Disclaimer: Mighty the Armadillo, Knuckles the Echidna, Sonic the Hedgehog, and all similar chars are (c) to Sega. Eliza the Echidna, Kale the Echidna etc.. are (c) by me. Please ask me for permission, and show me the placement, if you want to use my chars. Brian Jacques's Mattimeo inspired me for this one =)
Eliza is pronounced é-lee-za.
Lyrics from Chad Kroeger's "Hero."
Thanks to Logan and Nightshade, who encouraged me on this, and helped me with some stuff. ^^;;
Without them, this story would have never come into fruition. 

A figure sat in a lone chair, basked by darkness. The figure, not quite solitary, was accompanied by another.

"Ret.... I think it's time to make to make our move against Mighty," said the first to the second.

The second, Ret, replied with, "Yes.. but how, great master?"

"Intelligently." The figure's tone was assured.

Ret began to get excited, like a small child.

"How are we going to attack him, sire?"

"Not in a straight out attack. More sneakily."

Ret nodded. This was his master's way.

"In fact.. we're not going to attack him at all."

Ret, blinked, visibly confused.

"We're not..?"

"No."

"Then.. how?"

"Ret, who is it does he care about more than anything else in the world, that he'd gladly give up his life, and who knows what else for?"

"The little echidna, master."

The figure smiled, a twisted smile. His teeth glinted maliciously.

"Exactly."

The Armour of an Echidna

"Grah....must....win.. push...." Tails pushed with his strength.

Amy maintained her grin, and also tried.
Eliza watched the arm-wrestle with amusement, snickering at the fact that Tails was losing. finally, his arm hit solid ground, and both contestants relaxed. Tails muttered something incoherently, and Amy giggled.

"His pride is hurt."

"I'm still stronger," Tails huffed.

"Wanna bet?" the pink hedgehog challenged.

"Yeah." The two tilted their heads towards Eliza.

"Don't even THINK about it." Eliza glared at the two, "I am NOT a weight."

"Sure you are."

"She's two light anyway."

"Go lift Knux."

"No way! He's too fat."

"I'm stronger!" Amy argued.

"I AM!"

"I'm stronger than both of you put together," Knuckles appeared, folding his arms, and looking down at the two children in a superior-like way, "And that settles it."

"No, it doesn't."

He placed his large hands on the shoulders of the young competitors, and pressed down.

"Want me to show you?"

"Shutting up...." the two  droned in unison.

"'Sides," Knuckles added, letting go so abruptly that they almost fell over, "You two need to get back."

"No!" Amy protested.

"Yes. You've already been here two days. Time for you brats to get back to Knothole." He ushered them to Tails's biplane.
Eliza waved cheerily, and Tails started up the machine. As in took off, Amy felt very uncomfortable, and sad. A sense of foreboding hovered around her.

"Tails..." Her tone was soft. Eliza was nothing more than a dot now.

"Yeah?"

"I have a terrible feeling inside of me.... like something really bad is gonna happen."

Tails turned towards her, a look of concern of his face.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know, Tails, I really don't. It's just a feeling, I guess."

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

That night...

Eliza shifted a bit in her bed, murmuring incoherent words, and clutching her blanket warmly. Seized by a deep and peaceful sleep, she didn't notice two weasels, approaching her.
One stripped the cover off her, making Eliza babble a bit, and move slightly.

"Aw... ain't the little bugger cute when she's asleep?"

"Shaddap and take the kid already," he pulled out unpleasant looking syringe, filled it with a liquid, and injected 
the young echidna. She instantly went limp.
The first one thrust the little echidna into a sack, slung her over his shoulder, and walked off into a transport vehicle, zooming out of view.

**************

"Mornin', squirt." Knuckles yawned a bit, and walked  into Eliza's room. Funnily enough, she wasn't there.

"Strange," Knuckles thought. He shrugged it off, and continued with life.

By the evening, Eliza still hadn't shown herself.
Knuckles called up the Chaotix, but got no results. He began to get anxious. It wasn't like Eliza just to disappear like that, without any notice.
So, he called the Chaotix to keep a look out, and went to sleep.
Come morning, still no results. He was getting worried. He decided to contact Knothole.
The Guardian walked over to the communicator, and the familiar face of Sonic appeared.

"What's chillin'?" Sonic asked, his voice cheerful.

"Have you by any chance, seen Eliza anywhere?"

"Hmm? Nope, Sorry. Why?"

"She hasn't appeared for a day now. She disappeared, without any notice. It's not like her at all... I'm getting worried...."

"I'll ask. But don't get riled up yet. Maybe she needed privacy or something."

"Still..."

"Be back in a nanosecond." He zoomed off, reappeared soon after.

"Nothing."

Knuckles frowned.

"If she doesn't show up by tomorrow, I'm calling a search party..."

"Kay. We'll keep an eye out."

"Thanks."

The transmission ended.
It went on.....
Soon, search parties were spreading out all over the Floating Island, searching for the missing echidna, but to no avail...

Eliza moaned, rubbing her head. She felt as though her head had been smashed with a jackhammer.

"Where am I?" She slowly opened her eyes. A malevolent leering face came into view.

"Your worst nightmare."

Something yanked her upright, and Eliza noticed that she was chained.

"Who.. are... you?" she managed.

"I," he announced, "Am Shay-lu the magnificent. Welcome to my camp. Here, we have some simple rules.... You must obey my every command, for it is I, who holds the whip. I don't think you've ever been in a slave labour camp, my dear Eliza."

