Knuckles Boom chapter 6 (Sonic Boom Fanfic)

They all slept late the next morning. By the time Sonic got up, and dragged out to the little cafe for a cup of coffee, the breakfast rush had ended. All the tables were empty except one, and that was occupied by Amy, Tails, Knuckles and Sticks. Their fur was rumpled, and everyone nursed cups of coffee.

Sonic ordered his own cup and breakfast, then sat in the remaining chair. "Hey."

"Hey," everyone responded.

Sonic stirred cream and five packets of sugar into his coffee. "So, anybody have any idea what that statue did to us yesterday?"

Knuckles shook his head and sighed.

Tails sat up a little straighter. "It communicates with us on electronic frequencies that exactly matched the patterns of the neurons in our brains. Since that's different for everyone, the statue tuned itself to each of us automatically. Really amazing."

"It was psychic and evil!" Sticks exclaimed. "It put more voices in my head. And pictures. I don't need anymore voices and pictures!"

"And we're all something different, right?" Sonic tapped his chest. "It called me a warrior."

"I'm a caretaker," Tails grinned.

"Overseer," said Amy. "Appropriate, since that's what I do around here anyway."

"It called me a Seer," Sticks stage-whispered. "Because I know the future. When the aliens invade the world and turn everyone into zombie slaves and feed them entirely on peanuts!"

There was a brief silence. Sonic nodded. "Yeah, I can see that. The seer thing, not the ... alien ... thing. Hey Knux, how about you?"

Knuckles toyed with his cup, frowning. "It made me the Guardian."

Amy leaned her elbows on the table and studied him. "And how do you feel about that?"

Knuckles cracked a smile. "Not crazy, for once. It's a nice change."

Their breakfast arrived, and the group dug in. Sonic devoured his Sunrise Bacon, Mushroom and Cheese omelette, and thought about it all. The statue had told them things, and given them titles--but what did any of it mean?

"Say, Amy," said Sonic. "About Angel Island. Do we own it or something?"

The pink hedgehog frowned and pulled out her smartphone. "Let me look that up. I don't know how island ownership works." She flicked her thumb across the screen several times, then typed a few things.

Sonic chewed delicious cheesy egg, and watched his friends. Aside from being tired--they had trudged back to the village and arrived well after midnight--everyone seemed the same. They'd had an interesting adventure, and that was all.

And yet--curiosity tugged at him. Or perhaps a power stronger than curiosity. He wanted to visit Angel Island today. Now. If not for the aching hole in his middle and the delectable breakfast in front of him, he would have jumped up and ran off.

"Hmm." Amy tapped her screen. "Angel Island is for sale for three million. But it's not a very good island, so nobody wants it."

Knuckles clenched a fist, as if she'd insulted him. "What do you mean, not a very good island?"

Amy read from a list. "Rocky coast, no beaches. Poor anchorage for boats. No airstrip, no communications of any kind. No water."

Sonic nodded. "Sounds sucky to me." He glanced at Bygone's wide, sandy beach in the distance, edged with gently curling breakers.

But he was Angel Island's warrior now. What did that mean?

"Sucky or not," said Knuckles, "the Speaker passed it on to us. We have to find a way to make it ours. It's a construct."

Everyone blinked at him. Tails's mouth fell open. "A construct! You mean it's a giant robot?"

Knuckles shrugged. "That's all the Speaker said. That it was his people's greatest treasure."

Sticks looked up from her chicken-fried shrimp. "Where there's treasure, there's traps. And death pits. And pitfalls. And death pitfall traps!"

"Count me in," said Sonic, unable to hide a grin. "But how can we get there without a plane or a boat?"

"There's a dock on the lee side," said Amy, holding up her phone to display an aerial view of the island. While most islands were unevenly shaped, Angel Island was a perfect circle. It rose to a single peak in the center, and the rest was cloaked in green jungle.

The sight of it sent a happy rush of recognition through Sonic's heart. It felt as if he had sighted a childhood home, and had been told he could go back.

Apparently everyone else felt the same.

"It doesn't look so bad," said Sticks.

"I can't wait to visit!" Tails exclaimed.

Knuckles only smiled--the sort of besotted smile usually reserved for small fluffy animals.

"I'll charter us a boat at the marina," said Amy. "Everybody else, pack your things. Something tells me we might be there a while."

Sonic gulped the rest of his breakfast, and dashed for his hut. "Last one to the boat is a rotten Eggman!"

***

"And where have you been?" Eggman snapped.

Metal Sonic had closeted himself in the automatic maintenance bay deep inside Eggman's fortress. It was a sinister box of mechanical arms with sharp tools, under lit with red lights. Steam billowed dramatically from beneath the bay's platform. Metal Sonic was reduced to a black silhouette with glowing red eyes, surrounded by busy machinery that oiled his joints, checked his fluid levels, and appraised the condition of his machinery.

