Chance Encounters
By: Mauser
When a Stranger Comes
"So what is it you want me to do Mr. Hare?"
Downtown Ebony Hare looked up from his inventory sheets on his desk, clasped his hands in front of him, and smiled under his grey fedora. He liked dealing with hit-men. No long talks, just to the point and "where's my money." He glanced over at his muscle-dog, Blackjack, an overbearing grey bulldog that wore a grey suite as well, nodding at him before he continued.
"I need you to retrieve a certain individual for me. You see, this girl has been a hamper to some friends of mine, and I want you to bring her back in one piece." He paused for a brief second and gathered his ruthless thoughts. "Well, at least still talking. I'll pay you a thousand credits now and the rest upon delivery," Ebony rubbed his hands and squirmed in his chair before closing the offer:
"We have deal?"
The stranger nodded, with his black fedora only gesturing the node. Ebony Hare could make out part of a broad tan snout and black nose of the hit-man. The long black coat concealed the strangers body; probably to add to theatrics Downtown thought. The lighting was behind the figure's back, with his hat shadowing his face. Ebony Hare made a mental note to change the lighting and soon. The rabbit could also see what looked to be long thick red fur hair strands around the neck of the Mobian and on top of his shoulders. "He couldn't be more than 3 foot 8 inches," O-Hare thought to himself. He could see him wearing black pants with two cargo pockets on either side of his legs, that also had pistol holster fixated on his right thigh, and another holster on his left that looked to be holding his spare cells. The stranger stood on a pair of big black boots that were anchored down with two metal fasteners on either boot. His chest was covered with a vest of body armor, and under that, a green shirt that traced up to his neck
"So who's this skirt you want?" the dark figured asked, his voice not even fluctuating in tone.
"Her name is Rouge. She's a white little bat but with a figure that is all so nice. She can be dangerous in so many ways, so watch your back and what feelings you have."
"What does he want with a spy?" the dark figure asked. He knew who Rouge was. The times that he grew courage and came out from the hole, that he was adamantly trying to dig himself out of, he did his emotional best to try to stay on the up and up of the new war, only paying attention to the things that could effect him.
"Last known whereabouts?" he asked.
Ebony Hare leaned back in his chair, putting his shoeless feet on his desk and clasped his hands behind his head. "Knothole Village I heard last. She seems to be hanging out with that Freedom Fighter crowd. They don't like her very much so it should be easy to snatch her up."
"Knothole?!" the dark figured shouted at himself, "Do you really want to go that far and get this vermin's job done for him?" The stranger looked over at Ebony Hare's muscle-dog, Blackjack, who just gave him an encouraging nod. "Better play along bub. You've got bigger fish to fry with this contact." The stranger nodded at the rabbit.
"Very well! To make your job easier, me and my pal here, Blackjack, will be passing through there. We will pick her up for you and give you the rest of your payment. If it all goes well, we can defiantly do more business. If not, and we have to grab her ourselves, payback won't be cheap. Get my drift," the rabbit smirked.
"I still owe for my debts, so I shouldn't disappoint." "Except for my true colors, you doper! Maybe I should kill him and his friend now?" the Mobian said himself. "No, I need him alive to get to a certain individual. But what are you going to do about Rouge?
You'll think of something."
Ebony Hare stood up, "Great!" He then pulled out a stack of bills and tossed it to the stranger and then wrote down the grid position where the met and swap would take place. "We'll find you here," he grinned, "and we'll talk more business."
Quickly pocketing the cash and tipping his hat, the dark figure left the square particle board office. As he turned around to his left to make his exit, Ebony could see the long hair strands were dreads with one of them roughly cut in half.
"Strange, an echidna doing this work...that mug sure does look familiar thou," he stated to himself, surprised at who he took to help do his dirty work.
The stranger closed the door behind him and headed towards the door that lead out to the streets of Station Square from the one lobby. The site that Ebony had chosen for his new underground operations, like most people in the rabbit's line of work, was buried in a part of town that no one went to without a gun...and you still had to watch your back. Sunlight did not shine through the windowed doors, for the abandoned buildings across the street covered it up. The rabbit's shop, a day labor business that was used to launder money in from his "lemon juice" sales, that was illegal as all get out, even in the time of war. But what the rabbit had as friends, were targets for the stranger to takeout. Those friends happened to influence the war in big ways, and the echidna was finally reverting back to his old ways to put a stop to it. His long absence from this type of fighting and work, along with his new face, should make it an easy going effort to infiltrate these rotten underground operations.
The echidna noticed a female fox waiting on the sofa to his right, sitting with her legs crossed. He just nodded to her as he went outside. The girl just starred at the dark figure as he walked by. She couldn't get over the long scar that ran across his snout, driving down from the center of his broad muzzle and down across his check. She also noticed two smaller streaks behind his right eye. The fox was speechless as he walked out the door.
"Yo Foxy, get in here!"