Eliza's eyes slanted in belligerence.

"Well," he continued, "Let me tell you how it works here... you obey me, and my soldiers, or there is pain." He crackled the whip two inches from her face,

"Got it?"

Eliza said nothing, but fixed him with a glare that could pierce steel.

"Hmph. We'll have trouble with this un', alright..."

Shay-lu snapped his whip in her face,

"Now get to work, SLAVE!"

Shay-lu's prediction's turned out to be right. Eliza was rebellious alright, quite similar to Mighty, when he was a slave. However, she lacked the physical strength that was so desperately needed...
Two days had passed since the unfortunate echidna's arrival.
Shay-lu has slaved her, long and hard, longer than the others. She had one hour to sleep, and the remainder of the night was spent running laps, or with him in his study.
Such was the case this night.

"Ah, Eliza." One of the guards shoved her roughly, and she stumbled before the weasel,

"Welcome." Eliza took a minute to scan her surroundings, then reverted her eyes onto Shay-lu.

"Sit down, child."

No reason not to obey. She sat herself on the carpet, but folded her arms.

"You're probably wondering what you're doing here."

After a short pause, Shay-lu drawled on.

"I was once a slave driver, a guard, mind you. In my company, I had a young armadillo. I think you know him quite well."

"Mighty?"

"Very good. He, was a rebellious slave, not unlike yourself. Those were terrible days... I tell you. I wanted to help. He didn't trust me... when Fiona, a good friend of his got taken, I offered to set him free... I don't know what came over him.. but he attacked me.. I tried to defend myself, but he was just too strong.. I begged for mercy, but he granted me none.. He threw me onto the cliffs.. I survived... and that is my story."

"LIAR!" Eliza snarled, her spirit lit up with fire, "Mighty would never do that!"

"Believe what you want.. for it is the truth.."

"No, it's not! Mighty's good.. and nice.. and caring! He would never attack someone that tried to help... You probably just twisted the story around, because you couldn't stand how better, and much more loved he was, then a scumball like you!"
Shay-lu was gripped with a steely rage. He curled his fingers around Eliza's neck, and slammed her into a glass bookcase. It shattered.

"SILENCE, FOOLISH PUP!"

And he slapped her hard across the face.

"It doesn't matter whether I was telling the truth or not, echidna!" he spat, "I'm still going to get my revenge, through you."

"Oh yeah, well-"

Shay-lu hit her again, silencing her retort.
He hurled her onto the ground.

"Now, you're going to write a letter for me."

He sat her down, and thrust paper and a pen into her hands.

"Write what I say."

Eliza shifted the utilities around in her hands, then looked up at him for instructions.

"Dear Mighty...
Remember me, boy?"

He stopped, than reverted his eyes to Eliza, who had just finished writing. The scrawl of her pen halted.

"That's right. It's your old pal, Shay-lu."

Her pen scraped against the paper, but her eyes narrowed.

"Guess who I have here with me... your little-"

He cut himself off in mid-sentence, casting his eyes in her direction,

"Why have you stopped writing?!" he demanded with a snarl.

"Write your own letters. That is, if you know how to write."

Shay-lu seethed, and screwed his teeth together in an effort to calm himself.

"Marl... take her to the containment room."

A massive form bent down, took the little echidna into his arms, and carried her to a small chamber, and strapped her down onto a table. She managed to steal a glance some nasty-looking instruments.
Marl pulled out a whip, covered with small, pointy teeth of some sort, and walked to the table.
He winced empathetically.

"I'm sorry I hafta to this to you, little kiddo."

He paused.

"But orders are orders," he sighed, a hint of regret in his voice.

"Kiddo.. you have to be good. Please. Master Shay-lu has a violent temper.. Please be good. Listen."
Eliza remained silent.
Normally, Marl wouldn't have said anything. It was normal for Shay-lu to slave children. But this little one was.. was so small. And a girl..
Marl pushed his personal additions to the back of his head, and half-heartedly flicked the whip at her unprotected back. Eliza's body went through a short spasm, but she stayed completely silent.
The whip came down again, and again.
Shay-lu kicked the door open, and snatched the whip from Marl.

"Get out. I want some private time with our guest."

Marl did as he was told.
Shay-lu advanced towards her, whip in hand. He wasn't sure whether to be happy, or to be angry.
He brandished his whip, and slammed it down on her.

"For-"

Snap.

"-Your-"

Snap.

"-Own-"

Snap.

"-Sake-"

Snap.

"-You'd-"

Snap.

"-Better-"

Snap.

"-Drop-"

Snap.

"-The attitude-"

Snap.

"-GIRL!"

Snap.

"Let me-"

Snap.

"-Assure you-"

Snap.

"-By-"

Snap.

"-The-"

Snap.

"-Time-"

Snap.

"-I'm-"

Snap.

"-Done-"

Snap.

"-With you-"

Snap.

"-You'll-"

Snap.

"-Know-"

Snap.

"-The-"

Snap.

"-True-"

Snap.

"-Feeling-"

Snap.

"-Of-"

Snap.

"-PAIN!"

Several Days Later..

Search parties had been called. They had searched various places, all of which proved fruitless.
Knuckles was getting restless.
Mighty returned home, elated and unhappy. He blinked. On his table, was a letter.
He picked it up, and examined it, perplexed.
Who would write to him at a time like this?
He neatly opened it, and smoothed out the paper.
Eliza's handwriting!
His heart jumped, but soon fell.
Only the first few lines were her handwriting.

