Chapter 6

Knuckles took his eyes off the Buzz Bomber for one second. He opened his mouth to talk, but suddenly felt a sharp pain in his back, followed by a burning sensation. And he fell. He looked down at the source of the pain, and he saw a stinger sticking out from his stomach. The burn intensified, as glowing hot pellets spurted from the stinger.

"Knuckles!" Sonic screamed. He reached out his hand.

"Soni--" Knuckles yelled and coughed up blood. He couldn't finish his cry for help.

Sonic looked at the Buzz Bomber with hatred in his eyes, and looked back to his friend, who was bleeding out.Tears welled up in Sonic's eyes, and his hands shook, as Knuckles bled out from both his stomach and back. He couldn't do anything to help Knuckles. Whatever he did, Knuckles would die. If he pulled out the Buzz Bomber, Knuckles would bleed out faster. If he attacked it, the Buzz Bomber would blow Knuckles up. If he didn't do anything...

"Sonic..." Knuckles wheezed and smiled weakly. "I guess... I guess this is it. I didn't plan to go out like this, or so soon."

"Knuckles..." Tails whined.

"Knuckles, don't say that!" Sonic yelled, his voice cracking as rain began to pour from the vortex above. "We can get you help! A Ring! I'll find you a Ring!" The Miles Electric powered off suddenly. Water must have found its way into the inner workings through an open socket.

"Sonic... Run, Sonic..." Knuckles whispered sharply. The Buzz Bomber pulled its stinger out of the stab wound. Knuckles fell to the ground.

Sonic sped and caught Knuckles. Knuckles was slipping out of consciousness. His heart barely beat. Blood stained Sonic's white gloves, as he pushed to stop the bleeding from both sides. But there was too much spilling out. So Sonic picked up his friend and he ran as fast as he could. He ran out of the storm and onto the shore and tried to give Knuckles a Ring he found in the sand. But it didn't work.

"Work! Work!" Sonic cried, as thunder cracked in the distance. But it was no use. Knuckles' heart stopped beating. "No... no.... NOOOOOOOO!" Sonic clutched his spines and cried out into an uncaring sky.

The news spread quickly. Knuckles the Echidna, Guardian of the Master Emerald, leader of the Resistance, was dead. The world mourned its fallen hero. But none of them mourned as much as Sonic.

Out of everyone in the world, Sonic had been the closest to Knuckles. Knuckles had spent nearly his entire life on Angel Island, and so it was decided it was best for him to be buried there. He would have his eternal rest the exact place where he was born.

All of the Resistance gathered there. They did the Resistance salute of putting their pointer finger in the air in front of his grave by the Master Emerald shrine. It was a symbol of hope, trust, friendship, and now more than ever, respect for their leaders.

It didn't rain that day. Instead, the sun shone brightly. It was as if Knuckles was up there in the sky somewhere telling them that everything would be okay. Nobody likes rain, they like the sun! And Knuckles knew that. He knew that more than anyone. So he gave them the sun.

After the burial was held (a miracle, as Angel Island is unpredictable in its route across the sky), with many friends reuniting to grieve, Sonic was left alone on the steps of the Master Emerald shrine. He sat there and thought back on all their great adventures The hours passed. Usually, Sonic would not stay still for that long. But he needed to slow down for this. Things like these are pretty blink and you miss it for Sonic, but the impact they left was huge. Tails thought it best to check up on him. So he did.

"Sonic?" Tails asked, as soon as he got to the shrine.

"Hey buddy..." Sonic sighed, lifting his face from his hands.

"Just checking up on you," Tails said. "I was wondering if you wanted to head back to the workshop."

Sonic paused at this. He stood up and walked over to Tails. "Yeah, about that..." Sonic said, trying to keep his cool in front of Tails. "I think... I think I'm going to stay here."

"What?" Tails exclaimed. It felt like a brick hit him in the chest as Sonic said those words.

"Yeah. You know, taking care of the Master Emerald. Keeping intruders off the island," Sonic replied softly. "It's what he would have wanted."

"Sonic..." Tails whimpered. Tears welled up in his eyes, and then they started streaming down his face.

"Don't cry." Sonic knelt down and wiped the tears from Tails' eyes. "It's going to be fine." Sonic wrapped an arm around Tails. "Tails, I know I don't show it a lot, and I know you think I still think of you as some kid following me around, but the truth is, you're so much more than that.You've really grown up since we met. You're a capable fighter, and moreover, an amazing friend. Tails, I couldn't even begin to tell you how proud I am of you."

"Will you still be able to visit?" Tails asked.

"No, but... with that new Miles Electric you gave me, you can track me down anywhere, and you can fly the Tornado here," Sonic assured Tails. "Then we can pal around like old times, like before the war!"

Tails smiled through his tears, and nodded. Sonic moved his hand across the night sky. "And whenever you miss me, just look up to the stars." Sonic spoke softly. "You see right there?" Sonic pointed at a collection of stars that made out the shape of both Sonic and Tails, side by side. "That's us. No matter what, we will always be up in the sky together. Just like when we chased Eggman into space in the Tornado."

Tails jumped up and hugged Sonic tight. Sonic, surprised at first, wrapped his arms around Tails. "You're Mobius' hero now. And the Tornado is yours. It's always been your plane."

"Thank you, Sonic... for everything," Tails said weakly.

So, the two said their goodbyes and Tails flew off into the Tornado. Sonic waved one last goodbye to his old friend as the plane disappeared over the horizon,Sonic sat down again on the steps and took a deep breath. He'd probably be on Angel Island forever, guarding the Master Emerald. As Knuckles would have wanted, he thought to himself.

And he did, until time ended soon after.

Bad Ending reached. "Sonic, Guardian Of Angel Island"

To go back, go to Chapter 5