Secrets And Lies

“Where the heck is he?” Locke muttered as he switched cameras, his eyes darting from screen to screen.

“Don’t you think they deserve some privacy?” Archimedes asked with a raised brow.

“I just want to know that he’s all right.” Locke said, a hint of worry in his voice. “I mean, we just got him back, and then there was that whole Blade business…”

Archimedes chuckled. “What are you worried about? That he’s alone with his girlfriend?”

“Maybe Lara knows where they are…” Locke said absently, keying in the number of his ex-wife’s apartment. She answered quickly, smiling in a friendly manner. The pair had grown quite close during the time they thought they’d lost their son. Though the bond they now shared was no where near the same as the one they’d had, it was one of strong friendship, akin, Locke thought, to the one shared between Knuckles and Sally.

“Is something wrong?” She asked after some initial chitchat.

“Do you know where Knuckles is?”

“I thought he had the day off?” Lara-Le mused. “Did you need him for something?”

“No,” Locke assured her. “It’s just…we…I…don’t like him to be out of contact, and he didn’t tell us where he was going, what he was doing…”

“They went on a picnic.” Lara-Le smiled. “I helped him pack it…that boy has really got to start eating more than just fruit…”

“A picnic?” Locke frowned. “Any idea where?”

“Out of the city somewhere.” Lara-Le told him. “If you’re that desperate to find him why don’t you page him?”

“I don’t want him to know…uh…think…” Locke stumbled.

“That you’re checking up on him?” Lara-Le guessed.

“Well…”

