Friend Or Foe? (Part 1) A Sonic the Hedgehog Fanfiction story BY: Erin Lindsey For all legal information and other stuff like that, see bottom of this page! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Introduction: Rain pelted the ground of the tropical Floating Island. The blades of green grass trembled in the moonlight as the thunder rolled across the endless dark nothingness of the sky. The guardian of this beautiful and mysterious island and the keeper of the green Chaos Emerald is Knuckles the echidna. Descendant of many before him he was destined to have this responsibility. Having a complex past and an even more perplexing future he should be glad to rest from his duty. He sat restlessly underneath a huge crimson mushroom. He tried to relax and sleep but it worried him when it was so quiet on the island. The evil dictator of Mobius, Dr. Ivo Robotnik had been staying amazingly quiet for the last couple of weeks. What was he brewing in that fat pointy head of his? Knuckles thought. He sighed deeply. He would try and leave the freedom fighting to Sonic the Hedgehog and Princess Sally from now on. Of course he had other foes to worry about also...... He tried to clear his head of his enemies. After his encounter with the Dark Legion and all, he suffered with quite a large dose of mental fatigue. He turned his mind to other matters. The Chaotix team were all asleep in or under a great willow tree trying to stay dry from the on going storm. Knuckles smiled to himself. They all had greatly different personalities, and yet could still work together as a team successfully. Espio the chameleon was probably the most serious one of them all. He was smart and quick. He was a great secret weapon with his ability to camouflage into his surroundings. This didn't show as he slept upside down on the underside of a huge limb extending from the willow with his purple tail curled tightly around it. Knuckles wondered how he slept that way without all the blood rushing to his head. Vector the crocodile, on the other hand was a bit of a goof off. He was always listening to his headphones. In fact, he almost never took them off. He had a certain loyalty to his friends though. Vector slumbered with his back against the gigantic tree trunk. Knuckles could hear music softly pouring from the headset he wore on whatever was a crocodile's ears. It was a wonder Vector wasn't deaf he played those things so loud as to still be able to hear it's music while a thunder storm was going on. He had his long green legs propped up on a large red rock. Knuckles examined the rock more closely. He hadn't remembered there being a rock there before. The rock had two small yellow ears and was slowly heaving up and down under the soles of Vector's sneakers. It wasn't a rock, Knuckles realized. It was Mighty the armadillo. He was snoring obnoxiously. Mighty reminded Knuckles mostly of Sonic the Hedgehog. He was egotistical and was always looking for a fight. Yet, he was heroic and incredibly strong, probably the next in line as leader of the Chaotix, if Knuckles wasn't there. Charmy Bee was another story. He was tranquil and practical. He would rather reason with an enemy than fight. But, if a fight was necessary he could pack an incredible punch for his limited size. Charmy was peacefully buzzing inside a giant white flower blossom that was growing on a vine that twisted around the thick base of the willow and up into it's higher extensions. Knuckles yawned. It wasn't because he was sleepy, but because he was extremely bored. He looked up at the dark, black clouds above the Floating Island. They were churning violently in the torrent of wind. There was a low rumble of thunder and it starting pouring as hard as ever now. Suddenly Knuckles jumped as a bolt of lightning hit the horizon accompanied by a loud cannonade of thunder. Espio awoke startled by the clash. He let go of the branch he was holding onto and swung back and forth from his tail. He rocked himself back to sleep instantly. Mighty rolled over and out from under Vector's feet. Vector didn't wake up, but mumbled something in his sleep. "Hmmm? Wha?.....No mah.....five more minutes.....hmmmg." Knuckles stood up. It was his duty to insure the safety of all the Mobians that dwelt on the Floating Island. He decided to check out where the lightning hit. Besides, it's not like he had anything else to do on this sleepless night. He began running in the direction of the smoke that had begun to billow from the horizon. He was just about to leap into the air and take off when blast of thunder reminded him of the turbulent skies. He thought it better to walk there instead. * * * * Chapter 1: A Wildcat's Words Meanwhile elsewhere on the Floating Island........ A dark figure appeared out of the jungle and strode up to the smoking tree. "Dammit. The storm turned my tree to toast!" The wildcat whined as he approached the burnt and fallen tree. The cat was mostly dark brown color, except for his chest and stomach, hands, whiskers, and tip of his long thin tail, which were cream white. He had large ears and bright green eyes that flashed in the darkness. On the tip of his wolf-like nose was a pair of black sunglasses. These, a purple belt around his waist, and orange and red tennis shoes were the only clothes he wore. The cat was younger than he looked. He was only a teenager, but was large for his age. His two front canine teeth stuck out of his mouth, giving him a menacing look. The rain had already put out the flames that had engulfed the tree earlier. The cat had just returned from a midnight fishing trip. He was unsuccessful. How the heck was he supposed to remember no fish lived on the Floating Island? He hadn't been there for ten years. It had took most of his strength to hijack a hover craft from the western nomads of Mobius, and he had been counting on a solid food supply when he arrived on the island. He couldn't get off the small continent because he had foolishly hurled the craft over the edge so no one would know he had came. He was wet, hungry, and very tired. Tonight had been a long night. Besides, this place brought back a lot of memories. Mostly bad ones. The only reason he had came here in the first place was to hide. All he wanted was sleep. He surveyed his crispy x-tree as the last fumes disappeared in the night sky. He extended a paw and gently touched it. "OW!" He yelped jerking his hand away. It was still hot. He stuck his burnt finger in his mouth. He mumbled some obscene words at the tree. "Guess I'll have'ta sleep somewhere else." He muttered. He trotted over to a slightly smaller tree. It had no low branches to climb on. All the thick sturdy limbs were high at the top. This didn't bother him. The feline crouched down for a couple of seconds, aiming. Then, with a burst of sudden energy, he leapt high into the air. His claws spread out from his finger tips and dug into the thick bark of the tree. He climbed slowly up the mid-section of the sapling examining the branches on both sides of him. "Aha! Here we go...." He saw a large branch extending from the tree. He grabbed onto it tightly with his paw and swung himself on top of the limb. "Ahh." The feline sighed. He settled himself on the branch, put his glasses in a small case on the side of his belt, then put his arms behind his head and slowly closed his large green eyes. Suddenly he heard a twig snap. Someone was walking around beneath the canopy. He twisted his ears backwards and let out a low, quiet snarl. The tip of his tail twitched uncontrollably. It was probably just some lost, and helpless creature fooling around he realized. He relaxed and tried to ignore it. Beneath the tree-tops Knuckles patrolled the ground. He was not lost and was definitely not helpless. He inspected the fallen tree. "Hmmm...I hope no one was hurt...." He mumbled to himself. The echidna sighed. This wasn't very exciting. He craved action. Knuckles kicked a small rock. It bounced a couple of feet and then stopped. He walked up to it and kicked it again, harder this time, up into the air. While the rock was in the air he turned and kicked it with his other leg, sending it ricocheting off the trees. Then he held out his hand and caught the pebble in mid-air. "Hmmph. Pretty good." He complimented himself. He dropped it and started punching out in the air. "Hi-ya!" He yelled loudly. The wildcat opened his eyes and peered down at the noisy red animal below. He growled. Knuckles didn't seem to notice and continued fighting his shadow. He wound up his fist then POW! He punched a tree as hard as he could. Unfortunately, this just happened to be the same tree that the angry feline was trying to sleep in. "Ahhhhgh!!!" The cat screamed as the tree shook from the force of Knuckles' blow. Knuckles looked up in surprise, "What the?...." The wildcat lost his footing and tumbled out of the tree, "Whoa!" Knuckles quickly pulled his fist out of the tree and darted out of the way and into a rose bush. The cat nimbly twisted his body in the air and landed on all fours. The wildcat was mad. Really mad. He had not had a good day and tonight was not the time to mess with him. "What's up wit' 'dat punk?!" He said angrily approaching the shrubbery Knuckles was struggling to get out of. Knuckles freed himself and crawled out of the briars. "Don't cha Know that people are tryin' to sleep here?!" Knuckles squinted to see the mad tree-dweller in the darkness. He had never seen this animal before. At least that's what he thought. He was a brownish color and had glowing green eyes. He also noticed the cat was pretty big. Bigger than he was. "Sorry, uh who......?" He said calmly. "Sorry?!" The cat spat enraged, "Is that all you can say punk!?" Knuckles tried to explain but the he ignored the echidna and swatted him across the side of the face. "Arrgh!" Knuckles winced. He ran his hand over his cheek then looked at his palm. Blood. The crazy cat had scratched him! This guy had some attitude. He didn't know who he was toying with. "All right! That's it!" Knuckles yelled and lunged at the wildcat. The cat was surprised at the echidna's strength and fell to the ground. "Oof!" He grunted as the wind got knocked out of him. He stumbled back to him feet, but Knuckles was ready, and punched him in the face. The cat backed away holding his hand to his head. His nose was bleeding, and it wasn't from the altitude. He attacked and threw Knuckles to the floor with one swift