Eggman stood nearby, a remote tablet in his hands. "I sent you to spy on them, you worthless hunk of scrap. But all you did was stare at the village square for eight hours! Granted, I now know the routines of all the villagers. And that Dave is building evil robots in his apartment."

Metal Sonic said nothing. Despite the maintenance bay's frightening appearance, it was sheer bliss to be cleaned and oiled. He had overwritten his video storage with footage from a spy drone. He'd planted them everywhere, and could activate them remotely to generate dummy footage.

Orbot and Cubot peeked through the doorway behind Eggman. Red sphere, yellow box. They loved seeing Metal Sonic in disgrace, and were nearly giggling.

"Either way," Eggman continued, stroking his enormous mustache, "I sent you to spy on Sonic and his pathetic friends. Now, you're going to get back out there and do it. Understand?"

Metal Sonic sent a text response to Eggman's monitor. "Yes sir. I will endeavor to better my performance."

"See that you do," Eggman said. "Or I'll melt you down and start over." He whirled and tried to stride loftily from the room, but tripped over Cubot. "You idiots! Get out of the way! Or I'll send you to do menial kitchen work that will rival Dave's fast food job!"

Without Eggman, the maintenance room was positively peaceful. Metal Sonic submitted to having his waterproofing repaired. He had two conflicting orders, and his subroutines processed and processed, seeking a solution. Had a living being experienced the same thing, they would have said that they were deeply troubled.

His programming was layered like a cake. First was his base operating system. Next came the upgrades Lyric had poured into him--they were so memory-heavy that Eggman had had to upgrade Metal Sonic's bios chips to keep him functioning. Next came the layer of modifications that Eggman had made to Lyric's code. And above that was the chunk of code uploaded by the Speaker, giving him loyalty to Angel Island and his fellow crew mates.

Metal Sonic had to visit Angel Island and learn about it--and possibly kill any intruders. But Eggman had commanded him to observe Sonic and the rest. How to do that without informing him about Angel Island?

For Eggman must not learn about it. The thought sent fear-reaction dancing through his processes. If Eggman learned of the amazing riches buried deep within the island, he would stop at nothing to take it for himself.

Metal Sonic opened his video software, and began tinkering with green screen effects.

***

It was a fine, sunny day, and the ocean was calm as the charter boat sped across the waves. Knuckles stood at the railing in the bow, dreadlocks streaming behind him, and watched Angel Island draw nearer and nearer. He drew deep breaths of the fresh, salty air, and laughed. The emerald had ceased hypnotizing him--he could look at it now as long as he wanted. The desperate, fearful pull inside him had been replaced by a happy anticipation. Even the island's blank, densely-forested hills failed to unnerve him.

Amy stepped to the rail beside him, shading her eyes with one hand. "Isn't it beautiful!" She had replaced her usual outfit with tough canvas pants and a khaki vest.

Knuckles grinned and nodded. "This will be the best thing ever. Even better than beef stew!"

"I am so excited," Amy said, bouncing on the balls of her feet. "I don't even know why!"

The boat's captain turned the boat to run parallel to the island's shore, following the northern shore toward the dock on the western side. Knuckles and Amy gripped the railing, laughing for no reason.

As they drew closer, they saw that Angel Island was a forbidding, rocky place. Instead of beaches, it had sheer, rocky cliffs, overhung with vegetation. The air was filled with gulls, terns, and other sea birds, busy nesting on the heights.

Deep inside him, Knuckles knew that the island was supposed to look like a horrible, undesirable place. The Ancients had designed it that way. But whispers of transmitted memories flickered in his subconscious. There were ways into the island's interior, where all the comforts of home waited for them.

The dock was nearly fifty feet long, extending far out from the rocky shore. The captain chugged in at a crawl, then Sonic jumped off with a rope, and helped moor the boat.

Then they all disembarked, carrying backpacks and duffel bags. Knuckles carried an enormous load of camp ware on one shoulder--tents and the legs of a folded stove were most visible.

"You sure about this?" the ship's captain called. "I won't be out this way again for another week."

Tails held up a homemade phone. "I have satellite access with this! If we need a pickup, we'll call."

"All right," said the captain dubiously. "Mr. Hedgehog, cast off, if you please."

Sonic untied the lines and threw them into the boat. The captain started the engine and reversed away from the dock. Once clear, he cruised away toward Bygone Island, leaving a white wake behind him.

Silence fell. The quiet of a completely deserted island. Gulls cried in the distance. The boat's wake struck the dock and clucked among the pilings.

Sonic turned to Knuckles. "So, Knux. You're the Guardian. Where to?"

The red echidna adjusted the load on his shoulder. "This way." He headed up the dock toward land, and everyone hoisted their bags and followed.

The dock ended at a faint path of crushed rock that wound away into thick trees. Knuckles stepped onto the island, and his heart leaped. The memories from the Speaker blazed to life in his mind, and he strode up the path as if he owned it. This was home. This was his island.

"Dude," Sonic breathed behind him. "I'm having serious de ja vu here."

"I swear I've never been here in my life," said Amy. "But I know that there's a fabulous overlook about a mile that way."