“Don’t worry so much,” a mischievous twinkle came into her emerald eyes, “I’m sure Julie-Su won’t keep him out too late.”

~~~~~~

She had to admit, it was a lovely spot. The deep green shadows of the trees. The soft murmur of the tiny waterfall, spilling down the moss covered rock face. The heady aroma of wildflowers. The steep walls of the rocky cliffs that surrounded this little oasis of colour made the spot almost inaccessible for anybody that couldn’t fly or scale the almost vertical climb.

The view was equally spectacular. On the very edge of the Island as they were, they could watch as the entire planet rolled slowly by beneath them. Or lay back and watch the infinite expanse of the sky above.

Birds of just about every species sang from the trees in an endless symphony of chirps and whistles. Insects in the soft grass added their own voices to nature’s orchestra.

It was a perfect day, a perfect spot. But she wasn’t paying attention to any of it.

She was sitting in his lap, in her opinion the most perfect place in the entire universe to be sitting. He was leaning back against a tree, one large hand was curled around her, keeping her safe. She effectively had him trapped, but he didn’t seem to mind.

She gently stroked his face as she tasted the sweet nectar of the fruit he’d just eaten as she brushed his lips with a tender kiss. She had dreamed of moments like this, when she first realised just what those strange feeling she felt stirring within her whenever she saw him actually were. Just the two of them, together as young lovers should be. Not another soul around to spoil their solitude.

He was always exceedingly gentle when they were alone like this. His shyness and the fear that he could actually, accidentally, hurt her, kept him rather restrained. Though he wasn’t nearly as nervous now, he wasn’t even afraid to show his feelings for her in public, despite the reaction of some of the city’s residents. Some believed their relationship was inappropriate, others claimed it was downright offensive. But they were the same ones who believed that the restored, former Dark Legionnaires should never have been allowed to take up residence on the Island. The EST were watching this situation very closely, fearing an uprising on either side.

She pulled away from him for a moment in order to catch her breath. She smiled at the slight flush on his cheeks, brushing one with her gloved thumb.

“We really should eat some more.” He said, a little breathlessly. “Mum and I, well, Mum mostly, went to a lot of trouble…”

She glanced at the barely touched picnic. She smiled impishly as she returned her attention to him. “But that’s not what I’m hungry for.” She purred. She chuckled as his cheeks burned even brighter.

She reached for a bunch of grapes. Twisting in his lap, she leaned back against his chest, alternatively popping a grape in his mouth and her own. She sighed as he wrapped his arms around her, rubbing his cheek softly against hers. She gazed up dreamily at the clouds above.

“It’s such a beautiful day…” she commented.

“I wish you hadn’t said that.” He mumbled.

“Why?” She turned a little to look at him.

“As soon as anybody says how wonderful something is, or how nothing can possibly go wrong, that’s when everything goes to heck…”

“You’ve been hanging with the Brotherhood waaay too much…” she smiled. “They’re making you paranoid.”

Before he could answer, a ferocious wind and a high-pitched squeal filled the air. A bright glow, emanating from the cliff top above them, bathed their little hideaway with an eerie glow. He shot her an almost amused glance.

“Don’t even say it.” She grumbled.

He picked her up easily, placing her gently beside him on the blanket they were sitting on before climbing to his feet. “I better check it out.” He said as he scooped up his hat.

“I thought it was your day off?” She said as he pulled her to her feet.

“Yeah,” he admitted. “But it’s in the job description. Besides, we’re the closest.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck with a resigned sigh as they came to the base of the cliff. He dug in his spurs and climbed quickly to the top.

Two creatures, covered in dirt and muck, lay on the ground before a rapidly closing portal. It snapped shut, the wind, squeal and light dying with it, as the pair of echidnas reached the two inert, but obviously breathing, bodies on the ground. They exchanged a glance.

They were hedgehogs. One green, and one magenta. Neither familiar.

“Man,” the green one groaned. “These jumps are getting worse every time.” He sat up and began brushing the dirt from his clothing and shaking the dirt from his hair.

“You’re telling me,” the other, obviously female said as she pulled her fingers through her own hair. “I’m never going to get the body back in my hair.”

“Are you all right?” Knuckles asked. The pair stared at him, startled by the sound of his voice. The female looked at him with wide, elated eyes.

“Knuckles?” She asked.

“Ah, yeah…” He confirmed. The red-furred echidna was a little taken aback that this strange female knew his name. Before he could say any more, the female leapt to her feet, threw her arms around his neck and planted a rather passionate kiss right on the startled echidna’s mouth.

Julie-Su’s jaw dropped. Despite the wide-eyed look on his face, she was seeing red. She grabbed the female’s shoulder and pulled her savagely away from the dumbfounded Knuckles. The two glared at each other for a moment, before turning their attention on the still startled Knuckles.

“WHO THE HELL IS SHE?!” They both demanded, each jerking a thumb at the other. They glared at each other again, both believing that the other had no right to stake a claim on the stunned echidna.

“Whoa, Knux…” the other newcomer chuckled. “You are SO busted!”

Knuckles frowned at him, and his apparent familiarity. He turned his attention back, souly to Julie-Su, which was a cause of great shock to the other female.

“I swear I’ve never seen her before in my life.” He said, his eyes wide and, he hoped, innocent.

“Well she certainly seems to know you!” Julie-Su growled, ignoring his innocent look.

“Oh! So who are you going to believe? Me, or this female you’ve just met?” Knuckles’ own temper was rising now. He couldn’t believe she didn’t trust him.

“I don’t know!” Julie-Su shot back. “Why don’t you tell me ‘Mister I’ve been gone for a year but I can’t tell you where I’ve been’!”

“That’s not fair.” Knuckles growled.

“So what is fair?” Julie-Su demanded. “Keeping secrets from me?”

“Secrets?” He growled. “I’m not the only one with secrets. You never did tell me about your brother and sister!”

“They’ve got nothing to do with this!” Julie-Su shouted back. “We’re talking about betrayal here!” She pointed at the magenta hedgehog.

“I didn’t betray you.” Knuckles insisted. “I would never betray you! I love you!”

“Yeah?!” Either she didn’t really hear what he said, or she didn’t believe it in the tone of voice in which it had been said. “Then prove it!” She demanded. “Tell me where the hell you were!”

All the anger drained from his face and body, replaced by total anguish.

“I can’t.” He said in an impossibly small voice.

“Well that’s just fine!” She growled. She turned on her heel and stormed off into the trees.

Knuckles stood for a moment, watching after her, long after she’d vanished from sight. Then, with an exasperated growl he turned and stormed off in the opposite direction, right towards the edge of the Island.

The female hedgehog’s eyes widened in horror as he took a simple leap from the edge. She was about to cry out when she saw him make a graceful arc in midair, turning back inland, though not in the same direction as Julie-Su, and disappearing over the trees.

“Did he just…fly away?” The female asked incredulously.

The male had walked slightly towards the spot where Julie-Su had disappeared into the woods. He looked back towards the startled female, who was still watching the sky where she’d last seen the red-furred echidna.

“Ah, sis?” He queried. “The Floating Island’s a wilderness, right?”

With nothing better to do, she approached her brother. “Yes.” She confirmed.

“Then do you want to explain that?” He jerked his thumb over his shoulder in the direction Julie-Su had taken, towards the glittering towers of the not too distant Echidnaopolis.

“Oh my gosh…” The female stared at the magnificent city before her. It was like nothing she’d ever seen before. Far more modern than Robotropolis, and far cleaner too.

‘And,’ she though, remembering the pretty pink female that he’d been with, ‘Knuckles is one of only two echidnas…’ It could only mean one thing.

“This isn’t home.” Her brother said for her, absently kicking at a stone.

She glanced back towards the spot he’d disappeared, and then towards the route his companion had taken. She remembered what he’d said to her. I love you. Even in anger, she knew he’d been sincere. In this world those two were together. No wonder she’d been so upset when she’d kissed him…she thought he’d been unfaithful…

“What have I done?”

