Redemption

Julie-Su pulled her hood a little tighter about her face. She knew she was risking a lot walking into the lion's den like this. But if they were to have any chance in defeating Dimitri, they needed their captured friends back.

She hadn’t told the others of her plans, she knew they’d try to talk her out of it. It had been easy enough to...borrow...Charmy’s royal transport, but locating the Dark Legion had been a much trickier undertaking, even with a craft the size of this behemoth. Had she been aware of their new stealth technology she may have understood just how lucky she was that the Legion was feeling a little smug after their recent defeat of the Mysterious Cat Country cats, and hadn’t bothered to engage it. Then she had to locate a small patrol, which hadn’t been too difficult, and wait for one of its members to straggle just a little...take him out, and take his place.

She knew she was the only one who had a chance of pulling this off. She was the only one who knew Dark Legion protocols. She was the only one who could infiltrate this enemy. After all, she had been one of them.

She tried not to think about the fact that he was here somewhere, helping Dimitri with his plans. She was glad she hadn’t seen him, seen what they’d done to him. In the back of her mind she thought of what Amy Rose had said about the spell and how it could be broken with a simple kiss. The little pink hedgehog was adamant in her belief that Julie-Su could bring Knuckles back from the darkness he’d been hurled into. ’Yeah, right.’ She thought. ’That kid’s read too many story books.’

~~~~~

High above, on an observation platform, Knuckles was leaning over the railing. His pale amber eyes narrowed as he tried to focus on something on the landing deck below. A wicked smile curled around his mouth. Kommisar raised a brow at his expression.

"Something up, cuz?" She asked walking up and placing a hand on his shoulder. She peered over the edge, trying to pick out whatever it was he was so interested in. She was hoping for a little excitement. Things had been rather boring since they’d defeated the cats.

"No." He said simply, in that flat, emotionless tone he often adopted in her presence, shrugging her hand off his shoulder. Even with his soul twisted inside out, it was obvious that he still didn’t like her. She snorted and walked away.

"You know," she said. "We are on the same side now..." She turned back towards him just in time to see him toss himself over the railing. She ran to the edge, watching as he dropped gracefully to the platform several dozen meters below.

The billowing cloak gave him a menacing appearance as he landed almost soundlessly. Several Legionnaires dropped to their knees in a compliant position. He just smiled as he walked past. They remained on their knees long after he’d gone.

"You know," one whispered. "I think I liked it better when he was an enemy."

"I know what you mean," his companion answered. "With all the things he can do...he gives me the creeps."

Even though he was a far more lenient leader, he gave them extra rations and free-time to celebrate their victories, they still had many reasons to fear him. He had powers and abilities even the great Dimitri couldn’t comprehend. And many feared he had his own agenda as well. He was menacing, unpredictable and dangerous.

~~~~~

Julie-Su had managed to lose herself in the vast complex. But Dark Legion installations were all built to the same basic design. Away from prying eyes, she silently made her way towards the laboratories. She believed Dimitri would want to know as much as he could about his captives, especially the hedgehog. Sonic’s abilities were not as diverse as Knuckles’, but were equally as impressive. She knew he’d want to know what made him tick at least.

She entered the lab cautiously. It was empty, save for the two beings slumped in observation cages at the far end of the room. She realised immediately that neither one was Sonic. One was green, the other yellow. She knew who they were. And it was obvious they hadn’t been well treated.

She looked down at what she was wearing. She knew her Dark Legion garb was likely to have an adverse effect on them. She carefully examined the room. Finding no evidence of surveillance equipment, she removed the robe, draping it across the back of a nearby chair before approaching the cages.

"Vector?" She said softly to the large green lump, languishing in the bottom of his cage. The crocodile’s eyes rolled open, widening as he realised who he was looking at.

"What in blazes are you doing here?" He demanded.

"Keep it down!" She hissed at him.

Ray struggled upright, gripping the bars to steady himself. "Ju-Ju-Julie-Su."

"I’ve got to get you out of here." She said as she began to search for the keys. "Where are the others?"

"They put some kind of funky collars on Mighty and Espio," Vector said, remembering to keep his voice low. He looked at her with pained eyes. "And you don’t want to know what they did to Knuckles."

"I sort of know what they did to Knuckles," she said, unable to meet his eyes. "But have you seen any of the Freedom Fighters?"

"They’re here too?"

"Sonic, Sally, Rotor and Bunnie." She said. "They only took the ones they considered ‘useful’."

"Yeah," Vector spat. "That's why they left us here to rot. They didn’t think we were of any use to them."

Julie-Su sighed. "They used Knuckles, Mighty and Espio to catch the others."

"That’s how you knew what had happened to them."

"I didn’t actually see them," she said. "Tails told me." She frowned.

"Wh-What is it?" Ray asked, noticing her expression.

"There’s some kind of connection between Knuckles, Sonic and Tails." She mused.

"Yeah, you’re right." Vector nodded. "They can all do that super-hyper-turbo thing."

"Why didn’t they take Tails as well?"

"Maybe they don’t know about it?" Vector suggested.

"Maybe," she shrugged. "We’ll worry about it later. For now, let’s get you out of those cages."

"Freeing prisoners? That’s hardly proper Legionnaire etiquette."

Julie-Su’s eyes widened at the sound of the voice. So familiar and yet so alien. She put a hand to her chest as she felt the instinctive flutter of the Soultouch. Vector swore under his breath. She had prayed to the Walkers that she wouldn’t run into him. She knew she’d be helpless against him. ’Remain calm.’ She told herself as she slowly turned towards him.

He didn’t look all that different she thought at first. He looked exactly as she imagined he would if he’d been raised in the Dark Legion. His garb of black leather and gleaming silver armour did little to discredit the impression. There was an air of arrogance about him that left his usually smugness way behind. There was a barely discernible greenish tint to his fur and spines. And his eyes. Pale amber, and as hard and cold as the stone they resembled.