He shot up from his bed in a heartbeat, sweating profusely in the cool room. He panted as he adjusted his eyes in the darkened room. The blue glow from the early traces of sunlight fought through the drawn shades, only giving enough light that drew the silhouette traces of the furniture in the room. He rubbed his hand gently over his head, whipping his face from the sweat of his dream.
His name still echoed in his head. The voice, he realized with another hard breath, was feminine. He knew it sounded familiar, but he couldn't place the image of the girl in his drowsy head.
He looked around the room once more, still a blur from his heavy eyes. He stopped when he saw the digital clock on a dresser to the right of him: it read five-twenty. With another rub of his hand that traced down his long, deep scar, he realized that he needed to get ready for his day, that was so far was off to a better start than others he has experienced. But today, somehow felt different already in the early hours of the morning.
He leaned over and reached out with his left hand at the other object that laid beside him in the bed:
"Hey babe, need to get up for..."
His hand fell on his cold pillow that laid beside him. Somehow, in the night, he must of placed it there as he tossed and turned through his slumber. He snapped his head over, looking at his hand and the pillow as he started to tremble with grief. The warm body he thought he was going to arouse wasn't there. Instead, nothingness that was covered with the white sheets. He trembled at first, at the sight of emptiness in the bed that he now sat in, but he soon placed his hands over his face...and wept a mournful cry that only the walls would hear.
Julie-Su wasn't in one of her happier moods, and she was on the prowl for the reason why. She rounded the corner of a hut and there it was: Rouge. The bat had pulled Julie's tail for the last time. The pink echidna stopped near the hut and noticed right off that the thief, with a good set of curves, was getting a little too friendly with a certain blue hedgehog.
"First my Knuckles, and now Sonic. Maybe Sally might come to her senses now and just get rid of her; send her back to Station Square."
Julie-Su was about to let her presence be known, but before she could let loose her rage, someone else from beside her called out to the same trouble making first.
"Ms. Rouge, we need to talk," came a low but cool voice from her right. Julie-Su's heart skipped a beat when she turned and saw a dark figure standing in the open field. Something about him made her instincts come alive.
Sonic looked over his shoulder and winked at the dark figure before turning his attention back to Rouge. "Looks like our little chat is done for now. See ya' around babe." With a fast smirk across his face, Sonic left the small field the way he normally does...in a blur
Rouge turned around to see the new arrival to Knothole City. Her gaze caught the flapping over coat of a dark figure, who had his hands down at his sides, and wearing a straight face that met all business. The look made her tense for a brief moment, but she calmed herself down, trying ever so hard not show any hints of fear.
Julie-Su desperately wished Sonic had stayed instead of jetting. She could see the figure, even under all the black, was an echidna. The waving dreads and the tan muzzle gave that away, but she had a different idea of what was under the furred skin.
"So what does a boy like you want with me?" came Rouge, placing her hands over her hips.
"Not me, my employer," came back the dark stranger, his voice never flinching.
"And who is your employer, Stranger?" asked Julie-Su, "Not that I don't mind you taking Batty here, but a reason would be nice."
Sally Acorn slowly came up behind Julie from around a hut. The squirrel made her way to the field after Sonic had told her that Rouge was in some sort of trouble with some guy in black. She told him to stay close and keep an eye on things before she went to see the new arrival. Most Mobians around Knothole wouldn't mind seeing Rouge getting her come-upings, but serving the right justice was in her best interest.
"Mr. Hare wants Rouge and I'm here on his behalf. How I get her is up to you all's corporation," replied the stranger with a stern voice, hoping that they would cooperate.
"That wouldn't be a Mr. Downtown Ebony Hare would it?" asked Julie-Su, remembering the last time she had the pleasure, or miss-pleasure of dealing with him.
The echidna turned his head slightly to Julia-Su. "The rabbit in the cheap suite?" he asked to Julie-Su who nodded in her reply. "Afraid so, ma'am," he replied, his voice turning eerily serious.
Julie-Su leaned back to Sally and whispered a request that she hoped the Princess would fulfill in a heart-beat:
"Go get my boyfriend and do it fast."
As Sally left, watching her back in the process, Julie-Su continued to barter for time with the other echidna. "Look, again, as much as I don't like Rouge here," she began, smirking at the white bat, "I am afraid that she is with us and she can't go along with you kicking and screaming; much to my displeasure."
"Great, she has been promoted to comrade status. Well..." The echidna pulled his long handled blaster from his drop-leg holster and pointed it squarely at Rouge. He moved the selector switch from safe to stun, and took a steady bead on the female bat as he placed his finger over the trigger.
With one fast move, Julie-Su retrieved her double barreled blaster from her boot and did the same to the dark echidna. "Okay, drop it who ever you are, and do it now!"
The dark figure twitched his head over at Julie-Su. His heart started to pound a little faster when she produced the her weapon. "Look," he began, "I need her, and I'm taking her anyway I can right now. Besides, I'll have her back by nightfall in one piece," explained the scarred echidna in steady voice.
