The Darkest Shadow

They surveyed the tiny settlement in silence.

"This is it?" Xenin asked. "This is Knothole?"

"Yes." His commanding officer replied.

"This’ll be a piece of cake." Kommisar smiled wickedly.

"Never underestimate your opponent, Kommisar," the commander said softly. "I have seen these creatures in action. They have fought long and hard, and have lost much. This is their home. They will defend it to their last breath."

"Okay," she sighed. "So what’s our plan of attack?"

"Against our weaponry, most will prove as little more than target practice. The hedgehog and the cyborg rabbit will be the greatest physical threat. The princess is the tactician. And the walrus is their inventor, he must be kept away from his laboratory."

"So we take them out first?" Xenin queried.

"Yes," the commander confirmed. "The princess and the hedgehog are the prime objectives, the brains and soul of the group, so to speak. Take them out, and the rest will fall like a house of cards.

"We have the element of surprise on our side, and I do believe they will have difficulty in battling those they perceive as friends. Mighty," He turned towards the armadillo, his vacant eyes focused on his leader. "The rabbit is yours. Espio," the chameleon’s equally glassy eyes turned towards him, "see to the Princess. Kommisar, find the defector." Noticing the sadistic look on the echidna’s face, he added. "She is to be brought to me, unharmed." Kommisar’s face fell slightly. "I have plans for her."

"I just bet you do," Kommisar growled.

"Do you have a problem, Kommisar?"

"No," she hissed.

"Xenin..."

"May I have the hedgehog, sir?" The cyborg asked. "I will deliver him to you in tiny pieces."

The commander chuckled. "In your dreams, Xenin. You take care of the walrus." He smiled wickedly. "The hedgehog is mine."

~~~~~

An explosion shook the great forest.

"What was that?" Bunnie gasped.

"Seems old ‘Bot-butt is up to his old tricks." Sonic replied. "I’ll go check it out." He informed the group before vanishing as top speed.

Seconds later he stood by the lookout. "What’s going on?" he demanded, peering into the distance. His eyes widened at the shadowy, and obviously living beings that moved amongst the trees.

The lookout jumped in fright at the hedgehog’s sudden appearance. "I’m not sure," he admitted. He focused his battered telescope. "Looks like we got a bunch of gung-ho critters in black robes with really big guns and really big attitude."

Sonic was taken aback by the news. "This can’t be good," he muttered, before speeding back to his friends.

"It ain’t Robotnik." He reported. "We got trouble of the black robed, heavily armed persuasion."

"The Dark Legion?" Sally inquired.

"Yup," Sonic confirmed. "And they looked all ready for a major league assault."

"We better rally the troops," Sally said. "Julie-Su, we could use your help, you know these guys better than...we...do..." she trailed off as she saw the horrified look on the pink echidna’s face. She placed a comforting arm around her friend’s shoulders. "Hey," she soothed. "We won’t let them get to you..."

"It’s not that, Sally." She said. "Knothole was never their major objective." She looked at her friend with wide shinning eyes. "If they’re here...the Island has already fallen! That’s why Knuckles didn’t come. That’s why we couldn’t raise the Island."

Sonic chuckled. "Don’t sweat it, Jules. This won’t be the first time we pulled Knux’ butt out of the fire."

She turned on the hedgehog, her eyes flashing. "The Guardian was always the first objective. If they’ve taken the Island, he probably doesn’t have a butt left to save!"

"Let’s not go there until we know for sure." Sally said. "Tails, Amy." The two youngsters looked up. "I want you two to get Julie-Su to safety..."

"There is no way you’re keeping me out of this fight!" The echidna growled in protest.

"You’re too close to this one," Sally explained firmly. "Besides," she lowered her voice to a whisper, "you think he’d ever forgive me if I let anything happen to you?" Julie-Su lowered her head, sighing loudly. The princess returned her attention to the young fox and hedgehog. "Get her some place safe, and look after her until you get the all clear."

The pair each grabbed an arm, and dragged the echidna away. Julie-Su glanced back at Sally, the look in her eyes saying more than words ever could.

"You know," Sonic said. "We could have used her help. Tails’ too."

"Yes, we could have," Sally agreed. "But you saw how close to the edge she was...and she must have friends amongst the Legion...she could do as much harm as good."

"Do ya think she was right?" Bunnie asked. "Ya know, ‘bout Knuckles and the others?"

"I hope not."

~~~~~

"Come, my little pigeons," Xenin whispered. "Show me the colour of your hides." He watched with a grudging respect. They were quite well organised, for the bush leagues. He watched as they deployed their troops, as they built their fortifications, as they attempted to hold back the Legion, which swarmed over them like ants.