~~~~~~

Julie-Su fumed all the way back to Echidnaopolis. Tears burned her eyes, though she wasn’t entirely sure just what kind of tears they were. She was angry, devastated, heart-broken, at even the thought that he could be with someone else. The thought was unthinkable, but it made too much sense. The fact that he wouldn’t talk about where he’d been for the year they all thought he’d been dead only made him appear more guilty.

What if he had found solace in the arms of another?

She could forgive him of that. She’d been so lonely, she’d thought she’d never see him again. If he’d felt the same…well…

But he hadn’t told her about it. That was as bad as lying to her. And that she wasn’t sure she could forgive.

She stormed past Vector and Espio, not even noticing them. But they noticed her. The look, the obvious emotion on her face. The fact that she was alone.

“Trouble in paradise?” Vector asked as the pair caught up with her.

“SHUT UP, VECTOR!” She yelled at him, shoving him into a wall.

He was about to say something, but the look he got from Espio made him reconsider. “Just let her go,” he whispered. “She’s got up way too much steam. Give her some time to cool off.” The watched her stalk off.

Vector raised a brow. “So whadda ya think he did?”

~~~~~~

“This place is amazing…” the green hedgehog whispered in awe as he spun in a slow circle, staring up at the high spires of the city. It turned out to be a wholly unwise thing to do, as he soon found himself incredibly dizzy.

“We have to find that female…” his companion said as she grabbed his arm.

“And how are we gonna do that?” He asked, watching the crowd walk by. “This city is full of echidnas…and we don’t even know her name.”

“But we know his name,” she insisted. “That’s got to be of help…”

“There is no way we’re gonna find one echidna in this town…” he shook his head. “It is waaayyyy too big.”

“Sonic?” An unfamiliar voice queried.

The hedgehog pair turned to face a friendly-faced armadillo and a shy looking squirrel.

“No, dude…” the green hedgehog smiled. “He’s my bro.”

“Your brother?” Mighty cocked his head to one side.

“I d-d-did-did-didn’t know S-S-S-Sonic had a brother…” Ray frowned.

“He doesn’t that I’m aware of.” Mighty said as he studied the pair. “But he does look like him, sort of…even sounds like him…” He turned his attention to the female. “And you are…?”

“His sister.” She said haughtily. “Sonia.”

“Sonia…the hedgehog?” Mighty raised a brow.

“And I’m Manic.” The green one beamed.

Mighty looked at Ray. “I think we should give Sonic a call…”

~~~~~~

“You’re telling me they’re on the level?” Mighty asked incredulously. He’d taken the hedgehog pair to EST headquarters, leaving them with Ray while he used an EST communicator to call Knothole.

“In a round about kinda way.” Sonic admitted. “Knux ever tell you about the Cosmic Interstate?”

“And all those multiple dimensions?” Mighty asked. “Yeah, he mentioned them…”

“Well,” Sonic went on, “Sonia and Manic are my sibs from one of those other dimensions…”

“What are they doing here?” Mighty asked.

