Aftermath

It is a fact of nature that there are two primal creative forces. Chaos and Order. One brings stability, the other change. Conflicting, polls apart, never intended to meet.

In his own time, Dimitri had been a scientist. He’d been fascinated with Chaos theory, and its effects. It was one of the reasons the Emeralds had interested him so much. The revelation that his brother’s distant grandson was what could only be described as a Chaos Emerald made flesh, had both alarmed and excited him as he contemplated the potential of this knowledge.

Yes, Dimitri was a scientist. He knew all about cause and effect. But in one horrible murderous moment, he forgot all about it. He didn’t even think what would happen if the two conflicting forces of creation should meet. All he saw was that the weapon in his hand could forever extinguish the threat of his hated nephew.

He aimed his blow to sever the snowy band that encircled the boy’s throat. He intended for the Blade of Order to pierce his enemy’s heart. Even when the Blade found its mark he didn’t realise what he’d done. He just laughed at the foolish boy’s pained gasp. Smiled as the light in his eyes began to dim. And cringed when, with his final breath, the boy spoke.

"Blade of Order, mystics made. Heart of Chaos is its bane. Order, Chaos, combined in one. All the evil will be undone."

And he suddenly had perfect clarity of what he’d done. He’d brought together two elements that should never meet. He began to panic. He tried desperately to remove the Blade, but it wouldn’t budge. He tried to drop it, to flee for his life, but it was fused to his hand.

He may have disposed of his enemy, but he would share his fate.

~~~~~

"NO!!" Sonic screamed at the top of his lungs. He watched in horror as Dimitri frantically tried to break away from the strangely serene Knuckles. The red echidna’s head hung back, his body was totally limp, and, though Sonic hated to think it, there was obviously no life in him.

"You murdering son of a…"

Sonic never got to finish as a blast of primal energy, emanating from the combined power of the Blade of Order and the Chaos energy that flowed in Knuckles’ veins, surged out, enveloping the entire battlefield in its glow. The force of it threw the unfortunate hedgehog back several dozen meters. It continued to radiate outwards, knocking all present off their feet.

In a heartbeat it was over, but it had left no one present unchanged.

Sally, ever in command, ever in control, dragged herself to her feet, to check on her friends. "Is everybody okay?"

Espio gingerly tested his now apparently unbroken leg. "Fine," he said. "A little freaked out, but fine." He looked at Mighty, who was equally stunned as he examined his completely healed arm.

Sally frowned as she continued to locate her comrades. She found Moni-Ca trying to calm an obviously terrified Bunnie. The lilac echidna looked up as she approached.

"She’s in shock," she told the princess, "but I couldn’t tell you why, she doesn’t appear to be injured."

Sally gasped as she looked at her friend. Bunnie was shaking like a leaf, staring at her left hand. Her light orange-brown furred, flesh and blood, left hand.

She looked up as Sally placed a hand on her shoulder. "How?" She asked.

"I don’t know," Sally admitted. "Can you stand at all?"

"I can try." With Sally’s help Bunnie swayed to her feet. She found it difficult to stay upright. So accustomed to the weight of her robotic limbs, her entire centre of gravity was out of sorts.

"Mes Chere?" Antoine whispered. "Un miracle. Tres fantastique!"

Bunnie smiled at the sound of his voice, stumbling towards him, she fell into his arms. "Guess Ah’m gonna hafta learn how to walk proper again, huh?"

Sally smiled for her friend and this strange turn of events. She noticed equally baffled Legionnaires studying their own restored limbs. Even Moni-Ca, who had pulled out her traditional high-tech braid to find it restored to its true, natural, lilac state. She looked at Sally, confused. "What the heck is going on?"

"Everyone’s accounted for," Geoffrey said as he walked up to Sally, "except for the hedgehog and the echidnas," he glanced around at the still stunned Legionnaires. "OUR echidnas." He added.

"I’ll see what I can see from the air." Tails said as he took flight.

"Julie-Su stayed with Ellie-Za," Moni-Ca said, dropping her metamorphosed dreadlock. "She’s probably still…"

"SALLY!!" Tails’ terrified voice cut through the air like a knife. They looked up to where the little fox was hovering, his hands over his mouth.

"Uh oh," Sally whispered. By his reaction she knew he’d found something. Something bad. She ran towards him as quickly as she could on the strangely slippery ground.

"Please wake up." She heard Tails whimper. She froze in her tracks when she saw who he’d been speaking to.

Sonic lay perfectly still, his limbs at strange angles. Dark patches of blood showed through his blue fur. Moni-Ca, who had followed her, drawn by Tails’ reaction to what she guessed would be a medical emergency, dropped down beside him.

The hedgehog was in a bad way. His pulse was spasmodic, his breathing almost non-existent. She didn’t voice her concerns, however. With the expressions on the female’s and the hovering fox’s faces, she could tell he meant a lot to them both. "He needs a hospital," she said, "and fast."

Sally shuddered. They were in the middle of nowhere. She wasn’t sure their transports were even working. She couldn’t understand how the energy surge could be such a blessing for Bunnie, and yet, leave Sonic like this. Perhaps because he’d been closer to the epicentre…

Her eyes widened. Sonic had been close, but there was another who had been AT the epicentre. She looked about wildly. There was absolutely no sign of him. She looked up at Tails, still hovering, stunned over the motionless Sonic.

"Where’s Knuckles?"

Tails’ focus returned. "I don’t see him." He glanced about. With his colouring he should have been easy to spot.

"You won’t find him," a voice said softly, sadly from behind them. They turned to see the black robed Spectre.

"You mean…he’s…" Sally couldn’t finish. Spectre’s only reply was a deep, heartfelt sigh. She shook her head. "There’s no reason to believe that. What makes you think that anyway?" She demanded of the enigmatic echidna.

"Julie-Su." he said simply.