movement of his arm. "Owwwww." Knuckles groaned feeling pain surge though his back. Before Knuckles could recover, the cat caught him by the throat and pinned him to the ground. "Not so tough are 'ya now, eh punk?" The cat mocked smiling evilly.He tighten his grip around the echidna's neck. Knuckles gulped for air, and decided he had better do something quick before this lunatic choked him to death. He flipped the cat and himself over. They rolled backward though some plants, then the ground disappeared beneath them, and went into a free fall. * * * * Chapter 2: It's Raining Cats and Echidnas "AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" The feline and echidna screamed as they continued to fall off the Floating Island. Knuckles had not noticed how close to the perimeter they had been. Now it was too late. Fortunately the side of the island was rocky. Knuckles struggled to grab hold of one of the rocks jutting out. He gripped it and grabbed the cat's hand as he sailed past. "Y-you saved me?" The cat stuttered, surprised at his combatant. "I'm not going to have someone on 'my island' perish because of me!" Knuckles answered trying to pull himself up to the edge. "Your island?" The cat asked, "That means your the guardian! Y-your n-n-Knuckles the echidna, ain't you?!" "How do you know my name?" Knuckles asked shocked. The wildcat just stared back up at him with frightened eyes. Knuckles studied the cat's face. Knuckles realized why. "C-clawz?! What the hell are you doing here!!" He yelled. "I'll explain later!! Get me outta here!!!" He yelled back, looking over his shoulder at the forest far below. Knuckles pulled himself back onto the surface of the island. Suddenly their hands slipped a bit. "KNUCKLES!!!" Clawz screamed. "Hold on! I think I can pull you up!" Knuckles grunted as he tried to heave his old friend over to the edge. The feline's hand slipped farther from his grip. "Ahhhhhh! Ahh! Ahhhh! I can't hold on!" He screamed. "Clawz! Don't let go!" Knuckles said starting to panic. But, the wildcat was too heavy for him. Suddenly the two hands parted. Clawz shrieked as he started plummeting down to his doom. "NO! CLAWZ! Clawz! clawz...." Knuckles moaned. His voice seemed to trail of in the rolling thunder and falling rain. Out of the thousands of raindrops that fell toward the ground, one was a single tear. In the forest below....... The young fox Miles Prower, otherwise known as Tails, trembled beneath his covers. His hut was one of many that filled the tiny hidden village of Knothole. Knothole was actually a secret base, were the rebels known as the Freedom Fighters controlled their attacks on the evil ruler, Dr. Robotnik's capital, Robotropolis. But Tails was not trembling in fear of the self-appointed dictator, he was more afraid of the on-going thunder-storm at this moment. He hated storms. He thought of going and sleeping with his friend, and idol, Sonic the hedgehog like he did when he was younger. No, that would just prove he was still a little kid, he thought. Tails didn't want that. He wanted to be treated like an adult. Still, he was afraid. Thunder clashed above. "Eepp!" Tails whimpered and hid underneath his quilt. "aaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAhhhhhHHHHHHHH!!" Tails suddenly heard a voice outside. It seemed to be getting louder, as if it was falling from the sky....... "Ack! Omph! aggrgh!" The voice came from the forest beside Tails' hut now. "Ohhhhh...." It moaned. Someone was hurt in the forest, Tails realized sitting up straight in his bed. "I gotta go get Sonic!" Tails told himself. Tails got out of bed and quickly put on his sneakers. He opened his door and raced out into the rain toward Sonic the Hedgehog's cabin. Inside his hut, Sonic was fast asleep. Tails knocked on the door. "Sonic?" Tails said opening it and coming inside. "Sonic?....Sonnniicc? SONIC! WAKE UP!" Tails yelled trying to awaken his compadre. "Huh? Wha....Tails?....What time is it?" Sonic woke up and looked over at a clock on his bedside table. 2:00 A.M. flashed on it's screen. "Sonic! I heard something in the woods! I think somebody is hurt out there!" Tails ignored him and blurted out his story. Sonic sighed and looked drowsily at his fox friend. "Tails....it was a bad dream. Now go back to bed." He mumbled and rolled over so his quill-covered back was facing Tails. "No, Sonic! I wasn't dreaming! C'mon, I'll prove it!" Tails grabbed Sonic's wrist and pulled him out of bed. * * * * Chapter 3: A Walk in the Woods Minutes later...... "Okay, little buddy, where did the sound come from?" Sonic said, sounding annoyed. "Right over there!" Tails pointed at the forest behind his hut. "And, Sonic, don't call me that." He added and started walking toward the brush. "Yeah, whatever." Sonic muttered. Sonic followed close behind him. All of a sudden Tails stopped dead in his tracks. Sonic bumped into his back. "Hey, what's up?" He asked him. Tails stayed silent but pointed to a tree about a yard in front of them. Sonic examined it. He looked up at it's branches. "Holy CHAOS!" Sonic yipped. "There's someone up there!!" Sonic saw a mangled body among the branches. A drop of blood fell from the tree and splashed into a puddle. Sonic and Tails