luke. Then he was struck by a thought. "Well, who
is—?"
        Knuckles gestured vaguely about him. "Kid," he said with grandiosity. "Meet
the Chaotix."
        At this point, Luke became curious and looked around. He was sitting in the
center of a large clearing with tall thick trees that had wide, thick leaves that
obscured it from the air. What light that did pierce the thick canopy came down in
long white spears of sunlight, stretching all the way down to the forest floor.  Thick
bushes surrounded the clearing, and Luke recognized several of the ones as Manbis. He
shifted his gaze back to Knuckles, and grinned. "Nice place."
        Knuckles grunted assent. He then turned to the animals who were still
scrutinizing him carefully. Knuckles pointed to the crocodile who, at the moment, was
spinning on his thick, muscular tail. "This," said Knuckles, "is Vector. Vector, this
is Luke."
        Vector continued to spin, unaware of Knuckles or Luke. Knuckles grabbed
Vector's shoulder, causing Vector to stop, waver on the end of his tail, then crash to
the ground, sending a shower of spores up from the forest floor. Vector sat up,
holding his head. Luke noticed he wore shiny black headphones attached to a blue
portable cassette player.
        "Hey! What's the deal, boss?" grumped Vector. "Ya nearly trashed my Walkman!"
        Walkman, thought Luke. What an odd name for a cassette player!
        "Vector," groaned Knuckles. Luke thought he was beginning to sound like his
mother. "I was saying that we have a visitor. This is Luke."
        "Hi," Luke said, then abruptly, he sneezed. His head was now enveloped in the
spores Vector had disturbed when he fell. Luke supposed he was allergic to the
jungle's spores. He waited but Knuckles did not say "God bless you." He presumed that
the Floating Island did not have such a custom. He even wondered if they had a God.
        "Hiya, Luke!" replied Vector, thrusting a scaly hand into his face. Luke shook
it. Vector now put his headphones back on. He pressed a button on his Walkman and the
music resumed. Vector went back to spinning on his tail and snapping his gloved
fingers.
Knuckles turned to the next animal, an armadillo. He was short and muscular, but had a
benevolent aura about him. "This is Mighty," said Knuckles.
        "Hi," responded Mighty in a resonant tone. He struck Luke as being dumb, but
kind. He grasped Luke's hand and shook vigorously. Pain lanced through Luke's arm. He
tugged his hand free of Mighty's crushing grip.
        "Yow!" he squealed. He nursed his aching hand and remarked, "That hurt!"
Mighty grinned bashfully. "Sorry, guess I don't know my own strength," he mumbled.
Knuckles, too, smiled and remarked, "That's Mighty for you! His name is pretty
self-explanatory."
        He then turned around to face the chameleon, only to find none. "Oh no,"
Knuckles moaned. "Espio!" he called. "Espio, don't start any of your games."
        Luke was about to ask what games Knuckles was talking about, when suddenly he
was slammed to the ground by an invisible weight. The breath was expelled from his
chest like a cannonball from a cannon. He was struggling to sit up, but the weight on
his chest kept his pinned to the ground. Abruptly, the weight was gone and Luke lay on
the forest floor, panting. He looked up to see Knuckles standing above him, with an
arm outstretched.
        "Espio, would you knock it off?" he said. He shook his arm violently. There
was a whump, and Luke soon saw the chameleon, now bright purple, sitting on the
ground, gazing sullenly up at Knuckles.
        "You're the one who should knock it off," Espio retorted. Then he hmphed and
started picking blades of grass.
        "Sorry 'bout that," Knuckles explained, "Espio likes to play 'games' with our
visitors. Anyway, this is Espio. Espio, this is Luke."
        "Hi," Espio snorted, not looking up.
        "And this is, um," Knuckles faltered suddenly. He looked around him. Fearing
another attack, Luke was suddenly wary. Knuckles looked above Luke and smiled. "That,"
he continued, "is Charmy."
        Luke looked up and saw nothing. Then a small honeybee with aviator glasses
came zipping out of the canopy. He flew circles around Luke's head.
        "This is Luke, Charmy," Knuckles remarked politely.
        "Hiya, kid!" he said cheerfully.
        "Uh, hi," Luke replied. A little uncertain, he stuck his hand out to Charmy,
who zipped by and slapped it with his tiny hand.
        "Well, now that you've met us guys," Knuckles said, "tell us about yourself .
. ." He squatted down on the grass. Charmy stopped flying around Luke and just
hovered. Espio stopped pulling grass and looked up. Vector pulled his headphones off
and looked expectantly at Luke. Mighty, too, plopped down on a patch of soft weeds.
        They all looked at him.
        They all listened.

Chapter VII........................................Challenge

Several hours later, Luke finished his story. Not the quick, rushed version he had
given to Knuckles earlier, but a very detailed description of his home world. He
described some of their customs and ways of life. Mighty and Knuckles even started
asking questions, and it wasn't long before Luke's narrative became a detailed
question-and-answer session. When he was finally finished, Knuckles stood.
        "Well," he remarked. "That sounds pretty plausible, Luke." Luke detected
cynicism in his voice. "You got any special abilities or stuff?"
        "Hunh?" Luke said. He was caught off-guard by such a question.
        "You know," Knuckles replied. "Can ya fly, or what?"
        Luke still regarded Knuckles quizzically.
        "Look," Knuckles said patiently. "We all got special abilities. You already
know I can glide. Espio can climb. Espio!" he called to Espio, who was nowhere to be
seen. Espio faded into view next to Knuckles. "Show Luke here how well you can climb."
He gestured to a large, sturdy palm tree.
        Espio did not say anything but broke into a run, dashing towards the tree.
Several meters from it, he leaped up into the air, his body curled up and gyrating
madly. His feet slammed into the tree and stuck there. Luke watched goggle-eyed as
Espio ran up and down the length of the tree as easily as one might run on the ground.
He leapt off at the bottom and stood proudly, hands on his hips.
        "And it's plain to see that Charmy can fly," Knuckles went on. As he spoke,
Charmy flew above their heads, well out of reach. "Vector can—" Knuckles was cut off
as Vector suddenly appeared above Luke, floating effortlessly up into the air. His
gloved hand reached out and grabbed a very startled Charmy. He and Charmy then came
slamming down onto the ground.
        "I can glide," Vector explained. "Thanks to these!" He gestured down his
spine, indicating the row of red fins that ran from head to tail. He then released
Charmy, who, after aiming an annoyed look at Vector, buzzed straight up and
disappeared in the forest canopy.
        "Um, thank you, Vector," Knuckles said. "Mighty can scale walls by jumping.
Show him, Mighty."
        Mighty hopped up onto the same palm on which Espio had demonstrated. His feet
also remained stuck to the trunk, but he still slid slowly downward. Suddenly, he
jumped straight up and reattached his feet another five feet higher. He continued in
this manner until he was hanging by one hand from a branch a good thirty feet above
the ground, where Luke stood, open-mouthed. Mighty then slid his way down on his feet
again.
        "So there ya have it," Knuckles said. "That's what we can do. How about you?"
        "Well, I . . . um," Luke babbled, stalling for time. "I can run pretty fast,"
he finally said. "And I'm good at kicking and punching." Luke thought back to his
karate classes and four years of track in school.
        "Well," murmured Knuckles thoughtfully, "you could use what I've got . . ."
Knuckles slid off his mittens to show two three-fingered hands, the knuckles crowned
by bony pointed protrusions. Luke gasped in wonder and horror. His hands looked so . .
. alien. Better get used to it, Luke thought, as the echidna slid his gloves back on.
"I got a pair just like this, with steel knuckles," added Knuckles. "The Chaotix likes
to use 'em for practice. You want to give 'em a shot?"
        "Sure," replied Luke, shrugging.
        Knuckles left the clearing. Luke sat down on a hillock and waited.


"Got 'em!" Knuckles cried. He came walking back into the clearing, waving a
pair of gloves above his head. They were identical to the ones he was wearing, save
the two points on the knuckles belonged to the gloves, not the wearer. Half an hour
had passed. No one had seen Charmy. Luke was napping on his tuffet. Knuckles prodded
Luke with his steel-tipped boot.
        "Hey, Luke," he said.
        "Hrrrrmmmm," Luke mumbled. He rolled over and looked up at Knuckles. "Hi."
        "Here are those gloves." Knuckles proffered the gloves to Luke. Luke sat up
and slipped the gloves on. He wiggled his hands experimentally.
        "Not too bad," Luke remarked. He grinned.
        "Try 'em out!" Knuckles exclaimed, pointing once more to the palm tree.
        Luke stood and crossed to the tree. He cracked his knuckles. His fist reared
behind his head and came slamming into the tree. The points buried themselves into the
trunk and remained stuck. Knuckles gave a low whistle. Luke tugged away at his buried
mitten while the echidna scratched his chin.
        "Yeah," he finally said. "That'll do. Now about that running part . . ."
        "What about it?" Luke asked, still pulling on his glove.
        "Espio is our best runner," Knuckles remarked. "So you can race him three
times round the clearing and if you win, you're accepted into the Chaotix."
        Luke finally dislodged his glove and fell over onto the grass. "Me?" he said,
shocked. "In the Chaotix?" He considered himself unworthy of such a high position.
        "Yeah, kid," Knuckles said. "You think you're up to the challenge?"
        "Okay," Luke replied. "Let me stretch up first . . ."
        He started to run through his stretching exercises. Meanwhile, he watched as
Espio faded into sight beside Knuckles. The two of them went into a huddled
conference, casting periodic glances at Luke. Finally, they split up and walked
towards Luke. Luke stood up from his butterfly stretch. The three of them met in the
center of Chaotix Central.
        "All right you guys, shake hands," Knuckles instructed.
        Luke's mitten grasped Espio's glove. The two racers shook hands.
        "Okay, you guys," Knuckles said. "No cheating here. Stick to the track. I want
a clean race. Espio, no stealth mode. Got it?"
        "Got it," the two said in chorus.
        "Okay," Knuckles announced, "let's race!"

Chapter VIII...............................................Race

Luke crouched down on the underbrush which Mighty had stomped down in a circle around
Chaotix Central. Espio knelt beside him. Mighty looked on anxiously, while Vector
danced around the clearing, oblivious to the race.
        "Three circles around the clearing to this point," Knuckled shouted, pointing
to a spot on the track with a palm leaf he was using as a flag.
        The duelists nodded and assumed their ready positions.
        "Ready," Knuckles called. "Go!"
        Espio was off in a flash, zooming off around the track. Luke started at half
Espio's speed, jogging steadily.
        "What on Mobius is he doin'?" Knuckles cried.
Luke recalled the advice of his first-year track coach: "Start slowly then ease off."
Luke kept his strides long and his breathing even. Espio, meanwhile, was racing as
fast as he could. He was finished his first lap while Luke was only two-thirds done
his.
        "Go, Luke!!" Knuckles screamed.
        "C'mon, pal!" Mighty shouted. They were both eager to have a new member join
the Chaotix, and so far Luke was letting them down.
        With a lap and a half completed, Luke saw Espio, about twenty feet ahead,
start to slow. Good, he was tiring. Just like he had planned. Luke increased his
speed. By the second lap, the two of them were fifteen feet apart, Espio still ahead.
        "He's catchin' up!" Mighty bellowed.
        Luke was now going twice as fast as Espio. He guessed they were about six feet
apart now. Espio was noticeably lagging. The final lap was half over. Three feet. The
finish was in sight. Luke could now reach out and touch Espio. Luke took a deep breath
and pushed himself to his top speed. The competitors were dead even. Luke gathered up
his strength and lunged his body towards the end.
        "Stop!" Knuckles waved the leaf madly up and down. "The race is over!"
        Espio came skidding to a stop and plopped down on the ground. Luke landed face
first on the floor, plowing up leaves and dirt as he finally skidded to a stop.
        "The winner is Luke, by an arm's-length! Great job, kid. Welcome to the
Chaotix."
        Luke gave a victory croak and tried to raise his arm, but he was too weak. He
fell back on the ground, his mind slipping away into a deep, contented, exhausted
sleep.

Chapter IX...........................................Initiation

Luke felt something damp and cool on his brow. He felt soft grass beneath him. He
shifted around and gave a contented sigh.
        "Welcome back, Luke," he heard Knuckles say.
        Luke opened his eyes. Knuckles was standing over him, holding his flag, which
was now wet with water. He placed the flag on Luke's forehead. "How ya feelin', kid?"
he asked.
        "Much better," Luke replied, taking the leaf off.
        "In that case, it's time for the initiation," Knuckles said, helping Luke to
his feet.
        "Initiation?" Luke asked.
        "Well of course you have to be initiated," Knuckles remarked. "So c'mon!" He
gave a "follow me" gesture and started out of the clearing. "Keep an eye out for
Charmy, you guys," he called to the rest of the Chaotix. The rest of the team, Luke
noted, seemed to be very solemn at the mention of his initiation. Luke was suddenly
very agitated.
        Luke followed Knuckles into the jungle, leaving Chaotix Central behind and
going to places unknown.


        Finally, Knuckles and his nervous initiate arrived at a small clearing. There
was a fire pit in the center. It obviously had not been used for quuite a while. Four
moss-covered logs sat around the pit. Knuckles pointed to the nearest log and
commanded, "Sit." Luke sat on the log, feeling the soft moss underneath him. Knuckles
said nothing further but wandered off into the forest. Several minutes passed before
he returned, bearing two rocks, a large palm leaf, and a handful of red flowers.
Knuckles sat on the log opposite Luke and dropped the flowers on the ground beside
him. He then took the leaf in one hand and the two rocks in the other. With his one
hand, Knuckles banged the rocks together until they sparked, causing the leaf to catch
fire. Knuckles held the leaf above his head, mumbled something, and tossed it into the
fire pit. In a matter of seconds the pit went from completely inactive to containing a
large bonfire. Luke was certain that magic was at hand here. Knuckles then took the
flowers and, one by one, picked the petals from them. Next, he took the petals,
mumbled something else, and tossed them into the fire. There was a muted PHOOMPH and
the fire leapt up like a great beast would attack its victim. The flame changed color
subtly from blue to green to red, and then back to its normal orange.
        "Take a deep breath," Knuckles ordered.
        Luke breathed deeply, smelling a sweet, pungent aroma. He inhaled several more
times, savoring the delicious smell. He suddenly began to feel quite light-headed. He
felt his body sway back and forth. He opened his eyes, which had now become quite
watery, and looked at Knuckles.
        Knuckles was still sitting up, thought he appeared to be sleeping. His eyes
were closed, his hands were at his sides, and his mouth was half-open. Luke's eyes
were truly watering now, and his eyelids seemed leaden. He struggled to stay awake,
but he felt himself slipping. He threw his head back and closed his eyes. In a matter
of seconds the fumes had their effect, and Luke was asleep, his consciousness lost and
falling into a deep void.