“Your guess is as good as mine…” Sonic sighed.

“I think a little road trip is in order.” Sally said from behind the blue hedgehog. “We’ve had more experience with this than you guys have. We’ll be there as soon as we can.”

“Right.” Mighty said. “I’ll round up Knuckles and see what we can figure out from this end. See you soon.”

~~~~~~

Manic was staring in rapture out the window. He’d never seen anything like this. The city, it’s residents, obviously wanted for little. His hands were getting a little itchy for his old ways.

“Okay.” Mighty said as he came out into the waiting room, the trio waiting for him all looking in his direction. “Sonic’s gonna come up and see if we can’t figure this all out. In the meantime, we’re gonna round up the rest of our little posse…”

“And who might that be?” Sonia asked.

“Espio, Vector, Julie-Su…”

“Julie-Su?” Sonia echoed. “She a pink echidna by any chance?”

“Yeah,” Mighty frowned. “How’d you know that?”

“They’ve met.” Manic chuckled. “Not exactly a sterling moment…”

“Okay, okay…” a voice growled as the doors slammed open. “What’s the big idea with sending Remmy’s boys out to find us? I though we were supposed to be cruising the city, lookin’ for trouble, so Knux could get all snugly with his GIRLFRIEND…which, incidentally, seems not to have gone as planned…well…hello…”

Sonia looked at the crocodile that smirked at her.

“What do you mean?” Mighty asked.

“Ah, Jules has got some bee in her bonnet about somethin’…” Espio sighed.

“The girl was fumin’, man.” Vector chuckled. “I’d love to know what Knux did…”

Mighty looked at Sonia, who was starting to look decidedly uncomfortable. She sighed deeply. “He didn’t do anything…” she admitted. “I did…”

“Like what?” Mighty asked. Manic smiled and blew his sister a kiss, smiling broadly afterwards. Mighty raised a brow. “Let me guess…” he said to Sonia, “Where you two come from, you and Knux…”

Sonia nodded. “I was just so happy to see a familiar face…” she whispered.

“So…you kissed him?” Mighty asked. Again, she nodded.

Espio frowned. “That shouldn’t have been enough to set her off…not the way we saw her anyway…”

“I always said she was nuts.” Vector shrugged.

“No you didn’t.” Espio countered. “You always said she was a witch.”

“Same thing.” Vector grumbled.

“S-s-s-s-should we go look for her?” Ray asked.

“Maybe we should wait ‘til she calms down a bit first.” Espio suggested.

“What about him?” Vector asked with a raised brow.

Mighty shook his head. “Those two have got a lot in common…not the least of which is their temper. I think we should let him blow off some steam too. Let’s just go wait for Sonic.”

~~~~~~

“My sister is involved with Knuckles?” Sonic asked incredulously.

“She’s not exactly YOUR sister, Sonic.” Sally pointed out.

“Well, the principle’s still there.” He retorted. “What do you see in that guy any way?”

“Well…” Sonia mused. “He’s smart, loyal, strong, mysterious, cute…and he has the dreamiest eyes…” She trailed off, a somewhat dopey grin on her face.

“Oh, she’s got it bad…” Vector mumbled.

Sally sighed in response to the look on Sonia’s face. “I know what you mean…”

“HEY!” Sonic frowned. Sally just smirked at him.

“Aren’t we supposed to be coming up with a way to get these two home?” Espio said in an attempt to get them back on the subject.

“Maybe they should tell us how they got here in the first place…” Sally suggested.

“It was one of Buttnik’s new weapons…” Manic said. “Dunno what it was exactly, but it sort of made this rip in the sky.” He arched his arm over his head in way of demonstration. “And we kinda got sucked into it…”

“What about Sonic?” Sally asked. She glanced at him, then added. “YOUR Sonic?”

“I think he must have managed to outrun it.” Sonia sighed. “The tear didn’t stay open all that long…” she glanced at Manic, concern in her eyes.

“You think something else might have happened to him?” Sally asked.

“We have discussed it,” Sonia indicated her brother. “Though we both hate to think it…maybe he got swept up too, but ended up somewhere else…”

“Is this the first place you’ve ended up?” Mighty asked.

