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27; Another chapter uploaded! Got home early from college so i had some spare time on the PC before anyone else got home!


Chapter 3;


Now high enough, Knuckles launched himself at the closet wasp. He managed to gauge its armoured hide. But the second locked its lasers at the echidna instead of Sonic and fired.
Knuckles got hit in the head and let out a surprised gasp as he plummeted downwards. As he neared the carpeted floor of flowers, one bright pink one opened up and shot out another small arrowhead. It pierced Knuckles in the side. Then he hit the floor on his side and the arrow went in. Knuckles shrieked in pain.
“Red!” Sonic cried, but had to dart out the way as the two wasps fired at him.
“I’m fine.” Knux feebly answered as he struggled to his feet. That long, painful fall had increased his anger. He sprinted along the flowerbed, jumped and took out a low flying wasp with his fists. The last one, already damaged from one of Knuckles’ earlier attacks, short-circuited and fell lifelessly to the ground.
Now that the danger was over and they were out of the flowerbed, Sonic at once attended to the hurt guardian.
“Areyouokay?” He said in a rush of words, “I saw you fall.”
“I’m fine.” Knuckles gave him a reassuring smile, though it was a little crooked, “but one of those darn flower things got me.” He showed Sonic the new wound with the arrow embedded right in. Sonic winced in sympathy for him.
“That’s gonna leave a scar.”
“Don’t remind me! Now let’s get goieforefore anymore of those guys show up.”
“I just hope they haven’t alerted their friends.” Sonic looked to the great building before them.
“I don’t think so. They looked pretty old.” Knuckles gave the nearby carcass a brief glance.
Sonic was confused. “So they were just left there?”
“Another failed experiment perhaps? Like the flowers?” The echidna laughed, “you look so serious Sonic!”
“Yeah, come on. Let’s forget about all of this and see what this factory holds. Then we can head home!”
He nodded firmly, ignoring the burn in his side.

Once inside the factory it was dark and cold. Cracks littered the dome shape it was built as and plants had gradually grown inside through the years. Old machinery occupied certain areas of the room. Clocking devices, communicators and diamonds lay scattered on the floor like discarded waste. Old maps and diagrams ripped and dusty, scattered as breezes entered the dome.
“There’s nothing here.” Sonic uttered and his voice echoed in the abandoned factory.
“There’s to to be something here that must be destroyed.” The guardian began to search through the trash, “or why else would Dr. Robotnik protect it with those stupid pink flowers and wasps?”
“Maybe he wanted to grow his own demented garden?” Sonic suggested with a giggle.
“Be realistic.”
“But I am!”
Knuckles ignored him and folded his arms together, brow knotted in concentration. Why? Why guard this old place like it was worthethiething? Why? And those wasps that had lain, undisturbed, waiting for the right moment. It didn’t make sense. And they were surely immune to those flowers. Maybe whatever was here before, if anything, was taken long ago, by a villager, a harmless citizen?
“Let’s just go home!” Sonic kicked a stone and it hit the steel wall of the building.
“Don’t you want to know why those flowers were put there?” Knuckles asked.
“No, ‘cause they’re natural! They grew there or something! You’re just too paranoid!” Sonic shouted at him, “we were just unlucky to stumble across them first! Now come on! I’m hungry!”
“But you just ate you pathetic hedgehog!”
“What did you call me?”
“You heard me!”
Sonic clenched his fists. “You’re wasting my time. It was you who woke me up and you said that some poor wimp needed help! We are no use here! We are not a clean up crew for this old shack!”
“Fine! Be like that!” Knuckles yelled, “I’m going home. I’m fed up of your whining!”
Sonic stuck his nose in the air, showed his back to him and walked out of the old factory.
Knuckles stood there, frustrated and cross. There had to be a purpose here and something was trying to tell him something, trying to warn him. And Sonic had not helped. He was probably still moody from the party last night.
Knuckles’ anger wore off and thought it best to call the forsaken mission off. He wanted to go home and see his old friends again. He hated it here anyway. Moving off, he headed for home. It was going to be a long walk.

