The Brightest Light…

Several figures slinked along the outer wall of the ESTs main facility, but nobody noticed them. The new stealth technology was working perfectly. Only a slight shimmer was visible to mark their passing. They attached their sinister looking device, that is, it would have looked sinister if not for the cloaking device, quickly and efficiently to the thick concrete wall.

"Soon my brethren," one whispered. "Very soon."

~~~~~

"You seen Knuckles?" Mighty asked.

"He’s probably off somewhere pining for his GIRLFRIEND." Vector sneered. "Things were so much better when those two were at each other’s throats instead of making goo-goo eyes at each other."

"I don’t recall those two ever making goo-goo eyes at each other." Espio said.

"You know what I mean." Vector growled. "He used to hang with us…"

"He still hangs with us." Mighty protested.

"You think we got universal dibs on him or somethin’?" Espio added.

"No, it’s just that…" He sighed. "Those two are gettin’ kinda tight. We’ve already lost the Charms man…"

"Ah," Mighty smiled. "Those wedding bells are breaking up that old gang of mine."

"Exactly."

"Oh, come on," Espio groaned. "They may be dating, but they’re a long way from THAT."

"I don’t know," Mighty mused, rubbing his chin. "Knuckles once told me that the next Guardian is usually born when the current Guardian is twenty. He’s sixteen now, so he’s only got four years…" Vector visibly shuddered.

"Will you stop feeding his psychosis?" Espio hissed.

"W-w-what have you g-g-got against love any-anyway?" Ray asked.

"He’s just jealous that he don’t have his own hot little tomato." Espio smiled.

~~~~~

Some distance outside the city, the small party decloaked. Their leader, the Dark Legionnaire known as Xenin, bowed reverently to his master.

"All is in readiness, my Lord." He said.

"Excellent." What passed for a smile crossed Dimitri’s face. "I do so love a family reunion." He turned to another Legionnaire, hunched over a control panel.

"Do it." He ordered.

~~~~~

The explosion rocked the city, if not the entire Island.

"Madre!" Mighty exclaimed.

"What on Mobius was that?" Vector gasped.

"We better check it out." Espio said.

"Hey," Vector protested. "It ain’t our job. That’s why we got the EST, and the Guardian."

"Yeah," Mighty agreed. "But it came from the direction of EST headquarters, and who knows where the blazes Knuckles is."

"Okay, okay, we’ll go."

~~~~~

"Hmmm," Dimitri mused as he studied the readout on the screen before him. "Mobile Chaos energy. Seems we got his attention." He turned to his troops. "Let’s go bag us a Guardian."

~~~~~

Remington had his hands full.

The explosion had been bad enough, a great deal of their equipment and, he feared, personnel, had been taken out in the blast. People were in a panic, running every which way. The building was still crumbling around him. And his left shoulder felt like it was on fire. He knew he was going to need some help.

He finally found a functioning communications terminal. Punching in the code that only he knew, he was attempting to contact Haven, when the screen before him exploded into nothing more than powdered glass.

"We don’t want the Brotherhood joining our little party uninvited, now do we?" The Legionnaire hissed in his ear.

~~~~~

"Whoa!" Vector screeched to a halt.

"I never seen so many black robes." Espio gasped.

"This is bad," Mighty shook his head. "This is very, very bad."

"W-w-what do we do?" Ray asked. He knew he was way out of his league here.

"Stick close, little buddy, and we’ll…" Mighty’s voice turned into a pain filled yelp as an electrical surge arched through his body. At the same time, Espio found himself encased in a thick, gooey substance that his camouflaging abilities couldn’t effect.

"Hello, boys," a female voice said from behind. "Glad you could join the party."

They turned to face Kommisar, Moritori Rex and a platoon of Dark Legionnaires, all with weapons trained upon them.

"What do we do with these dweebs?" The red female asked her grandfather.

"The armadillo and the chameleon were the only real threat, and they’ve both been neutralised." The echidna studied them with his cold electronic eyes. "But they may be useful as leverage."

"You heard him," Kommisar ordered the troops. "Bring them."

After the squirrel and crocodile had been bound, she approached them. "Where’s your pretty little friend?"

"What ‘pretty little friend’?" Vector asked, watching with concern as several Legionnaires roughly handled the immobilised Espio and unconscious Mighty.

"Don’t get cute with me, handbag face." She snarled. "Where’s Julie-Su?"

