Okay ppls, this is whatcha've all been waiting fur! Silver Star: Her Story
(Part II). This story would've never been written if it wasn't fur Jim
Doe! Thank you Jim!!!

Okay, on with the copyright stuff:

Silver Star (c) Silver Star
Jim Doe (c) R. Lowery
Knuckles and The Chaotix (c) Sega America
Archiemedes, The Dark Legion and Kragok (c) Archie Comics.



  Queen of the Island (Silver Star:Her Story Part II)
          By Silver Star and Jim Doe

        The cool breeze rippled off her face with happiness. She sighed as
she watched the clouds waltz through the sky with ease. She put her hand to
her neck and rubbed the half of a yin/yang symbol on her necklace
thoughtfully. She sat down dangling her feet off the edge of a cliff, closing her
eyes, day-dreaming. Her dreams lead her back in time, of what she thought
might've happened, if thewar had never begun. Happiness. Pure happiness,
wavered through her thoughtslike a boat out to sea. She squinted her
eyes into the sun.
        Crack! She whirled her head around. "What was that?" She thought as
she heard the footsteps get closer and closer. She look around her, but
still could see nothing. She wondered if it was Espio playing a trick on
her. "Espio? That you?" No response. "Come on Espio, I give up, I was
fooled." The footsteps shifted through the grass. "Espio? It's not funny
anymore!" she cried, trying to hide her fear. The footsteps stopped. She was
frozen in fear. She wanted to scream out for help. But for what? There was
nothing there. No. There was something there, just nothing she could see.
        Then she remebered an old trick that was used against this kind of
magic, that this thing might've been using. "Alla Balla Walla Talla," she
muttered under her breath, in ancient Echidnian. Then all of a sudden, a red
aura of Knuckles appeared. "What the-?" she cried in astonishment.
        "Hehe, you're smarter than I thought you would be." The figure
became clearer. It wasn't Knuckles, it was..., a machine? No, half
machine, halfechidna. The echinda part looked really similar to
Knuckles, but then again, she thought, almost all Two-Toes looked
somewhat similar.
        "Eep!" was all she could mutter.
        "Well, looks like I found you, dear."
        "Found me?" she yelped in panic.
        "Yes, you are the last female echidna in all of Mobius, little less
the last remaining Three-Toed echidna."
        Silver shrugged. She had knew this ever since her father had died.
        "And you, dear, are going to be Kragok's wife,"
        Silver's jaw dropped.
        "You shall carry on the echidna race, by giving birth to many young
ones."
        Silver started to get up. She planned to somehow distract this guy
and bolt.
        "Oh, don't try anything stupid now, because even if you get away
from me, you won't get away from the rest."
        "The rest?" She tried to keep him somewhat distracted by her
questions.
        "Yes, there are many more of us, some not as kind as I am. In other
words, they'll try the goods before they deliver them to Kragok."
        Silver's body froze. She was silently screaming to herself, "Where
are Knuckles and The Chaotix when you need them?!"
                        ***
        "Hrmmm...," a voice sighed from another part of The Floating Island.
His fingers typed rapidly against the keys, as he sent a telepathic message.
A telepathic message to his old fire-ant friend, Archimedes.
                        ***
        Archimedes, lazily lying around with Knuckles and the rest of The
Chaotix, perked up.
        "What is it, Archy?" Knuckles smiled.
        "Uh...," Archimedes thought to himself, how was he going to explain
that he knew Silver was in trouble.
        "What was that?" Knuckles perked up this time.
        "What?" The rest of The Chaotix stirred.
        "That. It sounded like..., like a scream. Silver's scream." Knuckles
jumped up heroically.
        "Hrm..." Archimedes thought to himself. "The boy's hearing is
better than I thought."
        "Come on gang, I think Silver's in trouble" Knuckles yelled as he
tore through the bush.
        The Chaotix quickly followed, with a few groans and complaints from
Espio. In no time there were there, or atleast where Silver had been.
        "Hrmm...," Archimedes examined the tracks. "Looks like there was a
struggle.