Dear Mighty,
Remember me, boy?
That's right, it's your old pal, Shay-lu? Guess who I have here with me? Your little friend, Eliza, if you haven't guessed by now. It's been a while, hasn't it? Miss me? No matter. Eliza is here, being slaved for me. If her and handwriting is not enough to prove it to you, then I have a bit of her blood here. Don't worry. She's alive. For now... But I'm not guaranteeing her safety.. What do I want, you ask?
First, you have to find me, next, I want the Chaos Emeralds...
Oh, and, don't take too long...
The more time I spend with her, the more pain I inflict.
Ta ta,
Shay-lu


There was a small speck of blood under his name. And, that was definitely Eliza's handwriting. Mighty cursed under his breath, and slammed his hand onto the table, accidentaly splitting it in half. It crumpled.

"No..." he muttered, "Why'd he have to take Eliza?"

Mighty sank to his knees, clenching and unclenching his fists, trying to soothe himself.

"I don't even know where they are..."

He took the letter, and tossed it into the fire.
As determined as ever, Mighty stuffed a few belongings into a back-pack, and headed off.

"I'm coming Eliza, I'm coming..."

****

A few weeks had passed since Eliza's capture.
They were slow, and painful.
Her aggressive spirit began to disintegrate. Shay-lu still treated her worse than any other slave, and her fellow slaves noticed this. Not once, did any of them even offer to help, at all.
She had become even thinner, and was covered with bruises, cuts, and whiplashes.
Her fighting spirit... died down as reality hit her hard, the reality that she was never going to see any of her friends again. She has just began to get close to her long lost older brother, and they were separated. She could sense his presence.. on the planet. Some sort of a bond, you could say. That's how she knew he was alive when Enerjak took over. (A/N: The Dark Vengeance Re-Write)
The stars still shone, and it comforted her, in some strange way. She should have been sleeping while she had the chance, but the echidna found she couldn't.
She fixed her eyes on the sky above, and quietly began to sing..

"They say that a hero can save us, I'm not gonna stand here and wait.. I'm gonna fly on the wings on an eagle, and watch as they all fly away...."

She sighed.

"Watching us....."

Vector had shown her that song.. and she had liked it.

Vector.

She looked up, with shimmering eyes, at the moon.
A single tear rolled down her cheek, and unto the ground

"Will I ever see them again?"

Mighty trudged through the forests, like a robot.
Nobody he asked had heard anything about Shay-lu, or a slave camp for that matter.
All of a sudden, he collided with something. The other figure fell back a few feet.

"Sorry.." Mighty said sheepishly.

"No, I'm sorry, mate. Wasn't paying attention to where I was goin'"

It was an echidna. Mighty helped him to his meet. His fur was silver all over, and he sported a brown vest, and boots.

"The name's Kale,"

"Emm.. I'm just Mighty, I guess."

"You a Chaotix?" Kale inquired, with an accent.

"Yeah.. are you from the Down Unda?"

"Not really, mate."

There was a brief silence, quickly shattered by Kale.

"Whacha doin' so far away from Chaotix Central, mate?"

"I'm...well...looking for someone.."

"Don't be to be nosy.. and just say the word and I'll shut right up-"

"I'm looking for one of my team members, Eliza."

"Ah.. the little Guardian."

"Yeah.."

"Didn't she go missing..?"

"Yeah..."

"I'm sorry, mate. If I can help in any way.."

"Kale, have you seen any slave drivers.. or something suspicious?"

Kale pondered this, rubbing his chin reflectively.

"Well.. I did see some weasels pass by here a while ago..

"Go on!"

"And...  Their footprints led to the entrance to the path to the Beyond.."

Of course, there were a few unexplored spots. The Beyond was a place past the vast deserts of Sandopolis, past canyons, there was a rocky terrain.
Only one person had made it to there. Knuckles, a few years before. He had managed to scout through the desert, and to the Beyond.
He had said that there was nothing to see.
No wonder the search parties couldn't find Eliza.

"C'mon!" He grabbed Kale by the vest, and whisked off.

After a bit of confusion, and exercise, the two companions stopped.

"This is where the footprints ended."

They were in the edge of a forest, and the path to the Beyond was still about 10 minutes away.
They knew, because they both felt warm.

"Great.. now, where do we go from here?"

"They couldn't have gone through the desert.." Kale ceded.

"Then where?!" Mighty questioned, exasperated.

"Patience is a virtue, Mighty."

"How can I be patient when that monster is doing who-knows-what to poor Eliza..?"

"Point taken... Hey, I just thought of something.."

"Yes?"

"There must have been another way in.... underground!"

Mighty's face lit up.

"That makes sense! So, all we need to do is look for a cave..."

"But we're in the middle of a forest, Mighty. Where are we going to find a-"

He stopped in mid-sentence, realization hitting him.

"Mighty, we saw a lake a little while back....!"

The armadillo quickly caught onto Kale's line of thought, and both rocketed off.
Kale bent down to the water, looking down.

"I can't tell..."

"I'm a pretty good swimmer." Mighty stated, "I'll check it out."

"Mmkay, but be careful, mate. Who knows what's in that water."

Mighty flashed him a confident smile, and plunged into the waters with a graceful dive. The water rippled where he has contacted it, and after two minutes of suspense, Mighty re-surfaced, beaming.

"There's nothing in the water.. except for a cave!" he cried gleefully, motioning Kale to join him.

"The water's nice."