"You didn’t honestly believe you could mask your presence from ME did you?" His voice was as chilling as everything else about him. "After all, we do share a rather SPECIAL bond."

"What do you think brought me here?" She asked, a wicked smile curling around her beaked face. She could almost feel Vector’s jaw drop as she began to slink towards her tainted love. Knuckles’ only reaction was an almost imperceivable raising of an eyebrow. "YOU’RE the only reason I left the Legion in the first place." She purred at him. "Now I can have both." She looked deeply into his eyes. "And I must say, you look HOT in that outfit!" She ran her hands slowly up his arms to his shoulders. "Skin tight black leather. Razor sharp armour. You just look so...dangerous."

"Really?" A wicked smirk formed on his face.

"Uh-huh."

"And why should I believe you?"

"Believe this." She whispered. Sliding her hands around his neck she pulled him into a deep, passionate kiss. His eyes widened momentarily with surprise, but his arms soon curled around her, pulling her closer to him.

"Oh, m-m-my goodness," Ray whispered, turning away with flushed cheeks.

Vector shook his head in disbelief. "I KNEW she was no good." He muttered.

He raised a brow at the intensity of the pair. He knew they had feelings for each other, and he had, grudgingly, eventually accepted it, but he hadn’t realised those feelings were that strong. And as Julie-Su melted into Knuckles’ embrace it was obvious that the spell had done nothing to alter his feelings for her. In fact, it seemed to have given him a greater ability to express them.

"Man," he said softly. "Are those two gonna come up for air?" He frowned. It may have been a trick of the light, but Vector was sure Knuckles’ fur was changing colour. "Ray? Is it just me, or is he gettin’...redder?" He whispered to his caged companion.

Somewhere deep inside her mind, Julie-Su frowned. It had been her intention to get close to him, to distract him long enough to get her gun from its place in her boot and gas him long enough to make their escape. But Knuckles had never been this open, this passionate, this skilled, before. And as she felt the warmth of his body, the touch of his hands, the surprising tenderness of his kiss, she lost all interest in harming him. A part of her was actually revelling in the way the spell had released him of his inhibitions.

But when his hand slid rather suggestively down her side, coming to rest on her hip, she realised that Merlin had been right. The spell had turned his pure, gentle feelings for her into something altogether unwholesome. She whimpered slightly as she felt his talons dig gently into the small of her back. His armoured chest-plate felt suddenly very cold against her. She slowly began to disentangle her hand from his spines and lower it towards her boot...

Then he tore himself away from her with a loud gasp. His eyes were wide, confused, as he pushed her savagely away. He doubled over, his hand slapping loudly against the wall, his breath hissing through his clenched teeth. He twisted, slamming his back against the wall. He tossed his head back as he tried desperately to fill his lungs with much needed air. His talons dug great trenches in the wall as he began to slowly slide down towards the floor.

They all winced at the high-pitched screeching sound his talons made as they scraped the gleaming surface. "It’s worse than fingernails down a blackboard." Vector mumbled as he slapped his hands over his ears.

Julie-Su could feel the tears burn her eyes as she stared at Knuckles’ pain-filled face. His eyes were squeezed shut, his mouth open in a silent scream. She hated to see him in so much agony but she couldn’t seem to tear her eyes away.

He dropped onto his hands and knees, his back arched, still gasping for breath. His glassy eyes focused briefly on her before he collapsed, his cloak blanketing him like a shroud.

Her hand was over her mouth, her eyes wide with horror. "What have I done?" She whispered. She had hoped, even though her rational mind kept telling her it was crazy to do so, that Amy Rose had been right, that a kiss would break the spell. But now she feared she’d killed him. She reached out a trembling hand towards his unmoving form.

Before she could touch him, he let out a shuddering breath. He tried to raise himself from the floor, but his arms wouldn’t support him. She was by his side in an instant, helping him until he was sitting against the wall. She gently cupped his chin, but he flinched away from her touch. She cupped his face more firmly, turning him towards her. She smiled sadly at the sight of his pain-filled violet eyes.

"You’re back." She whispered.

"I was never gone." He said softly. "Just twisted." He let out a shuddering sob. "By the Walkers," he whispered, staring at his hands. "The things I did." He squeezed his eyes shut. "Jeez, I fried Robotnik without even thinking about it...And what I did to Sonic...And Sally..."

"Shh..." she soothed, stroking his long, now completely red spines. "It wasn’t you..."

"It sure looked like me..."

"You’re not to blame," she whispered, wrapping an arm around him.

Vector watched stoically from his cage. Any doubts he had about Julie-Su's devotion to his friend vanished as he watched her console the distraught echidna. She rubbed her cheek against the top of his head as he buried his face in her spines, her eyes full of nothing but concern and love. He mentally kicked himself before he spoke.

"I hate to break up this poignant moment," he said in a tone of voice that indicated he truly did. "But we REALLY need to get out of here."