"I don't care!" Julie fired back, "New guy in town or not, you don't go pulling weapons on people here. We have a justice code here, unlike a certain fat Overlander, and you might be seeing it real soon. Now drop your weapon and any others you're carrying!"
Rouge was shaking in her boots by now but trying not to show it. There were two gun pointing maniacs not more than ten feet from her, and both didn't seem to like her very much.
"This was a bad idea, bub! You should have..." the echidna was about to tell himself that he should have stayed home that week, when a voice came from behind him:
"I would insist that you comply with her request fellow, echidna," came Knuckles, approaching cautiously from the rear of the dark clothed echidna.
The echidna squeezed his eyes shut in annoyance, the twin scars that ran down the side and behind his right eye conjoined into one as he did so. The odds were stacking up against him as more people came into play; and it wasn't sitting well with him.
"This was a very bad idea!" he hammered at himself. He forced his eyes opened and began to turn around. Who he saw behind him changed his whole paid purpose in Knothole in an instant.
"No! It can't be! What's he doing here?" he asked himself, his voice echoing at what he saw with his widened eyes. He wouldn't have asked the question if the echidna he was starring at in disbelief, hadn't bore the white mark of a Guardian...and a particular young one at that.
"What are YOU doing here!?" the stranger asked harshly, shifting his stance towards Knuckles as he lowered his blaster to the ground.
"Looks like I'm bring peace to--"
"NO! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE! You are suppose to back home defending it!" the Echidna shouted, pointing hard at Knuckles with his free hand as he almost bolted towards him but stopping himself short before he got any closer.
Knuckles was now locked in a staring contest with one of his own kind who seemed to very interested with his purpose in life. This echidna was now challenging Knuckles' sacred duties back on Angel Island and it wasn't sitting well with him. He wondered if his father, Locke, had sent this dark figure to bring him back...he wouldn't put it past him.
"Did Locke send you for me?" Knuckles asked, his voice deepening with rage.
"No, but I am sure he'd be glad I snatched you up anyways," the dark echidna retorted harshly with a lowered voice. "Maybe I should bag you instead of the Bat," he said as he motioned to Rouge behind him. Julie-Su was now lowering her weapon with the same shock that Knuckles was feeling.
As the dark figure narrowed his eyes, figuring out what he was going to do next, he noticed the surrounding trees began to wave against the wind. His instincts kicked in and he maneuvered his blaster towards the tree line, but his move was fruitless. With one hard pull from his hand, the blaster was gone. All he saw was a blue blur that kicked up the wind so hard that it flapped his coat in the harsh turbulent air, blowing his fedora off his head in the process. It exposed his stubbed dread lock on his left side and the scars on his right. Julie-Su just froze in awe upon seeing the scars on his face.
With a hard jump, Knuckles pounced on him, landing his first punch across the echidna's jaw as he clamped onto the black coat. With a hard and load smack, it sent the stranger going over onto his left side, but not without throwing Knuckles high in the air to get him off his chest. Knuckles recovered in an instant as he quickly glided back towards the ground and was rearing up for round two when the stranger swung around. The echidna threw his coat off in one fast and fluid motion, dropping it to the ground. Before Knuckles could get the drop on him, the stranger came around with two more blasters in his hands. The coat exposed them from holsters inside the sleeves as it fell towards gravity. Knuckles also noticed another pistol in a shoulder rig on the strangers left side.
"Great three more. How on Mobius am I going to disarm him?" Knuckles snuffed at the air.
His prayers were answered by a certain, speeding blue hedgehog yet again. The dark echidna felt the wind kicking up again, but he knew he was too late to react for a second time:
"Shame on me..." he scolded at himself for making the same mistake twice.
With the same hard tug as the last, his two other blasters disappeared in a sea of blue. The stranger turned his head back to keep track of Knuckles, but only in time to see Knuckles drop on him from the air, sending them both to the ground.
"Wow, he's fast!" he grunted to himself as his head impacted the soft ground.
Knuckles grabbed his last gun in the shoulder harness and threw it out of the fray. It landed at the Sally's feet, who jumped away from it after the long black gun bounced on the ground. Knuckles then grabbed a hold of the echidna's body armor with his left hand. The black armor had four horizontal ribs that were meant to absorb plasma fire by displacing the heat and energy impact. But now, it was a nice thing to hold on too. With his free right fist, he swung at the echidna, but his effort was cut short by a block from his opponent's left arm. The scarred echidna side swiped Knuckles' strike away, and at the same span of time, the stranger upper-cutted Knuckles with his right open palm, dead center at his chest.
This sent Knuckles flying through the air and falling short at the stranger's feet. In a blink of an eye, the other echidna got up and moved into Knuckles, his hands opened and hovering down in front of him When the scarred echidna moved in close enough thou, Knuckles kicked him with his right foot just above the echidna's left knee. The stranger grunted to the sharp pain as he fell to the ground. Knuckles shot up to his feet and was ready to pounce on his opponent yet again, but the stranger was just as fast. With his right leg going under his left knee, the echidna stood up quickly, putting his naked red hands in a close defensive position as he gained his balance, spreading his feet wide. Knuckles brought his mittens up to his face and narrowed his eyes to his opponent.