Chapter X..........................A Sense of History

He was floating, lost someplace. He looked all around, but saw only darkness.
Suddenly, Knuckles appeared to his right, an infinitely small dot on an infinite
horizon.
    "Knuckles!" he called, but Knuckles did not notice. Then slowly he became aware of
three figures to his left.
        They were reptiles. One was brown and had two leathery wings outstretched. The
other two were green quasi-lizards with stubby arms. Their scales glistened though
there was no light. Each wore an elaborate face mask covered with a dazzling array of
colored dyes. They held a scepter in each hand. En masse, they began to march towards
Luke.
        Even though he was still infinitely distant, he heard Knuckles's whisper:
"Walkers."
        The three of them arranged themselves in a triangle formation around Luke.
They raised their scepters and touched them together over Luke's head.
        The heads of the three scepters glowed with a brilliance greater than the
sun's. The light condensed itself into a small sphere. Luke fell to his knees and
covered his eyes. The sphere descended and came to rest at Luke's feet. Luke reached
out to touch the object. Suddenly, it began to grow. It became larger and wider until
it had nearly engulfed Luke. He panicked and screamed, "Knuckles!!!" Knuckles was
nowhere to be found. In another instant, the light had embraced Luke, taking him into
a iridescent white nowhere.
Luke was suddenly aware of many things. He saw images: 
a great white comet streaking through space,
a large subterrainian room with honeycombed walls,
a dozen dazzling deep green jewels,
a place of learning in the middle of a vast city,
a glowing green figure,
a huge crater in a vast plain,
a great mountain thrusting itself from the landscape,
an island among the clouds.
He heard voices; he heard them whispering names:
"Dimitri," 
"Chaos Syphon,"
"Athair,"
"Kodos,"
"Mount Fate,"
"Nekronopolis,"
"Edmund,"
"Ancient Walkers,"
"the Great Betrayal."
Images, ideas, concepts, and sounds wrestled for space in Luke's mind. He gained a new
sense of  history 
and its great worth. He knew! He knew everything! Then, as suddenly as it had started,
it was over.


        He opened his eyes and gasped. Knuckles stood beside him, smiling. He patted
Luke on the back.
        "Well?" he asked benignly.
        "Knuckles," Luke gasped. He wiped tears from his eyes. "What . . . what
happened?"
        "You just had your first history lesson," Knuckles remarked.
        "History," Luke repeated. The word brought to mind his new, untapped reservoir
of knowledge. The tidbits and sound bites scattered in his mind suddenly joined
themselves into ideas. A whole new plain of vast concepts spread before him. "I know,"
Luke said. "I know everything."
        Knuckles laughed, then responded, "Not yet. There is much more to learn. But
now this session will suffice."
        "Those flowers—" Luke began, but Knuckles cut him off.
        "Looks like you need lessons in botany, too. That flower," Knuckles pointed to
a lone red flower sitting by a log, "is a Tarvad. They contain a strong hallucinatory
drug.  Tarvad petals are officially considered an illegal narcotic, but their effects
are quite stunning. And as you know, it can leave a lasting effect upon you."
        Luke shivered at the mention of illegal narcotics. "Are there any . . . side
effects?" he queried.
        Knuckles shrugged. "The only one we know of is drowsiness. But that should
wear off in a couple hours. I'm pretty immune to it by now, so the ceremony shouldn't
slow me down at all. Once we get to the clearing, you can rest. Now let's go."
        Luke stood on wobbly legs and followed Knuckles back to Chaotix Central, he
feet noisily shuffling along the ground, kicking up leaves and grass, leaving two long
lines trailing through the jungle behind him.


        Upon arrival at the clearing, Luke flopped groggily down on a patch of tall
grass. Knuckles greeted the rest of the Chaotix.
        "We're back, guys!" he said. "Any word from Charmy?"
        "No," responded Espio. "It's been peaceful here all—"
        Espio abruptly stopped as a faint buzzing noise was heard. Even Luke raised
his head and listened. Knuckles cocked an eyebrow.
        "Here he comes," he murmured.
        And indeed, a couple seconds later, Charmy came buzzing into the clearing.
        "Yo, Charmy," Mighty called to him, waving.
        Charmy was clearly in no mood to respond. His eyes were wide with terror, his
body shook and he moved back and forth erratically in the air as he panted.
        "Is something wrong, pal?" Knuckles asked.
        Charmy wiped his forehead, which was glistening with sweat, and stammered,
"Knuckles . . . help me . . . blue . . . couldn't lose him . . . fast . . . saw tracks
. . ."
        "What?" responded Espio.
        "Someone's after you?" queried Knuckles. "Sonic? Is it Sonic?"
        "Sonic . . . can't . . . rockets . . . shot at . . . he'll be here . . .
couldn't get away . . . fast!" screeched Charmy.
        "Charmy, calm down!" Knuckles ordered.
        "What is he saying?" Luke inquired.
        "Help!" Charmy screamed at the sky. He then turned around 180º and looked into
the foliage. "No!!!" he cried, and held up his hands as if to ward something off.
        "He's deleri—" Knuckles began. He stopped, and cupped a hand to an ear. "Hear
that?" he asked to no one in particular.
        Luke listened and heard a VVVVVVVVV sound coming closer.
        "Help!" Charmy screeched.
        Before anyone could react, a blue blur rushed into the clearing. A sonic boom
erupted from the air.
        "Hit the dirt!" Mighty yelled. Everyone fell on their faces. A huge, fiery
wind whipped at Luke, searing his skin. He tried to look up, but the heat scorched his
eyes blind. The rumbling sound grew softer and softer until silence reigned over the
clearing. Luke stood.
        "What was that?" he said incredulously.
        "Sonic," Knuckles growled. His eyes narrowed and became bloodshot. He clenched
his hands into fists.
        "Who?" Luke asked.
        "He's this hedgehog who lives on the mainland. He's always causing trouble,"
Knuckles grumbled.
        Luke walked to the middle of the clearing. A black, sooty trail made a
parabola through the grass. Plants were scorched and smoldering around its fringe.
Luke leaned over and picked up a small smashed pair of aviator glasses.
        "Sonic . . ."

        "Where are we going?" Luke asked.
        "I'm tired," Espio whined.
        "Patience, you guys," Knuckles commanded. "We're almost there."
        "Where?" came a query from Vector.
        "An old hangout," Knuckles responded cryptically.
        "Well, could you—" Luke stopped in mid-sentence because of a strange sound.
"What's that?" he asked nervously.
        VVVVVVVVVVVVVV . . . .
        Luke barely had time to scream before he heard the sonic boom again. He fell
to his knees and clapped his hands to his ears. His eardrums throbbed. He felt a
sudden stinging pain in the nape of his neck. He heard the weak cries of other Chaotix
members, and the thud of bodies as they hit the ground. Spots burst behind his eyes.
He saw, for an instant, Knuckles, retreating hastily into the brush. He had only an
instant because the forest floor was rushing up to greet him. He felt the pain in his
head and then darkness enfolded him.

day 3
the fortieth day of Rritt, 4968
—————————————————————

Chapter XI..............................................Combi

Luke felt frozen, immobile. He was in a standing position, arms at his sides. He had
an object in his hand, but he could not turn his head to look at it. He saw he was in
a room with a high, clear ceiling. The walls, or at least the portion of wall he was
looking at, were done in a zigzag, multi-colored, carnival-like design. Swiveling his
eyes around, he observed that he was in a capsule of sorts. Suddenly, he heard a
WHRRRR and the distant humming of electricity. A large object, he perceived, was
moving back and forth above him. It stopped above him and began to grow larger. His
capsule suddenly shook violently. The walls began to move around him. He realized he
was being lifted up. The ceiling passed by him, and the trap door he had passed
through closed beneath him. He was dropped on the floor, vessel and all.
        Presently, he felt a warmth in his body. It began in his extremities and crept
up his legs and arms. The warmth penetrated his skin, too, heating him to the core,
bathing him in pleasant heat.
        When the period of warmth suddenly subsided, he found that he could move once
more. He also saw his capsule was gone. He blinked his eyes and saw that Knuckles
stood before him. He then looked around the room he was standing in.
In regard to decor, it looked just like the chamber he was just in. It was covered in
brightly colored stripes and dots. This room also had many tubes of neon in all shades
of the rainbow. He had only a second to examine his surroundings because Knuckles was
speaking to him.
        "You okay, Luke?" he queried.
        Luke jerked his head towards Knuckles, smiled disarmingly, and replied:
        "Fine!"
        "Good," responded Knuckles. "It was tough fishing you out of that Combi
Catcher, but—"
        "Combi Catcher?" Luke interrupted.
        "Yeah," Knuckles said. "That's what this thing is." He gestured to a large
metal claw on the ceiling, then pointed to a neon sign over the far door. It clearly
said, in large, yellow letters, COMBI CATCHER.
        "Huh," said Luke, for lack of anything better to say.
        Knuckles continued, "It wasn't easy fishin' you out, but I managed to snag
you."
        Luke looked down through the floor to the chamber he was just in. It was
rectangular, lit by fluorescent lights along the top of the walls. Lined up were nine
capsules, just like Luke's. Inside, he saw the frozen figures of the rest of the
Chaotix: Mighty, Vector, and Espio. Charmy was nowhere to be found.  He noted that
they all held rings that appeared to be made of gold. He looked up, and saw that
Knuckles and he also toted the same rings, the multicolored neon lights reflected in
their shiny surfaces.
        "Knuckles," Luke said when he found his voice again. "What are—"
        "They're power rings," Knuckles explained. "Sonic's shown 'em to me before.
        "I think," he added after a pause, "We're supposed to touch them together." He
raised his ring above his head and stepped towards Luke. Luke copied his gesture and
tapped his ring against Knuckles's.
        There was a loud thunderclap and the rings flashed brilliantly white. Luke
noted, though, that with its brightness, the ring he held was not even remotely hot.
When the glow vanished, the rings had a strange sparkling line between them. It glowed
white and sparkled like crystal. Luke tried to touch the object, but his hand passed
easily through it.
        Luke and Knuckles looked at one another.
        "Weird," they exclaimed in chorus.
        Knuckles shrugged it off.
        "C'mon," he said, and dashed off down the corridor towards another door, this
one marked by a blue neon sign saying EXIT.
        "Wait up!" Luke called, and tried to keep up with Knuckles by running after
him. He was, however far behind. As he ran, Luke noted the strange strand between the
rings was not only growing longer, but changing hue, from white to orange to red.
Suddenly, far ahead of him, Knuckles was yanked off of his feet by an unseen force. He
came flying towards Luke at great speed. He passed the startled young man, and
suddenly crashed to the floor. Luke too, was knocked over by the impetus. It was as
though something was pushing—no, pulling—him in Knuckles's direction. He fell to the
floor alongside Knuckles.
        The two got up, confused, hurt, and above all, shocked.
        Luke began to speak, but stopped.
        "What—"
        The pair eyed the sparkling thread suspiciously.
        Wordlessly, Knuckles hurled his ring down the corridor, away from Luke. It
flew through the air, stopped, and came hurtling back towards the pair. Knuckles leapt
into the air and snatched the ring on its rebound.
        "This must be like a rubber band or somethin'," Knuckles remarked.
        "Guess we need to stay together, then," Luke added.
        "All right," Knuckles said. He began walking along down the hallway. Luke fell
in step with him and began a chat.
        "So . . . where'd this Combi thing come from?" he asked in what he believed to
be a casual manner.
        Knuckles shrugged. "I went here for clues. Sonic and I used to rendezvous
here. So I figured there could be a couple ideas as to where to go next in here. But
it's totally changed!" He made a sweeping gesture with one hand. "It used to be just a
rotting old palace, ruins—perfect for our secret meetings—but now—" He stopped, not
needing to state the obvious. He looked Luke in the eye. "Something has happened,
buddy. Something big . . ."
        The conversation could not continue at that time because they had arrived in a
huge atrium. Five monitors, now blackened, hung on one wall. The other three walls
were done in the now-familiar carnival paint job. Their steps echoed around the
chamber as they stepped towards the middle. Suddenly, the room was lit in brilliant
colors. Shadows spun giddily and moved along the walls. Luke was about to ask what was
happening when a large beacon came up out of the floor. Upon the top of the five-foot
pole was a star-shaped bumper. Loud music came blaring out of speakers mounted in each
corner. The monitors upon the wall suddenly came to life, each one showing a different
landscape. All but one immediately darkened. As they watched, the scene changed as one
monitor after another darkened and lit.
        "What is going on?" Luke asked his usual question over the raucous music.
        "I think," Knuckles screamed back, "It has something to do with that!" He
indicated the bumper in front of them. Without another sound, he walked to the bumper,
raised his gloved hand and hit it with all his might.
        There was a loud DINGG and the music stopped. The rotation of the monitor also
stopped. Luke and Knuckles both peered at the selected screen. It showed a forest or
garden of sorts, with many waterfalls in the background. But they had only a second to
examine this, because they were suddenly knocked over by a platform that had come up
behind them. They found themselves lying on the metal stand, being propelled down a
corridor. The walls were a gunmetal gray. Apparently, no one had wanted to waste any
paint on this portion of the structure. At the end of this corridor, Luke now noticed,
was a white glowing portal. Luke had but a moment to notice it, for the platform
suddenly halted, sending Knuckles and Luke hurtling towards it at incalculable speed.
Luke barely had time to scream before he felt the portal close in around him,
enfolding him in a starry void.

