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27; OMG another chapter

Hex; How unfortunate

Knux; OMg Sonic LOves me!

Sonic; Yep!

Knux; Well, i think that's revolting! I'd rather hump Shadow... or my bike!

Marvin; Err, that's my bike. Can i have it back?

Sonic; It's blown to bits though

Marvin; .... oh

Disclaimer; We do not own Sonic's brain, his liver or his other body parts....


Long after the kind doctor had left, Sally treated the echidna to a hot bath. Leaving the tap water running, she took off Knuckles’ socks and gloves. Then she tended to the running bath water. Knuckles tried to rise to his feet. He fell flat on his face. His legs were numb all over.
“Knuckles, keep still.” Said Sally, as she kept an eye on him.
“Will I gain full use of my legs again when I get better?” He asked wearily, sitting up.
“I sure hope so.” Sally picked him up and gently submerged his body in soft, warm water. It came up to his chest. The heat made him feel happier and calmer. His shivering eased completely.
Sally rubbed his back gently. He felt very bony. She wondered if he normally felt like this.
“Thank you for your help.” Knuckles said quietly, “you have all been so kind to me. How can I repay you?”
“You don’t have to, Knux.” She smiled.
“But I’m so worried about the Floating Island. No one is there to protect the emeralds.”
“Don’t worry, it’s being guarded.”
“By whom?”
“Well, you have your robot guardians and then there’s Lewis*.” *from fleetway sonic comics
“Oh no. Not him. He may be smart but he's weak, paranoid and easily upset.”
“Well, we need somebody who’s as paranoid as you to do the job, don’t we?”
Knuckles smiled at her comment. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

While Sonic was out seeking Robotnik’s last followers, Sally got herself ready for bed. Putting on her gown she neatly laid out the bed and put a heater mattress over on one side of the bed. The place where Knuckles was going to sleep. She just hoped he wouldn’t mind sleeping so close to her.
She returned back to the lounge where Knuckles was resting. He was sitting up, looking confused as always.
“I’m going to take you up to my room now.” Sally said quietly, “you ready?”
“What? Your room? Why?”
She lifted him up from the sofa. He was much lighter than she was expecting. “It’s much warmer up in my room, and it will be far comfy for you than that old couch.”
“But I liked the couch.”
Sally started walking up the stairs with him cradled in her arms. “Give it a chance, Knuckles. Your lucky I even suggested you sleeping next to me!”
“Then why did you?”
“Because you need the support.” She put simply.
“As if.”
Now in her room, she gently laid him down on the right side of the bed, beside the wall. With her sleeping next to him he could not fall out of bed.
“What is this?” Knuckles asked, finding that he was on a weird mattress.
“Oh, that’s called a heater mattress. You plug a cable into the wall in a circuit. It’s powered by electricity. It’ll keep you warm at night. It heats up.”
“But I don’t need this, honest. Thanks for putting it there anyway.” He seemed sure he didn’t want it.
He’s so considerate, so polite. Sally thought miserably. I hate him being so ill.
“No arguments, Knux.” Sally turned on the mattress. “It’ll stop those shivers so you won’t have them in the night.” She tucked him in with her stiff but warm sheets and slipped in beside him. Then she turned the light off.
“Thank you…” Whispered Knuckles, “I feel safer…” He sounded unsure, as if waiting to be scolded. She didn’t know why.
“That’s okay. You just get some sleep.” She heard him sigh softly. “What’s the matter?” She asked.
“Nothing. I’m just so thankful that I have friends like you guys.”
She found his paw under the blankets and held it tightly. “And I’m so thankful to be with you.”
Knuckles slowly closed his eyes, smiling in the darkness.