"There's machines somewhere," Tails muttered. "But where? And how can I work on them without parts and blueprints?"

Sticks said nothing. But she hurried forward to walk beside Knuckles.

The path wound steeply upward, and the party slowed, heaving their packs up it. Knuckles panted, "About fifty more feet, guys, then it levels out."

"How do you know?" Amy gasped.

"I'm the Guardian," Knuckles replied. "I know every inch of this place." And he did. Whenever he thought about their location, he instantly knew where they were, every twist and turn of the path, and where to find the underground entrance.

Unfortunately, his memories were centuries old, and the jungle grew fast. Where it leveled out, the path angled south, when it used to head east. Knuckles halted, facing a solid green mat of jungle. "It's all overgrown. Figures." He dumped his armload on the ground and unrolled it. Tucked neatly inside the folded tents were a pair of brand new machetes. He picked them up in either hand. "Wait here. I'll blaze a new trail."

Sticks wrung her hands. "But that will lead enemies straight to us!"

Sonic tugged on a vine. It resisted him. "We're not carrying all this stuff through that."

"Objections noted," said Knuckles, and attacked the jungle with both blades. He sliced through vines, branches, fronds, and tangled thickets, machetes flashing. It was hard work, but it felt good to use his massive strength to help them all.

The path had completely disappeared, so he recreated it. As he plowed deeper into the jungle, his friends followed him with their gear.

The dense shade in the forest's interior made the undergrowth thin out, so Knuckles was able to simply walk, hacking the occasional branch out of the way. The land rose as they climbed the central mountain's foothills, and jagged rocks appeared among the tree roots. Black volcanic rock, full of little bubbles that had hardened into razor-sharp edges. Knuckles punched one such rock experimentally. It shattered.

"How much further?" Tails panted. He and Sonic were carrying Knuckles's load in addition to their own.

"About half a mile," said Knuckles. "Sonic, you want to break trail?"

"Sure!" Sonic dropped his backpack and Knuckles's tent roll, took the machetes, and headed into the jungle. As he neared a thick patch of undergrowth, he ducked into a spin dash. With the machetes in either hand, he ate through the growth like a lawn mower.

Knuckles picked up his and Sonic's burdens. "You're doing great, guys. Almost there."

Amy hurried to catch up to Knuckles. "Hey, if nobody lives here, who built the dock? And that trail we followed?"

"I don't know," said Knuckles. But now that she brought it up, it bothered him. "Maybe the corporation that sells islands?"

Tails panted, "The salvage guys come out here sometime. Apparently there's machinery and stuff here, if you look hard enough."

His words struck them all with outrage, and everyone gave him a sudden look. Tails frowned. "That's like somebody robbing our house, isn't it?"

"That's going to stop," said Amy. "Today. What if the island is broken because of the salvage people?"

Knuckles said nothing. He had worried in silence about the sixth member of their group--Metal Sonic, the Ghost. Now he knew exactly why the Speaker had recruited him.

Sonic and Knuckles took turns blazing a trail up the side of the mountain. Then Knuckles turned right and led them down into a fold in the hills, where a brown stream a foot wide trickled through the thirsty roots of a jillion trees.

"I thought you said there was no water," said Sonic.

"Ground water," said Amy. "This is rain water. How else do you think the forest grows?"

They followed the little ravine to its head, which was a steep hillside--almost a cliff. It was thickly grown with ivy, but the stone edge of some kind of structure was visible at one side. Knuckles tore the ivy down in an explosion of dust and insects.

He revealed a set of doors, similar to those that had guarded Lyric's tomb. They were stone, and engraved with bas relief depictions of the Ancients, arms raised toward a floating island in the sky. In the center of it all was a rusty metal plate with the imprint of a hand. Knuckles placed his hand in it.

There was a click that resonated through the stone, then a grinding of gears, and the doors slowly swung open. Cold, musty air wafted over them.

Tails pulled a flashlight out of his work belt and tossed it to Knuckles.

"Hey," Sonic exclaimed, spines bristling. "I should go first. I'm the warrior."

Knuckles frowned. "The Speaker made me the Guardian. I go first."

Sonic dropped his equipment. "Knux, hate to break it to you, but you're not smart enough to be the leader. Hand over the light."

A month ago, Knuckles would have caved at once. But now he had a head full of encyclopedic knowledge of the island and its interior, and that should be enough to let him lead. He resisted, wanting nothing more than to punch Sonic in the nose.

Then it occurred to him that Sonic had no idea where he was going.

He handed Sonic the light with a relaxed grin. "Sure, pal. Whatever you say."

Sonic flicked on the light and marched into the tunnel. Knuckles picked up his things and motioned for everyone else to follow Sonic. Tails and Sticks did, but Amy hung back, giving Knuckles a doubtful look. "You gave him his way. What are you up to?"

Knuckles grinned. "Nothing whatsoever."

"Uh huh." Amy pulled a light off her own belt, and she and Knuckles brought up the rear.