stood there for a silent for a moment, in total horror. Sonic snapped out of it. "Tails! Quick go get Bunnie, Sally, and 'Twan!" He ordered. Tails looked shocked for a second, then turned and flew back to Knothole. The kid was right, Sonic thought. Maybe I should treat him more seriously. "Ohhhhhh...." Sonic jumped startled. The figure in the tree had tree moaned. "He's still alive!" Sonic gasped, "Oh man...." Sonic approached the tree and started to climb it. "Tails! What is this all about?" Piped Princess Sally who was pursuing the two-tailed fox. She stopped to take a breath and tighten her pink bathrobe. "Yah, Sugah, what did y'all git us up in tha middle of the night fo'?" Bunnie Rabbot, the half roboticizied rabbit asked. She was only half awake, and still had rollers up in her long ears. "I'll explain later, we have to hurry!" Tails led the trio into the Great Forest. Bunnie shrugged and turned to Antonie, who was the only one fully dressed in uniform. He just shook his head and began following Tails again. Bunnie and the Princess trailed behind them. "Sacre Bleu!" Antonie exclaimed as they came to the clearing. "Lordy! What in tha who-ha happened?!" Bunnie screamed. Sonic was now descending the tree with the beaten body in his arms. "Sonic!" Sally yelled and ran to him. He was now out of the tree and was laying the body on the forest floor. "Help, he's heavy....," Was all that Sonic said. Antonie stepped up and kneeled down beside Sonic and helped him. "My, oh my..." Bunnie mumbled. "He iz bleedings." Antonie said uneasily. "No, duh Ant'." Sonic grunted as they picked the large cat's body back up. "Easy now,...easy..." Sally instructed as they started to slowly walk back to the village. To be continued....... Ah ha ha ha ha HA!!! >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< Friend or Foe? (Part 2) By: Erin Lindsey This story is rated PG for only a small bit of violence and confusing conversations. For all legal information and other such nonsense like that, see the bottom of this story. (To fully understand Part 2, I highly recommend reading Part 1 first.) * * * * Chapter 4 : Wake Up Call It was a beautiful spring morning in the Great Forest. The only sounds were the rippling of the stream, chirping of the small birds, and clicking of the crickets in the early dawn sun. None of the residents of the small, secretive village of Knothole had awakened yet. Everyone was still asleep in their tiny huts. Well, almost everyone. Sonic the Hedgehog stood on the steps in front of his hut. Sonic looked to his left and then to his right. He realized that none of his friends were awake yet. He didn't usually wake up this early either, but the incident the night before had left him restless. Sonic thought for a second, then re-entered his domicile. After a few short moments, he emerged again carrying a large red and white electric guitar. With a evil smirk on his face, the hedgehog twisted a small knob on the side of the instrument. He turned the knob marked 'VOLUME' to it's full extent. He dramatically drew his hand up in the air, and then in a super-sonic motion, he strummed the strings as hard as he could. The loud noise of the guitar echoed throughout the small village, almost making the ground tremble with the intensive amount of base. "WAKE UP!" Sonic screamed, but his voice did barely penetrate the echoing of the guitar. Inside her own hut, Princess Sally Acorn snapped awake. She sat straight up in her bed. As soon as the ringing in her ears faded, she threw on her blue vest and stormed out the door. "SONIC!" She screamed. She searched the village with her eyes, but Sonic had already fled the scene. She saw Bunnie and Antonie come out of their huts. Bunnie was yawning loudly, and Antonie was still trying to button the last button on the collar of his uniform. When they saw Sally they both ran over to her acting pretty upset. "Look here Sally-girl, why don't y'all tell that there boyfriend of yours to keep it down a bit!" Bunnie said to her. "Boyfriend? Right now that hedgehog doesn't even qualify as a friend!" Sally snapped. "Oui, my princess. I have been just been getting to sleepings when zat fuelish 'edge 'og is to be waking me up." Antonie said still stuggling with his collar. Bunnie reached over and buttoned it finally with a quick snap. "Merci, Bunnie." He said sheepishly. "You're welcome, Sugah." Sally sighed and rubbed her eyes. "Where did he go any way?" She asked. "I think he is going that-a-way." Antonie answered and pointed toward the Freedom Fighter's mess hall. "To the kitchen?" Sally asked. Antonie nodded. "Makes sense." Bunnie said crossing her arms. They all started to trudge in that direction. * * * * "Hummm de dum de doo...." Sonic hummed as he made himself breakfast. He looked into the oven to see if they were done yet. "Mmmmm...." He sighed as he took the plate of about a dozen hot dogs out and spooned a reddish concoction from a pot on the stove onto them. Just then, Princess Sally, Bunnie, and Antonie plowed through the double doors. "Hi, guys. I was wondering when you were gonna wake up." Sonic said casually, and stuffed a chili dog in his mouth. "Want some breakfast?" He mumbled. "No, we don't want breakfast......gross. Chili