In the middle of the night, Sally woke up, disturbed by the sound of ruthless coughs and splutters. Turning on the light she saw Knuckles lying on his side, hacking sickly under the blankets. It looked like he was about to be sick. Fear and sadness for him running through her, she lifted him into her arms and put a sick bowl out in front of him.
Soon, Knuckles was heaving into the bowl. She choked back on a few sobs. She thought of getting Sonic, but what could he do? When he seemed to have stopped heaving, he went into heavy seizures. She tried not to panic. Easier said than done. In her arms was her best friend, the guardian of the Floating Island. The doctor’s words floated in her head. She had to keep him warm. And she could only think of one thing to get him warmed up quickly. Another hot bath.
Rushing downstairs with him in her arms she went into the bathroom and turned on the hot tap full blast to the bath.
She wrapped Knuckles up in her arms as the hot water began to fill up the bath. There were no hospitals that could help and the doctors knew not much more than she did.
Flustered and deeply worried, she gently submerged the echidna into the hot water as soon as it came to a certain level.
Sally supported him in her arms. Her heart twisted as she watched him contort fiercely. Water splashed at the sides. Then eventually the vicious seizures eased and Knuckles slowly opened his eyes.
“Where?…” He started, looking very disorientated. His voice sounded weak and confused.
“Shhh.” Sally said softly, stroking his muzzle, “you were shaking so I made you a bath to warm you up.”
As the minutes painfully dragged by, Sally washed the ailing echidna, took him out the bath and began to dry him with a blue towel, all the while keeping him warm. After drying him she wrapped him up in blankets and gathered his limp, floppy body into her arms.
She carefully went over to Sonic’s bedroom door and knocked on it twice as Knuckles let out a yawn and fell back to sleep. “Sonic?” She whispered loudly, hoping he was there, “when you’re up, meet me downstairs.” She let out an expharated sigh, then made her way back down to the lounge. There, she turned on the fire and sat near it so Knux could get the full benefit of the warmth. At least now, he was not shaking and was finally sleeping soundly. He had got her so worried. Sally was still very upset from the whole experience. Knuckles’ shivering was getting worse and finding ways to stop it was quickly becoming impossible.
She parted away a little of the blanket and checked the wound in his side. It was healing slowly. Pleased with the gradual progress of healing, she covered the wound up again with fresh, sterile dressing. While she was doing that she noticed how thin his body had become. His tiny ribs were clearly showing, making them susceptible to damage.
She was broken from her reverie when she heard Sonic enter the lounge. He rubbed his eyes, yawning tiredly. “What’s up?” He asked.
Sally motioned for him to sit down beside her on the carpet near the fire. Sonic did and listened to Sally of what happened to Knuckles.
After she had told him he was at a loss for words. He looked down at Knux who was fast asleep in her arms, wrapped tightly in blankets. His red fur didn’t seem to be as bright and colorful as it used to be.
“Sal?” He started sadly, “what are we going to do?” If his shaking was rapidly getting worse then that meant the poison was gradually killing the echidna. Since Sally didn’t answer, Sonic said; “we need to get help. Does Red know any other echidnas? They might know what to do!”
Sally was doubtful. “Or maybe there’s some sort of medicine back in his home on the floating island?”
“I could check.” Sonic checked the time on his watch. It was nearing to dawn. “I know where his house is but I’ll need the help of Tails and his plane to get me up there.”
“Perhaps you should wait until, Knuckles wakes up?” Sally timidly suggested, her face fixed in worry and anxiety.
“But I don’t like waiting.” Sonic flung in arms up in defence; “I don’t know how much longer Red will last for.”
Sally cuddled the sleeping echidna tightly in her arms. “While you wait for him to wake you can get Tails and the plane ready.” Sonic nodded and gave one last glance at his ill friend before leaving the room.
When dawn arrived and the sun was full in the sky, Knuckles awoke, barely conscious. By then, Sonic had returned, with the plane parked outside and his little buddy, Tails by his side. Sonic knelt in front of Knux and gently took his paw in his.
“Red?” He began, “how are you feeling?”
“I w-want… t-to go… home…”Knux managed to choke out, his head lolling to the side. Sonic could tell just by looking at him that he was definitely getting worse.
“Red, I need to ask you something very important.” Sonic tenderly supported the echidna’s head as it swayed. “Back at your place on the floating island, is there a herb or some kind of medicine that can help you? Please answer me, Red?”
Knuckles’ eyes were starting to close. “There is… o-only one… h-herb… c-can’t help… only helps the blood… and it…’s red…”
“That’s good enough for me.” Sonic said softly, tears welling up in his eyes. Knuckles looked so sick and helpless.
“Sonic?” Tails looked upset, “are you okay?”
“Fine, pal.” Sonic didn’t give the confused fox a glance; his attention solely fixed on the shivery echidna. Then he said his farewells and went outside with Tails chasing after him.