They closed the gap between them at a feverish rate. Knuckles struck out his right fist, but the other echidna pivoted his torso to the side, causing Knuckles to overshoot his swing. Before his opponent could deliver a sweeping blow from his right hand, Knuckles; with his right arm still following through his first punch, back handed the stranger with his left hand. With the other echidna stunned from it, Knuckles then cocked his right fist and pushed it hard into the echidna's face. The force from the punch created two, light puncture marks as his knuckled spikes implanted into the stranger's cheek.
This sent the echidna back to the ground again, and without giving him another chance, Knuckles jumped on top of him and took a strong grasp on the echidna's shirt collar. Knuckles raised his right fist to hopefully give the final blow, but the other Echidna was too quick. He blocked it again and with his right, he opened palmed Knuckles in the chest. His hopes of loosening Knuckles's grip the second time was partially a success, but the outcome was not what he wanted. Knuckles did fly back like before, but his grip on the stranger's collar caused the shirt to rip down the center. The backwards motion stopped when the fabric met the armored vest.
Just when Knuckles was becoming one with the Mobian gravity, his emotions of victory fell to utter shock. During those few seconds of suspended animation, his eyes gazed on the newly exposed chest of the echidna. For a brief moment, he thought he saw white over the red fur. At that moment, Knuckles's eyes slowly widen as gravity came back as factor in the fight.
The pinned echidna saw the changed expression in Knuckles's eyes. A sudden feeling of fear sent shivers throughout his body, knowing exactly of what Knuckles had gazed upon. His eyes went wide with terror, knowing of what was about to be discovered of him. Before Knuckles's slammed his fist across his face, he unknownly smiled before the blow was dealt. Then came blackness.
Before Knuckles breathed the sigh of victory as the echidna went limp under his legs, he pulled back the flap of fabric to expose what he feared he witnessed. A white crest around the echidna's upper chest.
"This can't be...a Guardian!?" he shouted and stuttered out to himself in horror.
By now, Sally, Antoine, Sonic, and Tails had gathered around as they watched some hit-man get his tail handed to him.
"Antoine, restrain him before he wakes..." Sally began to order, but was cut off by a very frustrated Knuckles.
"...Who are you!" he shouted while pulling back on the echidna's torn shirt, lifting the limp body off the ground.
"Ah, hey Rad Red, he can't hear since..."
This time, before Sonic could state the obvious, Knuckles repeated his last phrase to the point of crying. "WHO ARE YOU!?"
Julie-Su stepped forward before anyone else could reach him, knowing something was dreadfully wrong from the sound of her beloved Knuckles' voice. "Honey, what's wrong?" she asked with a very sincere voice, hoping to calm her lover down. When she got closer, she could see why he was almost to the point of tears.
"He's a Guardian Julie-Su!" he said, choking back his emotions. He took a long breath and repeated his findings to himself in disbelief. "He's a guardian..."
"I don't get it Knuckles," said Tails as he gazed at the wooden floor of the Café, "I thought we'd traced back your whole linage of your family?"
A couple of hours had passed and Knuckles found himself just starring at his grape soda that was warming up with each passing minute in his hands. The pain from his chest had finally let up from the fight that he had undertook only hours ago. "He sure hits like my Father from the few times we spared," he thought to himself. Tails was right, he was sure that there weren't any other grandparents that had been kept secret from him. And this Guardian that they had locked up in the jail; he looked too young to be any of that. So who was he?
"I don't know Miles," came back Knuckles as he nervously scratched his forehead, "Antoine said he'd come get me when he came too. So, hopefully we can get some answers."
"And why is he working for Ebony?" festered Julie-Su from beside him, "Something is not right about this."
Knuckles just shook his head as he took another pull from his drink.
Antoine stepped inside the main holding block, which didn't have much in the way of cells. The blue uniformed coyote held a tray of food, mostly containing grapes and other fruits, for Knothole City's newest resident in the jail. As he crossed through the corridor to the middle cell that was holding the new echidna in town, Antoine could see that the stranger was still out cold, lying on his left side in the small bed.
Grimacing at the limp body, Antoine knelt down and started to slid the tray underneath the floor bar when in a flash, his hand was restricted by strong grasp from inside the cell. He looked up to see the echidna at his nose, bearing a look of great discontent.
"Give me the keys, now!" the echidna ordered with a harsh, stern voice.
"I'm Szorry Monsieur, I cannot do zhat,"replied the Royal Guardsmen in his thick French accent.
The echidna took his free hand and reached over the floor bar, grabbing Antoine's arm with it. The stranger then moved the coyote's arm up and over the lower bar, and up to a higher level of conversation. "Give me the keys now, or you're not going to like the outcome."
"No, Monsieur! Now let me go!"