Chapter XII..................................Botanic Base

Luke landed with a thud, his fall cushioned slightly by soft grass. He rolled and
tumbled down the side of a hill, eventually stopping at its foot. He sat up and
brushed grass clippings off of his dark blue shirt. Knuckles groaned and got up beside
him. Both of them surveyed the landscape.
        They were sitting a the foot of a little knoll in a vast meadow. The grass was
neatly mowed, and grass clippings were strewn around the ground. Tall trees with dark,
almost black, bark and evergreen leaves were sparsely planted around the landscape.
Glassy waterfalls and ponds were also present, carrying life-giving water to the most
impressive aspect: the flora.
        They ranged in all shapes and sizes, sitting upon the ground or upon long,
leafy stalks. All of them were in motion. Luke walked up to a five-spiked Firth flower
and saw that its spikes would contract and expand rhythmically, like the motion of
human fingers. Another, a blue Schnabb plant, wiggled back and forth on its stalk.
Like a snake, Luke noted, even though snakes had been extinct for six years. The
Phlitt bud of the Phlitt tree would open its petals to reveal a mirror-like interior
in which Luke saw his own shocked face.
        For once, Luke found himself for no words other than:
        "Wow."
        Knuckles, too, was totally dumbfounded. "This," he commented at length, "could
be the Botanic Base."
        "What?"
        "It's this huge outdoor conservatory. I'd read about it, but never been
there."
After several minutes of awestruck silence, Knuckles finally spoke once more.
        "We must be on Carnival Island." before Luke could ask, Knux continued.
"Carnival Island is home to this huge amusement park that should open in a few days.
The island itself is totally artificial, just one big system. There were some places
like this created for tourists. But the whole place isn't gonna be opened for a couple
days now."
        "Hope we don't get caught," Luke joked, but the joke fell flat on its face as
Knux remarked:
        "Well, looks like we'd better move on."
        Luke agreed, and they began walking along. The terrain was very hilly and it
wasn't long before the clumsy Luke found himself tripping and falling headlong into a
mud puddle. Knuckles helped the filthy Luke to his feet.
        "Ohhh, man," Luke lamented, staring down at his hopelessly muddy clothing. "My
favorite jeans."
        "No problem," responded Knuckles as if it were nothing. "I've read about this
place before. There should be help close by."
        Luke squelched along with Knuckles as they walked in a seemingly random
direction. After several minutes of eeire silence, Luke attempted to make
conversation.
        "Knuckles—"
        "Just call me 'Knux,' kid," Knuckles said.
        "Okay . . . Knux, you said you had read about this place before. Where didja
read it? Could I read it, too?"
        "I read it in The Book—" Knux began, but he shut his mouth abruptly.
        "You read it where?"
        "Nothing. Never mind."
        Luke let it pass. He had a question to ask, anyway.
        "Uh, Knux . . .," he haltingly began. "Do you, er, know where you're going?"
        "No," Knuckles promptly responded. Luke eyed him strangely. Knux looked over
at Luke and grinned a grin that made Luke's stomach flip. We're lost, his mind
screamed.
        "Here," Knuckles suddenly remarked. He stopped walking.
        "What is it?" Luke asked. He looked to where Knuckles then pointed. Through
the foliage, a small post was visible. Knuckles cleared the brush away with one swipe.
Atop the post was a small sign with a single word and an arrow:
SHILTH
        "Shilth?" Luke echoed.
        "Yeah," Knuckles explained. "the Shilth people should be able to help us out.
        "That is," he added as he walked in the direction of the arrow, "if there are
any left."
        Luke felt a small shiver pass through him as he followed Knux into the brush.


        As Luke trailed behind Knux through the large clearing, he noted charred
remains of what were probably once houses scattered helter-skelter on the ground.
Blackened beams and straw mats were cruelly twisted and snapped in half, desolate
monuments to a extinct culture. They walked on through devastation, Luke feeling
slightly uncomfortable. Soon, they came to a halt. Knuckles cocked his head and said
"Hear that noise?"
        Luke fell silent and a slight roaring reached his ears. He nearly threw
himself to the ground in fear of another attack before Knux identified the sound.
        "It's a waterfall." he said, half to himself. He began to trot off in the
direction of the sound.
        "So it is," Luke agreed. "Hey, wait for me!"


        A hundred yards later, they came to the waterfall. Luke goggled at the sight.
Over a hundred feet high, gallons of crystal clear water would come flowing over the
ledge above each second, falling and crashing into prismatic droplets on the
algae-covered rocks at the bottom. Luke may have stood agog, but Knux was wasting no
time.
        "C'mon, pal!" he called. "Get your bath!"
        Luke looked at the cascading water, and a childlike joy swept over him. With a
cry of delight he rushed at the free falling shower and practically dove into it. He
felt the chill of the water run in rivulets down his arms and face, cooling him, but
doing nothing to the caked-on mud on his clothes. He pranced back and forth through
the curtain of water, laughing with delight. In fact, he was running so fast he never
saw the old squirrel until he ran into him.

ChapterXIII........................................Beechnut

Luke sat on the cold cave floor rubbing the shoulder that had collided with the
ancient creature. The squirrel stood about five and a half feet high, with fur
slightly gray at the tips. His sinewy tail was bright red and waved continuously like
an entranced serpent. A felt hat was cocked jauntily over his head, concealing one of
his sparkling blue eyes that shone even in the dim glow of the waterfall's cavern. He
stood there, hands on hips, grinning as though Luke's impact were a mere tap. Luke
looked up at his unexpected stranger.
        "Oh!" he babbled. "I, uh, er, well . . . 'scuse me sir. I just . . ."
        "Luke!" Knux called, walking through the curtain of water. He spied the old
animal that towered over Luke. He fell to one knee.
        "Sir," he addressed the stranger with respect. "I assume you are one of the
Shilth clan."
        "Yes," he said in a reedy voice, seemingly unfitting for one of his age, "I am
the last one of m' honorable clan. Everyone else was slaughtered when—" He stopped,
stared at the slick cave floor.
        "When . . .?" Luke could not help but ask.
        "When the Blue Death came. It entered our village and laid waste to it. Killed
everyone in a matter of seconds."
        "Sonic," Knux growled. 
        "Well, I'm th' last one here now," the squirrel continued. "Why dontcha come
on in an' have somethin' ter eat? By fall's leaves, yer look near famished!"
        "Sure!" Luke cried, jumping up. Both he and Knuckles followed the strange
creature into the depths of his cavern, leaving the outer world behind.
tststs
        The inside of the squirrel's home was surprisingly primitive. Somehow, the
tunnels inside the rock kept the roar of the waterfall at bay, so only a faint
rumbling was heard. Some scant few possessions were positioned against smooth
limestone walls. A trunk, a chair, a set of cups, bowls, and spoons. Some were chipped
or splintered, some blackened with soot, the chair's back was even eaten through by
fire. The squirrel sat in the chair, while Luke sat with Knuckles next to the open
fire on the cave floor. An iron pan hung on a makeshift scaffold above the blaze.
        "Now then," remarked the old one, "wot brings ya by this way? Precious few
travelers chance by this way, even fewer find this hideout o' mine."
        Knuckles spoke up. "One of my comrades was kidnapped by the same Blue Death
that ravaged your village. We must rescue him and vanquish his captor."
        The furry head bobbed up and down in a nod. "Well, if yer plannin' ta go any
further, ya should watch yoreselves. There's all sorts of robots, nasty little
critters. Found some while pickin' herbs one day. Anyway, you all should be careful of
those things. Oh, almost fergot 'bout yer refreshments."
        The squirrel walked over to the pan after resting for a minute. He took two
triangular slices of bread off of the pan and handed each to his two visitors. Luke
stared at his slice in the light of the fire. It was about six inches long, with red
sauce beneath a yellowish-white topping. There was no doubt as to what it was.
        "Pizza!" Luke exclaimed.
        "Yeh, that's wot it 'tis called," remarked the squirrel. "'Bout all you'll
find ter eat in the humble home of Birch Oakleaf. That's muh name, but folks useta
call me 'Beechnut.' Don't know where it came from." Beechnut gave a chuckle, and his
face split in a smile, revealing ruler-straight, incredibly clean teeth. Momentarily
forgetting his bafflement, Luke bit into the familiar, yet alien food. It tasted just
like the pizza from Giovanni's, the parlor across the street from his house! What is
going on?, his mind screamed. It took Luke a second to find his voice.
        "Mister B-Beechnut, sir?"
        "Yes, young 'un?" Beechnut asked.
        "Where did you get this pizza?" Luke quavered.
        "Made it meself, s'all I ever get ta eat 'round here. Heard 'bout it from my
grand- daughter."
        "Your granddaughter?"
        "Oh yeh," Beechnut replied, his blue eyes turning nostalgic. "Sally's her
name. Sally Acorn. She lives on the mainland, always stops by ever' year or so. Brings
news, gifts, stuff like that. She's the sweetest kid ya'd ever care t'meet. She says
she got the recipe from a friend—David was 'is name. Yes, David Mulberry or Miffle
or—"
        "Mitchell?" Luke's voice practically burst with anxiety.
        Beechnut's sky-blue eyes lit up. "Yes, Mitchell! That woz 'is name!"
        Luke clapped a hand to his mouth, stifling a cry of shock.
        "Dad!"

Chapter XIV......................................The Truth

As Luke and Knuckles left the falls, Knux with a whole pizza in a sack provided by
Beechnut, they could hear the old beast's farewell.
        "So long, young 'uns! Say hello ter Sally if ya meets 'er! An' may the seasons
be kind to ya for yer years to come!"
        As the pair marched along, Knux spoke.
        "What was buggin' ya back at Beechnut's place, buddy? Whatever it was, it got
you awfully wound up."
        Luke made a dismissive gesture. "It's nothing."
        "No, really, tell me," persisted Knuckles.
        Luke shrugged. "Well, y'see, that pizza he gave us . . ."
        Knux smiled. "Good, ain't it?"
        "Yeah, well, in my world we have pizza, too. It was obviously passed on to
your world."
        "Really? Awesome!" Knux said, then joked, "you should thank that David
Mitchell character for me."
        "He's my father," Luke said softly.
        Knuckles almost tripped over his own feet in stopping. "Your father?" he
cried.
        Luke nodded, and Knuckles clapped a hand to his mouth.
        "The pizza you tried at Beechnut's was made from a recipe my Dad stole from a
chef at a pizza shop in our neighborhood."
        "In your what?" Knux asked.
        "Near my house," Luke reiterated. "My dad, somehow, got to your world and
passed the recipe on to that Sally gal."
        "I know Sally," Knux commented. "She lives on the mainland—" he stopped
abruptly, and then snarled, "—with Sonic!"
        Luke gasped. "But if she's a bad guy, then my dad must be . . ." Luke did not
continue. Instead, he said, "When, and if, I get home, Dad and I will have to have 'a
little chat' . . ."


        It lay in the bushes, resting, yet keeping vigilant watch over the pair. Good,
it thought to itself. They both seem defenseless. This should be easy. Now the two of
them resumed walking, and it rapidly chose a form and scampered after them. Its heart
beat faster in anticipation of what was to come. Not yet, it chided itself for be so
eager. Wait for the right time. Soon. Not yet, but soon.

Chapter XV..............................................Attack

As the adventuring pair marched on, Luke's mind eventually turned away from his
father, and now thought about what Beechnut had precautioned them.
        "Knux," he said several minutes later.
        "Yeah, kid?" Knuckles turned his head in Luke's direction.
        "You remember Beechnut, he warned us about all those robots near here?" Luke
didn't wait for a response. "Well, do you know if—" he stopped abruptly as a largish
squirrel rushed into his path. He gave it a kick, and it scampered back into the
brush. Knuckles grimaced, but said nothing. "Do you know if they're near here?" Luke
continued.
        "Not quite sure where they are, pal. I don't even know where they come from.
Robots have no place in a conservatory."
        As if on cue, a large metallic buzzing was heard, and from the foliage emerged
a large robotic bee, its translucent wings glimmering in the evening light. Without
warning, from its oversized stinger erupted a blast of fiery orange light. Knuckles,
for whom the shot was intended, side-stepped the blast. It struck a bush behind them,
incinerating it to a small heap of charred soot. Luke was caught off guard when
Knuckles, without warning, scampered into the forest, leaving him alone with the
killing machine.
Luke panicked. As the giant quasi-insect trained its cannon on him, he found his feet
leaden and motionless, rooted to the spot with terror. As the bee prepared to fire,
Luke found strength enought to cover his eyes. He heard the blast, and was
anticipating the flash of fiery pain, when he realized none had come. He looked at the
spot where the bee had been. In its place stood Knux, brushing grease from his
knuckles. In front of him stood the mangled remains of the robot, still sparking and
jerking spasmodically in its mechanical death throes.
        "Rear attack," Knux explained succinctly.
        "Thanks," Luke said gratefully, wiping a bead of sweat from his forehead.
        "No problem," the echidna replied. "C'mon, let's keep moving." Luke followed
him into the forest once more. As they left the place of battle, Luke looked back and
was more than a little disturbed to see that the bee's body was no longer there.
        Several minutes later, the wanderers stopped in a small clearing. After
catching his breath, Knux spoke.
        "Tell ya what: let's make camp here for the evening. You can catch some winks
and I'll keep watch. Later, we'll travel under cover of night. That should keep
uninvited guests off our back."
        "What about you?" Luke questioned. "Will you be okay, y'know, with no sleep?"
        "I've had worse, pal. I'll get by."
        "Sounds fine by me. But, still, I'm kinda starving." Luke rubbed his stomach,
which responded with a plaintive rumble.
        "No problem," Knux said. "Be right back, kid."


        Excellent, it thought. Though its two prior attacks had proven ineffective,
the red one proved to be the tougher of the pair. The fleshy one should not be a
problem. Its former eagerness returned, and it told itself, Go! The time is ripe! Take
action! Silently, it changed and slid into the clearing.


        As Luke sat on the soft ground, he took note of his surroundings. Evening had
passed, and night had fallen. The moon, a little brighter than his home's, hung high
in the black sky. Tiny stars accompanied the moon in filling up the night sky. Luke
felt a cool breeze caress his face. He leaned back his head and sighed.
        He was gripped from the back by strong arms. He tried to resist but he found
himself wrenched to his feet by a powerful being behind him. His arms, already in a
full nelson, were twisted even farther behind him, causing him to give off an
anguished cry of pain.
        "Shut up!" a voice behind him hissed. Luke received a powerful kick to the
crook of his knees, causing him to stumble. The grip behind him was released, but then
he was thrown to the ground, his head slamming into the hard-packed turf with enough
force to nearly knock him out. 
        As Luke lay, dazed and hurt, a tall form towered over him. A low chuckle
escaped the figure's throat, one that made Luke shiver. Then his tormentor lifted its
face to the moon, and Luke saw, in the moonlight, a face with blonde hair, deep-set,
dark eyes, and hooked nose: his face! Luke screamed again, and now the thing looked
down at him.
        "Goodbye," he heard his own voice whisper. Before Luke could utter another
sound, a fist slammed itself into Luke's nose, sending him into nothingness.

Chapter XVI...........................................Inferno

        Knuckles rushed into the clearing, audibly panting. He expected to find a
scene of utter destruction, but there was only Luke, sitting calmly on the ground.
Luke flashed the startled echidna a grin.
        "Luke," Knux asked upon catching his breath, "I heard a coupla screams. Was
that you?"
        "Me?" Luke asked, putting a hand to his chest in mock surprise. "No. It
must've been . . ."—Luke rolled his eyes skyward, as if expecting an answer to fall
from the heavens—". . .the wind, er, blowing through the trees. Happens all the time,
where I come from."
        Knuckles regarded Luke suspiciously. "You're really okay? Those screams had me
spooked."
        "I'm fine," Luke insisted.
        "Okay," Knuckles conceded. He then produced two small rocks from his pack. "I
found fire-rocks, so we can start a fire. You wanna grab some kindling?"
        "Sure. I'll be back."