"Could be anywhere," Vector shrugged. "It’s a big island. Maybe she’s off being real cosy with a certain red-furred Guardian." She slapped him hard across the face.

"No, she’s not with the Guardian," she smiled wickedly. "We know where he is. Though what condition he’s in, well that all depends on Xenin and Dimitri."

"You guys, get the drop on Knuckles? Yeah right!" Vector snorted.

"Your precious Guardian may be a force to be reckoned with," she admitted. "But not even he can prevail against an entire legion of our best troops."

~~~~~

"Ah," Dimitri smiled. "The not so mighty Chaotix. My brother’s accursed descendent will be so happy to see a few familiar faces." He tugged painfully on Vector’s cheek for emphasis. "At least he put up a fight. It took three entire phalanxes and Xenin’s unparalleled expertise to take him down." He turned his attention to the Legionnaires that were escorting, and in the case of Espio and Mighty, dragging, the captives.

"Take them to their leader."

A legionnaire dug the muzzle of his weapon painfully into the crocodile’s back to get him moving. Vector snarled, but complied. Mighty took that moment to groan back into consciousness.

"Where am I?" He asked groggily.

"Believe me, bud," Vector said. "You don’t want to know."

Noticing the black robes that surrounded him, Mighty glanced at Ray. The little squirrel looked terrified. And who could blame him? He had hoped to spare his friend from the Island’s less than pleasant history.

Dimitri led the way, flanked by Kommisar and Moritori. The massive cyborg moved with surprising speed and grace. He touched a panel in the wall to open the door before him.

"Ah, Knuckles," he said brightly. "I’ve brought you some little playmates."

The Chaotix let out a collective gasp at the sight of the red echidna as they were bundled into nearby cages.

He hung limply from a pair of high-tech restraints, which hung from the ceiling. His arms, legs and most of his body, were covered with lacerations, burns and abrasions. A particularly large scorch mark all but obliterated the white ring around his neck. Several long strands of red hair, which were usually slicked back to meet his spines, had fallen into his eyes. The left-hand side of his face was so badly bruised and swollen it was doubtful that he could even open his left eye. His breathing was shallow, almost non-existent. He didn’t appear to be conscious.

"Ooooh," Kommisar smiled. "I love what you’ve done with him."

Dimitri frowned. He grabbed the unruly hair and pulled Knuckles’ head up. The red echidna made no response to the rough treatment. There was dried blood around his nostrils and a trickle at the corner of his mouth. Dimitri released him, and his head lolled back to his chest.

"Xenin!" He bellowed.

"Yes, my Lord?" The cyborg seemed to appear from nowhere.

Dimitri slammed him hard against the wall. "I told you he was not to be damaged! He’s no good to me dead!"

"He has extraordinary recuperative abilities, even with the energy draining shackles in place. I had to inflict this much damage in order to get him quiet. None of the injuries are permanent, my Lord." He reassured him.

"They had better not be." Dimitri hissed. "I have plans for our young Guardian."

~~~~~

The first thing Knuckles became aware of as the world painfully returned to him was the quiet murmuring voices of his nearby friends. He lolled his head in their direction, peeling open his one serviceable eye. They appeared none the worse for wear.

Vector was singing to himself.

"Will you please shut the heck up?" Espio hissed at him.

"I miss my tunes," the crocodile lamented.

"So do we," Mighty sighed. "At least then we didn’t have to listen to you sing."

Knuckles smiled at their typical antics. At least some things hadn’t changed.

"You guys okay?" He asked, surprised at the raspiness of his own voice.

"Why are you asking us?" Vector gripped the bars of his cage. "You’re the one that looks like crud."

"Vector!" Mighty hissed.

"It’s okay," Knuckles said. "I FEEL like crud."

"W-w-why di-di-did…" Ray stammered, unable to put his question into words.

"Why did they beat the living snot out of me?" Knuckles suggested "I think I must’ve ticked ‘em off. But then, I think Xenin just enjoys it."

"So what’re we gonna do?" Espio asked.

"Hope we can think of something." Knuckles tried to shrug.

"That’s not very reassuring." Vector growled.

"Well, excuse me." Knuckles growled back.

"Ah, we’re awake." Knuckles’ right eye narrowed at the sound of the voice. Dimitri smiled at the youngster. "And how are we feeling?"

"Just peachy."