        "Yeah, and look at those tracks, they're definatley made by Silver
Doc Martin's" He sighed while pointed at a foot mark.
        "And the other," Archimedes paused. "It looks like a robot made
them."
        "SWATBots?" Knuckles cried in confusion.
        "Hrm, I don't know, but they look smaller, similar to your size of
foot." Archimedes compared the two shoe marks.  "If I didn't know any
better, I'd say another-"  He trailed off.
        "Another WHAT, man?" asked Vector.
        "Hurm, . . . never mind."  The fire ant looked around, scanning
the trees.  "The tracks lead off that way.  Let's go."
                        ***
        Two minutes later, a scream ripped through the strange stillness
that had settled itself over this part of the forest.  Knuckles pointed
to their left and ran on ahead of the others.  He popped out into a
clearing just in time to see a strange sight, and a laser aimed for his
head.
        "Get down!" he yelled back at the Chaotix, and then followed his
own advice.  The laser shot grazed by his dreadlocks, slicing one off.
He turned back as the hooded figure ducked down in the trap door, Silver
in his arms.
        The Chaotix appeared on the scene, ducked low and spread out.
Knuckles was revving up his fists to attempt to dig into the ground since
he couldn't find a latch or knob where the trap door was.
        "Wait, Knux," said Archimedes, "let me try something first."  He
placed his top set of hands together, palm to palm.  A small glow
appeared around them, and it extended out to the trap door.  Slowly, the
door lifted up.  Knuckles, impatient as ever, reached underneath the
door and flung it open.
        "Alright, Archy, I'm impressed," he said.  "How did you know
where the trap door was?  And what was that you just did?"
        "Some things, pup," said the fire ant, "you aren't meant to
know.  At least not yet.  I might teach you some of my tricks sometime."
        That is, he thought, if we get out of this alive, assuming this
is what I think it is.
        One by one, the Chaotix jumped down into the hole.
                        ***
        Silver screamed again.  The hooded echidna knocked her lightly on
the back of the head with his laser pistol and told her to knock it off.
        She screamed again, but it almost sounded fake this time.  The
hooded echidna wasn't paying, however.
        "Didn't I tell you to kno-OOF!" he said as Silver pulled his
trailing robe under his feet.  They both went down in a heap.  With a few
fighting maneuvers she had taught herself during her time on FLiCKiE
Island, Silver rendered the other echidna unconscious.
        "That'll teach you to mess with a lady," she said with contempt.
        She sighed dusted herself off. "Hrmm..., now to find out where I am,
and how to get out of here." She picked up the cloak that the stranger was
wearing, she thought that she might need it later. She looked around the
cave smelling of rotting plants. "Phew! Doesn't anyone clean up around
here?" She held her nose as she continued to go deeper into the cave. She
froze. She looked down, about several hundred feet down. There was hundreds,
maybe thousands of Three-Toed Echidnas everywhere, wearing the same threads
as the stranger which she had had such a bad encounter with before. "Hrm,"
she sighed, thinking thoughtfully. She wrapped the warm, partially wet cloak
around her. "If I'm going to find out what's going on here, or at least why
that bozo tried to capture me, I'm going to need to go in disguise." But how
to get down, she thought. She snapped her fingers, and started to recite a
spell she had memorized not to long ago. Her white fur bled into a crimson
red, and her braids slowly morphed into thick dreadlocks, her three fingers
slowly melted into two. She had now taken the form of the stranger. Now she
could glide down with ease, and so she did. It looked like a city of
Three-Toed Echidnas hustling about, *MALE* Three-Toed Echidnas she giggled
to herself. Okay girl, no time for checking out the guys, gotta find out the
info, she thought to herself.
        "Sergeant!" a loud voice proclaimed.
        "Huh?" Silver whirled around.
        "Sergeant! Kragok wants to see you. Important matters, strictly
confidental," the hooded man explained.
        "Uh..., oh yeah, of course, take me to him," Silver grumbled in her
best male voice.