        It walked from the clearing, leaving the red one behind. This is all too
easy, it thought with a laugh. Now, I must tend to the fleshy one. A short distance
away, it came to the large bush. It reached inside and brought out the fleshy one's
body. This one may not be dead yet, but this will be easily dealt with. Several
hundred yards away, it found a small pool, About ten feet deep. Perfect, it thought
with a malicious smile. It dropped the body by the side, and, taking great care not to
touch the water itself, kicked the fleshy one in. A swirl of bubbles went up as the
body slowly descended to the bottom, sending up a small cloud of silt as it hit. It
walked away from the pond.
        "Now," it said aloud, "comes the fun part."


        "Luke?"
        No answer.
        "Luke? Where are you? Hellooooooo?"
        "Yes?" Luke's voice came from out of the brush.
        "Where are you, pal?" Knux cried.
        "Over here; just follow my voice," Luke called back.
        Knuckles tromped down brush as he walked in the direction of Luke's voice.
        "I need another sounding, buddy!" Knuckles said.
        "I'm right here," Luke called out. He sounded closer now.
        As Knuckles continued to follow Luke's voice, he asked:
        "Hey, Luke, what's taking you so long just to find kindling? You've been away
nearly ten minutes now!"
        "I, uh, had a little trouble finding some. I'm almost finished now. "Luke now
sounded very near.
        "One more call, buddy," Knuckles remarked.
        Silence.
        "Luke? Where are you?" 
        "Like I said . . .," Luke spoke abruptly. Knux whirled around to face the
voice. Luke suddenly lunged from a cluster of bushes, his hands trained on the
echidna's neck. The breath was expelled from Knuckles's chest as his neck was
constricted with one hand and his stomach was punched roughly with the other.
        "...I'm right here," Luke finished his sentence, and punctuated it with an
uppercut to Knuckles' chin. The stunned beast stumbled once, then fell backwards. Luke
stood proudly over his prey, cackling malevolently. As Knuckles sat up and gathered
his wits about him, he saw Luke lunging at him once more. Knuckles rolled to one side
and brought his fist slamming into Luke's forehead. The twin peaks in his hands opened
gaping wounds in Luke's head. Luke fell backwards to the ground, stunned for a moment.
Then he smiled. The holes in Luke's head suddenly shrank and closed in on themselves,
and the two fighters faced each other.
        "Luke," gasped Knuckles. "What's happened to you? Snap out of it!"
        "Luke?" the boy laughed. "Did you say Luke?" As he spoke, his skin reddened,
his hair thickened into dreadlocks, his sneakers became multi-colored boots. Knuckles
gasped; before him stood . . . him!
        Then his instincts took over, and Knuckles threw his body at the creature. As
he hurdled towards the figure, it became suddenly transparent. Knuckles tried to turn
away, but too late. He smashed into the glass figure, scattering shards all over the
ground. As he landed, he felt innumerable tiny lances of pain flash up and down his
body as he rolled over the sharpened shards of the supercooled liquid. Knuckles felt
his body drenched in a warm fluid that he suddenly, horribly realized was his own
blood. For the first time in his life, he was very, very afraid.
        "Try again, my guardian friend?" the thing asked as it gathered up its pieces
into what now became the form of the hedgehog Sonic.
        "With pleasure," Knuckles said as he hoisted himself painfully to his feet.
        "Glad to oblige," the hedgehog remarked. Suddenly Sonic became consumed in
flames from head to toe. "You should feel the heat now!" the thing cackled. It
suddenly balled up and launched itself at the helpless echidna. Knuckles gathered up
enough strength to lunge to one side. The ball of flame missed him by a hairsbreadth,
singeing his dreadlocks. The thing tried to reverse course, but in vain. It slammed
into a rotted old tree, giving off and audible ungh as it did so. The tree was ablaze
in no time, burning like a match and lighting its neighboring foliage. The fire
spread, lighting up the night with horrific intensity.
        "No!" Knuckles screamed, terrified at this awful catstrophe. He saw the beast,
in Luke's form, get up from the base of the tree and begin to take shaky steps towards
him. Its eyes, glowing red in the fire's light, met his, and Knuckles felt his heart
sink with terror. Knuckles fled as fast as he could from the horror of the awful
creature that spelled doom for him and his companion.
        Several hundred feet away, Knuckles came by a small pond. Above the crackling
of the fire, he heard the beast's footfall as it chased him. He thought of a plan to
trap the monster in the pond, where he may have a chance to drown it.
        Quickly, he called out theatrically, "Oh no! Trapped!" In response, the
footsteps quickened. Knux hid behind a tree and extended a leg into the
shape-changer's path.
The monster, still as Luke, charged into the clearing, and tripped itself over
Knuckles's leg. It gave an anguished cry as it flew through the air and landed in the
water.
        At first, nothing happened. The creature felt the water around it and suddenly
screamed. The scream was a horribly high noise that cut a Knuckles' ears like a knife.
The thing began to smoke and sizzle. It screamed again and again and the water around
it began to bubble. Suddenly, the skin on its face began to run like candle wax,
stripping away flesh until there was a bare skull screaming with a dead person's
voice. The beast melted horrifyingly before Knuckles's eyes, until there was but a
small film covering the spot where the shape-changer had been.
        Now, as Knuckles into the pool, he saw, by the light of the fire, a form at
the bottom. He dove into the pond for a better look.
        At the pond bottom, the water was murky, and Knux had to haul the thing on
shore to see what it was.
        On the shore, Knuckles was astonished to see it was Luke he had rescued. He
was about to administer herbs, when the fire suddenly snaked its way in the clearing,
surrounding Knuckles with bright orange flames. He grabbed the surprisingly light and
limp body and ran at the fire where it was thinnest.
        Knuckles was bathed in hellish heat as he hurtled over the fire, landing with
great pain on the other side. Regardless of his wounds, he ran as fast as he could
from the oncoming inferno.
        About fifty yards from the pond, the forest suddenly thinned, and Knuckles
saw, once more, a lush, hilly landscape spreading out below him. Not thirty feet in
front of him, there stood a portal. Knuckles rushed for it, the fire right on his
heels. His limbs were deathly weary; he felt the fire singeing his heels. The portal
was only several feet away. Knuckles gathered up the last of his strength and leapt
through the portal just in time, taking the two wounded comrades to an unknown
destination.
Behind them, the forest burned . . .

day 4
the first day of Tifach, 4968
—————————————————————

Chapter XVII...........................................Alison

Knux felt his tired feet gently touch solid ground, and he gratefully collapsed to the
floor of the ruins. He could see Luke lying several feet away, motionless. Tired as he
was, Knuckles stood, made several wobbly steps, and fell alongside Luke. He raised his
upper body and placed his palms on Luke's chest. Knux put all of his weight into an
attempt to force the water from the boy's lungs. After several tries, Luke convulsed
violently, and phlegm and water bubbled from his mouth. His fingers twitched and his
head tossed from side to side as he regained consciousness.
        Knuckles reclined once more and sighed as Luke gasped in his first gurgling
breaths. Luke soon sat up and, seeing his friend in need, began to help as best he
could. The boy felt tears sting at his eyes as he took off his shirt and began to
clean Knuckles' blood-drenched body. Once the echidna was relatively clean, Luke
located a large shard of glass and tugged it out of the echidna's flesh. Blood spurted
anew from the wound, pooling on the stone beneath him. Knuckles whimpered and turned
to face Luke.
        "Some pizza," he rasped, "would really hit the spot."
        "Sure thing." Luke rummaged around in the backpack for the pizza. Instead, he
felt a long, metallic object. He looked inside and saw that in addition to the pizza
there was a bone-handled, sheathed knife with a four-inch blade and another gray,
unidentifiable object. He pulled it out of the sack and was astonished to see that
what he held was a dull gray hand-held computer, like the basic ones he took notes on
at school. Attached to the front of the unit was a bark-paper note. Scrawled upon it,
this message:
The knife is for protection, never kno wen you mite need it! As for this, Sally gave
me it, sayz she has one namd Nicole. You kan hav it now. I namd mine Alison. To make
her loyal to you, speek this kod: "Allegiance Override: Alpha (yer name) Omega Alison"
                                            Hav fun!
                                                Beechnut
        Luke took the knife, and, keeping it sheathed, slipped it into the back pocket
of his jeans. He decided, in a fit of paranoia, not to tell Knux about this. Then he
turned his attention to the computer.
        "Hey, Knuckles, check this out," Luke remarked, proffering Alison to Knuckles.
        The echidna did not take the device, but just scrutinized it with a half-open
eye. "Computer," he said succinctly.
        "Yeah, you need to say this code. See the note?"
        Knuckles now ran an eye over the note. "'S from Beechnut." He paused for a
second longer, then recited the code.
        "Wait 'til I turn this thing on," Luke said. He tapped a large button labeled
OPEN/ON. The top half of the unit flipped open, revealing a small blank screen and an
unmarked keyboard. He struck the button once more, and the screen whined as it went
from black to gray to white. The keys all lit up green as Luke instructed, "Now try."
        "Allegiance Override: Alpha Knuckles Omega Alison," Knux hoarsely repeated.
        Immediately, the screen flashed the words: VOCAL CODE ACCEPTED: ALLEGIANCE
OVERRIDDEN • Alpha»subject designate: KNUCKLES • Omega»unit designate: ALISON and the
keyboard blazed in a menagerie of colors. After several seconds, the unit spoke, much
to Luke's surprise. No vocal hand-sized units had been created back on Earth.
        "Greetings, Master Knuckles," Alison said monotonically. "I am unit Alison;
how may I serve you?"
        Knuckles said nothing, just looked at Alison, moaned, and rolled over on his
side. Apparently, he had not the strength to answer. Luke turned the unit to face him.
        "Hi," he said cheerfully before Alison could speak. "I'm Luke. I'm with
Knuckles over there." He nodded his head towards the reclining echidna.
        "In order to be registered as a confidante of this unit," Alison remarked
stonily, "My master must recite the appropriate vocal code."
        Luke felt his stomach twinge. There was no code he knew for that! He snatched
the bark note, but the backside was totally blank. Luke felt a little light-headed at
this complication.
        Suddenly, Knuckles said, "He's with me."
        Now Alison's screen read SECONDARY VOCAL CODE ACCEPTED: CONFIDANTE RECOGNITION
• » Pi »subject designate: LUKE • » Sigma »unit designate: ALISON. From this, Luke
realized the appropriate code was probably "Confidante Recognize: Pi Luke Sigma
Alison," but it didn't matter now.
        "Hey, Alison," Luke asked, " what exactly can you do?"
        "Well," Alison replied with a noise that sounded disturbingly like a human
clearing his throat, "I contain several hundred gigabytes of information with visual
and vocal outputs, I can record and play holographic videos with sound and special
effects, and I have limited defense capabilities with radar, sonar, and heat sensors,
as well."
        "Could you use another voice besides this one?"
        "Certainly."
        "Could you use . . . my voice?"
        "No problem," Alison responded. "Now, if you would care to recite my forty
thousand-word vocabulary in seven different inflections—"
        Luke gave a nervous laugh and blushed. "Uh, never mind, Alison.
        "Instead," he said suddenly, "could you look something up for me?"
        "Shoot," remarked Alison.
        "What's wrong?"
        "No, no," Alison responded, exasperated, "I mean 'Go ahead.'"
        "Oh, well, y'see, the reason my friend over there is so hurt is because we
were attacked by this creature that could change its shape. Do you know what it
could've been?"
        "I have over seven hundred records of shape-changers. Could you narrow it down
a bit?" Meanwhile the screen showed a more cordial response: SEARCH COMPLETED: 743
ENTRIES LOCATED • SEARCH PARAMETERS TOO BROAD: PLEASE ELABORATE SEARCH PARAMETERS.
        "Well," said Luke, "we were attacked in the Botanic Base area. Does that
help?"
        "Searching . . . sorry, Luke, that doesn't check out with my database," Alison
said, while her screen read SEARCH COMPLETED: O ENTRIES LOCATED • SEARCH PARAMETERS
INCOMPATIBLE WITH EXISTING DATABASE INFORMATION.
        Luke blinked. "Well, there must be something."
        "Sorry, pal," Alison said with electronic sympathy. "My database —up-to-date
as it is—has no record of any shape-changers native to the Botanic Base sector of the
Floating Island."
        "How up-to-date are you?" Luke asked.
        "I was manufactured six years ago, but I receive new information through the
KEDN—uh, that is, the Knothole Electronic Database Network, which updates its system
every other day through a remote control network. If it interests you, my next update
is tomorrow. Perhaps something will pop up then."
        Luke was intrigued by the seemingly endless information Alison could supply.
Suddenly, his mind was flooded with questions. He picked the one paramount in his
mind.
        "Alison," he questioned, cocking his head to one side, "could you tell me
about . . . Sonic?"
        There was a several-second pause, then Alison's monitor glowed brightly,
suspending a startlingly realistic image of Sonic in mid-air. He was blue all over,
with white gloves and tan belly and arms. His legs, long and pencil-like, ended in
shiny red and white sneakers. Rows of spines ran down his back, tapering to a stubby
tail. Sonic's entry scrolled down the screen while Alison recited it.
        "Sonic Maurice Hedgehog," began Alison, "is prince of Knothole Village,
although he shirks both his duties and the title, claiming he is not one for the
pressures of royalty. Indeed, Sonic's forte is in heroism, where he continues combats
the forces of the late Dr. Ivo Robotnik, who threatened to destroy the planet. Sonic
received his name from his natural talent for great speed. He has been known to
achieve speeds in excess of that of sound. He enjoys eating chili dogs for energy, and
is caretaker of the orphaned fox Miles Prower. He also is widely respected as former
leader of the resistance against Dr. Robotnik, and was famous for his frequent attacks
on Ivo's city, Robotropolis, with his sextet of rebels named the Freedom Fighters."
        "He is a husband of seventeen years to Princess Sally Alicia Acorn of
Knothole, and has a three-year-old daughter named Alexa.
        "CROSS REFERENCES: Super Sonic, Princess Sally Alicia Acorn-Hedgehog, Alexa
Julayla Hedgehog, Miles "Tails" Prower, Freedom Fighters, Doctor Ivo Robotnik.
        "End of entry," Alison stated matter-of-factly. The hologram turned white,
then faded.
        "Cool! So that's the bad guy we're after. Hey, Alison could you
cross-reference to Robotnik?"
        "No problem." The hologram shown this time was of an extremely overweight
human. The costume he was stuffed into was red with an orange cross across his
voluminous belly. He sported a flaming orange mustache and a pointy, bald head that
glimmered with careful polishing. Luke almost burst out laughing at the very sight of
him.
        "The late Doctor Ivo Robotnik was infamous for his role in the creation of
Robotropolis and the evil dictatorship he set up therein. He commanded an army of
robots and machinery, and had long been the primary target for the Freedom Fighters
resistance movement until his death seventeen years ago. His city is now destroyed and
his right-hand apprentice, Snively, has since taken over the job of ruling a broken
empire. 
        "CROSS REFERENCES: Snively, Freedom Fighters, Robotropolis."
        "End of entry."
        Luke was about to look up Snively when he suddenly remembered Knuckles and his
condition. He looked over at the blood-soaked echidna.
        "Alison," he said, "do you know what I could do to help him out?"
        "Could you please inform me of the nature of my master's injury?" Alison
inquired in a businesslike tone.
        "He's been lacerated with glass shards. I think it was that shape changer."
        A thin beam of red light shot from an opening next to Alison's screen, and
danced back and forth over the echidna's motionless body.
        "Doesn't look good, pal," Alison finally remarked, as her screen read INJURY
STATUS • subject designate KNUCKLES • BROKEN LOWER RIGHT RIB 1 • CLASS FOUR LACERATION
16 • CLASS THREE LACERATION 46 • BRUISE UPPER LEFT FOREHEAD 1 • CLASS 3 BURN
DREADLOCKS • CLASS 3 BURN BACK SHIN • BLOOD LOSS ESTIMATED 4 PINTS WHOLE BLOOD •
CAPACITY FOR SURVIVAL 36.2%
        "Is 36.2 bad?" Luke asked, not caring if he sounded stupid.
        "Absolutely. Right now, your friend is, as you say, 'at Deaths' door.' It
would be ideal to get him up to . . . oh, I don't know, about 75 percent. You could
pull it off, but only if you act now!" insisted Alison.
        Luke sprang to his feet. "Okay, but what should I do?" he shouted
hysterically.
        "Look on my screen for instructions," directed the computer. A second later
her screen shifted, and there was all the information Luke needed.
        "Great!" Luke cried. He studied the screen, then rushed into the forest to aid
his faithful friend.