"I must say, you’ve looked better." He lifted Knuckles’ head with a single finger under his chin. The bruising around his left eye was already beginning to disappear. "Hmmm, you do have amazing recuperative abilities."

"Why are we keeping this little rodent alive anyway?" Moritori hissed.

"My dear grandson, he IS family."

"Our test have conclusively shown that there’s not enough shared DNA left to consider him related."

"Perhaps," Dimitri mused. He gripped both sides of Knuckles’ face firmly, causing him to wince at the pain it caused the swollen left side. "But he has so much power. So much untapped, misdirected potential." He looked over at his sullen descendent. "How can we possibly let it go to waste?"

"And just how do you plan on accessing this power?" Moritori queried. "He’ll never help us."

"Not willingly, no." He returned his attention to his apparently helpless captive. "We’ll just have to be…persuasive." He tightened his grip on the injured side of the echidna’s face.

Knuckles winced but met Dimitri’s eyes with a steady gaze. "We’ve been down that road before." He hissed. "I didn’t break then, what makes you think I’ll break now?"

"Yes," Dimitri nodded. "You are quite…stubborn. And I admit, I’ve made some mistakes in dealing with you. I’ve always thought of you as an enemy."

"Maybe that’s because we ARE enemies."

"We are ECHIDNAS." Dimitri said, an air of arrogance in his voice. "We are the greatest race this planet has ever known. And you. You have so much power, and so little imagination as to what to do with it. Together, we could rule this paltry orb, putting the fear into these puny creatures," he gestured at the Chaotix, "that are not worthy to be our equals. We should be allies, not enemies."

"In your dreams." Knuckles growled.

"Need some convincing, eh?" He glanced at the caged Chaotix. "Prepare them."

"What are you going to do to them?" Knuckles hissed. "It’s me you want."

"Oh, don’t worry," Dimitri sneered. "I’m just going to have some tests done, to ascertain which ones will be of use to me. It won’t hurt them. Well, not if they co-operate."

~~~~~

Kommisar slinked into the holding cell. For the moment, the Guardian was alone, his companions having been taken away to determine their usefulness. He’d ranted and raved for a while when his friends had been removed, struggling against his bonds, which only damaged his already injured wrists even more so. Eventually, he’d worn himself out. Kommisar had been surprised. She hadn’t known he’d known such language. She already believed that the armadillo and chameleon would be the only ones to pass the testing. Their strength and stealth abilities had potential.

Knuckles appeared to be sleeping. She studied him appreciatively as she silently circled him. He was a little on the thin side, but he was young, he’d fill out. The size of his hands and feet, the broadness of his shoulders, indicated he still had quite some growing to do.

She was beginning to see just what Julie-Su saw in him. He was strong, intelligent, if somewhat impulsive, noble to the point of foolishness, and by echidna standards, he was extremely attractive, that is, when he wasn’t all bruised, burnt and swollen. Normally, he had a pleasing combination of brooding good looks with just a hint of boyish innocence.

And then, of course, there were his eyes. Those large, expressive, deep violet, almond shaped eyes.

She ran a finger across his shoulders. Her whispering touch was enough to wake him up.

"Well, hello." She purred.

"What do you want?" He growled.

She didn’t answer. She just smiled. A smile that indicated just what she did want. Knuckles’ eyes widened. She coiled her arm around his shoulder, laying her head on his chest. He moved as far away as the shackles would allow, a look of disgust on his face.

"What’s the matter?" She teased. "I thought you liked…kissing…cousins."

"Your grandpa already said there wasn’t enough DNA left to connect us."

"Well, that’s a good thing isn’t it?" She snuggled closer. He turned his head away. Undeterred, she rubbed her cheek against his. She began to run her fingernails gently up and down his sides. Knuckles gritted his teeth. Strange as it may seem to think it, he actually preferred Xenin’s ministrations.

"Kommisar," a voice growled softly from the doorway. "What exactly are you doing?" Moritori stood glowering at her, arms folded across his chest.

"You told me to play nice." She purred at her grandfather.

He grabbed her wrist and pulled her away. Knuckles obvious expression of relief was not lost on him. "This is NOT what I had in mind. Besides, he’s clearly not interested. Not to mention the fact that he’s half your age."

"I’d rather snuggle with a taipan." Knuckles growled.

"That can be arranged!" Kommisar spat.

"You know Dimitri wants him alive." Moritori hissed at her. She threw her grandfather a vicious look, then turned on her heel and stormed out.

"Sleep well, Guardian." Moritori sneered as he followed her.

"And I thought my side of the family had problems."

Knuckles sighed heavily. He ached all over. He was worried about his friends. They’d been gone for hours now, and he hated to think what kind of ‘tests’ the Legion were performing on them. And he was hungry. They said they wanted him alive, but they obviously weren’t too picky about what kind of condition he was in. He had just about drifted off to sleep again when a Legionnaire cautiously entered the room.

The black robe made it impossible to make out anything about his visitor. Age, gender, colour, purpose, all were a mystery to him. Convinced they were alone, the Legionnaire walked straight up to him, studying him silently. Knuckles stared back with a defiant expression. The Legionnaire chuckled.

"So you’re Knuckles." The voice was low, husky, but obviously female.

"Yeah," he confirmed. "And who the heck are you."

"That’s not important." She said. She pulled a needle from the depths of her robes. Knuckles’ eyes widened, his body tensed. "Oh, relax." She said. "It’s just some nutrients and pain-killers." She swabbed one of the least damaged parts of his arm and expertly administered the shot. "You look like you could use it."

He winced at the slight jolt of pain from the needle, but it seemed she was true to her word. He did feel better.

"Why are you doing this?"

"Let’s just say we have a mutual friend." She sighed. "She means a lot to me. And for some reason, you mean a lot to her. I figure, the least I can do is keep you alive." She leaned closer, her dark hazel eyes flashing. "I’m only doing it for her. Is that clear?"

"Perfectly." He said. She turned and headed for the door. "Wait." He called after her. She paused, turning her head slightly back towards him. "What about the others?"

"Are you nuts?" She hissed. "I’m risking enough just TALKING to you."

"But, they’re her friends too." He protested. ‘Well, maybe not Vector.’ He thought.

She looked at his hope-filled eyes. "Oh," she groaned. "Stop with the eyes already. I’ll see what I can do."

"Thank you." He said softly as she stalked out of the room.