Knuckles looked at him, his usual determination returning to his red-rimmed eyes. "You're right." He agreed, struggling to his feet. "All of us."

~~~~~

"Nobody knows the troubles I’ve seen," Sonic sang in a low, mellow, slightly off-key voice. He was hanging from his wrists against the wall. In that position, he couldn’t access his speed. "Nobody knows my sorrow."

"I don’t know what's worse," Sally sighed. "Being locked up by these sci-fi rejects or having to listen to his singing."

"Definitely the singing."

The stationed guards snapped to attention at the sound of the voice of Dimitri’s second-in-command. Sonic snarled at the sight of the black-clad echidna.

"What do you want, you back-stabbing, son of a..."

"Watch the language, hedgehog." Knuckles smiled. "After all, we are in the presence of royalty." He made an over-exaggerated mocking bow towards Sally, flicking his cloak about him for dramatic effect. He then reached through the bars and pulled Sonic close to him. "And I won’t have you talking about my mother like that." He released him, none-to-gently, and swept across the room.

"What DO you want?" Sally hissed at him, eyes narrowed.

"Sally, why so hostile?" He said in mock indignation. "I thought we were such good friends."

"The Knuckles who’s my friend is a decent, caring individual." She said. "I don’t know who you are."

He put a hand against his chest. "Ohhh...I’m SO hurt." He smirked and snapped his fingers. "As to why I’m here..." Two Legionnaires entered, dragging an apparently injured Vector between them. "It’s so much easier to keep all the vermin in one place."

The Legionnaires watched him, awaiting his orders. Sally frowned as he backed away towards a dark corner of the room. His eyes were searching the shadows. She gasped. ‘His eyes...’

She was distracted as she noticed his hand. He flicked down his index finger, the Legionnaires that had come with him watching intently. Then his middle finger joined it. One of the Legionnaires that held Vector tensed slightly. His ring finger dropped and he spun around, apparently grasping nothing. One of Vector’s escorts dropped to the ground as the other drove a boot heel into the midriff of one of the guards. As the second went to aid his fallen companion Vector lashed out with his tail, knocking his feet out from under him.

"We gotta get this door open." Vector called across the room as he and the Legionnaire secured the two guards.

"I’ve kind of got my hands full right now." Knuckles hissed back.

He turned slightly as if to prove he literally DID have his hands full. They were clamped firmly, but not tightly, around Espio’s neck. The chameleon thrashed about, lashing out with his long, sticky tongue, which Knuckles somehow manage to dodge. Where he failed with his tongue, he succeeded with his tail, coiling it tightly around the echidna’s neck.

"Jeez," Sonic mumbled. "We were bugged."

"Don’t ya mean ‘lizarded’?" Vector countered. He was about to go to Knuckles' aid when the echidna drew back a fist.

"This hurts me more than it hurts you," he said as he delivered a glancing blow to the side of Espio's head. The chameleon's head rolled as he was stunned by the blow. Knuckles slipped his fingers beneath the collar that encircled his friend's throat and quickly tore it free. Espio let out a startled shriek as energy sparked around his face. His tail relaxed, dropping from Knuckles' neck as the echidna set him gently on his feet.

"You okay?" He asked the woozy chameleon.

"I'll be fine once the guys with the jackhammers let up." He moaned as he massaged his temples.

"What on Mobius is going on?" Sally demanded.

"A good, old-fashioned jail break." Julie-Su said as she pulled the hood back from her head.

"It is the traitor..." one of the captive Legionnaires began.

Vector lowered his head, "Oh, will you shut up?!" He said, displaying his rather impressive set of teeth. The Legionnaire fainted. He chuckled. "I can see why you dumped these guys," he looked at Julie-Su. "They got no backbone."

She smiled, then turned to study the lock. It was a small rectangular device, with two light panels on the top. One red and one green. The red one was currently illuminated to indicate the lock was working, that entry was denied. Below the lights there was a small circular indent. She frowned. "Uh-oh."

"Uh-oh?" Sonic echoed her. "No." He shook his head. "No with the uh-oh."

"This is a new type of lock," she looked at Knuckles who was still across the room with Espio. "I don't know how to open it."

"And you will never figure it out, traitor." The still conscious Legionnaire sneered at her.

Knuckles stepped over him. He placed his thumb in the small indent. With a soft hum, the red light blinked out as the green light sprung to life. Vector grabbed the door and flung it open. Knuckles entered the cell as Julie-Su and Vector dragged the guards in after him. "Ray," he said to the other 'Legionnaire' who'd come with him, "could you see to Bunnie, please?"

"S-s-sure thing." The squirrel smiled. Reaching beneath his cloak he produced a small generator to recharge the rabbit's robotic parts.

Knuckles walked up to Sonic and thumbed the lock on his wrist shackles. Sonic dropped to the floor, rubbing the raw flesh. He frowned angrily at the echidna, and lunged forward, surprised when Knuckles caught the fist that had been aimed at his face.

"You can beat the tar out of me later, if it'll make you feel better." He said softly, almost threateningly, his dark violet eyes locked with Sonic's vibrant green ones. "But right now, we don't have the time." He turned his head and spoke over his shoulder. "How you doing there, Ray?" He released Sonic and crouched down beside the squirrel.

"A-almost there." He announced as he checked the power levels on the little generator.

Sally noticed the worried look on Julie-Su's face as she watched the male echidna. Knuckles' own expression was one of pain and regret. "Is he okay?" She whispered.

"I don't know," the pink echidna admitted.

~~~~~

The group moved silently through the bowels of the instillation. Knuckles paused at a large door, thumbing the lock as he had before. Cool fresh air rushed in to meet them. "This is your way out," he said with a grand sweep of his arms. The word 'your' was not lost on Julie-Su.

"Don't you mean 'our' way out?" She said.

"I said we were all getting out." He said. "I'm not leaving without Mighty."

"Are you nuts?" Espio spoke up. "He's Dimitri's personal bodyguard."

"And I'm Dimitri's second-in-command."

"He's going to take one look at those pretty violet eyes of yours and he'll know..." Sally began.

"I'll just have to make sure he doesn't see my eyes."

"Then I'll stay and help..." Julie-Su started.

"No," Knuckles said firmly, shaking his head. "If they find you here, they'll skin you alive."

"You can't do this alone." She protested.

"I won't." He turned to Espio.

"Me?"

"You and I are supposed to be here," Knuckles explained. "Besides, you're going in stealth mode. We'll get Mighty and meet you..."

"And how exactly do you propose to do that?" Sally asked.