dogs for breakfast? That's disgusting." Sally said eyeing him. "Is zat ze only thing he is ever eating?" Antonie whispered to Bunnie. She ignored him. "Sugah-hog, why in the who-ha did y'all wake us up for?" Bunnie spat at Sonic, "I need mah beauty sleep!" "Who me?" Sonic asked innocently, "Are you referring to me Miss Rabbot?" "Either you or butterfly with an electric guitar...." Sally said sarcastically. Sonic slid his guitar further under the table with his shoe. A young orange fox with two tails walked into the room. "Hiya, Tails." Sonic said trying to change the subject. "Hi, Sonic, Aunt Sally, Aunt Bunnie......." Tails answered. Antonie cleared his throat. "Oh, Hi Antwan. I didn't notice you were here." Tails apologized. Antonie rolled his eyes, and Sonic tried to keep from laughing. "Hey! Chilli dogs! I knew I smelled something cooking." Tails piped seeing the plate on the table. "That's m'boy." Sonic said and handed him one. "No way." Sally said pushing the hot dog away from Tails, "You're going to have some oatmeal." "Awww, Aunt Sally...." Tails whined. "If you eat chili dogs for breakfast, you might turn out like Sonic. And none of us want that, do we?" She argued and handed the fox a bowl. "Ha, ha. Verrry funny Princess." Sonic muttered and ate another chili dog. "Guys! You better come quick!" Rotor the walrus shouted to the group as he rushed into the kitchen. "What's up Rote?" Sonic quizzed him. "Well it's about our visitor.... he's not doing too well..." Rotor said catching his breath. "Oh no! I totally forgot about him. Did he wake up?" Sally asked, concerned. "Yeah. He's in hysterics!" Rotor answered. All eyes turned to Sonic and gave him a cold stare. "Oops..." Sonic mumbled realizing his prank had backfired. "Hmph!" Sally snorted, "Maybe we can help. C'mon lets go!" Then she ran out of the mess hall and toward the imfermary. "Right behind yah Sally-girl!" Bunnie yelled as she darted after the princess. "Wait for moui!" Antonie followed them. Sonic looked at the plate of chili dogs then at the door. "C'mon Tails! Let's juice!" He decided. "All right!" Tails said and grabbed the hedgehog around the neck. They sped off after their fellow freedom fighters. Rotor was left all alone in the kitchen. "Ohhhh.....chili dogs!" He said picking up the plate. * * * * "Is he still asleep?" "Yah....he usually gets up so early." "Maybe he stayed up late." "Wake him up." "What? No, you wake him up." "I'm not gonna do it. He'll get mad." "Make Charmy do it." "Huh? Me? No way. He'll wack me off the entire island!" "Well, I'm not gonna do it." At least four voices started to argue. Knuckles opened one eye. They seemed to be totally oblivious of the fact that he had woke up by himself and continued to quarrel. The armadillo took a swing at the crocodile who quickly ducked. The chameleon got hit in the face instead. The bee burst into laughter. Knuckles decided to break the fight up before it got ugly. "Nobody has to wake me up." He said standing up. They all froze. "Oh, good morning Knux." Said Espio, and let go of Mighty's neck. "Morning." He said, brushing his dreadlocks out of his eyes. "Owch, man! What happened to yo face?" Vector asked. "Wow, it looks like you had a close encounter with a switch blade!" Mighty said. Knuckles looked confused. He ran his hand over the side of his face. He felt a deep cut. It was sore. Knuckles looked down into a puddle of rain water still remaining on the ground from the storm the night before. He could see his reflection clearly on the surface. It indeed did look like someone had slashed his face with a knife. He gasped. "It....it wasn't a dream....." "What?" Espio asked. "Last night I.. I. thought I had this horrible nightmare..." Knuckles said, still staring at his reflection, "B-but it wasn't a nightmare....it was real." "What are you talking about?" Mighty asked. Knuckles turned to face them. "I...I killed him." Knuckles mumbled. Mighty and Espio exchanged nervous glances. Vector seemed to not be listening anymore as he walked away humming to the music of his headphones. Charmy just sat on top of a mushroom and stared. Knuckles had been known to have a bad temper and occasionally start a fight, but he had never actually killed anyone. "You...you k-killed somebody....?" Espio stuttered. "Well....I.. he.... we... it...it was an accident....." Knuckles stammered trying to defend himself. "How can you kill someone on accident?" Mighty asked. The color drained from Knuckles face. The faces on Mighty and Espio remained cold. Knuckles sensed that they didn't believe him. They either didn't believe him at all, or didn't believe that it had been an accident. Knuckles began to back away from them. Then he turned and ran into the jungle. Charmy frowned at the armadillo and chameleon. Mighty returned it with that 'what?' look. Espio seemed to soften. Without another word Charmy slid off the mushroom and flew after Knuckles. Mighty stepped forward as to follow them both, but Espio grabbed his shoulder. Mighty looked back at him. Espio just shook his head. Charmy glided quickly through the trees. He dodged the branches, looking left and right. The bee searched though the thick forest until he came to a clearing along