Chapter 70 - The Next Guardian Issue 70 !!!

THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO HAS READ MY FANFIC. LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE IN UPCOMING ISSUES. I CAN PUT IN FAN CHARS ( WITH PERMISSION AND CREDIT), HANDLE LOVE SITUATIONS, WHATEVER. THANKS TO EVERYONE. THIS IS MY THREE MONTH ANNIVERSARY ON FAC! THANKS FOR MAKING IT THREE GREAT MONTHS EVERYONE!



Focus, girl. Nothing big…Yeah, just freeing a village… She looked over at Ekyt. He was absently carving at a stick. She was dressed totally in black. He wore his usual clothes. But his normally alert eyes were glassy, staring.

He thought back. (Insert dream sequence)



“What not, shrimp, huh?” the bully taunted. He probably had a name.

Then Ekyt remembered the next part, his fall down the stairs.

Right after math class, the kid pushed him down the stairs.

The fight in the gym. Not again…

The thud as his head hit the gum floor.

He laid there. Then he sat up.

The gym was silent, he remembered.
They couldn't believe he had sat up.

Ekyt watched himself take the fall, slowly, repeatedly,

Then impossibly fast.

He walked over and punched the kid blocking the door.

The memories ate at him.

The anxiety. No, he couldn't go back…

But his mind forced him to relive it all.

It was painful.



Linda-Su had only seen this once before. “Knuckles!” Knuckles came running, and saw his protégé. “Not again…” he punched Ekyt just hard enough to snap him out of it.

“Huh? Oh, sorry.” The seventeen year old looked normal again. Younger. But pale. Even more pale than usual. Knuckles left him and Linda to talk, to say goodbye.

They had been over the plan. Ekyt was going to create the ultimate distraction. Linda-Su was going to bust out anyone she could. Ekyt sat at the table, focused. “You'll have to explain what that whole thing was about later. Right now, we've got lives to save.” Linda talked to him. “I…yeah, you're right. I wish you didn't have do this…” “Well, I do. I'll be fine, I always am.”



In the Grand Conservatorium



Archimedes was questioning Locke. “Are you sure this is necessary, Locke? Hasn't he been through enough? Why test him further?” Locke stroked his beard. “You know it's been our way since Steppenwolf.” “Yes, but you know of his past. He is emotionally tougher than anyone before him.” He shook his head. “Fate dealt him a cruel hand, and he has come through handily. He finally has some stability. A girlfriend. A job. A purpose. Why jeopardize it?” Archimedes had practically spat the last part. “Archimedes, you know a guardian must be honed physically and mentally. We cannot allow a mental lapse. Not with things as they are.' Locke gave Archimedes a rare, pained look. “I have seen my own son killed, Archimedes. It was always intended. He was reborn. Yes, the young man has handled a lot, but we must be sure.” Archimedes gave Locke a look. “I'm going to keep an eye on him.” “Do what you will.” Locke privately agreed with the fire ant.



Just outside of Knothole, they peered through the brush. Linda was inside the Knothole “Complex”, as they referred to it. Robot guards swarmed the perimeter. Ekyt, Knuckles, Julie-Su, and Eden (Violet_Rose) were about to take a huge gamble. But not as big as Linda's.

Linda dropped off the tree branch and glided silently down the small entrance to Knothole. The tree stump cover popped open when she pulled a vine. She swung in.

She walked over to a console, arranged with a variety of buttons. She pushed the all as an alarm sounded. The cell doors open as people ran. “Get out of the village!” She shouted. Then she blacked out. Cring/Moonshine stood over her, a light, dented pipe in his hand. He dragged the unconscious echidna to a cell and locked her up.

Ekyt's band of citizenship glowed. He knew something was wrong on Linda-Su's end. Soultouch did that, too. Ekyt's mind flashed back.

“Give it back!” a small child shouted

Normally, Ekyt would have been the child.

Not this time.

This time, his real figure stepped out of the shadows, menacingingly.

Do as she he says.

Ekyt gave warning to the thief.

Then his world turned red.



Ekyt shook his head. “Knux, if it's alright, you and Julie get the others out of here. Take them someplace safe.” Ekyt walked forward, drawing his knife. He dashed forward (Don't try this at home!) he slashed two robots apart. Then a third. Then a fourth.



I said, give me your purse!

A man was threating an elderly lady.

Ekyt stepped out from the bushes and wrecked the man.

The woman turned into Linda-Su.

Not much time, Ekyt.

I love you.

Then she vanished.



Ekyt's blind rage at the thought caused him to destroy robots. He was almost a machine himself. He could think only of the past. The present. The future. A future without Linda. Not another loss…No.

He broke into the complex. The newly metallic corridors didn't faze him. A robot came from behind. Ekyt turned to face it, finding Archimedes standing in a puddle of melted lave.

“Archimedes?” he began. “No time. Linda's in trouble. We have to get to her. Kid, use the ring. I know, I know, you're not supposed to. But in this case, you have my permission. Hurry! I'll start a small covering fire!” He did just that as Ekyt ran ahead with a vague “Thanks” over his shoulder.

He got to the cell she was in. She lay, unconscious, in a dark corner. Her head was a congealed mass of blood. He kicked open the door, thanks to added power from his ring.

He felt her pulse and breathing. She was okay, but head wounds were scary.

Ekyt rolled to the side as a pipe slashed down. There stood Cring (Formerly Moonshine). Ekyt didn't waste words. He and the dog grappled. Punches were exchanged. The dog even bit him, tearing his shirt.

But Ekyt was lost. In anger. In frustration. The taunts rained down on him. He hadn't been this way in a long time. He remembered it all.

The end came. Ekyt, a mass of mangled flesh, let the dog charge. He hit the dirt and stuck out his foot and flipped the huge dog onto the console.

No time to waste. He wiped blood away from his eyes and put Linda in a fireman's carry.

Flames licked his shoes. He took no notice. The ring's power was still in him, so Ekyt kicked a support beam near the door, caving in part of the ceiling. He ran to the floating island. Linda had been there for him. He couldn't let anything happen to her…

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