"We'll see about that, mate." Kale also plunged in, and followed the armadillo into the mouth of the cave. It was dark, but they re-surfaced.
Kale's keen eyes could barely make out wet patches, but they stopped a few meters into the cave.

"I can't see," Mighty stretched his arms out, feeling his way around.

"C'mon mate, let's get through here..."

"Kale.. I think we should split up."

"Righty-o, mate. G'luck with your echidna."

And the two friends bravely strode off, in separate directions, into the unknown, making their why through the winding, forked paths.

While the two heroes were on their quest, Shay-lu did everything in his power to make Eliza as miserable as possible. She was emaciated, gaunt, and she collapsed often.
When this found happen, the guards would swarm around her, whipping her with any weapon they had around.
Her chains seemed to weigh a ton, when in fact, they weren't that heavy at all, and she often tripped on them.
Shay watched all this with a leer.

"She isn't going to last much longer.."

****

It seemed as though he was in those caves for years. He has memorized the entire layout of the huge place.
He perked up, a shaft of light shining on a rock beside him.

"LIGHT!"

He was so hungry... Mighty hadn't eaten in ages.
He scurried to the light, with renewed strength, ignoring the fact that he was tripping, and finally, bounded out of the cave, bursting back to the land of sunlight.

"Yes.." he breathed, almost ready to hug the grass.

After the he had calmed down sufficiently, Mighty picked himself up, and scanned his surroundings.
Cliffs.

"Master Shay-lu!" Ret bustled in the twisted weasel's main chamber, panting.

"Ret?"

Ret hacked a bit, then continued,

"Mighty...has been spotted.. at the edge of our land."

"About time.... Excellent. Send out a welcoming committee, to greet him.."

"He's not carrying any Chaos Emeralds."

"So be it. Also, why don't you inform him that it's been a month since Eliza's capture.. and that she may not be alive..."

"Yes, sir."

Mighty gazed around, then took some steps forward. His stomach growled.

"Halt!" 

Five armed soldiers formed a semi-circle around him. A weasel came out before him.

"You work for Shay-lu?" Mighty asked lowly.

"Yes."

"Where's Eliza?"

"Well," Ret put in, "After a month of slave labour-"

Mighty cut him off.

"A MONTH?!"

A feeling of deep horror came over him.
He must've spent atleast two weeks in those caves!

"Yes, a month."

Mighty immediately fell silent, waiting for Ret to go on. His heart beat quickly, and he clenched his fingers together in anticipation.

"-She's not looking very good."

Mighty phewed.

"But-"

He tensed.

"She's fading."

"Alright.. what do you want from me?"

"Shay-lu wishes to have an audience with you. And no funny business. Come with me." Two of the soldier gripped each of his arms, and the other two clouded him, and led him into the base.
Shay-lu was there to greet him.

"Ah... Mighty. I knew you'd come."

Mighty scowled, and clenched his fists.

"You look thrilled to see me, my dear boy."

"You-"

"Tsk tsk tsk." Shay-lu wagged his finger at the armadillo, frowning.

"Keep your mouth clean, my dear boy."

Mighty growled quietly, glaring daggers at the weasel.

"Have a seat."

The guards chained him down.
Another one came in, shoving a weary Eliza in front of him.
She was battered, and beaten all over. She had bags under her eyes, and she was even skinnier, if it was possible, than before. You could see her ribs.. and she had slashes, and whiplashes all over her form. Her once bright red fur was caked with dirt, and mud, mixed together with dry blood.
But her eyes shone, as bright as ever, when she saw him.

"MIGHTY! I knew you'd come!"

She threw herself into his arms, and he cradled her.

"You....monster... What have you done to her....?"

He gently embraced her.

"It'll be alright kiddo..."

Shay-lu watched this, bemused.

"Touching little reunion. Too bad it's so short."

"Times up, buddy."

The same guard ripped Eliza out of Mighty's arms, and muscled her out of the room.

"She brought it upon herself, Mighty."

"I don't know where the Chaos Emeralds are, Shay-lu."

"You know very well where they are, Mighty. But, I knew you'd never give them to me.. so, I've made.. other 
plans."

"Please, Shay-lu, just let her go."

Shay-lu sneered at him, savoring the moment.

"You don't know how satisfying this is to watch. You, my greatest enemy, the one who took everything away from me, made me lose all my power. They threw me out, and I was forced to live on the scraps of others... until, I raised to power. I have always wanted revenge Mighty.. and this is as sweet as it gets. You, here, begging."

Silence.

"Oh, you must want to know all about my brilliant plan."

Mighty wisely held his retort back.

"I've gathered, from previous encounters, that you can't be taken down physically. Not even from the back.... so, I devised a sneakier plan. But, none of this could have been done without the other villains... all of which I will go through now. Their strengths.. their weaknesses.. I gathered from them.
Enerjak. He had ultimate power, he was doing well. But, the idiot echidna was too full of himself, and he under-estimated _both_ the Guardians. He should have known that Knuckles, as a Guardian, would, sure as anything, find a way  to weasel his way out of Death's path. And, Eliza was brilliant, aggravating him, so that he would send her into the desert, after you. In fact, she knew all along that her brother was alive!
Of course... his arrogance sent him to his doom.
Next, the infamous Metal-Sonic.
Now, he, was just an idiot. He tried to take you down physically, the fool. Of course, I did quite admire when he utilized that power crystal, in your first encounter with him, and banished to you to that realm.. the Void, I believe it was called. (A/N: The previous statement was a referral to a fic that will never be written, my adaptation of Knuckles Chaotix. At the end, Mecha uses his last resort, the same thing that happened to Ray in part 3 of Looking Back, or Retrospection, as it's now called in some places. I'll explain later.)
In any case, he was an idiot. Driven only by aimless rage and loathing.
Metal-Enerjak.. I won't even bother to say anything about!
Robotnik doesn't know how to use the incredible amount of power he has!
Volgo, a kindred spirit. He did well, but faltered at the physical stuff.
But enough analyzing of them, it's time to analyze me!
You must admit, my plan is magnificent!
Simple, actually. Kidnap someone, whom the subject, you, in this case, Mighty, deeply cares about. Eliza. Snatch her away from right under your nose, and bring her into my world, a devoid of pain, and suffering.
That proves one thing.. given the proper persuasion, I can make anyone fall into my trap, even you."