Antoine struggled to release the grip from the very agitated echidna, but the stranger's hand was steadfast. The Guardian pulled Antoine's arm further inside the cell and jerked the coyote up against the cold steel bars. The impact stunned Antoine for a brief moment. The echidna then pushed the coyote's arm forward, then back against the bars again, all the while extending his fist through the cell. Antoine's head collided with it while his chest collided with the bars. The move put him out cold in an instant with his body slumping to the floor.
The echidna quickly grabbed the keys around Antoine's belt, and reached around the bars to unlocked the cell. He then proceeded to put his captor's body in the cell before locking the door and throwing the keys down the short hallway, making sure that someone would see them.
The echidna slowly made his way through the complex, looking for any signs where his gear might be. He soon came upon a room that said, "evidence and seizure," "Got to be here," he suggested to himself before kicking down the door. "Time to say good-bye again with your silence..."
Bunnie gracefully strolled into the jail as best as her mechanical legs could manage, her two pistols riding on her hips as she wondered why Antoine hadn't returned. She found the reason slumped inside the cell that their visitor was suppose to be in. Without a moments hesitation, she ran to the entrance wall and pushed the alarm that would soon bring most of Knothole's heavy hitters to the jail. But the first to show up wasn't Sonic as usual, but Knuckles, knowing full well what probably had happened.
He saw Bunnie helping Antoine to his feet as he passed by the cell. "How's he doing?"
"Little bump on the head sug, but he'll be alright."
"Ohw, my head," came a groaning Antoine. "Unhand me Bunnie, I needz to getz zhat..."
Knuckles looked over at Antoine as he marched by them "Stay here Twan,' I'll get em," he said as he headed towards the door with his eye brows slumped in determination.
As he reached the hall to the busted door of the evidence room, he heard the other Echidna operating his weapons and securing them in their holsters. "Will he shoot me if I enter. Probably not, but nevertheless, make noise so he isn't trigger happy," he cautioned himself. He shuffled his feet through the door and gazed upon the echidna who was busy putting his body armor on over his ripped green shirt. Knuckles noticed that Antoine didn't even bothered to secure all of the scarred echidna's gear, but instead, he left it all scattered on the table. "Need to talk to him about that."
"So you're just going to leave?" Knuckles asked.
The figure looked over his left shoulder and shrugged. "Why shouldn't I, looks like you have everything under control," he spat out. He checked his last blaster and holstered it into one of his hidden sleeves of the long black coat that laid upon the table. He then dawned on his double shoulder holster that had the other pistol in it, along with spare mags being held in on the left side. The pistol itself had a huge round barrel on it that stuck out from the slender, squared metal frame of the pistol, protruding out from the bottom of the holster.
"You gonna apologize to Antoine before you go?" inquired Knuckles with a sharp voice.
"Why, he could've just given me the keys." the echidna retorted, half mocking Knuckles.
"He has a duty you know..."
"...Yea, and so do YOU young Guardian!" he shouted, turning and marching right up to Knuckles, squinting his eyes with rage. "You haven't answered my question, why are you here?"
"I'm fighting Eggman to help save Angel Island."
"So, why aren't you doing it at home instead of here," the other Guardian asked, "and whose guarding the emerald and the Floating Island anyways?"
"The Dark Legion is..."
"...The Dark Legion!" shouted the now furious Echidna, "Sounds like you are doing a great job, oh Prominent One!" He then turned back to the table and grabbed his long black coat.
"Well, partly. But, we've identified the common enemy and the Dark Legion is helping me to secure the future," Knuckles stated, purposely forgetting the civil war end of the conflict.
The echidna put that into considerations as he put on his black jacket, adjusting his collar and smoothing out the wrinkles. "So, are you gonna pop the big question there Guardian?" he asked at the table.
"But who are you to talk about sacred duties when you wear the white crest around your collar?" Knuckles jumped.
The Echidna put his hands on the table in front of him and sighed. "I made some choices long ago, dear Knuckles." "And Locke still keeps secrets from his family," he added in his mind.
"He knows my name?" Knuckles breathed out in his mind "Then who are you to talk about my..."
The echidna turned to Knuckles with a stair that could have burned a hole through him. "...Because you have a destiny that I could NEVER HAVE!" he shouted. With his teeth chattering from the sudden explosion of anger, he turned back to the table, trying to slow his thoughts that were racing through his mind.
The cat was out of the bag now. Knuckles knew through the history of his ancestors that they all had a destiny that they "had" to fulfill. His came through a dream that his father had before he was ever thought of, which was put there by the Ancient Walkers. He still questioned if it would ever come true from all that has happened and the choices he had made...but here before him was another guardian, and he was sure that this echidna was.
But then an idea sparked in his mind: this could be a grandfather that somehow jumped through a time zone. With all the space time continuum that has been happening over the years, he couldn't let the idea pass.
But it doesn't explain the choices the dark echidna said he made.
"Who are you fellow Guardian?" Knuckles asked, his voice digressing in tone.