~~~~~

Ellie-Za passed her hand in front of Julie-Su’s face. "You in there?" She asked. The pink echidna didn’t respond. She just continued to twist the now pink dreadlock that fell down the left-hand side of her face.

Ellie-Za didn’t know what to do. She was a self-proclaimed techno-geek. Moni-Ca was the med-tech. But she got the impression that this wasn’t a medical condition. She thought of the last thing that Julie-Su had said, before the energy surge, before she’d lapsed into this catatonic state.

"By the Walkers." She whispered. ‘They were Soultouched. That’s why she dumped us and ran off after him.’ She glanced at her friend. ‘Jeez, she must have felt him…Oh, Jules.’ She wrapped an arm around her, laying her friend’s head gently on her shoulder.

She tensed slightly as she noticed a pair of echidnas approaching. She knew who they were, even though she’d never met them. The red one, dressed in green, was named Sojourner. The other, deep rust-coloured one was Sabre. Both were of the Brotherhood. Both were enemies of the Dark Legion.

"Relax, child," Sabre said softly. "We have no desire to harm you." He noticed Julie-Su, his expression saddening. He looked at Sojourner, who nodded glumly. The young female had confirmed their fears without saying a word.

"Thunderhawk knew what he was doing when he suggested he and Locke stay behind." He said softly.

The pair turned, stopping Moni-Ca in her tracks. Ellie-Za frowned. She hadn’t heard her friend approaching.

"Uh," Moni-Ca began, more than a little intimidated by the pair of Guardians. She gestured back the way she’d come. "Spectre needs immediate emergency evacuation for a severely injured hedgehog."

"I’ll see to it," Sojourner said as he looked at Sabre. "See what you can do for the girl." He glanced at Julie-Su.

Moni-Ca followed his gaze, her eyes widening at the sight of her pink-furred friend. Her medical training took over. "What happened?" She demanded of Ellie-Za. "She’s catatonic!"