        "Right this way, sir." Silver started sweating a cold sweat as she
walked into the tent. "Hello, Sergeant, Welcome back, I assume your
adventure was succesfull?" A large red, male, echidna smirked from behind a
large wooden desk.
        "Uh, yes sir." Silver coughed.
        "So..., where's the girl?"
        "The girl?" Silver paused.
        "Yes! The girl you idiot!" Kragok snarled from behind his desk. "The
girl you were supposed to bring back, to help keep up the population? Have
you no BRAINS!?" Kragok lunged over the desk.
        "Oh, the girl." Silver thought quickly. "Yes, well, I ran into a few
diff--" Silver was cut short when another echidna entered.
        "Sir! Sir! We have just found the real Sergeant's body outside of
the secret entrance. He is fake!" The echidna pointed an accusing finger at
Silver.
        "Hrmm, I thought I smelt magic in the air." Kragok grinned as he
snapped his fingers. Slowly the red colouring ran off of her skin, her
fingers divided back into three, and her dreadlocks melted back into
braids.
        "It's her!" the echidna gasped, and quickly lunged at her.
        Silver jumped out of the way.
        "Fool! Is that anyway to treat your future Queen?!" Kragok snarled.
        Queen? Silver thought to herself as she back up towards the opening
flap of the tent.
                        ***
        "Hmm," mumbled Knuckles, "this does NOT look good."
        "Master of understatement, aren't you, fearless leader?" said
Charmy.  "There must be hundreds of 'em!"
        Knux mumbled something about overstatement, but said nothing
definite.  Further down the underground hallway were a small group of
hooded figures.  They were carrying flashlights and helping another
figure up off the ground.  In the dim light, the uncloaked person looked
vaugely familiar to the echidna, but he wasn't sure why.  His eyes were
good, but not good enough to see in this dim light.
        "Espio," he whispered.
        "Yeah, boss?"
        "Stealth mode.  Follow them as close as possible.  As much noise
as they're making, I don't think they'll hear you."
        "Oh, sure," Espio grumbled, "I think I know how this is gonna end
up, . . . "  He faded from sight.
        "Charmy," Knuckles said, "go back topside and fly straight in the
direction this tunnel is going.  I don't think it has any turns in it.
Keep going until you find something, then report back to us."
        "What kind of something?" the bee asked.
        "I don't know.  Something.  Anything.  Probably a mountain."
        Charmy shrugged and flew back out the tunnel.
        "What about us?" asked Mighty.
        "Me and you are going to start digging," said Knuckles.  "Vector,
start up your CD player; I don't want max volume, just enough to send a
slight tremor through the walls.  Archy, you stay with me.  Is everyone
ready?"
        Vector fine tuned his CD player.  "Just one more thing . . .
there.  Ready-steady-go, Red!"  He set the earphones up against the wall
where Knuckles pointed.  The tunnel started to shake slightly.
        "Where we goin'?" Mighty yelled over the noise.
        "Just follow me, "Knuckles said, and they started punching through the
dirt wall.
                        ***
        "But, sir, she's getting away!" the echidna yelled as Silver tore
through the tent's open flap at maximum speed. The female white echidna tore
through the crowed street with ease. Jumping onto tables and over peoples
heads. All of the people just stopped and stared at the rare sight. They had
thought that there was no other females left, and such a beautiful one at
that. Then all at once, they started chasing her. "Yipes!" she cried in
fright, how was she goin' to get out this fine mess she got herself into.
"Hrmm..., I could use the new trick I just learned a while back." She
thought to herself, now how did that go?
                        "Riff Raff Roff,
                         Rickety Chickety Boom,
                         Hulla Wulla,
                         Ding Dang Doom!"
        She whispered as she slowly faded out of sight. The psychotic crowd
stopped in puzzlement and started searching all over the place.
        "WHAT?!" Kragok thundered.
        "Well, uh, you see sir, she just..., uh vanished." The nervous
echidna stuttered.
        "HOW?!" Kragok's voice rumbled through the tent walls.