The other Guardian looked back towards Knuckles with a smirk, "Locke still keeping secrets? What of Lady Lara-Le, is she keeping things from you as well?" he asked, turning his scarred face towards Knuckles. "Have you ever considering if she wanted you to grow up happy?"
"How did you know what my mother wanted for me?" Knuckles gasped, his mouth plummeting to the floor.
The other Guardian sighed before speaking. "I know a lot about you Knuckles. I know a lot about you then I ever care too sometimes. If you want the answers then let the light of truth be your guide. That's what you have been taught, right?" Knuckles just nodded his head. "Then you can start by asking your father about me. Tell him that you saw another Guardian and that we had this conversation, and then you can tell him all the scars you have seen upon my face; then carefully watch for the look of sadness in his eyes," he breathed out slowly.
"And if he gives me the run around?" Knuckles asked with his arms crossed.
"Then you best forget about me!" he said, as he stepped closer to Knuckles. "You forget about me and you continue on with your sacred duties and your much happier life than mine."
The stranger turned his back and was about to put on his fedora when Knuckles decided that he had enough of taking deceptions for answers. He grabbed the shoulder of the other Guardian, and spun him around. Grabbing both sides of his collar, Knuckles then pressed his snout closer to his unknown family member's snout, who was starting to feel a burning sensation from Knuckles's grip:
"So he does have the power! Locke was successful..." the other guardian concluded rather quickly.
"WHO ARE YOU AND DON'T LET ME ASK AGAIN!" Knuckles harshly demanded.
The Guardian starred into Knuckles's eyes, seeing the frustration that was painted on them. His eyes were wide now as well, and were searching for what he was going to do next. Knowing full well of what happens if his family's ultimatums are challenged, and feeling the power that Knuckles possessed through his coat, he decided it was worth the risk of letting loose the forgotten past.
"Do you really want to know? You might get hurt if you do?" the echidna calmly stated
"And it might hurt me more if I don't!" Knuckles quickly retorted.
The Guardian shifted his gaze to the floor for a brief instant, searching for what he was about to say next. He then looked up and with a stair of confidence in his decision. He took in a deep breath:
"Knuckles," he began, "my name is Aleutian...and I am your brother."
Knuckles's eyes went wide when the words hit him. His hands released the other echidna from the shakes that ran across his body, backing himself up against the wall. "No!" he exclaimed to himself, "this isn't true. I only have a half brother not a full one. Why would my parents keep him a secret from me?"
"That's a lie!" was the only thing Knuckles could spit out from the horror that he felt.
"I'm afraid not dear brother," Aleutian shakingly said as he paused to lift himself off from the table. He waited a little while longer to make his words hit home. "My Father is the Guardian Locke and my Mother is Lady Lara-Le...the same as yours. Knuckles...I am your brother!"
Knuckles just stood there, his month opened in utter shock. As the questions raced through his mind, Aleutian grabbed his hat, pulled it hard over his head, and started to walk out; like he did so many years ago. As he passed by his stunned brother, he looked over at him. Aleutian hung his head down in deep sympathy, as he put his hand over Knuckles's shoulder.
"I am sorry that you had to find like this," Aleutian said with a comforting whisper as he took his leave out of the room, leaving his brother stunned against the wall.
The mid-afternoon sun grazed his scarred face with it's warmth as Aleutian walked out of the jail. The wind had picked up a little and he could feel it through his dreads. As Aleutian turned to the east, he noticed Antoine looking around while he was hunched over Bunnie's shoulder. Aleutian knew it wasn't going to be easy getting out of Knothole.
"You zere, zstop...!" Antoine shouted, struggle to get free from Bunnie to teach Aleutian a new lesson.
"Hold it Antoine," said Knuckles coming up from behind Aleutian, "let him go."
Aleutian turned his head back to Knuckles and nodded in thanks. As he past Antoine, he stopped and looked at him. His expression went to one of sorrow. "You are very brave, sir, for resisting me. I am very sorry for any discomfort I have caused you and to your comrades. Please take my apology at will."
And with that, he continued out of Knothole City.
Knuckles snorted, "So you're just going to leave?" The anger in his voice could be heard thundering across the field; Sonic, and Julie-Su taking a vast notice as they stepped onto the field.
"That old question again," Aleutian said, looking back at Knuckles with a smirk, "I have things to do, and you defiantly don't want my company," he said as he turned away once more, trying to let things end somewhat on a good tone.
"Yes I do, and if you leave, I will track you..."
"...DON'T!" Aleutian screamed as he turned around yet again, pointing at his brother with his gloveless right hand, "you may not like what you see of me, and I don't care to expose you to it. You have a lot going on for you here, and if you are sincere in defeating Eggman here instead of home, then stick to your duties instead of me!"
"Jeeze, you'd think they are siblings the way they're fighting." came Sonic from behind Julie-Su.
"I think there might be something to that, Sonic," replied Julie-Su, catching what Aleutian was saying.