"Ah, there you are." He smirked as he finally spotted his objective. He dropped soundlessly from his vantage point, and made his way silently towards his large, lavender target.

~~~~~

"This is nuts!" Bunnie exclaimed as she threw a Dark Legionnaire from their hastily prepared defensive barrier.

"You do not ‘ave to tell me." Antoine agreed. "’Ow menny of these fiends are there?" He knocked back another.

"More’n Ah can count." She said. "Ah’m just hopin’ our Floatin’ Island friends are okay."

"Uh, Cherie?" Antoine whispered.

"What is it, sugar?"

"I thenk we ‘ave got the trouble."

"What is it?" She turned to face what Antoine was pointing at. "Oh, my stars." She whispered.

Mighty stood silently surveying them. At his feet were several unconscious Mobians. He held one, still softly whimpering, by the hair. He cocked his head to one side, and released the unfortunate Mobian, who scuttled away as quickly as he could manage. He approached them, an eerily mindless grin on his face.

"Mighty, sugar, are ya okay?" Bunnie asked, as she slowly backed away from the advancing armadillo. He didn’t answer. He reached out with one hand, clamping it firmly around the rabbit’s neck.

On seeing his love in peril, Antoine leapt at the silent armadillo. "Unhand her, you fiend!" He demanded.

Mighty’s glassy eyes flickered briefly towards the incoming threat. With his free hand, he simply swatted the coyote away. Antoine grunted painfully as he impacted with a tree, before falling with a dull thud to the ground.

"Antoine!" Bunnie screamed. She couldn’t tell if he was alive or dead. She returned her attention to the still silent armadillo. "Ya’ll pay fer that, ya low down son of a snake!" She growled.

Mighty just stared at her blankly.

~~~~~

Rotor ran as fast as his flippered feet would allow. Since his return, he’d been working on some new weaponry to use against Robotnik and his minions. Though they were designed to take out automatons, he was sure they would have an effect on the Dark Legions’ cybernetic parts. He didn’t really care for hurting living beings, but he wasn’t going to lie down without a fight, either.

He slammed open the door to his laboratory, and screeched to a halt.

Before him stood the most horrific looking echidna he’d ever seen. There was so little living matter left, at first, he’d thought it was a construct of some kind. It held in its claw one of Rotor’s newest weapons.

"Impressive," it said as it studied the new technology in its hand. "The commander was right about you. You DO have some useful abilities."

"Who, or what, are you?" Rotor demanded, his voice shaky. He knew what that weapon could do, and he wasn’t keen to be on the receiving end of it.

The cyborg focused its cold metallic eye on the walrus. "I am Xenin," it said. "It is a name you will remember." Xenin tightened his grip on Rotor’s invention, effortlessly crushing it to pieces.

~~~~~

Geoffrey St John grabbed Sally’s arm.

"C’mon, you Highness," he said. "Time to get you to safety."

She twisted away from his grasp. "I won’t leave my people to fight these..."

"Your father insists, Princess." He leaned closer, lowering his voice. There was a great deal of concern in his eyes. "Sally, we can’t beat these guys, they’re too well equipped. They make Robotnik look like an inspired tinkerer. And they seem to know our weaknesses."

"And how did they now where to find us?" She mused.

"I hate to say it," the skunk sighed, "but they probably got it out of your friends up there."

She thought for a moment of what Julie-Su had said. If they had taken the Island, they would have had to defeat Knuckles to do it. Could they have gotten information out of him? The echidna was tough, and fiercely loyal. She shuddered at the thought of just what they would have done to him to get him to talk.

"Princess!"

Two Mobians approached, carrying the limp form of Antoine between them.

"Oh my goodness," she covered her mouth at the sight of him. "Is he..."

"He’s got a fairly strong pulse," one of them, a grey squirrel, said, as they gently lay the unconscious coyote down. Sally knelt by her friend, eyes wide at the extent of his injuries. She gently touched the sodden hair at the back of his neck.

"Who did this?" She whispered.

"A guy at the site said it was an exceptionally strong armadillo," the squirrel explained. "He was actually after Bunnie, and Antoine went kinda nuts, and jumped the guy. But he just backhanded him into a tree."

"Mighty?" She whispered.

"What was that, Princess?" Geoffrey asked.

She looked up at the skunk. "If this was done," she indicated Antoine, "by who I think it was done by, we may be in bigger trouble than I thought."

"These black robed dweebs are crawling all over us, and you’re saying we’re in BIGGER trouble?"

"If I’m right," she rose slowly to her feet. "Somehow, these DWEEBS have turned our friends against us. They’ve already got Bunnie, we’ve got to warn the others. Look after Antoine." She said to the grey squirrel and his companion before stalking off, Geoffrey close behind. Nobody noticed the ripple of movement in the trees above their heads.