        "Well, uh, we don't know sir."
        "Just don't stand there! Find her!"
        "Yes sir, right away sir." With that the echidna was gone.
        "How could she have disappeared?" He whispered to himself. "Magic!
Of course, that little tricky Three-Toe has stupified my people, but not me!
I'll have her as my wife yet!" Kragok rumbled and he thundered out of
his tent.
        Silver was finally able to catch her breath, but still had to be
careful of the Kragok character, because he's the only one around here that
can undo my magic. She sighed. An young male echidna near her paused. She
held her breath. He turned around suspiciously, raising an eyebrow,
outstretching his hand, nearly slapping Silver in the face. He shrugged and
went back to his previous searching spot. Silver crept away and sighed with
relief. "That was close," she thought to herself.
        "Yes, a little too close, dear, you almost got away" Kragok leaned
over Silver with ane evil grin on his face.
        Silver stood in shock, "How'd you--"
        Kragok interrupted. "How'd I find you so fast?" He brush her bangs
out of her face. "Simple. I used the same tactics you were. Magic."
        All Silver could mutter was a petrified "Eep!" Before she was
knocked unconscious.
        "Bring her to the wedding room, and dress her appropriately" Kragok
ordered. "Soon my dear, soon, we shall be each others, for all eternity." He
rubbbed one of her braids between his fingers and laugh evilly.
                        ***
        With Vector's CD player rumbling the dirt and rocks loose, it was
easy for Mighty and Knuckles to punch the dirt to the sides.  They were
soon moving along at a brisk jog.
        "Waaugh!" yelled Mighty as his hands punched through suddenly
empty air.  He teetered on the edge of the ground, almost half a mile
above a thriving, underground city.  The entire cavern was lit up by
enormous lamps hanging from the ceiling.
        Knuckles, who had be quicker to stop digging, grabbed the armadillo
from behind and hoisted him back into their hand-made tunnel.
        "Thanks, Knux," gasped Mighty.  "Where are we?"
        "Someplace we definitely DON'T want to be.  Look."  Knuckles
pointed down at the city.
        Crowded in the streets and strange octagonal tents were hundreds
and hundreds of half robotic echidnas.  As far as the Chaotix could tell,
they were all male.
        "Bachelor's pad?" asked Vector.
        "Not likely," said Knuckles.  "These people don't seem too happy
about something.  Look over there."
        Where Knuckles pointed, a small procession was carrying a bundle
in between them.  Every one of the carriers had a scowl on their face.
They were talking to each other and jostling other echidnas out of their
way.  They seemed to be walking towards a huge tent located in the middle
of the city.  The tent was decorated from top to bottom with underground
lillies and white banners.
        "Let's go," ordered Knuckles.  He took Mighty by the shoulders as
Archimedes hopped over to Vector.  As Knux glided down, Archy and  Vector
disappeared in a puff of blue smoke.
                                    ***
        Charmy was grumbling to himself.  He had been flying along for
whole minutes, and nothing had shown itself to him except trees and more
trees.  He was wondering about turning back and -
        Whoa.
        Charmy had flown out of the forest and came up on a mountain
easily 2,000 feet tall.  The bee flew up the side and around the top,
looking for anything out of the ordinary.  Nothing presented itself to
him, however, so he decided to take a rest before continuing on.
        He found a rock on the side of the mountain and sat down on it,
trying to catch his breath after the strenuous flying session.  He was so
absorbed in resting that he didn't notice the rock wall behind him
shifting open to let out a hooded echidna.
                        ***
        Espio, too, was grumbling to himself.  After tailing the echidnas
to a hospital tent, he decided to get a better look at the city in
general.  He had been walking along silently when Silver had run by him.
He turned back to yell her name, but she was gone.  Had it just been a
figment of his imagination?
        He decided that it hadn't been when an echidna with a shiny
chrome arm reached out from behind a tent and grabbed at seemingly empty
air.  Espio quietly sneaked around the other side of the tent and watched
as the chrome armed echidna and a few others were bundling an
unconscious Silver up in white tissue.