Aleutian gave Knuckles one last hard look before turning away from him again. Knuckles watched as his new found brother disappeared into the forest.
Julie-Su gracefully walked up to him and placed her right hand over his shoulder. "Who was that Knuckles?" she asked in a soft whisper.
Knuckles just looked down at the ground as he reached up with his left hand and placed it over hers before he replied in a whisper. "I don't know...but I want answers." He then looked over at Sally who showed up in time to see the dark echidna leave to her great pleasure. "Sally, get the ship ready, I need to go to Angel Island for some answers."
"It's still dangerous to go Knuckles--"
"--I don't care!" Knuckles barked out, "if I have too, I'll go myself! I want answers and I wanted them yesterday!" he shouted with his frustrations.
Sally considered his request then nodded her approval.
Julie-Su looked over at Knuckles with sadness in her eyes. Something was dreadfully wrong and he was hiding it from her. For once there might be a good reason behind it, she thought, but she wanted to go with him to comfort him and hopefully, in due time, to find out what was troubling her equal.
"You idiot! You know he's going to be coming back after you." Aleutian shouted to himself. "You left way too many questions unanswered to keep him away from you."
He was about a quarter mile away from the city, his mind racing from seeing his brother after so many years: grown and not where he was suppose to be. "But knowing what your father said that he could do, did you really want to find that out on your own? For all you know, he could be thinking that you're some sort of an imposter, anyways." came his subconscious.
His ripped shirt was starting to flap around in the breeze, exposing his white mark of righteousness that he wised that he was never born with. He covered it back up quickly so that it wouldn't remind him of the shame that he has brought onto his family:
"But the ones knowing of my shame are my Parents, and what is left of my friends. But my friends have never considered me as dishonorable, ever," he pointed out.
"But now my brother has seen me. What does he think of me? What 'will' he think of me when he finds out what has happened, and who've I'd become? I hope this encounter hasn't set things in motion that could be very bad for Mobius. Hopefully he forgets about me...if, he does.
You can't stop freewill Aleutian. That was something that you had fought for and believed in a long time ago. That was your choice...remember. Now look at you, you're a lost warrior without any direction. Just a loner, doing a cold job for what, self-righteousness, revenge. You definitely haven't been helping the 'cause' like you did once before."
He stopped and turned to look at the setting sun behind him. The warmth that it was still generating made Aleutian wonder if this was an omen, an omen that felt like this day was the end his cold ways and to begin renewed start. But to what? The wind was starting to pick up a little more and it helped soothed the tears that were starting to stream down his scarred face. "After all these years, it's now hurting, It has never hurt before, but today of all days, it is now. Maybe you should've done what she asked of you!?" The last phrase made his heart sank. "Her..."
Just then he heard a speeding hover car coming through the forest. He turned around to see a very expensive, silver limo tearing through the forest.
"Ah great! I forgot about him." It was Downtown Ebony Hare and Aleutian knew he was looking for Rouge and possibly him too. "That is a tough crowd back there Aleutian. I'm sure they can take care of themselves," he concluded to himself.
He started back on his journey home but his subconscious stopped him again. "But Blackjack is definitely with him, and Blackjack could hurt someone badly before he's taken down." Aleutian thought hard, then it hit him yet again, "And they probably torched your hover car since you didn't meet them for some reason. It's a long walk back home, Aleutian."
Aleutian took a deep breath and turned back around to Knothole City.
Julie-Su was rounding a hut with her backpack in her hands, motivating towards the hangar-bay, her face boarder-lining on frustration and puzzlement. Her journey was cut short when a big grey hand took hold around her throat and lifted her off the ground. When she blinked from the reaction of the sudden jolt, her eyes fixated on a very familiar dog face.
"Want to see if you can escape from my hands, there Dollface. No place to catch your fall this time!" came the gruff voice.
Julie-Su dropped her bag and reached for her boot where she kept her double-barrel blaster. Blackjack caught the move out from the corner of his eye and increased the tension around her throat. She stopped her movement and began reaching for Blackjack's hand, trying to pull it away from her throat. The constricting grip began to cut off precious oxygen to her lungs.
"Not so fast there little one," scorned Blackjack with a smile.
"Way to go Blackjack! Nice way to get us a barging chip," came Ebony Hare from behind him. "GATHER AROUND FREEDOM FIGHTERS AND LET ME DEMONSTRATE REAL MUSCLE!" he shouted at the top of his lungs.
The request got Knuckles' attention in a hurry, sensing the voice sounded some what familiar. He ran to the open circle where he had first met Aleutian and stopped to see Julie-Su dangling in the air, grasping at the arms of the goon that was choking her. "Put her down now!" he demanded right off.
"Ah, our fearless leader is making demands," squinted Ebony.
Sonic then rushed up behind Knuckles. "Actually I am the fearless leader and I say you put the girl down."
"How about this, you give me a certain Bat named Rouge, and I'll make sure Blackjack here, doesn't snap her neck off," fired back Ebony, showing who was holding the cards.
