Chapter 31 - The Next Guardian Issue 31

The Next Guardian Issue 31



Ekyt stood his ground. Should find a wall, he thought. One direction they couldn't attack from. “Well, I see the junior guardian decided to hit the town tonight. Glad he picked our place, right sis?” Nack gave his sister a toothy grin. “Yeah, lucky for us we heard you. And lucky for you, we just want to kidnap you, not kill you.”

Ekyt said nothing. Remember what Knux said, use your instincts. Ekyt dropped his arms in mock surrender. Then he flipped back behind a table and flipped it onto three of the robots that were after him. Nic and Nack laughed. “I'd expect nothing less from a future guardian. You guys don't do things the easy way, do you?”

Ekyt wasn't armed. Perfect timing. He could give up, but he had already caused too much trouble for the others. Fight? Well, he was outnumbered, but he'd seen worse. He decided to play the waiting game. “So, you're after the emerald? Sorry, not gonna get it. Or me. Or Knuckles. Hate to burst your bubble, but for two top of the line bounty hunters, you leave empty-handed a lot.” Two robots charged. Ekyt slid through their legs and pulled up the carpet, putting them on top of each other.

But he couldn't keep this up. He needed some help. A shout from this far away couldn't be heard. Except by an ultimate life form…

“Shadow!” Ekyt shouted. More robots rushed as Nack and Nic looked panicked. They had planned for normal people, not this. The metal maniacs left their mark on Ekyt. He lay on all fours, breathing. Blood coming from his nose and lip. His forhead was cut. His ribs ached. But he couldn't let up. He threw kick after kick.

A black hedgehog holding a yellow chaos emerald burst through the door. He had Ekyt's staff. Without a word, he threw Ekyt the staff. “Chaos…Blast!” Ekyt took cover behind the table he had overturned earlier. Most of the robots were destroyed. One of those that functioned threw gambling chips at incredible velocitys. The emerald was knocked away from Shadow. Nack shot a cord that wrapped around Shadow, leaving him helpless.

“Hang on, Shadow.” Ekyt knocked three robots away and dashed for the emerald. This must have been the spare emerald Knuckles had told him about when he first started training. Nic saw the emerald too. She whacked Ekyt with her tail. He recovered and grabbed hold of the emerald. With the other hand, he tossed his knives into a decorative tree near Shadow. Enough of the blade was sticking out. Shadow cut himself free and joined the three-way fight for the emerald.

Nic whacked them both with her tail and shot a cord at Ekyt. He jumped, but it caught his legs. In desperation, he threw his staff. The emerald shattered.

“No!” The cry came from all three of them. It split in three pieces.

Swoosh. Something swooped in and scooped up the emeralds. Rouge the Bat stood at Ekyt's head. She dropped two bombs on Shadow and Nic. “Well, if it isn't the human again.” She untied him. “I'm Rouge. Charmed.” She said as she held out her hand. Ekyt shook her hand. “So, you work for Knuckles. Well, we have a choice, don't we.” She said. “Since I have the emerald, I call the shots, so don't get any ideas. I will trade them for one of two things: Knuckles, or an ancient relic. Which is it gonna be, handsome?” She smiled seductively.

Ekyt couldn't risk the emeralds anymore. “Well, I can't get you Knux, put I can get you this relic. What do you want.” Rouge smiled. “Why, I want the fragments of the white comment. You know, the one that almost destroyed Echidnapolis?” “I'm familiar.” Ekyt spat. “Good. So get all your little playmates, and get me the comet. Then this gaudy trinket is yours.”

She dropped one more bomb and flew off.



TO BE CONTINUED



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