        He followed them all the way to the huge tent in the center of
the city.  Guards were everywhere around the tent's openings.  All Espio
could do was watch them take Silver inside.
                        ***
        Silver suddenly awoke with a start to the sound of music playing.
Her head hurt, like she had been whopped a few times over the head with a
mallot. All at once, her memory flooded back. She tried to run, but realized
her feet didn't touch the ground. Two bionic arms were holding her up off
the ground. "Probably safety measures," she thought angrily. As she
struggled with the two hooded echidnas, she started to realize where she was
being taken. She looked down. She was in a..., a..., "Wedding dress?!" She
screamed to herself. A white hooded, echidna raised his head, and the two
guards turned to Silver in surprise. Kragok turned around, with an evil grin
that speard across his half metallic face. She was going to be wedded off to
Kragok against her will. She felt the ground beneath her feet again. The
guards placed her down and backed away, with a nod from Kragok. She turned
to run but she tripped of the train of the wedding dress and landed smack on
her face. When she went to stand back up, and try again, she was escorted
back beside Kragok.
        "Now, now, my dear, we can do this the easy way, or we can do this
the hard way." An devilish grin slapped upon Kragok's face.
        Silver shivered. "What about the way, where we don't do it at all!"
She yelled as she kicked his shin. This time Silver was sure to pick up the
train before she took off to the tent's exit. "Dang!" she thought to
herself, as she saw the silouettes of the guards outside.
        "Get her! NOW!" Kragok's voice bellowed. Silver's decision on which
way to go wasn't fast enough. The two guards wrenched her arms behind her
back with anger. Again, they escorted her back beside Kragok, but this time
they didn't let go.
        "Shall we begin?" The preist patiently inquired.
        "NO!!!" Silver belted, but was quickly silenced by a gag.
        "Yes." Kragok sighed.
        "Do you Kragok take--"
        "Yes. I do." Kragok impatiently interrupted.
        "And--"
        "Yes, she does." Kragok interrupted again.
        "I'm sorry sir." The preist looked nervously. "But *SHE* has to say
she does."
        "Why?!" Kragok snapped angrily.
        "Sorry sir, it's..., it's in the book. Without her agreement the
wedding can't continue." The preist withdrew nervously.
        "Fine! Remove the gag." Kragok snarled. The preist looked
expectantly at Silver.
        Silver sighed with relief. Without her agreement it would never go,
and she was sure she wasn't going to say yes. "No." She bit her tongue in
anger.
        "See--WHAT?!" Kragok snapped unexpectantly.
        Silver drew back. "No." She repeated.
        "But darling," he stroked her cheek. She pulled back her head the
best she could, in disgust. "It's your responsibilty, to carry on, to
continue the echidna race. If you don't marry me, you'll be giving birth to
children in an unwedded family." He smiled.
        "Uh...," the preist interrupted nervously. "Again, I *AM* sorry sir,
but it's against the rule book..., Chapter 6 - Paragraph 4 - Line 3"
        "Lemme see that." Kragok snatched the book from the shaking preist's
hands. He mumbled a few words, similar to what the preist just said, but
nothing clearly definate.
        "Fine! Until you agree, you will be kept in a prison cell." Kragok
pointed a finger in Silver's face. She was tempted to bite it, but he
quickly withdrew it and stomped away before she had the chance.
        "I'd rather die than marry *YOU*!" She screamed as he disappeared
from the tent's flaps. She struggled to get away from the guards's grip as
he was carried through the city's streets.
                        ***
        Something was happening inside the large tent.  Espio heard
yelling coming from inside, then the tent flaps started to move.  Two
large echidnas stepped out, carrying a struggling Silver between them.
        Espio followed them for the next five minutes, when they arrived
it a concrete building.  It looked like it had been set up hastily by
someone who didn't have enough time to work out the details.
        Inside, there was rows of prison cells.  It didn't appear to be
an effective prison, though; the cell bars were nothing but thick jungle
vines.  The two echidnas opened one of the cells and threw Silver in,
then walked back out.