Ellie-Za looked at Sabre as he too crouched down beside the silent Julie-Su. "She felt it, didn’t she?" She whispered to the Guardian. "She felt him…"

Sabre nodded sadly, his eyes shining. "More than likely."

~~~~~

"Where are you taking him?" Sally demanded as Spectre and Sojourner expertly adjusted the straps that held Sonic on a high-tech stretcher. Several EST craft were arriving, to see to the injured, and round up the still stunned Legionnaires. Spectre nodded to the group of medical personnel that converged on the hedgehog.

"Put him in our transport." He told them, indicating the craft the Guardians had arrived in. "We will take care of him."

The ESTs nodded, none wishing to question the orders of a Guardian.

Spectre turned his attention to Sally. "I won’t lie to you, Princess," he said, "your friend is very badly injured."

"We have more highly advanced medical facilities back in Haven." Sojourner explained. "He will have a greater chance of surviving if we treat him there."

"As soon as we get him stabilised, we’ll let you know," Spectre added. "And we’ll transfer him to Knothole as soon as we are able." He noticed the look on Sally’s face. He glanced at Sojourner. "You may accompany us until we get him settled, if you like."

Sojourner raised a brow at Spectre’s invitation. It was against protocol, but he had to agree with his father. It was obvious that she had strong feelings for the hedgehog, and the thought of being separated from him was tearing her apart.

Sally just nodded dumbly, her eyes never leaving Sonic’s face.

~~~~~

Geoffrey St John watched from the relative seclusion of the trees as the Chaotix and the Freedom Fighters tried to deal with what they’d learned.

Sonic was so badly hurt his chances of survival were slim at best. And Knuckles was gone. Completely.

Bunnie, initially elated to find herself free of her half roboticised state, had buried her face in Antoine’s shoulder when she’d heard the news. The coyote gently stroked her hair as he struggled to contain his own grief.

Mighty had buried his face in his hands. Espio hugged himself so tightly he was beginning to shake. Vector stared at nothing, his eyes wide and glassy. Charmy had turned his back, his wings shivering slightly as he tried to hide his tears. Ray glanced with large, sad eyes from one face to another. The squirrel didn’t know either of the casualties very well, but the heartbroken mood was contagious.

Amy Rose wept openly, her face streaked with tears. Rotor tried his best to comfort her as he tried to wipe the tears from his own eyes. Tails had pulled himself into a tight knot, his namesake wrapped tightly about him.

"Geoffrey?" Hershey’s voice came softly from behind him. "Are you all right?"

He didn’t turn towards her. "Look at them," he whispered, his voice catching in his throat. "They lost one of their best friends, maybe two of them…and it’s all my fault…"

"It’s not your fault." She protested, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder.

He chuckled mirthlessly. "Then whose fault is it?" He demanded. "I was the one that ran him off. I’m the one who forced him to prove himself." He drew in a deep, haggard breath.

"If I’d accepted him like they had, if I’d worked WITH him, we could have found another way…he wouldn’t have…he wouldn’t be…"

"You can’t blame yourself…"

"Why not?" He glanced at her briefly before returning his gaze to the mourners. "I’m sure they do."

~~~~~

"Is there anything we can do for her?" Moni-Ca asked as Sabre gently brushed Julie-Su’s hair back from her eyes.

"We can take her home." Was all he could think of to suggest.

~~~~~

Locke was pacing back and forth across the entire length of the docking bay. Thunderhawk watched him silently. They both turned sharply to the sound of the communicator.

"What have you found?" The purple echidna asked.

"We need an emergency station set up in the infirmary…" Spectre’s disembodied voice spoke.

"For Knuckles?" Locke asked, his voice full of equal measures of fear and hope.

The message they’d received from Julie-Su as soon as the force-field bubble had come down had been somewhat alarming. Knuckles had been engaging the Dark Legion completely on his own until a pair of Legionnaire defectors had freed his friends, who joined the battle, and then he’d set his sights firmly on Dimitri. Locke already feared that he knew the truth about the fate of his son, but his heart still clung to the tiniest sliver of hope that somehow his boy had survived.

"The hedgehog," Spectre informed them, "he’s in bad shape."

Thunderhawk glanced at the youngest member of the Brotherhood. "And what of…"

"There’s no sign of him," Spectre said, fully aware of who he meant. "And his would-be consort’s in a total catatonic state." Locke closed his eyes tightly, trying desperately to swallow the impossibly huge lump in his throat. "It doesn’t look good. There’s no sign of Dimitri either." He added, almost as an oversight.