Chapter XVIII........................Against All Odds

Fifteen minutes later, Luke came charging back into the ruins with an armload of
leaves and uprooted vegetation. He dumped them on the ground and, with help from
Alison, began to bandage Knuckles' cuts. First, he would remove the glass shard from
the wound, then he would quickly, as to avoid extensive blood loss, slap an
aloe-smeared leaf over it. For burns, he had taken porous leaves from the Traffa tree,
soaked them in water, and placed them gingerly over Knuckles' legs. As he labored, he
heard Alison remark that, thankfully, Knuckles' survival percentage, which had
bottomed out at 27.5%, had risen considerably.
        Luke was wearily placing the last bandage over a cut on Knuckles' thigh when
Alison happily announced, "Survival percentage now 76.6% and still rising rapidly.
Congratulations, Luke!"
        Luke gave a rasping shout of joy and flopped down on the stone ground,
heedless of the crusted blood on his hands and the aloe smearing the ground, but only
of the aching tiredness that penetrated every joint of his weary frame. It was almost
no time before he found himself deeply, contentedly asleep.

day 5
the second day of Tifach, 4968
—————————————————————

        A hand nudged Luke slowly into wakefulness. His first, unspoken thought was
that it was time to get up for school, but an instant later, memories of his adventure
flooded his mind like a dam breaking. But who was waking him? Slowly, his eyes swung
open and he beheld the blurry image of Knuckles, blood dried on his skin, with an open
palm patting his shoulder.
        Luke sat up and made a half-hearted effort to coax Knuckles into more rest.
"Knux," he said, "you should try to get some more sleep. You're in no shape to—" he
trailed off, realizing how much he sounded like his mother.
        Knuckles grinned an easygoing grin. "I'm okay, just can't be poked in my
trouble spots. I can walk 'n' all that, so it's no problem. Hey, how about some pizza
for breakfast?"
        "Right on, Knux!"


        After a slice of the sun-warmed pizza, Luke suddenly remembered Alison and
picked him up from where she had been lying beside him. He tapped the OPEN/ON button
twice and Alison flashed into life.
        "Good afternoon, Luke," Alison said politely.
        "Afternoon?" Knuckles asked.
        "Yes, master Knuckles. My Knothole sensors record the time as 25-72-31,
honorable, sir."
        "Wow. I musta been out of it for a long time."
        "Yes, sir, I record you as blacking out approximately 39-26-57 yesterday
evening. Now, may I serve sirs?"
        "Alison, could you look up the entry for Carnival Island?"
        "With pleasure, Luke." A millisecond pause, then a holographic image of the
island conjured itself in midair.
        "Carnival Island is an artificial island constructed by the Mobius Amusement
Partners in coordination with the Aztec Industries Labor Corporation. Shell
construction was completed three years, one month, and twenty-six days ago, and will
open for business in three days' time. The main attrac—" Alison stopped abruptly and
the hologram crackled with static before vanishing.
        "What's wrong?" Knuckles asked.
        "Look!" Luke pointed to Alison's screen. Upon it were the words PLEASE PARDON
US WHILE THE KNOTHOLE ELECTRONIC DATABASE NETWORK UPLOADS NEW INFORMATION TO THIS
UNIT'S MEMORY. THERE WILL BE A MOMENTARY WAIT. On the bottom of the screen, a counter
was ticking away. 110945 OF 263055 BYTES UPLOADED it currently read. In about thirty
seconds, the upload was complete.
        "Sorry," Alison said, and restarted her entry. The hologram of the island
faded into view again.
        "Carnival Island is an artificial island constructed by the Mobius Amusement
Partners in coordination with the Aztec Industries Labor Corporation. Shell
construction was completed three years, one month, and twenty-six days ago, and is
closed indefinitely at this time because of a sudden bug that had manifested itself in
the mainframe computer system. This bug is apparently infecting the Chaos Rings that
powers the rides of the Carnival Island Fun Park, the island's main attraction,
causing power to be lost at sites all over the Park. The computer itself has lost all
power-producing capabilities, shutting down all electrical items on the island. Both
companies have hired top-notch technicians to track down and destroy the mystery bug.
So far, they have had no success in eliminating the virus, which apparently has
multiplication and stealth capabilities. Until the menace is obliterated, the island
has been totally isolated from the outside world. 
        "The island contains, in addition to the Park, a nature area, a maze-like
arena, a high-rise fun park, a large marina, and a heavily guarded skyscraper that
houses the computer mainframe.
        "CROSS REFERENCES: Carnival Island Amusement Park, Aztec Industries, Mobius
Amusement Partners, Incorporated.
        "End of entry."
        Knuckles wolfed down the last of his slice and put the pizza away in the sack.
"Let's go."
        Luke agreed, and they set off down the corridor towards the Combi Catcher.
They uneventfully passed their motionless teammates, and entered the next room. The
bumper popped up, and the raucous music began again. Luke did note, however, that the
monitor that had once showed the Botanic Base had exploded, littering the floor with
pieces of glass and plastic.
        Knuckles bowed to Luke. "After you," he said with mock politeness.
        Luke walked to the flashing starry sphere and gave it a strong roundhouse
kick.
It was as though something suddenly pushed his foot away. He spun suddenly back around
and thudded to the cement floor. He looked up at the monitor in time to see the scene
selected: a watery scene with many multicolored boats. Only a moment passed before the
catapult rocketed up behind him and sent him flying down the passageway with Knuckles.
Luke was lying face down on the platform, so he didn't see the portal until it was all
around him, hurling him suddenly, violently into a black limbo.

Chapter XIX............................Marina Madness

Luke's vision went from totally black to complete vision in the span of a single
instant. He felt ground beneath his muddy sneakers, and he was gently deposited on the
hard metal deck of a large boat. A thick rope was twined around a gleaming silver
capstan at his feet. The sea, several meters below the deck, lapped gently, almost
playfully, at the craft's red and black side. The boat rocked lazily back and forth on
the crystal waters as cool sea breezes whipped easily at his clothes. Knuckles, who
was next to him, shot a meaningful glance at Luke. "Marina," he observed.
        Luke nodded, and reactivated Alison from where she had been in his hand since
breakfast.
        "Alison, can you tell us any more about this place?"
        Alison paused for several seconds, presumably to look around, and finally
spoke.
        "You are currently located on the for'ard starboard portion of the main deck
of the Tempest, a pleasure yacht owned by a Sir Ronald Vandermeer, the owner of
Carnival Island. Equipped with—"
        "We don't really need to know that right now," Luke interrupted. "We just want
to know what general area we're in."
        "You're located in the Sea-Wide Intercontinental Marina, on the
east-north-east coast of Carnival Island. You could have specified, Luke," she
finished icily.
Luke ignored Alison's comment. Instead he turned to Knuckles and asked, "What are we
here for?"
        Knuckles rolled his eyes and shrugged. "Beats me, maybe we should—"
        "Please step off of the boat now," a metallic voice suddenly announced through
a speaker on top of the wheel house.
        Luke and Knuckles started suddenly and looked at the offending speaker.
        "Please step off of the boat now," the voice insisted. "This boat is equipped
with a Kaj and Krath brand YXF-5001 model self-activating boat security apparatus.
Unless you wish to see it in action, please step—thank you."
        Luke sat down on the water-spotted boards of the dock. "Well," he repeated,
"where to now?"
        "As I was saying, maybe we should just look around for anything suspicious."
        "Why not?" Luke stood again and the pair started down the planked walkway.


        Twenty minutes later, Luke stopped and sat down on the cushioned barstool of
deserted Randy's Food Stand, with a sign declaring that Randy's had "The Best Burgers
on the Island!" He sighed. They had seen nothing but a long endless row of boats,
bobbing in the shallow water of the marina. Now as he looked out to sea, he saw a
small boat not far off. It grew steadily nearer as he watched. The loud droning hum of
its engine became louder as well. In several minutes, Luke could see a tall, lanky
squirrel at the wheel. The boat pulled up to the marina, and Luke walked out to meet
it while Knuckles stood back, wary of an attack.
        The decals on its side proclaimed it to be the Small Fry. It was a blue and
green one- or two-person motorboat. The squirrel, with neatly clipped black fur, sat
in a molded plastic lawn chair. He was gripping the metal steering wheel with on hand,
and he waved to Luke with the other.
        "Hey there!" he said congenially. "I'm Zej, owner of the Small Fry." He
indicated the boat by patting its instrument panel tenderly. "I heard youse guys are
looking for a virus in the mainframe. My computer Tiffany told me. Have ya got all
that sorted out yet?"
Luke realized Zej thought he was a Park Official. "Not yet, sir," Luke called back,
playing the part. "If you want to make land, you're welcome, though there's not much
to do here."
        "No, that's all right," Zej replied. "I was just hopin' you'd've nailed that
bug and gotten the Rings back."
        "Gotten the Rings back?"
        "Yeah, Tiff here said that the Chaos Rings were stolen. Isn't that right?"
        "Er . . . yes sir, we sorry to say it is. We'll find 'em soon, though. Don't
you worry."
        "That's too bad, buddy. Well, thanks anyway!" Zej waved again, started the
motor, and the Small Fry went bouncing back over the waves towards the mainland. Luke
whirled around to face Knuckles.
        "Did you hear that? The Chaos Rings are gone!"
        "Yeah, that's sounds suspicious. Wonder if we can help!"
        "Let's go see Vandermeer. Alison, do you know where he is?"
        "Yes, sir," Alison responded. "Ronald Vandermeer lives in a private office and
penthouse suite on the fiftieth floor of the Techno Tower, which also houses the
Island's computer system. Good luck getting there. It's eight-point-seven kilometers
south-west from this point. That's a long way, you know."
        "Yeah," said Knuckles, "but first, we need to get out of this marina."
        "Agreed. Alison, can you show us the way to dry land?"


        "There!" Luke cried, pointing to a grassy area ahead of him. "Let's go!"
Despite his weariness, Luke broke into a fast trot, and ran towards the land. Knuckles
leapt into the air and glided after him.
        Luke longed to feel soft earth under his feet again, so he picked up his pace.
He looked back at Knux, and teased, "You can't catch—"
        Suddenly, there was an earth-shattering crash, and a huge shape fell out of
the sky with the suddenness of a clap of thunder during a storm. The deck shook and
Luke was tossed roughly to the boards, the breath knocked out of him. Knuckles landed
next to him and they both looked at it.
        Luke, after catching his breath, began to ask, "What—"
        Then, the shape began to shift and change, rotating as well. It folded in on
itself, until it became a ring of interconnected triangles circling a peculiar
pod-shaped craft that had been inside the polygon. Luke could see a window atop the
craft, but the glass was tinted, obscuring the identity of whoever was inside. The
ring began to spin around the ship, slowly first, then faster, until abruptly, the
shapes shot out in a line directly at Luke and Knuckles.
        Knux grabbed Luke by the hand and hauled him out of harm's way. The triangles
slammed into the deck where Luke had been a split second before, and exploded. The
pair was showered with charred pieces of wood and fiery ash. When it died down, there
was a large section of the dock missing, with charred and smoldering planks along the
outside.
        "What do we do?" Luke cried hysterically.
        The craft suddenly accelerated towards them, lights on its front blazing
maniacally. Luke, standing this time, easily dodged the oncoming projectile. The dock
gave way to the ship like flesh to a sharpened blade. Splinters flew in all directions
like shrapnel from a bomb. The dock shook beneath their feet and creaked unsteadily.
Knux wordlessly grabbed Luke's hand, bent his legs, leapt into the air, and began a
long glide. The water brushed past Luke's shoes as Knuckles flew over the gap with him
in tow. There was a horrific crashing sound, and the pod shot out of the water at the
spot where they had been standing. Knuckles landed easily on the landward side of the
hole. Luke stumbled but kept his balance. Somewhere, in the recesses in his mind, he
remembered one of the last things that had caused him to stumble, and an idea came to
mind. Rapidly, he snatched Knux's backpack, and before he could object, tore it open.
Reaching past the pizza and the discarded barknote, he found the pair of connected
power rings. Grasping one in his throwing hand and pinching one with two fingers so he
could release it easily, he drew back his arm and hurled the hoop at the coming pod.
        The impromptu weapon soared arrow-straight through the air and buried itself
almost all the way into the side of the machine. The reaction was immediate; sparks
flew madly around the ring, and the craft halted abruptly and began to sink slowly
towards the water like a wounded bird. Several seconds later, as soon as the craft
touched the sea's surface, the top half of the craft suddenly disconnected from the
injured half and rocketed straight up into the sky with amazing speed. The doomed
portion fell into the water and sank, sparking and bubbling, to the muddy bottom.
        Luke looked into the cloudy sky, but the top half of the craft had made clean
its escape—as well its occupant.
        Knuckles was panting like a dog during a hot day, but he managed to say,
"Great idea. Great thinking, Luke."
        "Thanks. Let's go."
        They turned to leave, and there was the portal. Pure white, giving off no
light, but mysteriously still very bright. Luke looked and Knuckles, and Knuckles
looked at Luke. They shrugged simultaneously, joined hands, leapt into the whiteness
of the portal, and were gone.