        Espio walked up the Silver's cell, dropped his camoflauge, and
said, "Hey, Silv, the calvary is here!"
        Silver didn't even look up.  She was sitting in the far corner
with her faced burried in the tresses of the wedding dress she was
wearing.  Espio reached forward to knock on the bars, then jumped back
when they shocked him.
        "What the-?!" he yelled.
        "Keep it down out there!" a familiar voice yelled from the next cell
over.
        "Charmy?  Izzat you?"
        "Espio?  Hey!  Get me out of here!"
        Espio moved over to stand in front of Charmy's cell.  "You mind
telling me how?  They got some kind of hokey-pokey hocus-pocus on these
doors!"
        "Allow me," said another familiar voice.  Archimedes appeared on
the chameleon's shoulder in a puff of blue smoke.
        "Jeez, Archy!" Espio exclaimed.  "You're gonna give a fine,
upstanding chameleon a heart attack one of these days!"
        "Poetic justice, Esp," said Charmy.  "Where's the other guys?"
        "Vector and Mighty are standing guard out front," said
Archimedes.  "Knuckles ought to be arriving any secon- ah, there he is
now."
        Knuckles, decked out in a black hood and robe, walked up and
said, "Y'know, Archy, some people have to actually walk to get places.
It really irritates me when you jump ahead like that."
        "Force of habit," said the fire ant.  "Now, let's get that little
door open."  He jumped down from Espio's shoulder and landed in front of
Charmy's cell.  A red glow covered his hands, then it extended to the
cell door.  Slowly the door slid open.  Charmy flew out.
        "Now let's get Silver," said Knuckles.
        Archimedes performed his magic.  Silver's door slid open, but she
didn't move out.  Knuckles called her name, and when she didn't answer,
he walked in and crouched down beside her.
        "Silver?" he said.  "C'mon, we can go now.  Let's get out of he-"
        "I don't think that's an option at the moment, young one."
        Knuckles spun around.  Standing at the doorway of the cell was an
echidna with a chromed arm and a glowing infrared eye.  A squad of guards
stood behind him, and they were all holding energy weapons trained on the
Chaotix.
        "Who the hell are you?" demanded Knuckles.
        "My name, pup, is Kragok, and I am the one who is about to kill
you.  Unless, that is, you follow every direction I give to you."
        Knuckles looked at the situation.  "It would seem," he said,
"that I don't have much choice."
        "Goooood," said Kragok.  "I knew you would be reasonable.  Pick
up the girl and step out of the cell slowly."
        Knuckles once again looked around for any escape, but he saw
none.  He gently lifted Silver and stepped past Kragok.  Some of the
weapon toting echidnas placed their sights on him as they walked out of
the prison.
        "Sorry, guys," said Vector.  "They snuck up on us."
        "So where are you taking us, Kragok?" asked Knuckles.
        "Someplace special, guardian." the echidna leader chuckled.  "If
I can't get Miss Silver's hand in marrige by force, maybe I can just get
her to change her mind on her own."  His infrared eye gleamed.  "And you
six might just be the key to doing that.  Do any of you happen to like
lava baths?"
                               ***
        Silver looked down at her hands the whole time. She was in her own
little world. Remembering her past, what had happened, and what might
happen. It all started when she was two.
        It was a beautiful morning on FLiCKiE Island, the sun was shining
the sky was blue. She was wobbling down the stepping stones from her house
when she heard shouting. Then a loud CRASH! She turned around and said
"Daddy?" She began to climb the stepping stones on her hands and feet as
fast as she could. She might've been only two, but she knew something was
wrong. She wobbled upto the door and it creaked open. She gasped. There were
two hooded men dragging her cold, bleeding, dead father out of the house.
Silver was paralized in fear, she couldn't move, not even utter a single
word, as the men slowly dragged the lifeless body out the backdoor.