the edge of the island. He noticed small sign old, rotted with moss and overgrown vegetation halfway covering it. In the deeply carved lettering, Charmy could barley make the message out. "W-war..ing Landsend?" He tried to read. He thought about it for a second. "Oh. Warning: Land's End." He realized. Charmy turned and scanned the horizon. The sun was still rising at its slow state, turning the sky a light orange. The ground in front of him seemed to suddenly break off and steeply fall to the sea below. He had remembered them being above the forest yesterday. Charmy guessed the storm had drifted the island above the ocean. He stepped up to the edge and looked down. He felt his stomach do a flip-flop as he gazed at the greenish blue waves what seemed like miles below. He silently reminded himself that he could fly, and looked to the left, down around the side of the island. He saw where the land curved into a cliff that over looked the sea. Charmy saw a scarlet red figure sitting at it's peak. He recognized it as Knuckles. Charmy glided slowly over in that direction. He stopped a couple of feet short of the cliff, and climbed the rest of the way. He sat down beside the echidna. "Hi." He said softly. Knuckles was silent for a moment. "What do you want?" He said coldly. "I want you to explain.....I'll believe you. I promise." Charmy said after some thought. Knuckles sighed. "Well, it's kinda a long story." He said. "I'm listening." Knuckles thought about it for a minute. He took a deep breath. "It all didn't start last night though. It all began a long time ago." "The beginning is a good place to start." Charmy said, settling down on the ground. He had a feeling, like Knuckles had said, this was going to be a looong story. "First of all, I guess I better tell you what happened last night." The echidna said, letting his feet dangle over the edge of the cliff. "Good idea." Charmy commented. "You know that storm we had last night?" Knuckles started. "Yah. What about it?" "I was still awake late that night when some lightning hit a tree in the Mushroom Hill Zone. So, I went to go check it out. When I got there though the fire had already gone out. Then for no reason at all this guy jumps me and try's to pick a fight.......he was always good at surprising me." Knuckles explained. "You mean you knew this guy? Before he jumped you?" Charmy asked. "Yes. But I'll get to that later. Let me finish." He answered. "Okay, okay." Charmy mumbled. Knuckles cleared his voice and continued. "Anyway we got into a fight. Y'know the whole I punch you, you punch me routine. But then Clawz--" "Clawz? Was that his name?" Charmy interrupted. "Yes, yes! His name was Clawz...Clawz Wildcat. But I didn't realize it was him until later! Now will you let me finish?!" Knuckles spat. "Geez, Okay. Go on already." The bee said calmly. "Okay, as I was saying....He pinned me to the ground, so I flipped us both over. But instead of me being on top and he being the one pinned to the ground, we both ended up falling off the edge of the island." Knuckles continued. Charmy gasped. "I was able to get a grip on the side of the island. I grabbed him before he could fall. That's when I realized who he was." Knuckles started to stammer, "B-But he was too heavy for me. I-I lost my grip on his hand and....." Knuckles didn't have to finish, Charmy could take a hint. "Oh no..." He said softy, "He fell off the island?" Knuckles nodded sadly. There was a long silent pause. "But you didn't KILL him. Like you said, it was an accident." Charmy spoke up. "I don't know." The red echidna answered sadly. "What do you mean? That you might have dropped him...on purpose?!" Charmy asked, looking up at him in surprise. "I don't know! Maybe I wanted to.... way back in my subconscious mind.... for what he did to me." Knuckles admitted shaking his head. "What did he do?" Charmy asked quietly. Knuckles eyes grew cold, and he clenched his large fists tightly. "He lied to me." Charmy raised an eyebrow. "You killed a guy for lying to you? Man, I'm surprised Mighty isn't in his death bed right now." He said sarcastically. "This wasn't just ANY old white lie, it was-", Knuckles turned and stared at Charmy, "What do you mean Mighty would be dead? When did he lie to me?" He asked. Charmy realized he had put his foot in his mouth. "Well, he, uh... Sorry Knux gotta go! Nice story! I just remembered I have a cake in the oven!" He stuttered and zipped away. Knuckles caught him by the leg before he could get very far. He held the bee upside down in front of his face. "When did Mighty lie to me, Charmy?" He asked. Charmy gulped. "eh heh...uh, you remember the time when Mighty said the Book of Myths got stolen, and then he said he found it abandoned in a puddle?" Knuckles frowned. "Yes...." "Welll.... It didn't really get stolen, him and Vector were playing frisbee with it, and it flew in the lake!.... On accident." Charmy blurted out. Knuckles just stared at him for a second. "What?!" He exploded suddenly, "Do you know how long it took me to iron that thing?! Oh, man! When I get my hands on that stupid son of a bi-" "Knuckles! Calm down." Charmy said pulling himself out of the echidna's grip. "We were talking about Clawz, not Mighty." The