Shay-lu concluded his ramble with a smirk.

"What do you want?"

Shay-lu chose not to answer that.

"I propose a trade. You may switch places with the little 'kidna, provided that you promise to obey my every command, and, I get to work you as hard as I want to. No funny business."

"Done."

Mighty breathed a sigh of relief, for Eliza's sake.

"She will be released near the borders of our territory."

Mighty gave a slight nod of approval.

"But.... if, she ever crosses foot in the camp, and we catch her, she will be admitted back into here, and no amount of pleading or begging on your part can save her."

"NO!"

Mighty's eyes went as wide as saucers, realized he had been duped.
He clapped his hand around a chain, about to crush it, but was rewarded with an electrical shock.
Shay-lu let out a dark chuckle.

"NO!"

Mighty knew as well as Shay did, no doubt about it, Eliza would come back.

"And in the state she's in... she wouldn't last 1 guard!" Shay-lu grinned maliciously, letting loose a loud dose of evil laughter.

The few guards dumped Eliza on the ground, after handling her roughly.

"An' don't come back!"

Eliza moaned, and used her hands to push herself to her feet. After a bit of struggling, she managed. She hobbled shakily to a tree, resting slightly on it.
They had let her go free.
No doubt, Mighty had traded himself for her place.

"Well.. I'm not going to leave him.." She climbed up the tree, the thought of Mighty giving her new strength. She glanced over at the camp.

"What we need here, is a good ol' plan..."

Something yanked on her ankle, and she tumbled out of the tree.

"Just where do you think you're going, young Guardian?"

"To save Mighty," she responded, scrambling out of the newcomer's arms.

"Who are you?"

It was echidna.

"Call me Kale."

"G'day mate," Eliza grinned, noting his accent, "Sorry," she added afterwards, "I couldn't resist."

"Top o' the morning to ye."

"It's night. Anyway, I'm Eliza."

"I know."

There was a brief silence, and Eliza turned towards the camp.

"Don't even think about it, mate. You need rest. Just look at yourself."

"But, what about-" Eliza's protest was cut short by the gray echidna.

"Mighty can survive another day. You can't."

"I'm fine!"

"No, you're not. You've spent a full month in captivity, and from the looks of you, the tyrant, Shay-lu, worked 
you 10 times as hard as the others. I wouldn't even let your brother go."

"It's not really your decision. Knux would go anyway. And so'm I."

Kale gripped her arm before you could move a muscle.

"Oh no, you're not. Think rationally. How are you supposed to free Mighty in your present condition? You can't even last one guard. Do you even have a plan?"

"No..."

"I thought as much. Now, you need rest, and food."

He handed her his backpack, which had a few sandwiches, soup, assorted sweets, and mineral water.
Eliza looked at him questioningly.

"Eat it."

"Sure?"

"Yeah."

She thanked him, and gratefully consumed the food. For her, they tasted wonderful. Despite the fact that she hadn't eaten properly in a month, she ate at a normal pace.
Once she was done, she lay down.

"Good girl. I'll see what I can do for your wounds, and then you sleep."

He dug through his back-pack once more, and produced some plants. He fidgeted around with the plants, and smeared some of it's juice on Eliza's wounded back.
She wrinkled her nose in disgust, but stayed silent.
It stung, but she knew, that when it hurt, it helped.
Once he had finished, he smoothed out a blanket on the ground.

"Sleep."

Eliza gratefully obeyed, gingerly lowering her aching body against the soft blanket. She was out like a light.
Kale watched her sleeping, smiling.

"G'night, little Guardian. Sleep well... there's a lot to be done.."

The Next Day...

Eliza awoke, feeling better than she had in weeks. She was still quite weak, but she could manage.
Kale was there, preparing lunch.

"Sleep well?"

"Yes, for the first time in a month."

"Okay, now, it's time to turn the thinking caps on. Shay-lu has about 50 or 60, well armed guards. There are only two of us, un-armed, and you're weak. What are we going to do?"

Eliza rested her chin on her hand,  pondering deeply.
After a few good minutes of stimulating silence, she spoke up.

"Our only hope.. is to get the slaves to start a rebellion."

"Do you really think they would rebel against Shay-lu? How brave are they?"

"Well, they're either cowards, or very selfish."

"Wonderful." He folded his arms.

"We can give them weapons..."

"Weapons? Where are we gonna get those?"

"Shay-lu has a sizeable stash."

"Are you proposing we steal 'em, Eliza?"

"I'm proposing _I_ steal them."

"How?"

"Simple," Eliza smirked knowingly,

"By night, using treetops."

"What if you get caught?" Kale folded his arms, not quite comfortable with her idea.