Little did they know that a spy robot of Eggman’s had been watching the two young fighters leave. Now with Sonic and Tails gone from Knothole, on their way to the floating island, Knuckles and Sally were vulnerable. Knuckles could not defend himself in the state he was in and Sally was a slight, harmless force with no one else by her side. And as the organisation of Eggman watched in their base far from Knothole, they decided to attack the inhabitants and go straight for the echidna. The poison was working too slowly. They needed to get rid of the echidna. With him and Sally out of the way, next would be Tails. Then Sonic would be weaker, a freedom fighter on his own. Of course there were others, like the Chaotix team but they were little to no threat.
The leader of the evil organisation was clan leader Wraith. He was a wise, old monitor lizard, sworn enemy of Sonic and the freedom fighters. The thought of ruling Mobius excited him but he had to get rid of the heroes of the planet first in order to conquer it. Then he would break the sword of Judaa and the emeralds would be his. So, to begin with, he would send out a troop of death badniks to kill everyone in Knothole.

When afternoon approached, Sonic and Tails had landed on the floating island, Knux’s home. The grass was long and course. Hot sand littered the earth in small patches. It emitted a calm, pleasant environment. Sonic however, wasn’t here for sight seeing. He had to hurry and get Knux his medicine.
With Tails close behind, he trotted through a wood and followed a long, narrow path. It led them to the echidna’s dwellings.
The house wasn’t much. It was made of wood and stone. Inside it was very bare, compared to Sonic’s lavish home. The hut consisted of two ground rooms. One was a kitchen and sitting room joined to be one with a simple stone sink, table and a chair with a straw couch and wooden coffee table. There were cupboards and small cabinets. In the other room was Knux’s bedroom. Inside was a simple bed and cupboard with spare blankets and weapons. In fact the place wasn’t that homely at all. And there was just one picture, framed in wood. It was a picture of Knuckles standing beside another echidna who looked female and was pink in color.
Returning back to the kitchen, Sonic began his search through each and every cupboard. Throwing tinned food and cans aside, looking for that particular herb. Tails tentatively explored the place, finding it all very interesting and peaceful in a way.
Sonic got out a handful of herbs; none of them were red. He was starting to get worried and impatient. Disappointed, he dove into the cupboards again. At last he found it, shoved right at the back with empty snail shells. The prized red herb. Though when he took it out the dark depths of the cupboard and showed it to Tails, he realized how small the plant was which was an even bigger disappointment. It was barely the size and length of his nose.
“This isn’t going to be enough!” Sonic studied the tiny plant; “we’ve got to find more of it.”
“But where would we find it? Those things are really elusive.”
“And how would you know, smart guy?”
“Everyone knows,” Tails sighed, “the red herb is rare and that it can cure blood disorders and so on and so forth… Eggman wiped them out, took them for himself. Who knows?”
This was going to be harder than the hedgehog thought. He safely put the herb away in his glove. “Well, we’d better start now then. If Knuckles found some, then so can we.”

Back in Knothole, Knuckles was trying vainly to walk. After Sally had left him for a while on the carpet in front of the fire, he gradually regained consciousness and was now crawling around, trying to get his legs to work. He felt numb from the waist down.
Sally returned and was shocked to see him out from the protection of his blankets and using up what little energy he had. Luckily he was not suffering anymore-traumatic convulsions. The room was too warm for that. But that brought about another problem. Knuckles was now sweating buckets full. But she was reluctant on making the room any cooler.
“Knuckles? What are you doing?” Her eyes were glazed over in concern.
Knuckles dragged himself along the floor using only his upper body and paws. “I… am trying to… walk…” He sounded very angry, frustrated because of his body that was utterly useless.
Sally bent down to his level and picked him up and brought him into her arms. Knuckles struggled vainly but it quickly wore him out, already too low on energy.
“You must not exhaust yourself,” Sally told him softly, stroking his red fur on his chest, “you should be using this time to eat and rest.”
“But that’s the only thing I’ve been doing for weeks. I need to walk… why w-won’t m-my legs WORK?” He choked out a strangled scream.
“If it’ll help, I’ll attach your leg with braces. But it’ll be uncomfortable and awkward.”
“But why, Sally?” Tears ran down his cheeks, “why can’t I walk? I can’t even feel my legs…”
“Oh, Knux. It’s the poison.” She sadly explained, “but Sonic’s gone to find that red herb to help you.”
“The red herb won’t work. Not on my freakin’ legs!”
“Shhh!” Sally laid him down on her lap and cooed to him softly. Eventually Knux’s temper faded and he slowly drifted off to sleep. Further away, a troop of robots entered Knothole, their sights locked on the squirrel and the echidna.