        The memory, the painful memory, was all rushing back into Silver's
mind like a flood. She couldn't think of anything else but that moment, that
moment, burned into her mind. She had tried to bury it, but every once and a
while it came back up a bit. She sighed heavily. Seeing all these cloaked
figures now had brought it completely up, and she was remembering
everything, everything she hated, everything she wanted to be gone for so
long was washing upon her like a wave drowning the shore.
        She watched the men vanish from her house without a trace. The only
evidence that they had ever been here, was the blood. The dripping, oozing,
red puddle that lied on the floor. She eventually managed to gain the
strength to walk towards the pool of blood, sitting so quietly, intensely,
glimmering in the sunlight that shone throught the window. She fell into it,
crying, every emotion flooding into her, blood soaking her pink sun dress.
        The memories of it all was too much, she burst into tears. Right
there in Knuckles arms. Crying, crying a puddle, a pool, a flood. Letting
her emotions wash upon her like they did fourteen years ago.
                                      ***
        "Either shut her up or wake her up," said Kragok when Silver
started crying.  "I won't have a blubbering wife by my side, or a lazy
one!"
        Knuckles started to whisper in Silver's ear.  "I don't know if
you can hear me, Silver," he said, "but don't worry.  We'll be out of
here soon.  He's taking us to the lava reef, and we'll make our move
there."
        The Floating Island lava reef was one of many improbabilities
that resided on the island.  Back when the island was one with the land,
there had been a long dormant volcano on what was now the "northern"
edge.  After the Chaos Emeralds had been set, lava suddenly rushed into
the empty chambers of the volcano.  When the water that formerly
surrounded the island hit this lava, it solidified on the bottom and the
new Floating Island retained the lava it had taken on.  This lava never
solidified itself, and still sat in the lava reef after thousands of
years.
        There were literally hundreds of entrances to the reef from the
surface.  Kragok and his men were leading them down one of these.
        They arrived at a bluff that towered a good half mile above the
lava pool.  Heat came up in wilting waves.  The hooded echidnas herded
Knuckles and the Chaotix to the edge.  Kragok laughed.
        "Now, guardian," he said, "I want you to wake dear Silver up so
she can see this!  I want her to see what happens to people who defy me
and my Dark Legion!"
        "What do I do, Archy?" Knuckles whispered fiercly to the fire ant
on his shoulder.
        "Kiss her," said Archimedes.
        "Excuse me?"
        "Kiss Silver," the fire ant repeated.  "My type of magic isn't
the only kind, y'know.  But, before you do it, I suggest you come up with
a good excuse to tell Kragok, or he'll shove you off prematurely!"
        "NO STALLING!" yelled Kragok.  His voice echoed off of the
distant wall.  "WAKE HER UP *NOW*!"
        Thinking quickly, Knuckles jostled Silver and made some mumbling
noises in a close approximation to the female echidna's voice.  "She's
awake," he said, "just barely.  I'll hand her over to you," he
outstreched his arms and Kragok reached out expectantly, "buuuut, I want
to give her a goodbye kiss before I die."  He pulled her back out of
Kragok's reach.
        "Grrrr," growled Kragok.  "I'd rather not have my wife tainted by
such lesser blood lips, but . . . I consider myself a fair man - " barely
heard snickering from his thugs " - SOMEtimes.  You may have this
'goodbye kiss' if you must.  And then, *chuckle*, you DIE."
        Softly, Knuckles applied his lips to Silver's.  He felt a heat
that didn't come from the lava below, and pressed down slightly harder.
Within just a few seconds, Silver's mouth answered his as her arms
slipped around his neck and pulled him in.
        It seemed decades before they pulled apart.  Knuckles heard
someone whispering, and realized that it was Silver with a magical spell
playing across her lips.
        "Then this is the end," Knuckles sighed.  He handed Silver over
to Kragok, who had totally missed the true meaning behind Knuckles'
words.
        A few seconds later, all hell broke loose.