"I won't." Eliza assured him.

"If you say so..."

Eliza gave him a thumbs up, and munched on her food.
Her plan went smoothly, and, armed with spears, and assorted other primitive weapons, she approached the slaves.

"What are you doing free?!" one of them queried, eyeballing her.

How nice of them.

Eliza was getting the feeling that the slaves were no better than the slave drivers themselves.

"I got free," she responded, "And I want you guys to do the same thing."

"Pfft," one scoffed, "I don't know how you even managed to do it, the place is surrounded with guards."

"That's not important. You guys seem to know as well as I do that the only way to get free, is to defeat him."

"Definitely not," one snapped, "We're outnumbered, and they're armed. You must be crazy."

"Listen, I can get weapons..."

As if to prove this, she waved a few spears around,

"We can do it!"

"No way. We'll be stopped, and we'll be killed," came the cold reply.

"There's still a chance we could win!"

"A chance, is not enough. We have to be sure we'll win!"

"Cowards! Don't you want to be free?!"

"Yes.. but there is too much up a risk!"

"So, you're saying you'd gladly live in slavery for the rest of your lives?" Eliza challenged.

"We'd rather live, in any condition, than not at all."

"I bet if I were Knux, they'd gladly follow me..." she thought bitterly.

"Besides, we're still outnumbered," the spokesman pointed out.

"Well, I don't know about you guys, but _I_ can fight."

The spokesman scanned her form, and leered, but said nothing.
Her assumptions were correct.
Eliza folded her arms.

"..And so can Mighty."

"Mighty?"

"Yeah, the Chaotix. Mighty the Armadillo."

"He's here?" the animal asked dubiously.

"Yes, he is."

His face lit up.

"That puts a whole new light on things!"

Eliza hid her annoyance.

"Atleast something's going right..."

She mentally whapped herself.

"I gotta save Mighty. It doesn't matter how, or if the slaves respect me, or not."
Aloud, she said:

"So, you'll fight?"

"Yes! Definitely. When do we strike?"

Eliza breathed out a sigh of relief, then regained her composure.

"Tomorrow. By night.. Hide the weapons that you have for now, I'll be back, and we'll discuss details."

The next night....

"Attack!"

The slaves rushed at their captors, fighting with renewed spirits.
Eliza slinked into Shay-lu's main room, peering at his control panel. Mighty had been bound by shackles when she saw him, no doubt electric.
She scanned the contraptions, and sure enough, under an off/on switch, labeled, was 'Mighty'.

"Probably for the dumber minions not to touch," she reflected, flicking it off.

Mighty instantly knew the shackles had been disabled. They felt.. looser. He ripped them off, and ran off towards Shay-lu's soldiers, quite happy to be part of the rebellion.

"No doubt, Eliza started it."

His thoughts were interrupted by Ret, who scraped his spear across Mighty's arm. Mighty immediately took action. He picked Ret up by the arm, and flung him across the camp.
Ret smashed into a rock, and struggling to sit upright, trying not to scream from the pain. His back had been broken, he was crippled.
Shay-lu stood over him.

"Did you get him?"

"Yes sir."

"Good."

"Sir..." he rasped, "Please help me."

Shay-lu paused, and gave him a sneer,

"Help yourself, idiot."

"Sir, please..."

But he was already gone.

"Pretty buttons. Now they go bye-bye."

Eliza smashed her fist into the control panel, short-circuiting it. It went up in flames, and she left. She knew the room was made primarily of stone, so it wouldn't burn.
She waddled onto his balcony, eyeing the chaos below. Slaves and their former masters, were next to each other. Weapons clashed, people went flying. It was a full-fledged war.
Suddenly, she was lifted, and slammed violently on the rail.

"Well, well."

It was Shay-lu.
Eliza's eyes widened, and she fought to get free of his grip.
She couldn't.
The hard month of labour had affected her, and she found she had no strength left.

"You fool! You think I didn't expect you to come back? You think I didn't know all this would happen?! I knew very well you'd be back, and I also knew you'd be too weak to last very long. The only thing, I didn't expect, was the full-fledged rebellion, you somehow caused! And you'll pay for that, believe-you-me. You think you're so smart, echidna. You think you've won. Well let me tell you this, Guardian, this is far from over! Mighty is poisoned, he was about two days to live, and you, are going to die, right here and now."

Shay-lu's eyes were bloodshot, and they bore into hers.

"YOU RUINED MY PERFECT PLAN!" He screeched.

"YOU RUINED EVERYTHING!"

He punctuated each syllable with a bone-jarring smash against the rail.

"I had a perfect plan! But no, you, had to come, and RUIN EVERYTHING! I HATE YOU! Slaves, are not
supposed to rebel! Slaves, are not supposed to over throw me!"

Eliza gasped for air, as her ribs were being pummeled.

"YOU WILL PAY FOR WHAT YOU DID, YOU MISERABLE LITTLE CRETIN!"

He shook her hard, as if she were a rag doll.
Then, he seemed to relax.

"And now, you die."

He raised her over the guard rail, and coiled his arms back.

"I don't think so!"

Mighty dealt the twisted weasel a hard punch to his stomach. The force of the attack, made him drop Eliza unto the ground, and he was ripped away from her. He smashed into the wall.

"NO!"

He stretched out his hands in Eliza's direction, howling like a maniac.

"She's mine! I'm going to kill her! DIE, ECHIDNA!" In his mad frenzy, he slithered in her direction, claws retracted.
Mighty kicked him in the chest, sending back into the wall.