echidna turned to look at the bee. He sighed, then sat down again. "Well to make a long story short--" He began. "Too late!" interrupted Espio, who emerged suddenly out of the shadows. "Hey! How long have you been spying on us!?" Knuckles demanded. "Mighty and I arrived here about ten minutes ago when--" "Mighty!? Where is he?" Knuckles shouted, anger filling him once again. "Over there in that tree," Espio said pointing. "Snitch!" A voice called from the branches. "Mighty, get the Hell down here before I have'ta go up there and pound you!" Knuckles yelled up at him. A big red armadillo promptly fell out of the tree and landed on his armor-plated back with a whump. He laid there for a second then stood up cautiously staring at Knuckles. Knuckles eyes narrowed and he clenched his large fists. Mighty smiled innocently back at him, with a tinge of fright in his mind. Knuckles stared at him for a long time, then quickly turned and walked stiffly back to the cliff edge. He sat down and stared across the ocean. "Phew!," Mighty said walking up beside Espio and Charmy. He shot an angry glance at the bee, who zipped off and sat at Knuckles' side. "Like I was saying......" Knuckles began again, trying to suppress his angers, "When I was just a child, about seven or eight...." he paused and his face saddened, "When my father was still the guardian, right after Robotnik had taken over Robotro-, uh I mean Mobotropolis, and I was upset because about a year earlier I had to tell my only friend I couldn't see her again during my apprenticeship. Now I thought she was truly gone forever..." Mighty and Espio slowly approached the cliff and sat down. "Who are you talking about, Knux?" Charmy asked quietly. "Who did you think was gone forever?" Knuckles smiled slightly, "Princess Sally Acorn." "But, she wasn't gone. We just saw here about a month ago." Espio said. Knuckles turned and looked back at him, "I didn't know that then. I thought she had been roboticizied or killed like the thousands of other not-so-fortunate Mobians." He said eyeing Mighty, who cringed behind the chameleon. He turned and looked back out into the horizon. "I wandered away from my father, to think things over and soon found myself lost in the deep jungle......" * * * * Princess Sally burst into the recovery room to find the place in mass hysteria. Sonic the Hedgehog came in second, and ducked a chair that flew over his head. Tails dodged the sailing chair as he came in, and Bunnie grabbed it in mid-air a split-second before it hit Antonie as he strolled in last panting heavily. "Sacre Bleu!" He cried as his eyes met the scene before him. The wildcat they had rescued the night before was definitely awake. He was thrashing wildly about and had a look of craziness in his large green eyes. He picked up another chair and hurled it across the room in their direction. Sonic pushed Sally out of the way and the chair hit the wall in back of them splintering to several pieces. The wildcat winced in pain and grabbed his arm, then collapsed on the floor. He switched from holding his arm, to holding his leg, and moaned in pain. "Someone do SOMETHING!" Sally yelled getting up from the floor. Sonic got up and slowly approached the cat on the floor, who was writhing in agony. When the wildcat saw his coming he snarled menacingly at him. With his un-hurt hand he lashed out at took a swipe at the hedgehog barely missing his face. Sonic jumped back. The wildcat lost his anger and yowled, gripping his broken arm tightly again. "Give me ah go at it, Sugah-hog." Bunnie said, pushing Sonic aside. "Be careful Bunnie!" Tails whimpered. Bunnie walked slowly to the wildcat's side. He didn't seem to notice her and, was concentrated on the pain in both his arm and leg. He didn't know why they hurt so much, or why he was here. All he knew was that he wanted to get out of this place. Bunny suddenly grabbed his arm and held it to the ground. He looked up in surprise and screamed. He wasn't expecting a half-robot rabbit to be holding him down. He tried to break free, but with out the use of his other arm and leg he couldn't move. She had her roboticized arm holding his un-injured arm down in a iron-grip. He winced as he tried to move. "Now y'all come down, yah hear?" She said. "I didn't do nothin'! You can prove anything!" He growled back. Sally gave Sonic a confused look. He shrugged and went to help Bunnie. "Here, Sugah-hog, get his legs!" Bunnie said, as the wildcat started to kick at her. Sonic grabbed his ankles and held then to the ground too. They picked him up and set him down on the bed. "Let me go!" The cat screamed, "I tell ya, I didn't do it!" "We aren't accusing you of anything, Sir!" Sally said as she walked up beside the bed. "Now just come down!" The wildcat seemed to ignore her, and continued his ramblings and struggling. "Where is that doctor when you need him!" She said looking around the room. "Here I am Your Majesty!" Said a large yellow duck as he emerged from behind a table where he had taken refuge from the flying furniture. He had a rough cut on his beak, undoubtedly from the hysterical wildcat, and was carrying a large black medical bag. "Oh, Doctor Quack! Thank goodness!" She said, "Quick we need