"I have my ways." He said, glancing at Julie-Su. He put an arm around Espio's shoulders as he started to lead the chameleon away. "Now, Espio, think you can take out the power?"

"Piece of cake."

"Come on, let's go." Sally sighed.

"But..." Julie-Su protested.

"You know he can take care of himself."

Sonic stood silently, arms folded with a sour look on his face. Sally frowned.

"What?"

"'Pretty violet eyes?í"

"Well," she smiled. "They are." Sonic's lip curled in a snarl. "Why Sonic, I do believe you're jealous."

"Of rope-head? As if."

~~~~~

Knuckles moved quickly through the corridors. He was feeling extremely self-conscious. Sally was right. Though it was possible not to notice the change in his fur, one look at his eyes, and they'd know. Luckily, most of the Legion were too afraid of him to make eye contact.

He entered the control room with his usual confidant stride. He'd managed to fool the Freedom Fighters with his little 'I am so evil' act, and was quite sure he could pull it off again.

"Ah, Knuckles," he heard Dimitri's voice behind him.

He was close. Too close. If he turned around, his cover would be blown for sure. Dimitri slapped his metallic hand so hard onto Knuckles' shoulder, he winced, even with the added protection of the armour.

Dimitri spun him around, glaring into his face. A sneer formed as he took in the young echidna's countenance. "I don't know how you did it, boy..."

"What are you talking about?" He growled.

Dimitri slapped him hard across the face. "Don't play dumb with me, boy." He growled. "If you'd disposed of the guards, you might just have gotten away with it. But why stay? Why didn't you run off with the other vermin?" He glanced around. "Of course," he smiled as he spotted Mighty standing quietly until needed. "You couldn't leave one of your own behind. How noble. How pathetic." He sneered. "Well, if you want him..."

He hurled Knuckles across the room. He impacted painfully with the wall. "Armadillo! My body needs guarding!"

"Oh, crud..." Knuckles whispered as Mighty charged him. He knew he could beat the armadillo, their strength was almost identical, and Knuckles had a few other tricks he could use. But he couldn't hurt his friend. Mighty, however, had no such reservations.

Knuckles rolled as Mighty slammed his fist into the floor beneath where Knuckles' face had been. Growling, he spun and approached menacingly. Knuckles glanced at the chronometer set into his gauntlet, and smiled. Mighty raised a brow at his opponent's unusual reaction.

Then the lights went out.

In the confusion, Knuckles leapt at Mighty, tearing the collar from his neck. Mighty let out a tiny squeak as his free will was suddenly restored. He moaned at the resulting headache. Strong hands grabbed him and dragged him into a sprint.

"What's going on?" He demanded as he was led through the darkness.

"We're getting out of here." He heard Knuckles' voice reply.

The emergency generators kicked in, flooding the room with light. Mighty instinctively covered his eyes from the sudden glare but it seemed to have no effect on his echidna companion as he continued their flight across the room. Then he heard Knuckles let out a strangled gulp as his friend was jerked away.

His vision cleared and he discovered why. Dimitri had grabbed Knuckles' cloak. Twisting it tightly about the echidna's throat, he was slowly choking the life out of him.

Mighty jumped up and kicked the cyborg echidna's elbow joint. The joint gave way, causing Dimitri to drop his prize. Mighty dragged the gagging Knuckles to his feet and resumed their headlong dash for freedom.

"Jeez, how long did you work on that plan?" Mighty asked as he slapped the door release. He rammed his fist into the control panel, shorting it out.

"About two minutes," Knuckles rasped. He leant against the wall with one hand, rubbing his throat with the other as he tried to catch his breath.

"Well, that won't hold him for long..." Mighty indicated the sparking control panel.

"Don't worry," Knuckles said with a cough. "He'll have ordered the Legion to shoot us on sight by now."

"You are just full of reassurance, Knux."

Knuckles pulled a grate from the wall, giving them access to the ventilation shafts. "We'll just have to take the alternate route." He crawled through the tiny opening, Mighty close behind, pulling the grate back in place behind him.

Knuckles flicked on his communicator. "Espio?" He said softly, as he began to crawl through the confining tunnel.

"Yeah?" Came the immediate, equally soft, response.

"We've run into a bit of trouble..."

"You're telling me. There's black robes' running amok down here. What did you do?"

"Dimitri was onto me."

"Those 'pretty violet eyes of yours' give you away, huh?"

"No, the guards did."

"Madre!"

"You know where to meet us."

"Right, see you there."

~~~~~

The trip through the ventilation system was cramped, musty and uncomfortably warm. Mighty began to grumble, but was quickly silenced by his rather sullen companion. The armadillo was beginning to wonder just what was up with his friend, and where he'd got his new outfit, when the square metal tube they were crawling through suddenly lurched with such ferocity it slammed them both hard against the wall. A deafening roar and a hot rush of wind buffeted them. Mighty winced and closed his eyes.

"What was that?" He queried when the noise abated.

"Bad news," Knuckles sighed. "We just took off."

"We did?" Mighty frowned.

"We are in an airship, Mighty." Knuckles pointed out.

"Oh," Mighty whispered. He hadn't really been aware of much of anything since Dimitri had slapped the collar on him. He rubbed his neck reflectively, remembering what it had been like to have no will or thoughts of his own.