~~~~~

The Chaotix sat glumly in their cages. As Dimitri had said, the tests hadn’t been painful, but they hadn’t been exactly dignified either. Knuckles was either asleep or unconscious again, hanging limply from his shackles.

Dimitri entered the room grandly, flanked by Moritori and Xenin. Kommisar followed with several Legionnaire technicians. With a gesture from their leader, the technicians approached Mighty’s and Espio’s cages. He noticed the slumbering echidna and nodded to Xenin. The cyborg flicked Knuckles’ nose with a metal finger. Knuckles awoke with a start, dearly wishing he could rub his pain-filled nose.

"Wakey, wakey." Kommisar purred. He just glared at her. "Ooooh, if looks could kill…"

"Enough, Kommisar." Dimitri said softly. "Are they prepared?"

"Yes, my Lord." The head technician responded with a respectful bow. Mighty and Espio had been removed from their cages. Thick shackles, not unlike the ones that held Knuckles in place, bound their wrists and ankles.

"Continue." Dimitri smiled.

Three technicians each produced a high-tech collar. Two approached the shackled pair, the third moved towards Knuckles.

"There a marvel of modern design." Dimitri explained. "They re-route the electronic impulses in the brain, effectively short circuiting your free will. With these in place, you’ll do what ever we tell you to. And they’re so much less messy than the CPD chips."

Mighty and Espio began struggling against their bonds, but Knuckles just continued to glare at his tormentors. The collars were fixed around the trio’s necks.

"Activate." Dimitri smiled, meeting Knuckles’ hate-filled eyes.

The collars hummed to life. Electricity arched around their faces. Ray buried his face in his paws while Vector spat at his captors. The eyes of the armadillo and chameleon became glassy and vacant as the energy surge abated. Knuckles, however, continued to hiss and writhe as fingers of blue light continued to stab at him. Dimitri frowned.

"It’s overloading!" One of the technicians cried.

The collar around the echidna’s neck was glowing white hot. Knuckles was in obvious pain, but refused to cry out. Kommisar smiled at his discomfort. "Come now, Knuckles," she purred. "I bet you have a lovely scream."

Tiny fissures appeared in the collar’s surface.

"It’s gonna blow!" The technician yelled as he ducked for cover. Without a second thought, the others followed his example as fragments of their technical marvel showered the room.