"We’ll take care of things here."

~~~~~

Sabre frowned.

Locke was strangely focused as they fussed about the hedgehog, hooking him up to various machines in their attempt to save his life through their technology. The youngest member of the Brotherhood refused to look at Julie-Su, however, leaving her treatment to the two females that had come with her. He noticed his son’s eyes flicker towards the silent pink female. His eyelids lowered, his forehead creased slightly as he tried to contain his grief.

‘Do what you can for the living,’ Locke thought, as he calibrated the life support monitor to the hedgehog’s physiology. ‘Then you can fall to pieces.’

"We’ve done all we can for now," Spectre informed the glassy-eyed Sally. "I’m afraid the rest is up to him." The eldest Guardian ushered his brood away, allowing the grieving princess some privacy. "We have pressing matters to discuss." He spoke softly to them.

Sojourner looked up from where he was checking Julie-Su’s vital signs.

"Is she all right?" Sabre asked.

"Her vitals are fine," Sojourner announced. "She’s in shock. I can’t say I blame her." He turned to Ellie-Za and Moni-Ca, sitting on either side of their still catatonic friend. "You’ll keep an eye on her?" The pair nodded. "Let us know if there’s any detrimental changes." He glanced over at Sally, and added, "In either one of them."

~~~~~

"Where is Locke?" Spectre asked as he, and the rest of the Brotherhood took their seats around the conference table.

"Maybe we should leave him be." Sabre said softly.

"We all understand how he’s feeling right now," Sojourner said, "but we must discuss the future of our line."

"With all due respect, Father," Thunderhawk said. "You have absolutely no idea how he’s feeling." He glanced around at the other three. "None of you do. You can’t comprehend the pain of losing your child!" There were tears in the purple echidna’s eyes.

Spectre sighed deeply. "There will be time to discuss this later." He looked as his grandson. "Thunderhawk is right. We all need time to mourn."

~~~~~

Locke was amazed that he’d made it to his quarters. It had been so hard, while they’d been tending to the hedgehog, for him to keep his grief in check. As the door slid close behind him, he no longer felt the need to keep up his professional demeanour. He hugged himself tightly as he felt the tears brim his eyes.

He didn’t deny them, he just let them fall.

He wasn’t sure how much time had passed when he heard the familiar arrival of Archimedes. "I’d rather be alone right now." He said, unable to look at his mentor, his confidant, his friend.

"Why did it have to be him?" He whispered. "He was just a child. I would have gladly traded places, lain down my life. Why did they take my boy?"

"The Walkers have their reasons, Locke." Archimedes said softly.

"Pah!" Locke snorted. "The Walkers! They give me a dream so I’d create a mutant son for a future purpose, and then take him away before his destiny can be fulfilled. What’s their reason in that?"

"It’s not our place to question divine reason…"

"Please. Spare me the mystical bulldust. I was never into all that mystical mumbo jumbo. That was always…" His voice trailed off. His eyes widened, his jaw dropped as he came to a sudden realisation.

"What do I tell Lara?"

~~~~~

He stared dumbly at his ex-wife’s front door. He felt like he’d been standing there for hours. He could still feel the crushing grief that griped his heart. He had always been rational, emotionally stable, and he could barely handle the loss, how would it effect the much more sensitivity Lara-Le?

He reached for the door chime, as he had several times already. ‘Maybe it would have been easier if I’d just called…’ He sighed. He had decided that it would be best to deliver this news, unthinkable as it was, in person. He felt she deserved it.

He was about to press the door chime when the door opened. Wynmacher looked at him, a small bag of garbage in his hand, more than a little stunned to find him there. He also noticed the expression on the Guardian’s face, the redness of his eyes.

"By the Walkers," he whispered. "What’s happened?" He asked, knowing full well that he wouldn’t like the answer. Wynmacher was no fool. Lara-Le had told him about her ex-husband. Locke was not one for emotional displays, so anything that could leave such an obvious mark on his face had to be bad. Very bad.

"I need to speak with Lara," he said softly, his voice cracking as he did so. "About our son."