"We'll figure something out." Knuckles sighed as he resumed crawling.

~~~~~

Mighty sighed with relief when Knuckles finally kicked out the grating and dropped to the floor of the corridor outside.

"About time..."

Knuckles slapped a hand over Mighty's mouth, his expression clearly stating, 'We're not out of the woods yet.' The echidna began to cautiously survey their surroundings, sniffing the air, his eyes darting. A smile curled around his face.

"Some day you're going to tell me how you do that." Espio whispered as he de-cloaked.

The trio walked in silence along the same corridor their friends had used to escape before. As they arrived at the door, Knuckles thumbed the lock to make their own escape.

Nothing happened.

"Try it again." Espio whispered.

Again, nothing happened.

"Ah, crud," Knuckles muttered. "They've cut me out of the system."

"Now what do we do?" Mighty asked.

"Improvise." Knuckles replied. "Think you can flex those impressive muscles of yours and open it?" He asked the armadillo.

Mighty ran his hand across the door. The seal was perfectly seamless "There's nowhere for me to get a grip on this thing. It's sealed tight."

Knuckles frowned as he studied the door. "Espio," he said absently, "go stand guard. Let us know if you see anything."

"You got it." The chameleon scuttled along the wall, vanishing as he did so.

"There is a seam here." Knuckles said, running a finger along the almost invisible crack in the door's surface. "I'll just have to pry it..." He dug his talons into the seam, but couldn't budge it. "Guess I'll have to use the big guns." He slammed his namesake into the door, wincing slightly at the resulting noise. The door responded, grudgingly. The crack widened to a gap. Mighty slipped his fingers into the new opening and flung the door open.

A phalanx of Dark Legionnaires faced them, weapons held at the ready.

"Madre!" Mighty shouted. He released the door, which slammed closed just as the Legionnaires opened fire. The impact of their weapons was a muffled echo in the corridor.

"Guess we're not getting out that way." Mighty looked at Knuckles.

"They were waiting for us." Knuckles said softly.

"Guess big, bad Uncle Dimitri doesn't want to lose his golden boy, eh?" Espio said as he de-cloaked beside them.

Knuckles gave him a sour look, then turned and headed back down the corridor. "Well, we're not getting out that way," he said as his companions caught up to him. "But there's more than one way out of this joint."

~~~~~

"Do you know where you're going?" Sally asked as Sonic led the way through the tangled undergrowth.

"Sure." He said, pointing in the direction they were headed. "That way."

Sally rolled her eyes and sighed. Beside her, Rotor shrugged. "It's as good a way as any." He told her. Charmy's transport had only just made it back to Knothole, its fuel source almost exhausted, as Julie-Su brought it in for a perfect landing. But the village had been deserted. Not a living soul was left. They had headed deeper into the forest, assuming the residents had gone into hiding.

"Anywhere's okay by me, so long as it's away from those awful echidnas." Bunnie said, glancing meekly at Julie-Su. "Present company excluded, of course, sugar."

If Julie-Su heard her, she made no comment. Her mind was elsewhere.

~~~~~

"What is this place." Mighty asked, gazing around at the massive equipment that filled the room from floor to ceiling.

"Pumping station." Knuckles explained. "It's where they get their water." He taped a large pipe with his foot. "Pumps in through here," he gestured around at the equipment, "and this stuff refines it."

"So how does this help us?" Espio asked.

"If the water can get in..." Knuckles began.

"There's gotta be a way out." Mighty finished.

"Let's hope so." Knuckles sighed. "Spread out...see what you can find."

~~~~~

Ray was lagging behind. He wasn't used to this much excitement, this much exercise. He wasn't a seasoned warrior like Sonic or Sally or Julie-Su. He didn't have enhancements like Bunnie. He lacked even the stamina of Rotor and Vector.

If he had had greater warrior skills, any warrior skills at all, he would have heard the rustle of leaves off to his right. He would have taken some action to defend himself before the dark blur burst from the safety of the trees and knocked him to the ground.

He couldn't catch his breath enough to scream as he stared at the sharp barb only millimetres from the tip of his nose. He gasped as beyond that he saw the icy blue eyes that bore into him.

"You better explain just who you are and what you're doing here," a cold, hard voice hissed in his ear, "if you know what's good for you."

"You had better leave my friend alone," a voice said from behind the stranger, "if YOU know what's good for YOU."

Ray looked up, relieved to see Julie-Su. His assailant however, was not at all pleased.

"We were wondering where you'd slunk off to." He growled as he released the startled squirrel. "Been reportin' in?"

"Geoffrey!" A familiar voice called out. "THAT was uncalled for!"

"Princess?" The skunk turned to the sound of the voice. "You escaped."

"No," she confirmed, glancing at Julie-Su with a grateful smile. "We were rescued. But we can discuss that later. Are the others close by?"

"Yes."

"Good. We could all use some food and medical attention."

"What about…HER." He said, gesturing towards Julie-Su threateningly with his wrist-mounted crossbow. "She’s already run out on us once."

"If it wasn’t for her," Sonic snarled grabbing the skunk’s wrist and pushing the loaded crossbow away from the echidna, "WE wouldn’t be here."

"That’s a slight exaggeration." Vector mumbled under his breath.

"Feeling a little left out?" Julie-Su teased him softly.

~~~~~

Knuckles was scratching at what looked like an access panel he’d found in the floor. He pulled the panel free. "This looks promising." He said softly. He peered through the hole in the floor and let out a soft whistle, smiling at the gentle breeze that cooled his face. The panel opened into nothingness. A few clouds were the only things that separated the deck from the ground far below.

"You find something?" Mighty asked, jumping down from an overhead catwalk.

"I think so."

Espio appeared out of nowhere and examined the proposed escape route. "You gotta be kidding me. That must be a hundred meter drop."

"I’d guess it’s closer to two." Knuckles mused. He looked up into the paling faces of his companions. He chuckled at their obvious trepidation about this plan. "Guys, I can fly, remember?"

"Yeah, but can you carry us both?" Mighty asked.

The door burst open and Legionnaires began to flood the room.

"Guess we’re about to find out." He replied as he pushed them through the opening before diving through it himself.

He went into a nosedive to catch up with them. He concentrated, attempting to grab them with his chaos-fuelled powers, but a laser blast sliced through the air, narrowly missing his hand. Reaching out he managed to snag a wrist of each, as laser fire erupted around them.

"Hang on guys," he had to yell to be heard. "This is going to be a bumpy ride."

The laser fire continued to rain down on them like red-hot hail.

"We got trouble!" Mighty announced at the sight of Legionnaire hoverdisks.

"Tell me something I don’t know." Knuckles growled as he twisted them into a tight barrel roll. By keeping his flight path erratic, he hoped the Legion wouldn’t be able to get an accurate lock on any of them.

Espio put his free hand over his mouth. "All this twisting is making me dizzy." He groaned. "I think I’m gonna hurl."