Dimitri rose slowly, approaching his brother’s descendent with an equally measured stride. Knuckles’ breath was wheezing through his clenched teeth. His pain was etched into his face. His neck, chest and lower jaw were badly scorched. "What happened?" Dimitri demanded.

Moritori checked the readouts. "He’s still giving off too much ambient energy. His own natural defences just shorted it out. I doubt we’d have any success if we were to try again. His bio-chemistry just won’t allow it."

Dimitri cupped Knuckles’ chin and looked into his pain-filled, but defiant eyes. He smiled smugly through his pain.

"You think you’ve beaten me?" Dimitri sneered. "My dear boy, there is more than one way to skin the preverbal cat. In the meantime," he turned to Xenin, "wipe that smug smile of his face."

A wicked smile curled around the cyborg’s face. He slammed one fist into the other. "With pleasure."

Knuckles glared at Dimitri as Xenin approached him. "You always were a lousy loser."

~~~~~

Knuckles groaned and painfully raised his head as the world returned to him, again.

"You can’t take much more of this." Vector said softly.

Knuckles rolled his head towards his friend. The crocodile’s large dark eyes were full of concern. In the cage beside him, Ray was whimpering in a fitful sleep. The squirrel had curled up into a tight ball, wrapping his thick brushy tail around himself as soon as Xenin had begun. He hadn’t wanted to see anything, and was strangely thankful that Knuckles had barely made a sound, much to Kommisar’s disappointment.

"I’ll take whatever they dish out." He replied.

"Until they beat you to death!" Vector growled.

Knuckles wearily shook his head. "Won’t happen," he said, "they want me alive."

"Just to torment."

"No," Knuckles looked at Vector. The crocodile was shocked to see genuine fear in the echidna’s eyes. "They want me on their side. And I get the feeling Dimitri has a way to pull it off."

"No way, dude." Vector objected with a smile. "You may be a short-tempered, hard-headed, butt-kicking, anti-social misfit with poor taste in females, but there is no way you’d betray ANYBODY."

Knuckles threw his friend a sour look. "Complemented and insulted in the same breath." He sighed. ‘I hope she’s still with the Freedom Fighters,’ he thought. ‘There’s no telling what these creeps’d do to her if they got their hands on her.’

Knuckles’ thoughts were interrupted by the return of Dimitri, with Moritori, Kommisar, Xenin and a hooded figure in tow.

"As I said," Dimitri smiled, "there is more than one way to skin a cat." He gestured for the hooded figure to step forward. "May I introduce…"

"Mathias Poe." Knuckles finished as the raven flipped back his hood.

"Oh, that’s right. You two have met."

The raven fixed his blood red eyes on the echidna. "I have been waiting for this moment, little one." He sneered. "Even studying for it."

"You have the spell I require?" Dimitri asked.

"Spell?" Vector echoed. He looked at Knuckles. The echidna was looking decidedly uneasy. Ray, awoken by the arrival of their tormentors, looked at Knuckles with wide fearful eyes.

"Yes…" the raven admitted. "But I would not recommend its use. It can result in unexpected behaviour."

"It WILL do what I wish?"

"Yes…" the raven confirmed. "But you might not be able to control him."

"I don’t want to control him. I do believe he will be a greater asset with his free will intact."

Knuckles tried to keep his expression stoic as he watched the raven go about his preparations. He mixed several vials of pungent smelling herbs and who knew what else. He dipped a finger in a pot of reddish goo and proceeded to draw a series of ancient runes on the floor around Knuckles as Dimitri and his cronies watched on dispassionately. He continued up the walls with more of the swirly characters, murmuring to himself as he did so. He chewed on the end of a tortured twig before dipping it in a vibrant green ooze. He approached the echidna, the twig held before him, dripping with the green muck. Knuckles backed away as far as the shackles would allow. Dimitri nodded curtly to Xenin, who circled the echidna, taking a firm grip on either side of his face in an effort to keep him still.

Knuckles knew little about magic, but he knew that whatever Dimitri had in mind couldn’t be good. Xenin tightened his grip. Mathias Poe delicately drew the goop across Knuckles’ forehead. Though he couldn’t see, Knuckles could feel the intricate design of the rune the sorcerer was painting. Knuckles wrinkled his nose, the stuff was cold and smelt peculiar. The raven lay his ear to Knuckles’ chest, listening intently. He placed a feather-like digit on a spot just left of centre and painted a second symbol.

He drew back, looking at the cyborg. "I could use your help." He said.