                        ***
        Silver grabbed Kragok between the shoulder blades. A shock tingled
through her arms, to her hands and shot through Kragok. Kragok uttered a
sharp cry before he fell to the ground in a heap. Silver stood up, teeth
grinding, fists clenched, eyes glowing a crystal blue. She snarled
angrily at the soldiers staring at her in disbelief.
        The soldiers advanced, Silver uttered a few words, then lava started to
shoot through the ground, in all directions.
        Mysteriously enough, none of it seemed to hit Knuckles, Silver or
The Chaotix. The cloaked soldiers ran like crazy in all directions to
avoid the spewing lava. Silver's rage was coming in full force, which made
her spell all the more effective.
        Kragok quietly got up behind Silver, and grabbed her from behind.
"Now, now, is that anyway for a future Queen to act? I think not." He
snarled as he pulled her back in his filthy and coldly unpleasant grip.
        All at once the lava stopped spouting, and the soliders started to
relax. Silver struggled with Kragok fiercly but she was no match. He
slipped a gag into Silver's mouth, rendering her, magically, helpless.
        She gagged. The old rag tasted of salty sweat and other things. She
thought intensly, trying to figure out how to use telepathic magic. She had
read it in one of her father's old books a while back. The writing was in
Ancient Echidnian and was hard to read, so Silver didn't absorb much of it.
Now, in this position, she wished that she had.
                        ***
        Kragok felt a tap on his shoulder.  He looked around and saw
Knuckles standing behind him.
        "Tsk, tsk," said Knuckles.  "I think you forgot something.  ME."
He punched Kragok in the face.  The echidna leader jerked back and let go
of Silver.  He warbled around for a second, then fell to the ground.
        Knuckles took the dirty rag out of Silver's mouth and helped her
up.  She embraced him in a fierce hug.
        "Thank you for coming to save me!" she said.
        "Thank YOU for that little magic trick, Silver!" he replied.
"That was quite a doozy!"
        She pulled back and laughed.  "Just a little something I was
saving for a hot day.  Speaking of which, it's getting a little stuffy in
here."
        "I agree," said Archimedes.  "Even a fire ant has limits."
        "Alright, let's go," said Knuckles, "but first let's get Kra-?!"
        "What's wrong, Knux?" asked Charmy.  He flew up over the
echidna's shoulder, looked down, and said, "Oh."
        Where Kragok had been laying was only his tattered cloak.
                        ***
        They left via one of the many openings in the lava reef and came
out on Angel Island.
        "Weird stuff, Red," said Vector as he surfaced.  "What are we
going to do about those jokers back there."
        "You'll do nothing for now," Archimedes answered for Knuckles.
"They've probably moved off to another underground chamber by now.
You'll never find them."
        "Who WERE they, Archy?" asked Silver.
        "The Dark Legion."  The fire ant shivered.  "They have a...,
long history.  Let us hope that they will not re-surface again until we
are ready for them.  However, I'm not sure that we WILL get the chance to
prepare.  Kragok has obviously taken quite a liking to you, Silver.  It
may not be safe for you to stay on the Floating Island."
        "Will it be safe for her anywhere else?" Knuckles asked.
        "As long as she's here-"
        "No, he's right," Silver interrupted.  "The Dark Legion will
follow me no matter where I go.  I'm the last female echidna anywhere,
and Kragok will not settle for anything else."  She smiled grimly.  "I
guess I'm stuck with you guys for a little longer."
        "Don't worry, Silver," proclaimed Mighty.  "As long as I have my
matchless strength, those jerks'll never get near you!"
        "You mean as long as I have my slick moves!" said Vector.
        "What about my invisibility?"
        "And my speed?"
        "And my-"
        Knuckles, Silver, and Archimedes left the other Chaotix to their
argument.  They walked until they reached the edge of the island.  The
sun was just setting and the ocean glowed red and orange.
        "To think," sighed Silver, "this is what I've been looking for so
I could go home ever since I go here, and now I can hardly even consider
leaving."
        "Of course," said Archimedes, "now you have a real reason to stay."
        Silver squeezed her arm around Knuckles a little tighter.
        "No, I have two," she whispered to herself.