"Kale," he ordered coolly, "Get Eliza away from here. I don't want her to see this."

He fixed his eyes, now cold, on Shay-lu.

"Righty-o, mate."

Kale swept Eliza into his arms, and bounded away.
Now that he and Mighty were alone, Shay-lu's manner changed entirely.
He whimpered, and flattened himself against the wall.

"P-p-please, M-m-ighty, h-have m-mercy..." he stammered, sweat pouring from his brow.

"Oh, that's funny," Mighty's tone was cold and hard, "You kidnap Eliza, slave her, and torture her, almost to death, and then you tell _me_ to have mercy?!"

"P-p-please, M-m-mighty."

He almost looked pitiful, huddled against the wall.

"Every time I've had mercy on you," Mighty's soft voice didn't manage to conceal the rage beneath it, "You've stabbed me in the back."
(A/N: Looking Back/Retrospection, part 3)

He advanced on the helpless weasel, a murderous gaze in his eyes.
Mighty was not one to be tampered with.

****

The battle was in the slaves' favour, just as expected. Guards stood before them, cowering. The slaves looked on smugly.
Mighty re-appeared.
The slaves saluted him. He said nothing. He approached the slave driver's, and most of them begged him for mercy.
He finally spoke.

"You don't deserve to live."

And he killed every single one of them.
Kale and Eliza watched, in horror.

"He's really mad..." Kale noted, a tad nervous.

Eliza was feeling sick to her stomach. And scared.
Not because of death, but because of Mighty.
Why was he acting like this?
He was always merciful.
Had he changed?

"I hope not," she whispered. She'd hate herself forever, if Mighty became a monster because of her.

No, she mentally corrected herself, because of Shay-lu.
She saw Mighty coming her way.
She shuddered, and a unpleasant feeling went down her spine. It didn't take Mighty long to reach them.
He held out his arms, and directed his attention to Kale.

"Can I have her?"

Kale handed her to him, but watched him uneasily. He was experiencing the same feelings as Eliza.
Contrary to their sentiments, Mighty's attitude melted at once. He held her tenderly, and rocked her a bit. Eliza seemed to relax. But, there was still one thing bothering her.

"Why did you kill all of them, Mighty?"

"If they lived, Eliza, they would have only slaved more children. I know their type."

"Where's Shay-lu?"

"He's dead.."

Eliza didn't care anymore.
She snuggled against his chest, as she had done in the past, and wrapped her arms around him, going limp. She smiled, knowing that everything was going to be okay again.
It was over. The nightmare was finally over. She was going back home.
And then, she remembered.

"Mighty..!" she gasped.

Mighty blinked at her in surprise.

"Yeah?"

"You're poisoned! Ret poisoned you!"

"He did?" The armadillo's thoughts flickered to the spear attack.

"Shay-lu told me! He also said you only have a couple of days to live."

"-Then we'd better back," Kale concluded.

"Come on, I learnt a shortcut in my travels!"

It was now Kale's turn to lead. And he did so quite well.

A day had passed, and they were back in familiar terrain.
Kale stopped.

"I leave you two here. I must go get the other slaves to proper homes. It was a pleasure workin' with you two, both of you taken care now."

"Kale, I can't thank you enough for all that you did for us!"

"No problemo, mate."

"You'll come and visit, won't you?"

"Of course I will."

He tipped his hat in their directions.

"Best of luck to ye two. Adios, mes amis!"

And with that, and a cheery wave, Kale was gone.
Forever?
Not really.

Mighty and Eliza continued their trek to Chaotix Central, and the others. Echidnaopolis was almost in view, when Mighty faltered. He crumpled to the ground, his breathing labored.
Eliza gasped in alarm, crouching beside him. After a bit of examining, she concluded,

"Only a hospital can save him now..."

In truth, there was a reliable hospital right in Echidnaopolis, but getting Mighty there was the problem.

"Miss Guardian, Miss Guardian, sir ma'am!" an unknown echidna shrieked out in joy, "You're alive!"

He saluted.

"Sir ma'am! Can I be of any assistance?"

"Civilization," Eliza breathed out in joy and relief.

"Yeah, you can be of plenty of assistance. Help me get Mighty to the ER!"

The order-happy echidna gleefully picked Mighty up onto his won back, and whisked off in the direction of the Echidnaopolis hospital.

******

"Mr. Guardian! Mr. Guardian, sir!"

"What is it?" Knuckles's tone was not snappy, but it wasn't joyful either. He was quite upset over the confirmed death of Eliza, and, it seemed as though Mighty had joined her.

"A Chaotix has been reported into the ER of the Echidnaopolis Hospital!"

The messenger immediately had Knux's undivided attention.

"Which one?"

"Mighty the Armadillo, sir." Knuckles took off in a flash, literally knocking the messenger flat on his rear end. the rest of the Chaotix were notified, and they all zipped towards the hospital, but not quite as fast as Knuckles.

"Where's Mighty?!"

"Patience is a virtue, Guardian."

"Patients are for hospital.. oops... "

He chuckled in spite of himself, then reverted back to seriousity.

"He's being treated. He had some Cobra poison in his blood."

"Can I see him?"

"No. Somebody already asked me this. Go and wait in the Waiting Room, after all, that's what it's for." The doctor huffed, but winked good-naturedly.

"I think you may want to have a chat with the other visitor."

An annoyed sigh escaped the echidna, but he dragged himself to the waiting room.

