Chapter 10: The Last of my Kind

Well, technically my story ended at Tails' funeral, but to fully understand what I went through, I want you to see one last scene. I warn you, this is not a long part, hardly fit for a story, and I apologize for that.

One month later

A few days after Tails reappeared, I found the Master Emerald and carried it, broken arm and all, to the Island. It felt good to be home. I wanted to cry as I felt Angel Island begin lifting up. For weeks, I hardly ate anything. I hardly cared about anything. I was drowning myself in my own sorrow. I couldn't seem to see that Tails and Sonic were both alive, Espio and I had finally made up, I was ok with Team Chaotix, I was alive and my arm would heal completely. I couldn't see the good, I only saw the bad. I was killing myself and I knew it. Pity is a hard thing to deal with, especially if it's self pity.

For weeks I moped on the Island. Someone could have walked right past me, Master Emerald in hand, and I would have just let them go. That is how far I had sunk; how far I had let myself fall into the pit of pity. Sonic and Tails came to visit me. It didn't go well.

"Hey Knux!" Sonic called. I didn't move to greet them. Sonic was all smiles. Tails was too.

"I almost have Backdrop fixed, Knuckles!" Tails said. I didn't bother to look at them. This was about two weeks ago. By then I had fourteen days to think by myself. I was too far gone to care that my two best friends (if indeed you could call them my friends) had come to see me.

"Knuckles, come on!" Sonic said, kneeling beside me.

"Go away!" I snapped.

Sonic sighed. "I know you've been down in the dumps, Knuckles, but don't push us away."

I growled and punched him square in the face. Tails gasped.

"This is how you want it to be, eh, Knux?" Sonic snarled, standing up. "Fine! Die up here in your self pity! But I will tell you, it's not the ideal way to go! You will die if you don't get over it soon, and if you aren't going to care and if you are going to be like this, then I won't shed a tear for you!" And he left. Tails looked at me sadly and followed. I soon heard the hum of the plane engine and I was alone again.

Alone. If there was ever a set meaning for the word, I would love to know it. Until that day, I had never known what alone really was. Sure, I had lived alone on the Island for a very long time, knowing I was the only Echidna left. But this was a different kind of alone. I had felt the feeling of belonging that I had never felt before and just like that, it was ripped away. That is the meaning of alone; to know what love and belonging feels like and then suddenly having it torn away, leaving only a hole in your heart.

I turned over what Sonic said to me over and over. Would he really not cry if I did die up here because of my own pity? I doubted anyone would know I died. I would most likely die and the Master Emerald, sensing my presence, will keep the Island afloat until my body decayed. When that happened, the Island would fall and there would be nothing left of me, or they would have forgotten about the last echidna to ever live.

It was either that thought, or what Sonic had said to me (or both) that pulled me out of my self dug pit. You can't win them all, and I certainly wasn't about to let Ceaira have the victory over this. She may have crushed my heart and my hope, but I would not let her have the satisfaction of breaking Knuckles the Echidna down to the death.

To this day, no one told me what happened to Ceaira. They never would. I would never know who she was or why it was me she wanted dead. All I knew is that my hope is now afraid of heights, which is a good thing. And for all who care, Tails was able to fix little Backdrop and he now has a full time job as Tails' personal assistant. The robot doesn't remember anything. The past of Ceaira would now and forever be a mystery.

I was playing Solitaire. I made a mental note to thank Tails for the deck of cards. They were the only thing that made it out without a scratch. Like I said, you can't win them all. I had lost and I knew it, but if I ever met her again, I would kill. I wished I had listened to Espio, but you can't change what has already happened.

I looked down at the game a Solitaire. "Well, whadda-ya know," I whispered, leaning back, feeling the breeze and for the first time I was appreciating the sky as the sun set colored it almost as red as me. "I won."