something to relax him!" "I know just the thing." He said fishing around in his bag. He pulled out a small bottle then pulled out a syringe with a two inch needle. Seeing this, Antonie almost fainted. Tails tried to steady him. The wildcat glared at the shot as the doctor filled it with the liquid in the bottle. "Oh no!" The cat said struggling even more despite his pain. Doctor Quack pushed some of his fur aside and injected the shot into the wildcat's arm. "There ain't.....no........way....." The cat mumbled then went limp and fell asleep. Sonic and Bunnie let go of him and stood silent with the other on-lookers as they stared at the slumbering feline. "What, may I asked happened to him!?" Sonic asked after a couple of seconds. "Hmmm, probably just an affect of his concussion." Doctor Quack answered plainly. "He just woke up in a place where he didn't know where he was, what happened to him, or who all these strange people around him were." "So he went CRAZY?" Sonic said. "Yes, quite. A concussion, like his in his case, would make you lose control over you're mind and body for a little while." The doctor explained. "Will he be okay?" Sally said, after another moment of silence. "I believe so." Doctor Quack said, "He probably won't even remember it even happened. I can say it didn't do those broken bones of his much help, throwing chairs and such, but I think he'll recover just fine." The doctor turned to stare at Sonic, "Lets just make sure that no other 'loud noises' occur to wake my patient up, please?" Sonic grinned sheepishly, "Yessir. It won't happen again." "I'll see to that." Sally said giving him an angry glance. "Doctor, did y'all ever find out who this critter was?" Bunnie asked, changing the subject. "No, I'm afraid not, Miss Rabbot." The doc answered, "The only identification he had on him was, three letters carved on the inside of his belt: C M W." "Probably his initials." Tails said letting go of Antonie, who almost fell on the floor but was able to steady himself. "Yes, I thought so." The duck nodded. "What was he talking about?" Tails asked, "You know, 'I didn't do it' and all that other stuff." "I don't know, Tails. He might've just been saying things. He had hit his head pretty bad when we found him in that tree." Sonic said to the young fox. "I don't know, Sonic." Sally said, "I just don't know....." To be continued....... * * * * Woo Hoo! I hope you enjoyed part 2 of my first fanfic! Stay tuned to find out what happens next in the exciting lives of everybodys favorite hedgehog and echidna! Cast: Sonic the Hedgehog - His pranks finally got the best of him. Knuckles the Echidna - What does this Clawz character have to do with his past? Clawz Wildcat - Who is this guy? What is his past? The rest of the Freedom Fighters - How can they help the injured Wildcat? The Chaotix Team - Will they be left in the dark about why Knuckles claims to have murdered someone? Nack Weasel - Why is he in the credits? Does he have something to do with this story? Dr. Ivo Robotnik - Same goes for him. OKAY, Okay enough with the stupid and annoying plot questions! If you really want to know what happens, why don't you just read part 3! ------------------------------------------------------------- Legal information: Sonic the Hedgehog, Dr. Robotnik, Knuckles the Echidna, Nack the Weasle, the Freedom Fighters, and the Chaotix and all realated characters were made by SEGA, and/or DiC and Archie Adventure Series Comics. Clawz Wildcat was created by Erin Lindsey. All rights reseved. For more info, see the end of Part 1 of this story. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Legalities: Okay. ready, set go!!! Sonic the Hedgehog, Knuckles the Echidna, the Freedom fighters, the Chaotix, Dr. Robotnik, and any related characters are licensed characters of SEGA and Co. and/or DIC and Archie Adventure series Comics. Clawz the Wildcat was created by Erin Lindsey. If you want this story on your site, want to use any of my characters, or have any complications send them to: elindsey@ix.netcom.com If you have any flames you would like to send me, send them to: Leapord@ix.netcom.com ................heh heh eh heh All right, before we go I would like to thank a couple of people for "Inspiring" me to write my first fan-fic. Okay, here goes: Natalie P. - My fellow writer. My dumb sister - for not bothering while TRYING to write this story. Mom - For interrupting me constantly and bringing me back to the real world. The people at SEGA - Thanks for creating such awesome characters! Archie Comics and especially Pat Spaz and Ken Penders - Cool stories and GREAT drawings! { Even if you are murderers!;) } Stefanie S.- My friend and loyal colleague. Thanks for keepin' my feet on the ground. My thesaurus - For supplying me with another word for the repetitive "said". My Computer/Bill - The trusty machine that made this story possible. And everybody else living or non-living that has anything to do with our hero, the blue blur, the fastest thing on Mobius, Sonic the Hedgehog! -To everybody on IRC in the #sonic room, I hope you liked it! Don't forget, I'll be visiting you guys as my alter-ego "Clawz"! Okay enough of that.... Check back here for part 3 of this story coming soon!