~~~~~

Bunnie let out a painful yelp as Mighty dropped her unceremoniously at the feet of a terrifying looking cyborg echidna.

"Excellent." He smiled wickedly, pointed the muzzle of a lethal looking weapon at her, and fired. She screamed as electricity arched painfully through her body, shorting out her bionic parts.

"Two down, three to go." The cyborg turned to the still silent armadillo. "Put her with her tubby friend." He ordered. Mighty obediently scooped her up and carried her the short distance to what appeared to be a cage, its bars made out of softly humming, high intensity lasers. The cyborg touched a nearby panel, and several bars blinked out. Mighty tossed the partially immobilised rabbit into the cage. She screamed as she rolled towards the opposite end of the cage, towards the mocking hum of the lasers.

Large lavender hands caught her. "Hey, Bunnie." Rotor sighed.

She looked up into the walrus’s bruised face. She tentatively touched his swollen jaw. "Oh, sugar..." she frowned sympathetically.

"It looks worse than it feels," Rotor smiled, wincing as he did so.

"Stand guard," the cyborg said to Mighty. "If they try anything, you know what to do."

"What in heaven do ya think they did to him?" Bunnie whispered to Rotor.

"I’m not sure," he admitted. "But I’m betting it’s got something to do with that delightful piece of jewellery he’s wearing." He indicated the hi-tech collar clamped around the armadillo’s neck. He sighed. "If they’ve got those things on all the Chaotix..."

"...the other’s could be in serious trouble." Bunnie finished.

~~~~~

From their hiding place, deep in the forest, Tails, Julie-Su and Amy Rose could hear the sounds of battle.

"We should be with them." Julie-Su growled as she paced back and forth. "So help me, if they’ve hurt..." She looked at her two young ‘guards’, and paused. Her feelings for Knuckles were not common knowledge, and she still wasn’t sure about them herself. She wasn’t completely comfortable in letting others know of what could be an exploitable weakness.

"You’re right." Tails agreed. "I gotta know what’s happening."

"But Sally said we were..." Amy Rose protested as the fox took to the air. "Boys!" She said with exasperation. "You can’t tell them anything." She looked at Julie-Su, who was sitting on a moss-covered rock. The little hedgehog frowned at the concerned look on the echidna’s face.

"You’re worried about him, aren’t you?"

"Worried about who?" Julie-Su asked absently.

"Knuckles."

She looked at the hedgehog’s almost mischievous face. ‘Am I really that obvious?’ She thought. ‘Or is this kid just a hopeless romantic?’ "I’m worried about them all." She said finally. "I know what the Dark Legion can do." She sighed.

"But you’re still more worried about him, aren’t you?"

"Will you please drop it?"

"When you admit it." Amy Rose teased.

"There’s nothing to admit."

"Well, there should be." Amy Rose folded her arms.

~~~~~

Sonic was speeding around the main battlefield, tearing weapons from Legionnaires hands, knocking them over and generally messing them up. As he reached the edge of the woods, he slowed down and turned back to survey the mayhem he’d caused. He was so absorbed in his handiwork he failed to see the arm he ran in to.

Held out straight, level with the hedgehog’s neck, the impact hurled him backwards several meters, right into the side of a tree. Sonic rubbed his head and his throat. "Knothole, we have a problem." He mumbled to himself.

"All too easy," a strangely familiar voice spoke softly. "I thought you’d present me with some kind of challenge."

Sonic gasped as a large hand clamped around his already throbbing throat. He was lifted easily from the ground by the single hand. The grip tightened, cutting off his air supply. He began to feel light-headed. With his fading vision, he focused on the one thing he could see.

The hand.

With strong fingers and claws that dug into his neck.

The red furred hand...