"Oh, her again...," grunted Julie-Su with what little air she could breath in, "...just take her and go away...please?"
Rouge stepped into the open, her hands on her hips and sporting a flashy smile. "What do you want Downtown?"
Ebony Hare turned and smiled at her. "Why you of course. Some friends of mine would love to speak with you."
"Ah, let me think about that Ebony." she said, putting her finger on her lips.
"Oh, great...I'm doomed!" grunted Julie-Su.
Knuckles was rolling his fist and getting himself ready jump on Blackjack when a cool, calm, and collective voice came out from the wood work:
"Put the girl down Blackjack."
Everyone turned to see Aleutian standing with one of his guns pointing it at Blackjack. It was the same weapon that Knuckles saw him holster in the shoulder harness before they had their "talk." Aleutian held the fat barreled weapon with one hand as he steadied the sights over Blackjack's head. His finger was placed gently over the trigger.
"Oh, YOU!" shouted Ebony with surprise, "I see you couldn't get the girl like you promised, so, WHERE'S MY MONEY!?"
"Is that all you care about Mr. Hare?" he said, his voice not even fluctuating from the added stress of the situation.
"Mostly. Now give me my..."
"...Blackjack, put down the girl now, or I can't guarantee your safety," interrupted Aleutian, raising his voice a disable to get his ultimatum across. Centering his front site on the head of Blackjack, he placed both hands around the handle of the pistol while placing his right leg back behind him. "Come on Blackjack...do it...let her go," he pleaded to the dog in his mind.
"Blackjack works for me, not you!" fired off Ebony Harre, "Blackjack, snap her neck!" he ordered with a hard nod.
Knuckles turned his attention towards Blackjack. He clenched his fist and lowered himself to jump on top of the big, grey bulldog. As he did so, Julie-Su felt Blackjack's grip increase and it was making it hard for her to stay conscious. She looked over at Knuckles with a look of sorrow and defeat, and forced out what she thought was her last dying breath., "...knuckles..."
A loud snap was heard across the open field. Knuckles's heart skipped three beats upon hearing it and thought he was too late to save the one he loved.
Julie-Su fell to the ground on her side, coughing hard, and trying desperately to breath. Down with her went Blackjack...lifeless.
Ebony saw the end result of his hired muscle and he didn't like the outcome. He started to reach inside his coat for the double barreled revolver that he kept in a small holster. If he hadn't stopped dead, he would have been as Aleutian turned his pistol in the rabbit's direction:
"Don't even think about, Ebony. I am pretty good at splitting hairs with this." he said, adding the pun to show that he was in total control.
Ebony Hare slowly retracted his hand from the inside of his jacket, holding it open to hopefully satisfy Aleutian.
"Now go!" Aleutian ordered.
"What about my money!?"
Aleutian took the wade of cash out from the pocket of his coat, bit down on a single bill, and pulled it out from under the clip before throwing the wade at Ebony's feet.
The rabbit picked it up and looked over at Aleutian. "Why you keepin' that one?"
"Bill for the bullet. Now go!" Aleutian growled, still keeping his weapon pointed at Downtown.
Downtown Ebony Hare turned with a grunt and started walking off when Aleutian stopped him yet once again:
"Wait...you're forgetting something?"
"What do you mean!?"
"Take your trash with you," Aleutian said, motioning to the lifeless body of Blackjack, his head looking oddly different from before.
Ebony Hare reluctantly walked over to the body of Blackjack, grabbed the back of his collar, that was now stained in his purple blood, and started dragging him towards the limo. "You'll pay for this Echidna!" he barked as he huffed the large dog across the ground.
"I still owe for my debts," the Guardian said, his voice deepened with disgust.
After seeing Ebony Hare walk away to the forest, Aleutian holstered his weapon inside his jacket, and walked over to where Knuckles was helping Julie-Su. Sally was about to approach him when Aleutian shot her a cold gaze that made her stop dead in her tracks. She almost trembled at the scarred look.
With his head down he could see Julie-Su was breathing hard to replenishing the oxygen that was robbed from her lungs. "Is she going to be okay?" he asked Knuckles with a comforting but stern voice.
What Aleutian didn't see was Knuckles clutching Julie-Su's blaster that already had the gas canisters loaded into the twin barrels.
"Good girl!"
"Yea. Just a little rattled but she'll be fine," and with that, Knuckles spun around and doused Aleutian with a cloud of gas. Aleutian stumbled backwards, stopping his muscle memory in his arm from going to his pistol to shoot his brother. He coughed to expel the sleeping gas from his lungs, but his site was becoming blurry with each passing second.
Before Aleutian passed out onto the ground, he looked over at his brother as his vision was fading away:
"So this is how you say thank you..."
The Guardian hit the ground, his fedora falling off from the impact, rolling away with the wind.
Knuckles lowered Julie's weapon along with his eyes that were filled with deep sadness at Aleutian. "Just this once."