“Nah,” Manic sighed. “We’ve been to so many different Mobiuses we’ve lost count…”

“Some have been better…some have been worse…” Sonia added.

“But we never ran into anybody we knew before.” Manic admitted. “We never seem to stay in any one place long enough…”

“You’ve been here for a while…” Espio frowned.

“Yeah,” Manic looked around him. “Way longer than usual…”

“Maybe because this is Mobius Prime.” Sonic said.

“Prime?” Sonia questioned.

“I was told that once.” Sonic explained. “That this is like the first Mobius and all the other Mobiuses are variants of this one.”

“How do you move between dimensions?” Sally asked.

Manic shrugged. “The rip just opens up again…and away we go. It never seems to pick up anybody else though…just the two of us…”

“Maybe that’s because you’re both giving off an extra dimensional pulse…” Ellie-Za said as she entered the room, a strange looking device making equal strange noises in her hand. She was wearing a long white coat over her usual outfit, which had several odds and ends hanging out of its pockets.

“Where’d you come from?” Sonic asked.

“I work here.” She said, taking closer reading of the two strange hedgehogs, frowning at the readouts on the tiny screen in front of her.

“Whoa,” Manic whispered. “This chick is tall…”

“And she doesn’t like being called a ‘chick’ either.” She said without taking her eyes of the device in her hand.

“Ah,” Sally smiled, feeling introductions were in order. “Sonia, Manic, this is Ellie-Za…”

“Charmed…” the burgundy echidna waved absently to the pair while she tapped away at the tiny keys on a tiny computer she’d pulled from her pocket.

“And she’s not usually this…preoccupied…” Mighty added in defence of Ellie-Za’s apparent rudeness to the newcomers.

“No,” she agreed. “I’m usually even more so.” She put the computer away and finally looked up with a slight smile. “Sorry, but I get like that when I’m trying to solve a problem…” She held out her hand in friendship.

“And what problem are you trying to solve?” Sonia asked as she took the echidna’s offered hand.

“Getting you two home.” She said as she shook Manic’s hand.

“Ah,” he stumbled a little. “Sorry ‘bout the ‘chick’ thing…” he looked up at her. “But you are tall.”

“Vector’s taller.” She pointed out. “But, yes, for an echidna, and a female, I am tall…”

“So what did you come up with?” Sally asked.

“Nothing yet…” Ellie-Za admitted. “But this extra dimensional pulse is interesting. It may be a way of locking on to their dimension of origin, that is, if it’s attributed to that dimension alone…we’ll be able to open a portal straight to it…or it might have something to do with all the ‘hopping’ they were talking about…in that case, we might be able to open up a portal to send them on their way…but to who knows where…the only thing is opening a portal stable enough to let them get through…”

“Could you modify one of the tears?” Sonia suggested.

“Maybe…” Ellie-Za admitted. “But it would take time…planning before it opens…altering once it is open…do you have any indication of when and where they open, or do they just ‘pop up’?”

“They just ‘pop up’.” Sonia admitted.

“That makes it trickier…”

“Knuckles.” Sonic said suddenly.

“What about him?” Ellie-Za raised a brow.

“He can open portals.” Sonic exclaimed.

“He can?” Manic queried.

“Our’s can.” Sonic shrugged. “We use ‘em to cover vast distances…from one side of the planet to another in the blink of an eye.”

“Yeah…” Ellie-Za frowned. “But can he open them between dimensions?”

“Don’t know.” Sonic admitted. “He told me that he can only open them to places he’s seen or been to before.”

“To be honest…” Mighty began. “I wouldn’t put it past him.”

“You wouldn’t?” Sonia raised a brow.

“That dude’s done some pretty wild things.” Vector added with a nod.

“Yeah,” Espio agreed. “And he DID come back from the dead.”

“Well,” Ellie-Za sighed. “I guess it’s worth a try…where is he any way?”

“Ah, he and the squeeze had a…disagreement…” Vector said.

“Fine, I’ll page him…” Ellie-Za left the room, heading for the communications centre.

Sonia and Manic were still staring at each other, which they had been doing since they heard what Espio had said.

“He came back from the dead?” Manic whispered.