...with sharp spurs where two of the knuckles should be.

~~~~~

Sally was fighting to hold back her tears. Wounded Mobians lay everywhere. The battle was extremely one sided. Her people were already tired from their constant fight with Robotnik. And they couldn’t compete with the Dark Legion’s superior technology. Geoffrey was right. Taken by surprise like they were, they couldn’t beat this foe.

She sagged against a great tree, her head hung low. She tensed as she heard something. Suddenly, a hand clamped over her mouth, and she was hauled up into the trees. She struggled, and somehow managed to break free of her assailant’s hold. She dropped to the ground with a soft thud. A second thud marked the position of her assailant, but she couldn’t see him.

‘Espio.’ She thought.

She turned in a tight circle, her head tossing franticly left and right. She knew he could attack from any side. She heard a hiss from off to her right. A low, bestial reptilian hiss. He leapt at her, revealing himself as he did so in an effort to throw her off guard. Somehow, she managed to dodge his lunge, only to hear his tail crack like a whip and encircle her neck.

He pulled her to the ground. She stared at his vacant eyes. There didn’t appear to be the slightest hint of intelligence in them. ‘What have they done to you?’ She thought, all but weeping for her friend. ‘And have they done the same thing to Knuckles and the others?’

Hissing again, he twisted her arms behind her back as he pulled her to her feet. He forced her forward. His breath was hot in her ear.

~~~~~

Tails landed in the tallest branches of a redwood, sobbing as he surveyed the devastation below him. His jaw dropped as he saw Espio lead Sally towards a hideous looking echidna, more machine than flesh. He couldn’t believe the chameleon was helping the Dark Legion. He dropped down to ground level, hoping to hear what was going on.

~~~~~

Kommisar pouted as Sally was brought up to her.

"Four for four," Xenin smiled. "So where’s your little...objective."

"There’s no sign of the pink haired little rat." Kommisar hissed.

Sally sighed inwardly. ‘At least Julie-Su got away.’ She glanced at Espio behind her. He seemed to have relaxed a little, now that he was in the company of his ‘masters’. ‘It’s now or never.’ She thought. She took a step back, twisted out of the chameleon’s grasp, and threw him over her shoulder. He made no sound as he hit the ground. But she didn’t reflect on it, she just sprinted for the woods.

Then she noticed the cage.

Bunnie and Rotor sat silently. The rabbit was cradling something blue and unmoving in her arms. She froze in her tracks.

"Such compassion for others," she heard a voice behind her say. "It’s always been your strong point." A large hand clamped painfully around her wrist. "And your greatest weakness."

Her eyes widened, her jaw dropped, as she looked up at the dispassionate face of one of her truest friends.

"If you’d continued into the woods," he said, dragging her towards the cage. "You just might have made it."

"Knuckles?" She whispered, incredulously, her eyes brimming.

"Oh, please," he rolled his eyes. "You’re not going to start blubbering are you?"

She gaped at him. She couldn’t believe this was happening.

He was dressed in skin-tight black leather. Gleaming, silver armour, some of it razor sharp, covered his chest, shoulders and forearms. A flowing black cloak billowed behind him, held in place with a green oval crystal. The crystal shimmered with a strange, glittering light. Similar, smaller crystals were embedded in his gauntlets.

Her eyes were drawn to his hands. For the first time, in her presence at least, he wasn’t wearing his mittens. Each of his long fingers ended in a thick, sharp talon-like fingernail. And then there was his namesake. She’d never imagined that his spurs were so lethal looking. Each of the long sickle-shaped spurs appeared to be razor sharp, and ended with a gentle curve, producing a hook, ideal for tearing things to pieces.

She returned her attention to his face. He’d never been the most sensitive of creatures, but now, there was nothing soft or gentle about him. His expression was one of icy apathy, not the evil cruelty of the red female she’d seen earlier. He looked like he just didn’t care about anything...or anybody.

She noticed also the faint, healing cuts on his face, the slight discolouration around his left eye.

He met her glassy stare with cold, pale amber eyes. Sally frowned. ‘But his eyes are violet...’

She didn’t take her eyes from his as Xenin opened the cage, and he pushed her in. He released his grip and glanced off into the trees, frowning.

"Is something amiss?" The cyborg asked.

His amber eyes narrowed, a slight smile curled his mouth. "It’s nothing we have to worry about." He said.

"Sally...?" Rotor looked up at her with sad eyes. "What’s going on? What’s happened to them?"

Sally sat down, gently taking the unconscious Sonic from Bunnie. As she gently stroked his blue spines, she whispered. "I don’t know." She glanced at Knuckles, who was approaching Kommisar.

The red female echidna was not happy. "Burn it!" She demanded of the assembled troops. She threw her arms out to encompass Knothole and the Great Forest. "Burn it all!"

"Belay that." Knuckles hissed as the Legionnaires began to move to carry out their orders. They froze in their tracks, awaiting new orders. Knuckles turned to Kommisar. "Just who is in command of this little operation?"

"You are." She growled.

"There is no need to burn down the forest just because you’re ticked off that you didn’t meet your objective."

"But these miserable Mobians can hide in there!" She protested. "What do we need with trees anyway?"

"Oh, just a little thing called breathing." Knuckles growled. "You burn down all the trees and there’s nothing to make oxygen, and we ALL die. You saw how easily we defeated them, and we only have a fraction of our numbers here. Let them hide in there," he gestured towards the spot that had caught his interest before, "they are of no concern to us."

"And what of the traitress?" Xenin asked.

Sally watched the emotions flicker across Knuckles’ face. She was sure she saw concern, regret and, dare she think it, love?

"Forget about her." He said softly. "She means nothing."