Chapter XX..................................Speed Slider

After another ordeal of going through the ruins, Luke and Knuckles landed harmlessly
on the polished metal floor of a huge outdoor roller-coaster like area. Neon lights
buzzed and flashed wildly in the background.
        Luke activated Alison and asked her, "Where are we? Generally, I mean." He
added just in time.
        "You are located at the entranceway to the Speed Slider Amusement Area. An
amusement area for children and adolescents, it has the highest estimated profit of
all the attractions on the Island. With many loop-the-loops and upside down runs, it
calls on great speed to navigate it. Good luck, you guys," she finished sarcastically.
Luke angrily snapped her shut and stuffed her in Knuckles' sack. He grabbed the power
rings out and handed one to Knuckles.
        "I have another idea. Stay here," he commanded. Knuckles obeyed. Luke began
walking ahead of the echidna, ring in hand. Once they were about fifteen feet apart,
the going got difficult. The band was a shade of orange-red, and growing darker by the
minute. Luke turned to face to echidna and leaned back, throwing all of his weight
around to hold the string steady. His gloved hands clasped the polished surface of the
ring as tight as a vise. Luke began to take shaky steps back, digging his rubber soles
into the ground.
        Once they were about twenty feet apart, Luke stopped and called to Knuckles.
"Get ready on the count of three, I want you to relax your legs and let the band snap
you. Got it?"
        Knux nodded his sweat-covered head, and Luke counted, "One, two, three!"
        Knuckles stopped all the tension in his body, and he came flying towards Luke
at unbelievable speed. Luke stepped to one side and let Knuckles pass him. In another
instant he was hurtled headlong down the way with Knuckles.
        Luke was barely able to stay on his feet as he sped down the passage with
Knuckles. His surroundings were a blur as the world rushed by. Suddenly, the world
lurched sickeningly around Luke and began to invert itself, and Luke realized he was
headed up a wall. The wall curved into a loop-the-loop and the two felt the blood rush
to their feet as they took it all in their speedy stride. The track stretched
vertically upwards for some distance more, and then flattened off. Luke felt his pace
begin to slow, and soon, he and Knuckles were stopped.
        Knuckles looked at Luke in astonishment. "I've gotta say, you've got the
brains to make it in this world."
        Luke just smiled and said nothing.
        Knuckles hefted his ring eagerly and grinned wolfishly. "C'mon, let's do it
again!"


        After ten more snaps, Luke and Knuckles found themselves deep in the Speed
Slider. After snap number eleven, Knuckles plopped down on the ground. Dusk was
falling, and a dazzling sunset could be seen through the mass of neon abstract shapes
that crowded the sides of the track.
        "Let's rest," were his only words before he was sound asleep, his hands curled
up underneath his head. Luke looked at him, tossed his shining ring on the floor, and
sat down, resting his weary legs.
        After fifteen minutes, the sky had considerably darkened, and one could only
see for twenty or thirty feet, were it not for the buzzing neon lights that surrounded
him. Luke was entertaining the idea of catching some shut-eye, when a shrill scream
pierced the evening air.
        Luke sprang to his feet, a bundle of nerves, and grabbed his knife—he now
thought of it as his—from its hiding place. Suddenly something emerged from the gloom,
and Luke felt his grip on the knife tighten. As it neared him, he was utterly shocked
to see it was another human! It appeared to be a girl around his age, and when she saw
him, she cried out, "Sir, sir! Please help! There's robot is after me!"
        She pointed a quivering, long-nailed finger back where she had come from, and
sure enough, out of the murky night came a robot, a small, purple, slug-like thing
that inched its way across the ground on motorized treads. Luke, his confidence
returning, walked up to it, and before it got a chance to get near him, slammed his
pointed knuckles into its head.
        The head was neatly cleaved from the rest of the body, and the eyes blinked
several times before closing forever. Luke stood up and turned around to face the
girl. He stopped and stared at her for several moments.
        Her features were sharp and clear in the neon light, and his first thought was
that she had the most beautiful face he'd ever seen, and he was right. Her eyes,
strangely slanted at the corners, were a mesmerizing shade of green. Raven-black hair
cascaded from the crown of her head and fell around her shoulders like a frozen
waterfall. She wore long overalls over a pink shirt, and, most strangely, a white
satin scarf around her neck. As he watched, her lips pulled up in a charming smile. He
almost didn't hear her say, in a light, airy voice, "Thank you, kind sir."
        Luke felt his face blush furiously and he smiled and mumbled, "Y'r welcome."
        "I'm Calypso. What's your name?"
        "Calypso—uh, I mean, Luke. I'm Luke."
        "Thank you, Luke. You're very brave."
        Luke looked down at his oil-spotted gloves, his blush deepening. "I guess so."
        "How did you get here, Luke?"
        "Me? Oh, I, uh, came here with him." Luke pointed to Knuckles' slumbering
       form. "He's Knuckles, my friend. He's an echidna. We come from the Floating Island."
        "I've never heard of it."
        Luke suddenly had a question in mind. "Calypso—"
        "Please just call me Cal."
        "Cal, er, where are you from?"
        "I come from a planet called Earth."
        "Really? Me too! How long has it been since you've been there?"
        "I was kidnapped," Calypso said, and sniffled. "About three months ago. I like
Earth. I want to go back someday."
        "Me too. I like it there. It's nice here too, though. I'm trying to get home
myself," he lied. "Do you wanna join us? We could go home."
        "Sure! I'd love to. I really want to go back there someday."
        "Yeah." Luke put an arm around Calypso's shoulder. "Someday."


        Inside Alison, circuit boards hummed with electricity and activity. Data flew
back and forth from circuit to circuit. Tiny electronic impulses sped faster than
light on tiny tachyons to where they were most needed. The speeding particles gave off
a tiny buzz as they moved inconceivable fast from one place to another inside the
artifical brain.
        Alison was thinking to herself. Alison's central processing unit, the core of
her electronic being, was taking in and recording all the sensory data around her,
just for fun. She could perceive, as she scanned the area, that Luke was standing next
to another human being. Or was it a . . .? She focused her sensors on the other being,
and was quite alarmed by what she found. Luke could be in danger, she thought to
herself. But he didn't need to know. She could sense that he didn't want to be
interrupted right now and, besides, he hadn't asked.


        Calypso soon left, after giving Luke an affectionate kiss on the cheek.
        "I'll be back tomorrow night," she had told him. "I promise." Then she was
gone.
        Luke felt light-headed. He waved goodbye to Calypso and sat down on the
ground. He couldn't believe his luck. What were the odds of finding a human in this
animal-populated world? He touched the spot on his face where she had kissed him,
sighed, and reclined on the hard metal floor. He watched the neon abstract patterns on
the wall flick rhythmically on and off, and he found himself falling asleep.

day 6
the third day of Tifach, 4968
—————————————————————

Chapter XXI.............................Amazing Arena

The activities of the next day were a blur to Luke. The smiling face of Calypso
dominated his thoughts throughout the day. He was jarred back into reality after
fifteen or so snaps, when the two finally came to the exit. A luminescent neon arrow
pointed to the white portal that shimmered in mid-air before them.
        "Here we are," Knuckles unnecessarily announced. He accepted Luke's ring and
put the two of them back in the sack. "Let's go."
        Luke looked back where they had come from. Would Calypso realize they had
left? Would he ever see her again?
        Knuckles stopped several paces from the portal. "Luke, let's move it!" he
repeated.
        Luke turned back around. "Sure," he said.
        Knuckles took several paces back, ran, and forward-flipped his way into the
glowing portal. Luke followed him. With one leg through the gateway, Luke looked back
once more.
        "Goodbye," he whispered, and entered the light.


        The morning sun shone fiercely on the ruins, coating Luke's forehead in a film
of sweat. Knuckles, too, looked up at the cloudless sky and wiped his brow. "It's
hot," he observed.
        "Agreed sir," Alison chimed in from Luke's pocket. "My sensors record the
temperature as 103.3º and going up, sir."
        "Oh, man," Luke groaned. "We better get in the shade."
        "Agreed," Knuckles mimicked Alison's voice.
        After entering the monitor room, Luke asked Alison over the cacophony of
sound, "Can you identify those two scenes there?" He pointed Alison at the remaining
two screens on the wall.
        There was a pause. "The monitor on the right depicts the Amazing Arena, a maze
with ramps and a hidden clock that one must find before exiting the maze. Those who
make it out of the Arena receive, compliments of Sean's Island Seafood Grill, a free—"
        "The other one?" Luke interrupted.
        "The monitor on the left is the Techno Tower. You already know what that's
for, Luke."
        Luke was excited by this and relayed the information to Knuckles, who eagerly
stepped up and hit the bumper with the palm of his hand. The screen that was selected
showed the Amazing Arena. Luke and Knuckles were quickly catapulted down the corridor,
through the portal, and into the Arena.


        Luke wandered down the wide metal corridor, as he and Knux had been doing for
fifteen minutes now. Alison had been right, the Arena was a seemingly endless jungle
of entwining passageways. Floodlights dotted the Arena, but none of them were on, so
the entire area was blanketed in gloom. Luke found it difficult to see more than five
feet through the duskiness. Presently, he banged his head on something metal that came
out of the opaqueness at him.
        "Ouch!" he squealed, and clapped his hand to his forehead. Thankfully, he felt
no blood. Now he explored the object. "Some kind of platform," he informed Knuckles.
        "Here, I'll give you a lift," Knux offered, and with his help, Luke was able
to scrabble up onto the elevated structure.
        Something pierced the blackness ahead of Luke. A spotlight shone dimly on a
round, shiny object. He walked towards it.
        "Hey, there's a clock up here!" he called back to Knuckles.
        "That must be the clock we need to find," Knux shouted back. His disembodied
voice sounded eerie coming out of the dark. "Start it up."
        Luke found a button on the floor next to the clock. He stepped on it, and the
clock started ticking.
        A split second later, the floodlights flicked on with unbelievable intensity.
Luke fell to his knees and shaded his eyes. He blindly found his way to the platform's
edge and leapt off. He blinked his eyes open and tried to adjust his eyes. In about a
minute, he could see normally.
        "Great find, Luke," Knuckles complimented.
        "All right!" Luke said, and grinned. "We're on a roll now!"


        Luke's earlier excitement had worn off. They were still lost. The twisting
tunnels seemed to go on and on.
        "Knux," he asked. "do you know where you're going?"
        "Not really," the echidna confessed, coming to a stop. "I'm beginning to think
this was a bad idea even—"
        "If you don't mind my saying so," Alison interrupted, "I'm getting a strong
reading of energy output at this point." Her screen depicted a section of the Arena,
with a dot to indicate the spot where they were, and one to show where the power
source was.
        "Thanks, Alison," Knuckles said.
        "Why didn't you tell us before?" Luke inquired.
        "You never asked."
        Luke switched Alison off and shoved her into his pocket. "Let's go," he said,
and they trotted down the corridor in search of the mysterious energy.
        They reached the strange source in several minutes: the portal. They looked at
each other.
        "See," bragged Luke. "No problem. Toldja it'd be easy."
        Knuckles said nothing but just stepped through the doorway and vanished. Luke
followed, stepping through into an iridescent oblivion.

Chapter XXII............................................Night

The moon, outlined with night's starry sky, lay suspended over the Floating Island,
where Knuckles and Luke had camped for the night in the ruins. Knuckles slept soundly,
but Luke tossed and turned on the hard ground. Finally, in an effort to get
comfortable, he got up and walked towards where the forest was several meters away. 
        As he set his foot in the soft grass, he heard a soft voice whisper, "Luke."
        Luke's hand shot to his knife as a figure emerged from the trees, but the next
instant, his heart skipped a beat.
        "Calypso!" Luke cried in relief. "How did—"
        Calypso put a finger to her lips and motioned for Luke to follow her into the
forest. Luke trailed her to a small clearing where a halved log sat on the ground.
        "Have a seat," she said patting the log, as she sat down.
        Luke sat and asked the question paramount in his mind. "Cal," he inquired of
her. "how did you find us? You couldn't have possibly known—"
        "I just followed you," Cal replied. Luke found her answer a little evasive,
but he went on.
        "Do you still want to go back to Earth with me?"
        "Absolutely," Cal responded quickly. "I'd go anywhere with you, Luke." She
placed her hand on top of his.
        "Calypso," Luke said. He swallowed hard and looked at the ground. "I think,"
he went on, "that I love you."
        These words seemed to trigger something in Calypso, because she went limp and
was silent for several seconds. Then she started and looked at Luke.
        "I love you, too Luke," she said. She stood up and Luke stood with her. He
watched as Calypso undid her white scarf and threw it around Luke's neck. With an end
in each hand, she started to draw him towards her—
        The world shifted suddenly as Calypso jerked the scarf roughly. Luke stumbled
towards Calypso as she raised her knee and jammed it into Luke's stomach. Luke coughed
violently and fell to the ground. He looked up at Calypso's looming figure, and
panted, "Cal—"
        He got no further because Calypso grabbed a fistful of his hair and dragged
him to his feet. Luke felt tears well up in his eyes. What had happened to Calypso?
        Cal looked into Luke's eyes. "I'm sorry I have to do this," she said
apologetically. "But I have no choice. I hope you understand."
        Luke was about to ask why when the scarf suddenly constricted around his neck.
He gasped for air as Calypso tightened her grip. He grasped at the fabric, but it
would not yield. He felt his head begin to pound, the pain increasing horribly with
every throb of his heart. He saw only one option. As his vision began to dim, he felt
for the back pocket of his jeans. Grasping the smooth hilt of his knife, he slipped it
out of its sheath and rammed it into Calypso's chest.
        At first, nothing happened. Calypso's grip weakened, and Luke gulped air into
his aching body. Calypso grabbed the knife and staggered backwards several steps. Then
she gagged, and bright red blood bubbled out of her mouth. It ran down her face,
staining her white skin as the blood kept coming in rhythmic spurts. She sank slowly
to her knees, still clutching the knife hilt in her reddened hands. The blodd traced
crimson spiderwebs down her face and shirt. She keeled over, gave one last bloody
gasp, shuddered, and moved no more.
        Luke stood there, gasping, staring at the corpse of his former love that lay
on the grass. A minute went by, two, three. At last he turned, and, leaving the knife
in Calypso's bloodied body, walked out of the clearing forever.

day 7
the fourth day of Tifach, 4698
—————————————————————

        Luke slowly opened his eyes. The morning sun glared down on him. He rolled
over on the cold floor and remembered the events of the last night. Tears flowed from
his squeezed shut eyes, and he sobbed silently as he remembered Calypso's last bloody
moments. He didn't know how long it was until Knuckles was suddenly there, standing
over him. He looked down at his tear-streaked face and asked, "Luke, are you okay,
pal?"
        Luke sniffled and sat up. "Yeah, I'm fine, Knux, I just, uh, a bug flew into
my eye. I got it out though." He rubbed his eye and winced for show.
        "All right, pal," Knux said. "You up for some pizza?"
        "Yeah, sure."
        As the two dined on one slice apiece, Luke felt his interest in Alison return.
Calypso faded from his thoughts as he picked Alison up, activated her, and greeted
her, "Good morning, Alison."
        "Good morning, Luke. How may I be of service to you?"
        "Could you look up the Techno Tower for us?"
        "Surely." Luke laid Alison on the ground so both he and Knux could see the
hologram that was created a second later. A massive tower hung in mid-air, one with
olive green paint and few windows, except for the ones on the top two floors.
        "The Techno Tower, a fifty-story sky-scraper in the exact geographical center
of Carnival Island, devotes it first four floors to tourist business and information.
The Tower's fifth through forty-seventh floors are home to the massive mainframe
computer nicknamed Shanghai, which can execute over thirty-three-point-two billion
instructions per second. Shanghai is responsible for managing the power output of the
six Chaos Rings, which power all the electrical appliances on the island, like the
neon lights of the Speed Slider Zone, the security systems of the—"
        "Wait, wait, wait," Luke interrupted. "The computer had that bug, remember?
The lights in the Speed Slider were up and running when we were there. Remember,
Knux?" he aimed a meaningful glance at Knuckles whose eyes widened.
        "You're right. And the lights in the Amazing Arena were on too!"
        "They must have found the bug," Luke predicted.
        "Sorry, Luke," Alison cut in, "but the update I received early this morning
states that the virus still remains."
        There was a long moment of silence. Luke looked from Alison to Knuckles, and
back again.
        "Something's not right," Knux concluded.
        "You bet," Luke said, then, "We'd better go check it out." He snapped Alison
shut and shoved the last morsel of crust into his mouth. "Well," he remarked, "you
know what I'm gonna say. Next stop . . ."