~~~~~

On the leading hoverdisk the Legion’s reason for being leaned forward in his seat.

"I don’t care about the other two." Dimitri hissed. "Just take out that blasted Guardian."

"Allow me, my Lord." Xenin said, raising an extremely lethal looking laser cannon. Focusing his cybernetic eye, he took careful aim.

~~~~~

"The ground’s coming up awfully fast, Knuckles." Mighty shouted, not even bothering to keep the fear out of his voice.

"Give me a break, Mighty." Knuckles hissed back. "It’s hard enough to manoeuvre with you two weighing me down. We’ll be fine once we reach the trees. Then we can…" Knuckles let out a pained yelp. If his companions hadn’t been clinging so tightly to his arms, he would have dropped them. As it was, their not entirely gentle decent changed to a plummet.

"Knuckles? What are you doing, man?" Espio demanded, his eyes wide with horror. He looked at his friend’s strangely peaceful face. "Oh, Madre, this can’t be good." He whispered. "Mighty, we got engine trouble!"

Mighty looked at him with equally terrified eyes. He pressed his fingers to the echidna’s throat. "He’s got a pulse."

"But he might not for long."

Mighty and Espio gazed at the forest canopy as its limbs seemed to reach for them.

"Oh, man," Mighty mumbled, "this is gonna hurt."

~~~~~

"Charms-man!" Vector cried happily. "What are you doin’ here?" He threw his arms around his friend. "We’ve missed you, bud."

"We heard about the trouble, so I came to see if we could help." The bee turned his attention to Julie-Su. "And just what were you thinking? Running off on your own like that? Stealing my ship?"

"Everything worked out, didn’t it?" She shot back.

"What about, Knuckles, Mighty and Espio?" His brows knit, worriedly, as he didn’t notice the trio amongst the returned creatures.

"They’ll be here." Vector assured him.

Antoine and Bunnie had hurled themselves into a tight, relieved embrace. Tails and Amy Rose had literally knocked Sonic off his feet.

"Where’s my family?" Sally asked, noticing they weren’t amongst the delighted well wishes.

"They’re in a safe place." Geoffrey assured her.

Julie-Su physically distanced herself from the others after her brief, and gentle, berating from Charmy. She watched the joyful reunions with a heavy heart. Vector sat down heavily beside her. Charmy hovered overhead for a moment, before settling on her other side. "The Freedom Fighters’ got a happy ending." The crocodile said softly with a deep sigh. "Just hope us Chaotix get the same thing."

She closed her eyes, trying to focus herself enough to feel the bond she shared with Knuckles. She sighed. He seemed to have no trouble at all making the connection. But all she ever got was a subtle hum, and that was only when he was almost beside her. ‘Maybe Archimedes can help.’ She thought.

Thinking of him made her think of the Brotherhood. Knuckles’ family had been trapped on the Island ever since Dimitri had launched his latest and boldest campaign. She wondered how they’d felt when they’d learned that Knuckles had been turned against them. ‘Do they even know?’ She thought.

~~~~~

Mighty coughed, spitting leaves from his mouth. He sat up shakily, wincing when he put his weight on his left arm. He examined the limb, only now noticing the slight odour of charred flesh and burnt fur. With his already black fur, it was difficult for him to locate the wound. Only by touching it did he find it. Then he remembered the others.

"Espio?" He called out. "Are you dead?"

"I feel like it." The chameleon answered. "I think my leg’s broke."

Mighty moved towards the sound of his friend’s voice. He was lying in the hollow between two exposed tree roots, his right leg twisted at a strange angle. "Where’s our travel agent?"

"Knuckles?" Mighty yelled. There was no answer. The two looked at each other, neither giving voice to their fears.

"Oi, what a week I’m having."

The voice was soft and came from above them. Knuckles was draped over a tree branch, half-way up the tree they were under. His dreadlocks obscured most of his face.

"You okay?" Mighty asked.

"You know what they say," he moaned as he hauled himself up onto the branch, "any landing you can walk away from…" he dug his spurs into the tree and climbed gingerly down to his companions. "Ah, my back." He tentatively touched the area of his back, which he could already tell was burnt by the heat it was giving off. He was slightly relieved to find the leather was still intact, it had probably saved him from a more severe injury. But he was the lucky one. He could already feel his body beginning to mend itself through the power of the Emerald. His friends couldn’t share in that.

"Let’s check you guys out."

He gently examined Espio’s leg. He winced in empathy for his friend. He looked at Mighty, who was obviously still mobile. "Can you find some branches or something? I’m gonna have to splint it."

"No problem."

Knuckles began to tear strips off his cloak to use for makeshift bandages. "At least this thing’s good for something."

Mighty returned with a handful of sticks and branches. Knuckles quickly and efficiently applied the first aid Espio needed.

"Where’d you learn how to do that?" He asked as the echidna finished tying off the last bandage.

"I have many hidden talents." He smiled. "Your turn Mighty."

After a quick examination Knuckles got up and disappeared into the woods.

"Where’s are you going?" Mighty called after him.

"Keep your sneakers on, I’ll be right back."

A few minutes later he returned with a few pieces of a strange looking plant that neither of the others recognised.

"What is that?" Mighty asked suspiciously as Knuckles broke a piece in half, revealing the strangely smelling pulpy innards.

"It’ll help with the burn." He explained. "It’ll hurt a bit more for a little while, but it’ll heal a lot quicker." He gently smeared the jelly-like substance on Mighty’s arm. The armadillo winced, both from the pain and the smell.

Knuckles tore another strip off his cloak and wrapped it around Mighty’s injured arm. The armadillo winced again. He knew the laser burn wasn’t bad, but it still hurt like nothing he’d ever felt before.

"Wish I had something to change in to." Knuckles said as he looked at his gauntleted forearms. "This outfit is just gonna scream ‘shoot me’ when we hook up with the others."

"Hey," Espio said, taking a pause from fiddling with the splint on his leg. "If it weren’t for you, we’d still be mindless drones, and the Mobians wouldn’t have their princess."

"If it weren’t for me," Knuckles lamented. "They wouldn’t have lost her in the first place."

"Will you stop blaming yourself?" Mighty said. "You may have helped them, but you weren’t exactly a willing accomplice. And Dimitri’s done a whole lot worse than you did."

"But Dimitri isn’t their friend."

"Your actions weren’t your own." Mighty continued with a reassuring smile. "They’ll forgive you."

"Maybe," Knuckles sighed. "But how do I forgive me?"

Espio slapped a hand on his shoulder. "Snap out of it." He demanded. "We gotta get moving. It’ll be dark soon. And at least some of them’ll be worried about us."

"They’ll all be worried about you two, but I’m sure they don’t give a fig about me…" Knuckles stopped at the stern look he got from both companions. "Okay, okay. I’ll stop being such a misery guts." He closed his eyes and focused his concentration on the Soultouch.

"This way." He announced as he moved off into the trees.