~~~~~

Tails watched in horror as the Dark Legion began to move out, taking Sonic, Sally, Bunnie and Rotor with them. He had wanted to do something, but had been too afraid.

And Knuckles was in charge? The echidna had looked right at him. Those cold amber eyes seemed to scorch his soul. But he had let him go. Knuckles knew he was the Chosen One. He knew he had powers that could cause the Legion problems later.

So why had he let him go?

~~~~~

"I am going to kill that creep when I get out of here." Sonic growled. "You here me, ya red furred, rope headed son of a..."

"Sonic," Sally hissed at him. "Will you just calm down?"

"Sal, we were just betrayed..."

Sally shook her head. "He didn’t betray us."

"It sure looked like it from where I was..."

"They’ve done something to him," she sighed. "Mighty and Espio too."

"The creep’s just showing his true colours." Sonic snarled as he began to gently examine the wounds the echidna had inflicted during their brief struggle. He ran his finger along a particularly nasty slash on his neck. He shuddered. Knuckles could have easily torn his throat out if he’d chosen to do so.

"That’s just the point, Sonic." Sally countered. "Didn’t you notice there was something different about the way he looked?"

"Yeah," Sonic grumbled. "Never knew he was into the leather look." He smiled wickedly. "Though, Julie-Su might have appreciated it."

"I mean HIM, not what he was wearing."

"What are you getting at?"

"What colour are his eyes?" She asked.

"I dunno, Sal," Sonic scratched his head. "I’ve never really paid that much attention. They’re dark...brown, blue, I dunno."

"Julie-Su said they were violet." Bunnie interjected.

"Yes," Sally confirmed, "but today, they’re amber."

"Amber?" Sonic frowned. "As in reddish-yellow?"

"Yes."

"That’s kinda creepy."

"They were very creepy." Sally lowered her head. "How could his eyes change colour so drastically?"

"Contacts?" Sonic suggested.

"Why would he bother with contacts?" She protested.

"AND he was kinda green." Rotor said softly.

"What was that, big guy?" Sonic asked.

"He had this kinda greenish tint to him." Rotor explained. "It wasn’t very obvious. But the tips of his dreadlocks were really dark."

"I happen to think it’s a very attractive look," a voice purred. They looked at the leather-clad red female that had wanted to burn down the Great Forest. "So much more preferable to his usual boring moralistic self."

"What did you do to him?" Sally demanded.

"Nothing much," she smirked, "just a little torture, a little psychological teasing," she leaned closer, "You should have heard him scream."

"Enough, Kommisar." A voice said from behind her. The cyborg echidna walked up beside her. He studied the caged Freedom Fighters stoically. "He is one of us now."

"Where is Mr high-and-mighty anyway?" She asked.

"I’ve been preparing the troops."

Kommisar filched at the sound of his voice. He’d moved up so quietly. She hated to admit it, but she was actually beginning to prefer him as an enemy. He was starting to give her the creeps. And she hated how Dimitri had appointed him second-in-command. That had been her position before, when Kragok led the Legion. It should be hers now.

Sonic was studying him also, noting the changes Sally and Rotor had mentioned. He hadn’t gotten a good look at him before, he’d kept to the shadows. But now that he could see him, he realised just how different he was. And it wasn’t just the way he looked. The greenish tint Rotor had mentioned was barely visible. And the eyes, creepy as they were, could also be over looked. There was an air about him. Sonic wondered if he could sense it through their shared connection with the power rings and chaos emeralds. He couldn’t explain it. There was just something ‘off’ about him.

"So where are we headed?" Kommisar asked.

"You’re escorting the prisoners back to Dimitri," Knuckles began.

"Ooooh! Goody!" She smiled maliciously. "Play time."

Knuckles grabbed the front of her leather outfit and yanked her closer. "They are not to be deliberately harmed."

"You’re no fun." She huffed. "So where are YOU going?"

Knuckles glanced first at Xenin, then at the caged Freedom Fighters before returning his attention to the cold-hearted female. "We have an appointment with the GOOD doctor."