Sonic, with his speed and vast search, began to uncover the entire island trying to find more of the precious red herb. He was unsuccessful however, which made him very angry. Knuckles needed the herb at all costs.
Defeated, Sonic made his way back to the X tornado, only to stumble into a rather excited yet worried fox. “I’ve found a red herb!” Tails cried, “and Sally called using the communicator a few seconds ago. Badniks are attacking Knothole!”
“What?” Sonic’s eyes widened. They were in trouble. “We gotta get back fast. I’ll thank you for the herb later.” Tails smiled with glee, impressed and proud of his unique find single-handedly. Sonic sat in a seat in the plane. “Come on! Let’s go!” He cried.

A robot with a massive right arm, smashed its way through the door into Sonic’s home. Wood splinters sprayed in all directions.
“Lasers activated.” It said, scanning the empty hallway.
“Oh Gods, they’re so close.” Sally was in the kitchen, protecting Knuckles who was on the floor behind her. Several blankets were wrapped around his lean body. He was quivering, not from the cold, but from fear.
“We’ve… we’ve got to fight them.” Knuckles coughed, “or we’re d-doomed. We h-have nowhere to run.”
“I’ll destroy them all, don’t you worry.” Sally held her gun ready, positioned tightly in her sweaty hands. They heard a mighty crash coming from the lounge. They winced at the noise of glass shattering, curtains tear, wood snap. They were destroying Sonic’s home. Why had Eggman, his followers, do such a thing? Were they looking for something? And why had the robots been sent? Did they somehow know that the echidna was sick? Could not defend himself? It seemed to be the only reason she could come up with that made sense. For they personally hadn’t done anything to cause this much uproar.
Then the first robot stormed into the kitchen, sights locked on the two cowering against a corner of the room. Then suddenly, Sally let out a shrill cry, open fired at the mechanical beast. From the surprise of the attack, the robot had little to no time to react. It toppled to the floor like a steel giant. The floor shook from its sheer weight as it hit the ground. The commotion however, summoned more of the robot giants. They came staggering through the doorway to the kitchen, guns at the ready.
Sally had no time to reload her weapon. The badnik at the front of the angry mob of robots rose its lethal arm, ready to fire a missile. Just before it was about to lock on, Knuckles threw himself into the machine, knocking it off its feet. The missiles went off and hit the ceiling instead of its prime target. Plaster from above came crashing down, hitting anything in sight.
The robot that had fired the missiles stood back up, swiping its long claws at the creature that had struck it down before it had the chance to fire at the squirrel.
Knuckles dodged the first swipe but his hazy mind could not register the second attack fast enough. The badnik’s claw gashed his chest with burning fury.
From the impact, the echidna was thrown into the wall. He couldn’t help but hear a dull crunching noise from his back. He moaned in pain. Then Sally fired her weapon, destroying the aggressive robot just before it attacked her.
Knuckles sagged to the floor, blood foaming from his mouth. His vision had turned into nothing but a sick blur. Colors had blended together, everything moved in a gentle haze. Then he felt cold. The kind of coldness he got just before a seizure would take place.
Sally quickly took out the last of the intruding robots. Dreading the thought that more would come. The robots that had intruded were new and were a lot tougher and swifter than the older models.
Her gun was running low on battery. She dumped it on the floor and noticed Knux close to shaking violently against the wall. Blood was oozing thickly out of his mouth and there was a large cut marking his chest. Yet somehow, the echidna had managed to remain conscious. He weakly called out to Sally for help. He didn’t know what was going on. He still imagined the robots towering over him, ready to fire. He curled up into a ball and began to cry. Then he heard a soft, soothing voice as arms were wrapped around him.
Sally took him into her arms and rushed upstairs with him. She did not feel safe staying in the kitchen. In short, there was mess everywhere. Bloodstains, glass fragments and remains from the badniks themselves.
Now in her own room she sat down on her bed, got a blanket tied around the weeping echidna’s body. Without warning, the guardian went into strong convulsions. Sally was in consternation. The contortions were so bad they almost tore the stitching in his wounded side.
“Knuckles!” She grabbed his shoulders, “calm down!"


27; We all need spelling lessons

Sonic; You'll never take me alive!

Hex; Oh yes we will!

Marvin; O.O

Knux; I'm the king of the mountain, I'm te king of the mountain

Sonic; shutupshutupshutup

TBC???!!!