Xenin looked to Dimitri, who merely nodded his consent. "What do you need?"

"The final rune needs to go at the base of his skull," Poe explained, "if you could just hold his spines out of the way…?" Xenin took a firm grip on Knuckles’ long red dreadlocks and twisted them painfully out of the way. Knuckles winced and shot the cyborg a vicious glance.

"Thank you so much." Poe pushed Knuckles’ head forward, holding him still while he painted his third and final rune. He looked at Dimitri. "He’s ready," he announced. "But, I must warn you, again…"

Dimitri dismissed the raven’s caution with a wave of his hand. "Proceed." He said simply.

"As you wish."

Poe arranged himself delicately inside an intricate pattern he’d painted on the floor before Knuckles. He lit several candles and proceeded to chant in an ancient language. Nothing appeared to be happening until Knuckles threw back his head, his breath escaping in a painful hiss through his clenched teeth. His eyes were wide and glassy. The one rune he could see had begun to glow eerily, he assumed the other two were doing likewise. An intense pain, originating from each rune, began to radiate through his body. His muscles tensed. He gasped for breath. He noticed Kommisar’s wicked grin at his obvious discomfort. The hateful female had wanted him to scream, and despite the growing agony he was feeling, he was determined not to give her that pleasure.

"Does it usually take this long?" Dimitri asked, frowning. He had no qualms about causing the young Guardian pain, but he didn’t want Knuckles to die. He had plans for his brother’s powerful descendent.

"Impressive," Poe whispered in awe. "He’s actually fighting it. No one has ever managed to fight it before. His will must be incredible."

"Yes, I’m sure," Dimitri mumbled. "Just get him under!"

Poe began to chant again, louder, more aggressively. He began to circle Knuckles in an ever-tightening spiral. The runes painted on the floor and walls began to glow. An eerie mist began to envelop Knuckles in a shimmering embrace. The echidna’s eyes were squeezed shut, his entire body shuddering in his effort to fight what was happening to him. As his muscles knotted, the spines on Knuckles’ back flared out defensively.

In his cage, Vector gasped. He hadn’t been aware of the tiny needle-like quills on his friend’s back. He thought echidnas only possessed the long ropy spines on their heads.

Poe had apparently also been unaware of the echidna’s defensive mechanism. The raven screamed as several of the smaller spines stabbed into his face. In his pain, he spat out his chant angrily. Knuckles’ entire body went into convulsions. Ray began to whimper in sympathy. Vector winced. Even Moritori, Kommisar and Xenin appeared sympathetic to Knuckles’ agony. Only Dimitri smiled.

His head was lowered, his breathing a series of short, painful gasps. With his blurred, peripheral vision, he caught a glimpse of one of his long spines. He frowned at the apparent greenish tint to his bright red colouring. But he had no time to reflect on the strange taint, as an agonising pain, the likes of which he had never known, tore through his entire being. It felt like his veins were on fire as every pain synapse was trigged at once. He threw back his head, and this time, he did scream. A gut-wrenching, soul-searing howl of indescribable agony from the very depths of his being.

With an adrenaline-fuelled strength, he tore the shackles from the ceiling, slumping silently to the floor. The only sound was Ray’s soft, sympathetic sobs. "W-w-why are h-his spines t-t-turning green?" He whispered to Vector.

The crocodile looked at his unconscious friend, frowning as he too noticed the greenish tinge. "I don’t know." He admitted.

Dimitri walked over and gently nudged Knuckles’ unmoving form with his foot.

"Well?" He demanded of Mathias Poe. "Did it work?"

The raven was holding his face, blood still weeping through his feather-like fingers. He studied Knuckles, noticing the emerald tint that now covered his entire body. He lifted one rope-like spine. "See this?" He indicated the dark green tip. "It’s proof of the spell. His body’s colouring is tainted with its opposite colour. His entire being is opposite to what it was."

"So it worked?" Moritori asked.

"Yes."

"Excellent." Dimitri beamed. "Xenin, remove him. We must clean him up and prepare him to be welcomed to the Legion."

"Yes, my Lord." Xenin gently scooped up the unconscious Knuckles and carried him reverently towards the door. Moritori began whispering something to Dimitri, gesturing towards the injured raven, who was still attempting to staunch the flow of blood from his face.

Kommisar smiled, running a finger up Knuckles’ arm as Xenin passed her.

"I knew he’d have a lovely scream."