Chapter XXIII.............................Techno Tower

Luke closed his eyes as he spun over and over in space. He sensed ground under his
shoes and inhaled deeply, savoring the cool morning air. He felt Knux's nudge and his
impatient whisper, "Let's move it."
        He opened his eyes. To his puzzlement, he was facing a long open plain of
grassy knolls and dirt roads.
        "Turn around," Knux said from behind him. Luke spun around, adrenaline
rushing, expecting an ambush, but he was amazed at what he saw.
        Alison's hologram could never have conveyed the size of the Techno Tower. The
metal behemoth, circular in shape and over fifty yards across, began at the ground and
stretched impossibly towards the heavens. Luke could barely see the top of the Tower,
but he could make out a jutting structure: some kind of balcony, he surmised.
        He followed Knux into the lobby of the Tower and found himself staring down
the barrel of a nasty-looking weapon.
        "We're closed," the hawk at the other end of the gun growled. "Go away."
        Knuckles cleared his throat, and the hawk swung his gun over to him. Knux
smiled amiably.
        "Get lost," the hawk repeated, hefting the gun.
        "Hi there," Knuckles said, ignoring him. "We're looking for Mister Vandermeer.
We'd like to help get the Chaos Rings back. I'm Knuckles, Guardian of the Floating
Island, and this is my pal, Luke."
        The gun slowly lowered. "You're who?" asked the hawk.
        "I'm Knuckles, Guardian of—"
        "Come with me," the bird ordered. It turned swiftly on the heels of its
leather boots and walked quickly down the corridor. They passed numerous pictures of
the Island in construction and one large portrait of the ground-breaking ceremony. The
plaque at the bottom read "Carnival Island. Construction begun, Klat the fourteenth,
4964." At the end of a nondescript corridor the hawk led them through a door marked NO
ADMITTANCE: CARNIVAL ISLAND STAFF ONLY. Inside was a tiny room with an elevator. They
stepped inside the spotless cubicle and the hawk pressed the button marked 49. Luke
noted there were only buttons for 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 49, and 50. a panel next to the seven
buttons lit up and read PLEASE ENTER SECURITY CLEARANCE CODE. The hawk placed himself
between the pair in the panel as he apparently keyed in his code. The hawk then stood
next to Luke as the elevator began to move.
        At the end of its surprisingly short ascent, Luke and Knuckles entered a
carpeted vestibule. The hawk remained in the elevator and as the doors closed, he
smiled a smile that made Luke twitch. They both walked up to a neatly organized desk
with a button that said PLEASE PRESS FOR SECRETARY. Knuckles pressed the button to a
harsh buzzing sound. After a minute, a vixen with a name tag that read Vanessa came to
the desk.
        "Hello," she said automatically. "I'm Vanessa, how can I help you?"
        "We're here to see Mister Vandermeer," Knuckles replied.
        "One moment," she told them. "I'll see if he's available."
        She pressed an intercom button and spoke discreetly into it. After several
seconds she stopped the connection and informed them, "I'm sorry, sirs, he's busy at
the moment. Perhaps you'd care to see his personal assistant instead?"
        "Sure," Knux responded. Vanessa pointed at a unadorned door in the back corner
of the lobby. The two of them began to walk towards it but Knux stopped.
        "Miss?" he asked the secretary. "How do you know he's not busy as well?"
        Vanessa gave the same disturbing smile to both of them. "I'm sure Mr. Meks
wouldn't mind seeing you two."
        They reached the door, and Knuckles laid his glove on the doorknob. Before he
turned it he looked at Luke with a stare that made his blood turn cold. Luke nodded at
Knuckles, as if to say, "go ahead." After several seconds, Knux twisted the knob and
swung the door inwards.
        Luke and Knuckles entered a cool, darkened room. A desk could be dimly seen
against one wall, A single small spotlight played on a corner of the room where Charmy
Bee sat, bound and gagged. The reaction was immediate. Luke gasped and staggered back
in shock, and Knuckles cried, "Charmy!!" In fact, they were so preoccupied with Charmy
that they didn't even notice the shadowed figure sitting behind the desk raise a gun
at them and fire.	


day 8
the fifth day of Tifach, 4698
—————————————————————

Chapter XXIV.....................The End, and After

Luke felt himself, lying down, unable to move. His limbs lay limp at his sides and his
breathing was shallow and erratic. He tried to move his arms and heard the clank of
heavy chains. With great difficulty, he tossed his head to one side. An unseen light
pierced his aching eyes, stabbing them with pain through his shut eyelids. He opened
his eyes and squinted into the afternoon sun. Next to him, he heard Knuckles groan.
        "Where are we?" he asked.
        "I'm not too sure," Luke began. "I—"
        "No need to guess," a deep voice boomed from across the room. Luke opened his
eyes and saw a rotund shadow, outlined by the afternoon sunlight. The silhouetted
figure sat behind a large desk on some kind of hovering chair. 
        Luke licked his cracked, dry lips. "Who—"
        "Ah, now there I'll let you guess," the shadow replied. A chubby hand reached
out and pressed a button on the desktop. Shutters clanged over the windows and lights
flicked on, illuminating the room in yellowish artificial light. Luke now saw the
stranger clearly. Only Knuckles recognized him first.
        "Robotnik!" he screamed, struggling at his chains. "Why, you chubby, conniving
little pig! I'll—"
        Robotnik raised a hand, and Knuckles fell silent. "Control your temper, my
friend. You'll live longer. You have managed to surprise me, coming this far. I should
have expected more of you. But, still here you are, and I'll have to kill both of you
now. I could have disposed of you long ago, since this island is at my very command."
        Robotnik pressed the same button, and the shutters opened. Robotnik was
outlined dramatically in sunlight as he began his victory speech. "You see," he said
grandly. "I own this island. Every worker that created it is mine. Aztec Industries
and the Mobius Amusement Partners are both mine. Every tree, every blade of grass,
every amusement ride belongs to me. I had known your presence on this island ever
since your escapade in the Botanic Base. I tried to stop you with my Polyshaper robot,
but you discovered and exploited its single weakness, and continued on through my
Marina into the Speed Slider, where my next surprise was waiting for you.
        "You see, I have created a robot so like the person it is made to imitate, no
one can tell the difference. I realized subterfuge would be needed to eliminate you
two, and so I sent one of my Auto-Automatons after you. I believe you know her
as"—Robotnik's red eyes bored into Luke's—"Calypso."
        Luke felt rage and humiliation wash over him like a tide that could not be
stemmed. Anger welled up inside him with unbelievable intensity. The next thing he
knew, he was screaming.
        "Noooooooooo!!!! Robotnik! I'll kill you, you lardy, two-timing—" He screamed
and cried at the same time, and tears drew lines down his contorted face. 
        Robotnik adopted a look of hurt innocence. "I think you should leave the
killing to me, my dear boy. I will enjoy watching you die in a contest against my
Mech." He gestured a hand towards a robot standing next to his desk. "Say hello,
Mech."
        The Mech turned to face the two of them. "Surrender now," it informed them.
"Give up, for Robotnik is master of all Mobius."
        Luke felt his face redden as he yelled, "Not in your lifetime, rustbucket!"
        "That's the spirit!" Knuckles encouraged, and spat in the Mech's direction.
        "Anyway, if you should happen to defeat the Mech, Shanghai should take care of
you. And that bug in the system?" He chuckled, a harsh grating sound that sent a
shiver up Luke's spine. "There never was one! Shanghai's status is fed to me through
this display unit here." Robotnik patted a tiny screen inlaid on the arm of his
hovering chair. "The virus story was a cover-up to allow for last-minute additions to
my creation. In three days, the virus will mysteriously disappear, and Carnival Island
will finally open for business, every cent—and every tourist—of which goes to me.
        "But now, alas, I must kill both of you." The chains around Luke and Knuckles
fell spontaneously open and clattered to the floor. "Prepare to die," Robotnik
cackled. Luke was barely on his feet before the Mech whirred into life and charged.
        Luke helped Knuckles to his feet and barely had time to move before the Mech
was almost upon him. Suddenly, it feinted and leapt for Knuckles instead. Knuckles was
caught off guard and screamed and the Mech's gleaming claws sank into the tender flesh
of his thigh. Blood gushed through the wound and stained the Mech's hand a deep red.
Knux grabbed the sunken hand and wrenched it free. Spinning himself around, he was
about to throw the Mech into the far wall when the robot, with its free hand yanked
Knuckles by the dreadlocks and hurled him across the room. He slammed into Robotnik's
towering desk and slid to the floor, motionless.
        With agonizing slowness, the Mech turned to face Luke. Its red eyes became
pinpoints boring into Luke's body until a moan of agony escaped his lips. His clenched
hands felt like dead, useless weights before the perfect killing machine. Suddenly, it
charged.
        In the split second or two where the Mech sparkling metal body was hurtling at
him, Luke's mind, racing furiously, came up with a plan that might save him. As the
Mech came nearer, Luke rose up on the balls of his feet so he could take action
quickly. As its glinting fingers reached out to him, he sidestepped the Mech and
brought his fist pounding into the robot's face, the points of his glove skewering its
eyes.
        The Mech was clotheslined, sent hurtling head over feet into the air. It
slammed into the carpet and lay still. Its fingers twitched slightly and sparks flew
haphazardly from its useless eyes.
        Luke stood there, his hands at his sides. He could hardly believe it. Had he
really bested this killing machine with such ease? He waited a couple minutes,
watching the robot. It did not give any sign of life. Slowly a smile crept onto Luke's
face. Confidently, he strode to the body and knelt beside it. With his glove, he
touched its shoulder—
        The attack was sudden. The Mech's gleaming hand shot towards Luke's face. He
jumped backwards and rolled across the room until the Mech was several yards away.
Blindly, the robot struggled to its feet and listened for any sign of Luke. He looked
desperately around for some means of killing the robot. Robotnik sat behind his desk,
amusement painted on his chubby face. Knuckles was motionless against the far wall,
with Alison beside him—wait! Alison was the answer. He recalled her first words . . .
        Limited defense capabilities . . .
        "Alison!" he shouted. "Can you help me?" He didn't wait for an answer. "You
see that robot over there? Get it! It wants to kill me!" The Mech, now alerted, was
staggering in Luke's direction with his arms extended, hoping to snare his prey.
        "With pleasure, Luke." Alison's tinny voice came across the room. Amazingly,
of her own accord, she swung her body around and shot several tiny red laser beams
towards the Mech. The Mech was struck in the leg and collapsed to the floor, its wound
smoking furoiusly. The next two shots hit the brain cavity, and the robot jerked once
and lay still.
        Luke had a precious moment of freedom. What to do? He ran to Robotnik's desk
and felt around the surface for some kind of weapon. He felt and grasped a small
letter opener. Its dull blade shone brightly in the sunlight.  He ran to the inert
body of the Mech and felt around underneath his chest plate. Feeling bunches of wires
and tubes, he took the letter opener and hacked blindly at the unseen cables. Sparks
flew from the Mech's chest cavity. Luke, encouraged, found a thick tube and drove the
blade through it. There was a gurgling noise, and a pale-colored liquid dribbled onto
Luke's hand and down his arm. He smelled it. Gasoline! Rocket fuel, perhaps? He
thought for a moment, and a brilliant idea struck him. Leaving his weapon in the fuel
line, he raced across the room to where Knuckles' body lay. He opened the backpack on
the echidna's back and groped around for the two power rings. He felt their smooth
shiny surface and pulled them out. He went back to the motionless robot and placed one
ring in its open palm. Holding the other ring, he stood several meters away and waited
for the Mech to wake up.
        It was not a long wait. Several seconds later, the Mech stirred as it slowly
recovered from Alison's attack. Its hand closed tightly over the ring and it began to
stand. As it came to a kneeling position, however, it suddenly toppled over as a fresh
burst of sparks belched from its chest. Its legs flopped uselessly about like landed
fish. Good,  Luke thought. I've got its legs. This should be no problem. He watched
with amusement as the crippled robot began to grope blindly at thin air like a small
child, hoping to find its tormentor. Being careful not to make any sound to distract
the robot, he ran silently across the room towards the door leading to the balcony. He
opened it and stood at the threshhold, the cool air re-energizing him for his coup de
grace. The band between the rings was bright red now, and Luke struggled to stay on
his feet. All it needed was a little force to tip the balance. Luke filled his lungs
with air and triumphantly shouted, "Say goodbye to your pet, Robotnik!" He gave the
string one final, mighty tug.
        The Mech was yanked off the floor, soared through the air, out the door, over
Luke's head, and into space. Luke let go of his ring as the Mech whistled overhead and
let the Mech fly helplessly into thin air. The Mech tried to fire its jet, but it
sputtered vainly and died. Its flight came to a peak, and there was a long second
where the Mech seemed to look straight at Luke, its blind eyes staring at his victor—
        And then it passed. The Mech plummeted straight downwards through the cloudy
air, its hand raised upwards in a useless plea for help until it exploded on the
ground fifty stories below.
        There followed a deafening silence. The only sound was the wind lightly
whistling in Luke's ears. For the first time since his capture, he smiled. Then he
turned swiftly and walked into the building.
        "So, Robotnik," he bragged upon entering. "You see now—" he stopped, realizing
that Robotnik was not in his chair. Instead, there sat Charmy Bee, unbound but still
unconscious. He picked up his limp body and laid it next to the motionless form of
Knuckles. He picked up Alison from her place beside Knuckles' foot.
        "Alison, we gotta get out of here," he informed her. "Is the doorway clear?"
He pointed her sensory end towards the closed door.
        After a several second pause, Alison spoke. "Sorry, Luke, but my sensors pick
up sixteen non-human life forms in the lobby outside. Apparently they are waiting to
ambush you."
        Luke gritted his teeth. What was he to do? He looked around. The balcony doors
were open, and a cool wind whistled through them. But he couldn't fly, and Knuckles
was dying fast. Charmy couldn't have carried them both. He though, for the briefest of
moments, that he and his comrades should become martyrs, but no, he had so much to do
and see on this whole new world, He had to get through this alive.
        "Alison, are there any secret passages out of here?"
        "Luke, I'm not Shanghai," Alison replied candidly. "I can't answer your
question."
        "Yeah," Luke agreed dejectedly. "I guess—" he paused, and slowly a large grin
crept silently across his face. "Alison, what frequency does the remote control in
Robotnik's chair run on?"
        Alison performed another mystifying self-generated turn and played her beam
over the quietly beeping device in the arm of Robotnik's chair. "The remote control
device connects directly to the Shanghai mainframe and broadcasts at one hundred and
fifty seven-point-three megahertz."
        "Could you connect to Shanghai at that frequency?"
        "It's a little bit high for me, Luke, but I'll try." A high-pitched squealing
whine ground at Luke's ears as Alison switched operating frequencies.
        "I've attained the appropriate frequency, and I've tapped into the Shanghai
program. What would you like to do?"
        "Look up the most recent commands."
        "Certainly." A pause, then on Alison's screen flashed the words:

        :cmd/user>IvoR>/password>eggman>cleared/cmdflw--::
        :cmd/maton>"Vanes">/autoaccess/activation-interaction::
        :cmd/user>IvoR>/dirctpres>mainoffice/shutters/close+onlight::
        :cmd/user>IvoR>/dirctpres>mainoffice/shutters/open+offlight::
        :cmd/user>IvoR>distress>mainframe>shutdown::
           >>initiate program:xitlaughing.exe::
           >>step1,2,3,4,5,6completd::
           >>tower>shutdown>time 5 min.::
           >>endprogram::

        He took all the lines of machine-code in, and finally told Alison, "Enter this
command: 'cmd/user>IvoR/autoaccess>mainoffice/secretexit/open::.'"
        Alison keyed the line in herself and said, "Transmitting . . ." Shanghai's
reply appeared:

        :user>IvoR>/cmd/executed::

        A click sounded from across the room, and a section of wall moved slightly
inward. "All right!" Luke cried, thumping his fists on the floor enthusiastically.
        "Luke?" Alison said, interrupting his celebration. "This unknown program,
'xitlaughing.exe,' is set to complete itself in a little less than two minutes.
        "Well, shut it down!" Luke commanded, and Alison's query and Shanghai's
reposes showed up:

        :cmd/user>IvoR>/terminate>pgrm>exitlaughing.exe::
        :user>IvoR>/cmd/executed/prgm>terminated::

        "That's the ticket, Alison!" Luke cheered. "Keep your link up; I'll need it
soon; for Shanghai's final command." He turned to the open door in the wall. A joyous
laugh escaped his lips. "Let's get out of here."


        Ten minutes later, with Knuckles slung over his shoulders, and Charmy Bee in
his left hand, Luke stepped into the evening outside the Techno Tower. The Mobian sun,
setting slowly in the distance, set the sky afire with an exquisite palette of reds,
purples, and oranges. He filled his lungs with cool air and set off with a steady pace
towards the Botanic Base forest on the horizon. Behind him, the Techno Tower stood
silently against the pastel sky, a cruel reminder to Robotnik's tyrannical reign over
Carnival Island. In a very short time, both of them would be things of the past.


        "Wow!" Knuckles cried, shielding his eyes from the blast with his hand. The
gigantic explosion lit up the dark sky with a fearful intensity, and the noise
reverberated through the once silent night. The ground quaked beneath their feet and
the trees swayed slowly in unison. There was one final crash, and silence reigned the
night once more.
        "What gave you the idea of using Alison's frequency to take over Shanghai?"
Charmy asked in envious awe.
        "I've got Alison's rhetoric to thank for that idea," Luke said, and looked to
Alison where she leaned against the root of a nearby tree.
        Insofar as computers can blush, this is what Alison would have done now.
"Thank you very much, Luke." she remarked with electronic bashfulness.
        "Don't think anything of it," Luke said, and swallowed the last bite of the
last slice of Beechnut's pizza. Knuckles had finished his ration long ago, and Charmy
nibbled occasionally at his portion.
        A question suddenly came to Luke's mind. "Hey, Knuckles, where do you think
those portals came from? And the Combi Catcher and all the rest of them?"
        "I can only suppose Robotnik created them as part of his Carnival Island plan.
He probably wanted all of us out of the picture."
        "But to no avail!" Charmy yelled triumphantly.
        "Yeah," Knuckles replied with a great grin. "As for the portals, they always
seemed to pop up whenever we needed them most. I'm not quite sure where they came
from, but I know it can't be Robotnik.
        "Anyway, don't you think it's about time to turn in?" he asked. The small fire
they sat around shadowed the tired circles under his eyes and made his skin an even
deeper shade of red.
        "Yeah, why not?" Luke said. He reclined on the soft soil and closed his eyes.
All at once he realized how unbelievably weary he was. It couldn't have been more than
several minutes before he was enveloped in the deepest sleep of his life.

day 9
the sixth day of Tifach, 4698
—————————————————————

Chapter XXV..................................Going Home

"So, you've found your friend, I see." Beechnut leaned back in his charred chair and
closed his eyes. There was a moment of silence. "Such brave heroes. My granddaughter's
husband might be likin' to recruit such warriors for his quest against his foe
Robotnik."
        Knuckles, sitting cross-legged on the smooth cave floor, gave a smug smile.
"He's heard of me already, I'm sure."
        "Tell me, friend," Luke asked. "Will your granddaughter be visiting anytime
soon?"
        "Funny you should mention it, young'un. Sally stopped by just last mornin'.
She was interested to hear of you. She gave me this, too." He procured from his chest
a small ticket, and handed it to Luke, who read it aloud.
        "'FREEDOM FIGHTER PASS: Dear noble Freedom Fighter: As a token of appreciation
for the continuing defense of our proud planet, the Mobius Amusement Partners award
you this complementary pass to the Carnival Island mega-amusement theme park. We hope
to see you soon! Sincerely yours, Ronald C. Vandermeer, Chairman.'"
        Knuckles burst into a hearty laughter and Luke, too, smiled at a job well
done. He gave the ticket back to Beechnut and activated Alison.
        "Alison, could you please read the entry for Carnival Island?"
        "No problem," Alison chirped, then read: "Carnival Island is an artificial
island constructed by the Mobius Amusement Partners in coordination with the Aztec
Industries Labor Corporation. The shell construction was completed three years, one
month, and thirty days ago, and is shrouded in mystery after it mysteriously shut down
on Tifach the fifth. Aerial observers report that the grand fifty-story Techno-Tower,
which was the center piece of the Carnival Island feast, has been leveled by a
mysterious explosion which was felt as far as the mainland. The blast has been
attributed to the mystery virus which infested and corrupted the Island's mainframe
computer. The Mobius Amusement Partners, as well as the Aztec Industries are currently
in receivership, and it has been revealed that the two companies invested a total of
six million, eight hundred thousand Mobaids in the island's success. The fact that
such an investment was not made public is a direct violation of the Mobian Code of
Justice, Part VIII, Section 5, Clause 2. Wanted in connection with this offense is
Ronald Vandermeer, chairman of the Island and both companies, who has been charged
with two cases of investment fraud. Vandermeer, however has mysteriously dropped from
the public eye since the explosion on the fifth. A full-scale search is underway by
the law enforcers of Knothole village. Princess Sally, leader of the town, says that
she's not sorry she turned down her invitation to the grand opening and is doing all
in her power to apprehend this crook.
        "CROSS REFERENCES: Ronald Vandermeer, Techno Tower, Shanghai, Knothole, text
of Mobian Code of Justice.
        "End of entry."
        Luke snapped Alison shut and smiled at Beechnut. "What do you make of that?"
        The ancient squirrel stared at the ticket in his hand, reached over and let it
flutter into the fire. His gaze slowly wandered up to the pan hanging above the fire.
        "Oh!" he exclaimed suddenly. "Yer pizza's been done!" Quickly he raised the
pie from its place and placed it on the floor. "Who's hungry?" he said.
        Like small children, the three wanderers lunged for the steaming pizza,
grabbing for the largest portion they could eat.
        Beechnut chuckled, a low, throaty, but grandfatherly noise. "Don't worry, now.
There's always chow for hungry travelers in the humble home of this here squirrel."
        Eventually, the replete visitors reclined on the floor and listened to
Knuckles' speech for the day's plans.
        "Alright, you guys," he said to Charmy and Luke. "I'll give Luke a lift up to
the Floating Island and we'll go to Chaotix Central—the Chaotix are trained to go back
there if they're captured—and we'll hook up with the rest of the Chaotix. From there,
maybe we can help find Vandermeer."
        "Can I help, too?" Luke asked. It occurred to him, once the question passed
his lips, that it sounded like he was asking a question to his mother. But then again,
his thoughts continued, perhaps Knuckles is like my new mother, and the Chaotix is my
new family. In fact, there's a whole new life waiting for me here, in Mobius. I can
start all over again. It'll be better this time. His thoughts were interrupted when
Knuckles remarked, "Luke, I'd be honored to have you be my right-hand man in the
Chaotix."
        "The honor is mine, Knux." Luke reached over and shook grasped Knuckles' hand
between his two.
        Knuckles grinned. "Welcome to the family," he said.
        "Congratulations," Charmy cheered, and clapped his tiny hands together.
        Luke returned Knuckles' smile and held it for a long moment in the cool, damp
cavern. Unbelievable happiness surged through his body and he knew this world was his
home. For once, he felt he was where he truly belonged.


        Slumped at his desk, the small, tired figure rubbed his eyes with a
three-fingered hand. His eyes traveled wearily up to the monitor where Luke was
grasping hands with Knuckles in Birch Oakleaf's cave. Beautiful, he thought. The young
one's quest is at an end. He will do Knuckles' team proud, I am sure. Finally, I can
end my observations for this one. He reached over and flicked the screen off. One by
one, he flipped the switches to turn off all thirty of his screens.
        "Computer, I'm retiring for the night," he said to the empty room. "Stand by
and let me know if anything happens."
        "Yes, sir," a disembodied voice resplied. "Sleep well, sir." Without
acknowledging, the creature stood on aching legs and shuffled off slowly to his bed.
        He walked slowly down a long metallic corridor and listened to the dull clangs
his shoes made on the floor. They echoed down the hall and came whistling back to him
in even thumps. Finally, he reached an open door and made his way inside.
        The small room was about ten feet to a side, and a small bed with clean white
sheets rested in the corner. A large brass lantern burned dimly as it hung from the
ceiling. The figure shed his robe and walked to the suspended lantern. He filled his
ancient lungs with air and blew the flame out. He fumbled his way to the bed and
slipped between the threadbare sheets. He hugged his pillow tight and closed his eyes.
He was glad that the project with the Mitchell boy was a success and was very happy
that he could finally rest. Of course, he took no great amount of comfort in the fact
that he knew there would always be more to do, waiting for him when he awoke the next
day.

july 20, 2022
—————————————————————

"David, dear, you'd better go up and check on Luke." Larissa shook David gently awake,
and he groaned slightly, and stood up on the bare wooden floor. Wearily, he climbed
the stairs he had climbed so many times before. It was early morning, and outside, the
crickets chirped their melodious night song. The top attic stair creaked loudly under
his foot, and he stepped into the dimly lit attic. The Game Gear had not moved since
the previous evening, but this time something was new. A small red light flicked
quietly on and off next to the screen. He squatted to see the light. Below it, in
:small white letters was the phrase: "BATT POWER." He felt his blood run cold. The
batteries were low! No! Not now! This couldn't happen yet! Quickly, he fumbled for the
portable battery pack. Groping for the tiny jack, he dropped it on the floor. A
precious second wasted! His movements seemed slow and clumsy, and his fingers were
unresponsive to his frantic commands. As he brought the tiny jack close to the hole on
the Game Gear's side, he missed and the jack slid off the side. He could feel his
heart thudding in his as he lined up the jack and cord. He manuvered the tiny plug
into its place. The tiny blinking light weakened for a terrifying second, then became
solid. He felt himself go limp with relief. Suddenly, he had a thought: how long would
the battery last? He stared suddenly at the light, as if he was in the presence of a
bomb ready to explode. Suddenly, the light flickered once, and white lines drew
themselves across the screen. The tiny monitor flashed once, shrank to a bright point,
and faded to black.
        David let the Game Gear drop from his hand. It clattered on the floor, and the
sound echoed hollowly through the empty attic. A single tear traced a wet line down
his cheek, and he sank to the floor. Quiet sobs escaped his body and he curled up on
the floor, his hands over his face. He rocked his body back and forth like a child
being lulled to sleep. Soon, he was quiet, and a deafening silence covered the room
like a smothering blanket.

epilogue

        "Search database for query: 'Luke.' One moment, please . . . 1 entry(s) found.
        "ENTRY: Luke Mitchell.
        "This sixth member of the Chaotix team, this human defender of justice is the
bravest and truest member of the team. His mentor, Knuckles the echidna, claims to
have found him as a child in the forests in the Floating Island, and took him under
his wing. The boy of fifteen years refuses to disclose any information of his origin
to anyone but his closest associates, but his present accomplishments are well
renowned.
        "Just recently, Luke was officially named leader of the Chaotix after Knuckles
stepped down due to injuries sustained in a recent mission. So far, Luke has led the
team, with Knuckles still a member, on a successful campaign to end tree felling in
the Great Forest.
        "This hero has eliminated and captured the wrongs that have infected the
Floating Island and the continents it floats above, and is most well known for his
role in exposing the scandal surrounding Carnival Island. He was the one who uncovered
the treachery of the Island's secret roboticizing scandal, and sent Island chairman
Ronald Vandermeer on the lam. He aided, with the rest of the Chaotix, in the search
for the crook, but unfortunately Vandermeer was never found. When asked about his
feelings for life with the Chaotix, he said this: 'I'm glad I happened to run into
these guys, because they've become my closest friends. It's really amazing how greatly
your life can change in such a short span of time. I  like my present life much better
than the one I left behind. On the whole, I think that Mobius place is a better place
to be.'
        "CROSS REFERENCES: Chaotix, Carnival Island, Ronald Vandermeer, David
Mitchell.
        "End of entry."————————————————