~~~~~

"You want something to eat?" Sally asked, offering some bread and cheese to the silent echidna.

"Something’s gone wrong," she said. "They should have been here by now."

"He’s probably all nice and cosy back in their compound." Geoffrey snorted.

The two females looked at him. "If he was still working with them, why would he let us go?" Sally asked.

"Maybe to follow you back to us." Geoffrey said. "Maybe to lull you into a false sense of security. Maybe so he can get us all together in one place so they can take us all out."

"If that were true, they’d have attacked by now." Sally retorted.

"I still say we can’t trust him." Geoffrey countered. "He betrayed us once, he can do it again."

"So that’s why my ears are burning."

They turned at the sound of the voice. Mighty was supporting Espio, whose leg was in a splint. The armadillo’s arm was bandaged with a piece of the echidna’s shredded cloak. Both Sally and Julie-Su brightened considerably at the sight of the trio.

Geoffrey’ s reaction however was not so welcoming. Without missing a beat, he raised his arm, took aim with his crossbow and fired. His aim was true, but the echidna was faster than he ever would have anticipated. Knuckles snatched the arrow from the air before it could find its mark.

"A little tense are we?" The echidna raised a brow. The skunk silently stared at him.

"Dudes!" Vector cried out warmly, breaking the tension. Arms wide, he swept the trio into an enormous bearhug, causing both Mighty and Espio to cry out as he accidentally aggravated their injures. "Sorry," he mumbled sheepishly. Charmy buzzed about their heads.

"Run into a bit of trouble, huh?" Sonic nudged Knuckles in the ribs.

"Nothing we couldn’t handle." He replied.

"Yeah, right." He jerked a thumb at Mighty and Espio. "They might say otherwise."

"What is with you people?" Geoffrey demanded. He pointed an accusing finger at Knuckles. "This…creep…almost wiped us all out, and now you’re all playing ‘happy families’?" Mighty and Espio exchanged a quick worried glance at the skunk’s accusations. "You’re all so willing to forgive and forget. How do we know he’s not planning something?"

"Geoffrey!" Sally snapped. "Knuckles is one of my oldest friends…"

Geoffrey turned to Sonic. "And what was your first impression of him?" He asked, knowing full well the hedgehog and echidna had not always been on the best of terms.

"We just got off on the wrong foot." Sonic defended his friend.

"He attacked you on sight!"

"He was just doing his job!"

"What kind of job is that?"

"His job is to protect the Island from any invasion."

"A hedgehog and a fox in a biplane is an invasion?" The skunk asked. "And if he’s this great protector, how come he didn’t protect the Island from its latest invaders?" He spun on the echidna, eyes narrowed. "I’ll tell you why! Because he’s one of them!"

Knuckles didn’t say a word. He couldn’t. He had perfect memory of what he’d done. It shamed him, but he couldn’t deny any of it. All he could do was try to make amends.

"See?" Geoffrey turned to the others. "He’s not even trying to deny it."

"You are way out of line, St John." Sonic growled at him.

"Am I?"

"ENOUGH!" Knuckles yelled. "I make no excuses for what I’ve done…"

"But you were under a spell…" Sally interjected.

"I’m still responsible for my actions, Sally." He countered. "I can’t change the things I did, but I can help set them right…"

"We can’t trust you." Geoffrey hissed.

"Can’t?" Knuckles asked. "Or won’t?" He glanced beyond the skunk, noticing the crowd the argument had formed. He could tell by the look on most of their faces, that the majority of them supported St John. The only ones he had in his court were the ones he called friends. The skunk noticed it too and smiled smugly at the echidna.

"Fine." He said softly, a hard glint in his eyes. "I’ve been a solo act before. I can do it again." He spun on his heel and, with his tattered cloak flaring around him, stalked off into the approaching night. Sonic and Sally exchanged a glance as Julie-Su pushed past to follow him.

"Tell me," Sonic said to the skunk. "Do you get on with ANYBODY?"

St John’s only reply was a sour look.