Sonic, having no problem confronting the flowers, sped away into the deepest parts of the forest as he made his way home. He was disappointed in Knuckles. He had been trying to show off, tried to pretend he knemethmething and Sonic didn’t. Although he did feel bad from shouting at him. He hadn’t meant the words he had thrown at him. One day they’d meet again and then they could talk things out.

Sally returned to Sonic’s small hut to find it empty. Earlier in the night she had left to spend time with Amy. Now returning back home she at least expected to encounter a hedgehog still cranky from last night. She felt a little worried. It was unlike Sonic to leave without telling anybody, especially not informing her, leader of the freedom fighters. And he had left his communicator on the table.
“Great.” She sighed. And the home was a mess from the party that Sonic had failed to clean up when everyone left.
Though he may have just gone out for a stroll, or to meet the neighbours to apologise for last night. Then again, maybe the others might know his whereabouts, like Tails?
Using her communicator she contacted Tails. He replied straight away.
“What’s up, Sally?” It looked like he had just had a bath, that or that he might have fallen into a lake.
“Have you seen Sonic?” Her voice was very urgent. She knew she might be panicking over nothing.
“Not since yesterday.” Said the fox; “I’ll be coming home shortly. Why? Is he okay?”
“I just wondered. It’s not like him to leave without telling me. His home was empty when I arrived.”
Tails shrugged. “Nope, haven’t seen him. I’ll let you know when I do though. See you around, Sally.”
“You too, Tails.” And she rested the communicator back on the table.
“Damn you, Sonic.” She muttered, “you get me so worried.”

Meanwhile as the day was now growing much warmer as the sun was now full in the sky, Knuckles had started to struggle as he journeyed back home. In truth, he had not gone that far at all since where he and Sonic departed. The reason for this was, as the day wore on, the echidna began to feel increasingly more dizzy and felt episodes of weakness that lasted seconds before wearing off again. Briefly he wondered if it was because of his new wound, but he pushed the thought aside. Impossible. He thought. He was strong and enduring. He could handle anything. And when he reached the floating island he would remove the foreign object from his side in no time.
Now crossing an unsteady bridge, Knuckles wandered along it as if he were drunk. And he felt way too hot. He felt like he was a creature of the sun, he loved heat, he needed it, so now why was he longing for the cool as heat burned throughout his body?
Now beginning to feel deeply troubled he wandered if he should head back to Sonic’s home instead. It was by far closer, though it would take a few days before he reached the hedgehog’s homeland without his speed. And with each step he took, he felt worse. He now struggled to think, put a sentence together.
He fell on his knees, as if he had forgotten that he was still on the bridge. Where was his communicator? Did he have it with him?
He frantically searched for it. “Damn it.” He whispered to himself. He didn’t have it.
Now resuming his struggle with hwn rwn resisting body, Knuckles continued. But he had stayed on the bridge too long. Ropes snapped and the old wooden bridge gave way. And as it collapsed, debris tumbled into the fast waters below, taking the Guardian with it.
Knuckles tried to scream for help but he knew know one would hear. Then he plunged into icy cold waters that stunned him for a few moments. He swam to the surface and gasped for air. Then, as luck would have it, he saw Tails flying over where the bridge once was.
“Tails!” Knux shouted, “down here! Tails!” He hoped he could hear him. The walls were high that surrounded the water though he could climb them with ease, it used up energy.
The young fox’s ears did not betray him and he could recognise Knuckles’ voice from anywhere. He dived down to greet him.
“Knuckles!” Tails cried shrilly, “what are you doing here?” The echidna clung to a wall to keep himself from going under the surface.
“Well, I was going home until the bridge collapsed.” He didn’t seem too amused, “and I haven’t really got very far.” He raised his eyes, “and you? What are you doing here?”
“Looking for Sonic.”
“What? Has he gone missing or something?”
“Well, I don’t think so but Sally doesn’t know where he is. You know how dramatic she gets.” He answered.
“I’m sure he’s okay.” Knuckles said, “we went to the Marble zone this morning to sort a few things out. He should be heading home right this minute.”
“Oh, thanks.”
“Urm, can you give me a lift?”


TBC