[KNUCKLES]

I stared at my friends sitting in silence around the fire. It had been over half a year since we were all together. The last time was under the grave circumstances of defeating Eggman, which ended... well... in our favour but with Sonic nearly dying. I was hoping tonight would be fun having the gang back together, and I hoped we could strengthen our bond again. But it seemed like there was a lot of tension in the air. I could see I had a bit of work to do here.

I also knew that we were about to meet a bigger challenge, and the only way to get through this next phase was to be a tight team.

I have to figure out a way to clear the air between everyone to unite us again...

But first things first, I needed to announce the information that Mescalito gave me.

"Ok team!" I shouted and clapped my hands three times. Everyone looked up and me, either eager or intrigued to hear what I had to say.

The sun was basking the horizon in golden warmth. The fresh spring air was filled with the smell of flowers as they released their perfume into the breeze. The fire was giving off a comforting heat and creating a warm glow on the faces of everyone seated around it.

"I suppose you are all wondering why I've gathered you here today," I said with a supportive grin.

"Yes honey," Rouge piped up. "Please don't keep us in the dark any longer!"

"Ok. Well prepare yourselves, because our lives are about to change forever," I started, looking around at the circle. Amy and Cream were staring at me wide-eyed, either in terror or excitement. Rouge was sitting up straight, grinning enthusiastically. Tails was looking down at the ground. Blaze and Sonic watched me attentively. Shadow's expression didn't change.

"I was summoned to a meeting with one of my ancestral guides. They brought news of an astrological event about to take place on Mobius-"

"Sorry Knuckles," Cream interrupted me, raising her arm in the air. "But what do you mean by an astrological event?"

"My apologies Cream, I'll start from the beginning." I said. "Astrology: is the study of the influence that the stars, planets and galaxies have upon us and our own planet."

"How can that be?" said Sonic.

"Well," I continued, "Say everything in the universe carries its own energy force. For example; have you ever been in a great mood, but then spoke to someone who is grumpy and rude to you, and then felt awful afterwards? Or maybe you were feeling sad or anxious, but someone who was in a good mood came along and cheered you up? That is an example of how energy can directly affect energy.

On a much bigger scale, items in space also carry their own energy force, and it is theorised that they can directly affect the energy of everything else in the universe."

"I think I follow," Sonic replied.

"Therefore an astrological event is when the energy of something is space affects the energy of something else somewhere in the universe. In this case, it has been prophesised that Mobius will be affected."

"But... how?" asked Rouge.

I scratched my chin and wondered how I was going to explain this.

"As you know, all planets reside in galaxies. Galaxies are made up of many planets and stars. Mobius is part of the Milky Way galaxy," I began. "Every galaxy is ruled by a certain force. The Milky Way galaxy is governed by the force of love. That's why it is our main goal and biggest challenge in life to find love."

Almost everyone in the circle looked at the floor and blushed. I saw a few nods of agreement too.

"So," I continued, "Everything is space is constantly moving. Everything follows a certain path, like the planets in our solar system. Now, there are two important galaxies out there close to ours. The first one is the Itzamna galaxy."

"The what now?" Rouge laughed.

"The Itzamna galaxy. It is ruled by light – this could be interpreted as positivity, purity, and good forces-"

I was interrupted by Sonic. "Knuckles, this is getting a bit out there for my liking..."

"Just bear with me will you!" I snapped back, slightly irritated.

Sometimes I just wish they'd believe in what I say... But then again I have to accept that everyone believes in something different. Oh well, all I can do is pass on what I heard...

"Hear him out Sonic!" cried Rouge jumping to my defence.

"Haha alright, I'm listening. Chill out guys," Sonic replied with a grin.

"I'll make it quick as I can," I said. "In direct opposition to the Itzamna galaxy. We have the Erebus galaxy-"

"How do you come up with these names Knux?" Sonic laughed.

"I don't make them up!!" I growled back. "It's ancient knowledge passed down by my guides! Anyway, the names aren't really important. Just listen to the message."

"Alrighty," Sonic replied with a cocky grin. "Let me guess then, the Erebus galaxy is ruled by darkness!"

"Oh so you do have brains!" I smirked back at him. "You're exactly right. The Erebus galaxy is governed by darkness. Other interpretations could include negativity, evil, or bad forces. The two galaxies balance out good and bad in the universe. One can't exist without the other."

I paused for a moment to see if everyone was following me. Tails had his head down and was still staring at the floor. Poor guy, he looked really depressed. The girls were all looking at me with their mouths open, obviously interested in the revelations. Sonic and Shadow had moved closer together as I'd been speaking. I could have sworn their pinkies were touching as their hands rested next to one another.

I smiled to myself and continued speaking.

"Basically these two galaxies are about to complete a 33,000 year long cycle around the universe that ends in them being completely aligned. When this happens, light and dark, or, positive and negative forces meet and merge."

"So Knuckles, if you don't mind me asking," Blaze said suddenly, "How and why exactly is this going to affect Mobius?"

"Well you see," I replied, "The position of Mobius in space is directly in line with the point where Itzamna and Erebus will cross, meaning the energy of the two galaxies aligning will completely engulf Mobius in their force."

"Crikey," said Sonic, and glanced at Shadow. Shadow raised his eyebrows back at him but did not look fazed.

"So, err, Knuckles?" Amy said. "What are you trying to tell us? What does this mean?"

"Basically folks," I said, "It means we're going to go face a different kind of battle. A battle of evolution. We're either going to be beaten by the dark forces or we're going to level up, it is a chance for our psychic powers to get stronger if we practice them. But it won't be easy. It'll be like facing a new enemy, but the enemy is not physical. I'm not sure what form it will take yet."

"Ok... So let me get this straight," said Sonic. "You're saying two galaxies in outer space, one good, one bad, are about to crash into each other, causing chaos to erupt everywhere, and Mobius is smack bang caught up in the middle of it?"

"Exactly," I replied.

"Alriiiight Knuckles," Sonic said sceptically, "I guess I'll believe it when I see it!"

"Everything will become clearer as we move forward," I said hopefully. "All we can do now is do the self-work and become the best and the strongest we can be."

Blank faces stared back at me.

"So how will we achieve this?" asked Rouge. "Do we have a plan of attack?"

"I'm not sure yet," I replied. "But I do know that the first thing we need to work on is team building; so we can work together without any interpersonal shit getting in the way. And then we are going to work on training our psychic abilities so we can navigate ourselves out of the chaos. Mobius is about to be transformed and we will be transformed with it."

I let out a sigh and scratched my head.

I don't know if I explained that well enough.

I hoped I wasn't failing my friends by not having all the answers. I just want to help them.

What can I do now?

I was distracted from my thoughts by a buzzing sound in the air. I looked around but couldn't see anything that could be creating the noise. Suddenly the ground felt like it was vibrating beneath my feet. I jumped into battle stance, preparing to fight if I had to. The temperature started to drop as an enormous shadow passed over us.

Then, just as quickly as it came, the darkness lifted and dissolved into thin air. The tremors stopped and the buzzing vanished.

"Did anyone else feel that?!" I said in shock.

"What the fuck was it?" exclaimed Shadow.

"Dude, that was creepy, it's giving me the chills!" cried Sonic.

"It was almost like something from another dimension was trying to break into ours!" Blaze remarked.

We all stared at one another in silence. No one wanting to admit it, but we were scared.