An unbelievable sight met his eyes. He gaped.

"ELIZA?!"

Eliza tilted her head in his direction, but didn't have time to blink before Knux was on her. He picked her up, and hugged.

"What were you trying to do, run me over?!"

Knux loosened his grip enough to have a good look at her. He was shocked at what he saw.

Eliza still had all her abuse markings, her bones were visible, and she was still covered in her own blood, mixed with dirt.

"What happened to you?"

"Shay-lu happened."

Knuckles clenched his abnormally over-sized fists.

"Whoever this Shay-lu character is, he's definitely not going to get away with-"

"He's already dead, Knux. Mighty killed him."

"Oh."

A brief silence.

"That's where've you been all this time?"

She nodded.

"What did he do to you?"

"He slaved me."

"That son of a-" He cut himself how, remembering to keep his mouth clean. He didn't want Eliza to learn any vulgar language. She was innocent, and he wanted her to stay that way.

"You'll be fine, kiddo." He rubbed her back. To her surprise, he was being quite gentle, something out of character for him, and she had doubted that he was capable of doing so.

"I think they've both lost their minds," Espio commented snidely, ruining the sentimental little reunion, "I mean, first, Knuckles picks Eliza up, and she doesn't say _anything_, and now, Knux is being gentle. Gentle. It's not possible."

Knuckles gave him a look that could pierced steel, and shook his fist at the chameleon, growling.

"For once in your life Espio, SHUT UP!"

"Espio, quiet?" Eliza remarked, mimicking the chameleon, "It's not possible."

Both echidnas ignored the irritated, yet amused chameleon, and Knux whispered to her.

"Eliza, don't ever leave me... you're all I have left."

"I'm right here, Knux. I'm right here..."

The End.


And the moral of this story is, kids:

Don't smoke!
(Sorry, I couldn't resist..)

Updated Timeline:

Folks, this is the last time I include the full timeline.
Next fic, it will only be previews. Also, I've removed Power in Numbers, and SharpTooth form the timeline, because.. I can't do them. This, (hopefully) will be the last time I remove stories.. for now anyway.

Here we go:

**Enter Eliza: Nursed illegally in a village controlled by ruthless and evil dogs, Mighty the Armadillo finds himself far away from home. And the only way to get back home, is to overthrow the Cellos, which is next to impossible.

**Duty Calls: Knuckles and Tails have mysteriously disappeared, and Sonic heads to the Floating Island, searching for clues. But what he does find, is far more than he bargained for. A rogue echidna, an old friend, a few friendly faces, and the infamous Metal-Sonic!

**Friends 'Till the End: Tails and Eliza have been forbidden to see each other. But when Metal-Sonic threatens to blow up the island, the two know that they have to stop him, together, even if it means disobeying Mighty or even the cost of their very lives......

The Dark Vengeance Re-Write: Enerjak's back, and craving vengeance! Using Knuckles and the Chaotix as pawns in his evil scheme, the twisted echidna plans to take over the Floating Island, no, the world!

The Weak, the Strong and the Mighty: When the island is threatened by Volgo the. Stoat, an old enemy of Mighty, Mighty must go solo to stop him. However, he isn't as solo as he thinks he is.... But why is Kiibi helping Eliza, and who is that strange armadillo who saved her..?

Eliza's Birthday Bash: Eliza's tenth birthday has arrived. The Chaotix, and the Freedom Fighters are planning a surprise party. They're not the only ones who want to surprise Eliza, and this particular surprise isn't going to pleasant....

The Armour of an Echidna: Shay-lu is back, and he's geared for revenge against Mighty. The sneaky weasel's got the perfect sinister plot in mind, and he's planning to attack Mighty's 'weaker' side....

*A Squirrel Walks Among us: An urgent e-mail from Axel draws Eliza into the heart of Robotropolis, and straight into Robotnik's waiting hands. (Prelude to Trapped)

*Trapped: All has been quiet since Shay-lu's latest attack. Mecha still lies dead, Robotnik has calmed down, and there's no sign of Enerjak and his legion, anywhere. Now, a new enemy has come to the Floating Island, hoping to steal the Master Emerald and terrorize the islanders. However, the mayhem doesn't really start until Amy Rose finds Eliza bloodied, and literally ripped apart in Lava Reef.....

*Behind Steel Doors: Metal-Sonic is back.. with a vengeance! The robot, long thought to be dead, has returned, with upgrades, an invulnerability to the resistance, and a steely rage. His first action: locking Tails, Ray, Eliza, Amy and Shamus in the abandoned city of Robotropolis

***Second Nature: A competitive treasure-hunting race, quickly turns into a nightmare for the Freedom Fighters and the Chaotix when Robotnik unleashes his prize creations, instructing them with the sole purpose of collecting the Chaos Emeralds for his diabolical plan, and destroying every single mobian standing in their paths.

*Simplicity: A new girl comes to the island, claiming to be a Guardian of some sort. But things take a more nauseating twist when Robo-Knux kidnaps the girl, in an effort to manipulate her and her abilities...

*Corrosion: Robotropolis  is taken over by a mysterious being, and it becomes a base of operating for the new dictator. Mobius slowly becomes taken over by this powerful unknown. The Chaotix, and what's left of the Freedom Fighters soon learn, that they only for Mobius lies with a certain Mecha Bot...

*: Has yet to be written.
**: not finished yet, and I don't think they will be.
***: A goodie. An extra-long, action-packed fic, for your reading pleasure.