"We can’t just let him walk off like that." Someone in the crowd said.

"He’ll bring those horrid echidnas back." Another said.

"We won’t let him get away." Geoffrey announced. He made an effort to follow, but a simmering Vector, flanked by Mighty and Espio blocked his path. Charmy grew to his normal size and landed in front of his crocodile friend. After a silent exchange, Sonic and Sally joined them.

"You want the red man?" Vector said menacingly. "You’re gonna have to come through us."

"If that’s what it takes." St John raised himself up on his tiptoes to look the crocodile in the face.

Vector was not impressed. "You really are full of yourself, aren’t you?" He said. "And you really like kickin’ guys when they’re down."

"What are you babbling about?" The skunk demanded.

"He knows what he did," Espio said.

"And it’s tearing him apart." Mighty added.

"You think he wanted to betray his friends?" Vector asked. "You think they gave him a choice? You have no freakin’ idea what they put him through. You weren’t there."

"We were." Espio said softly.

"They had him chained up in the middle of the room, so they could get at him from all sides." Vector said. "And they liked to do that. They’d torment him every chance they got. They couldn’t break his spirit, so they tried breaking his body instead."

"They tried one of those fancy collars they used on us," Mighty glanced as Espio. "But something in his bio-chemistry shorted it out."

"After that," Vector took a deep breath. "They tried to beat him into submission. At least I think that’s why they did it. I dunno. Maybe they just liked to see his pain. Whatever the reason, under that leather, he’s hacked and slashed and sliced and diced and black and blue." He looked upwards, trying to regain his composure as he remembered what happened next.

"But the worst was yet to come," he said. "I dunno where they got the guy from, but he made my scales crawl. He was a crow, or a raven. I think they called him Mattie Poe, or something like that. Anyway, it seems he and Knux had some kind of history, because the look they gave each other…" He shook his head.

"Anyway, this guy gets out all this weird smelling stuff, and paints all these strange little symbols all over the place. On the floor, on the walls and finally on Knux himself. One here," he touched himself on the forehead, just between his eyes. "One here," he touched his chest, over his heart. "And another one around here." He touched the base of his skull.

"Then he started talking to old dumpster face, warnin’ him about what they were about to do, sayin’ they may not be able to control him, stuff like that. But dumpster face just waved him off and told him to get on with it."

Vector paused. He noticed he had everyone’s undivided attention, even Mighty and Espio’s. By the time the sorcerer had arrived, they’d already been locked into their collars, their memories were cloudy at best. He glanced at Ray, the only other witness present at Knuckles’ ordeal. He smiled sadly.

"He started to chant. I couldn’t understand the words. But all the symbols he’d painted started to glow, even the ones on Knux. And Knux started freakin’ out. Whatever the dude was doing was causing him some really intense pain.

"Dumpster face demanded to know what was going on, and the raven dude said that Knux was fighting it. He said he was impressed, that Knux must have a really major will to be able to fight it at all. But Dumpster face wanted results, he ordered the raven dude to up the wattage. So he starts chantin’ again, and the glow gets really, really bright. And Knux went into, like, convulsions. He started some major thrashin’ about. And all his spines flared out, and I don’t just mean those ropes on his head. He’s got these littler ones on his back, I didn’t know he had ‘em. Neither did raven dude, ‘cos he got speared by some. Serves the sucker right. I think he lost an eye or somethin’.

"Then the glow from the symbols became this sort of sparkly mist, and it started to wrap around Knux. It got really tight, pulling him into like a knot." He demonstrated by pulling all his limbs in close to his body at an awkward angle.

"And then he let out this agonised scream, it was like nothin’ I’d ever heard before, it was like…"

"H-h-his s-s-soul was being t-t-twisted inside o-o-out." Ray suggested as Vector struggled to find the words.

"Yeah," he agreed softly. "And he just pulled his shackles right out of the roof. Then he went totally limp and fell to the floor. Dumpster face demanded to know if it had worked, but raven dude was too busy tryin’ to stop his face from bleeding. And Ray said to me, ‘How come his spines are turning green.’ And I noticed he was right, the tips of Knux dreads were this deep green. I told Ray I had no idea, ‘cause I didn’t.

"Raven dude must have heard us, because he said that was a sign that the spell had worked, that Knux was now opposite to what he had been, because green is the opposite to red. I didn’t know colours had opposites."

"Artistically speaking," Sally interrupted. "They do. Red, blue and yellow are called primary colours, because you can’t mix them from other colours. Purple, green and orange are called secondary colours, because they’re each made from two of the primaries. Green is considered the opposite of red because it’s made from the other two primaries."

"Thank you, Miss Wizard." Sonic said.

"And yellow is the opposite of purple," she went on, "which would explain why his eyes changed from violet to amber when he was under the spell. And that’s why they changed back when it was broken."

"You know," Sonic looked at Vector, "you never did say how the spell got broken."

"I’m not sure how it did," Vector frowned.

"Julie-Su did it, didn’t she?" Amy Rose piped up. "With a kiss."

"Amy, that’s ridiculous," Sally began. Then she noticed the look between Vector and Ray. "It is ridiculous right?"

"Well," Vector scratched the top of his head. "She DID put this major ‘bad girl’ moves thing on him."

"And s-s-she d-d-did k-k-kiss him," Ray added, blushing slightly.

"True love conquers all." Amy Rose sighed.

Sonic chuckled. "I can’t wait to rub him about that one."

Geoffrey St John listened to Vector’s story intently. As much as he hated to admit it, it did corroborate what the female echidna had said earlier. He still didn’t want to profess a belief in magic, but it was becoming increasingly evident just how much the Guardian meant to these beings. He lowered his head and sighed. "All right, all right." He held up his hand to indicate his defeat. "I guess we better go find him."