HELLO READERS! THIS IS PART TWO OF MY FANFIC "Mad Dog", WHICH FOCUSES ON KNUCKLES THE ECHIDNA. DON'T WORRY IF YOU HAVEN'T READ PART ONE, THIS IS MOSTLY SEPARATE FROM THAT STORY, AND I WILL GIVE A BRIEF BACKSTORY ON THAT DURING THE FIRST FEW CHAPTERS. PLEASE REVIEW AFTER YOU HAVE READ AND TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK, AND ENJOY!

Chapter 1: The Guardian

2 months ago, Knuckles met one of the biggest, most egotistical con men on the planet, who almost killed him, along with Knux' girlfriend whom he thought was dead for 5 years. He also has the unique ability of knowing when someone is lying or telling the truth.

This first scumbag is called Angel.

While fighting off Angel's men, Knuckles ran into Scumbag number 2, Sleuth Dogg.

After the imprisonment of his former boss, Dogg spent the next eleven years gunning down targets who had the unfortunate fate of being put on a contract.

Instead of ending the assassin's life, Knuckles made a deal with Dogg to take down Angel, after having no success alone.

Dogg was shot in the head during the battle and taken away by the crime scene cleanup crew, while Angel sent his last man in to distract Knuckles as he made his getaway.

Julie-Su convinced Knuckles to leave the police to handle Angel, and stay with her for the summer.

Then Vector gave him a call saying he'd found Angel AND Dogg, still alive and well in a town called Vace Beach.

Dogg blames the echidna for getting him shot down.

After visiting his friends in Green Hill, Knuckles agreed to help track down these two. Sonic's sister Sonia, whom Knuckles had a relationship with years before, ran into him and offered a ride into town. She had her limousine driver pick him up so they could talk in the back.

Things were still very awkward between Knuckles and Sonia for the whole ride into town, so she decided to just get it out of the way

"So, are you dating anyone or are you still going around breaking hearts?"

Knuckles chuckles at this comment

"Haven't you heard? Only thing I break now are jaws. It's all I'm good for, I guess... but to answer your question, I am with someone. At least I think I'm still dating her"

Sonia rests her elbows on her knees and leans closer "What do you mean?"

"..it's complica-"

"Don't say it's complicated, I hate that expression so much! Either you're with her or you're not"

Knuckles looks out the window "We fought last time I saw her and she said I'm an asshole, but she still cared for me...regardless, she wanted time alone, so I guess I'm not with her, at the moment"

"Well, at least she got to say goodbye before you left..."

"Look, I had a reason to leave you, Sonia. This is my job. I beat the crap outta criminals and haul 'em in. It doesn't exactly give me much free time. Maybe if there weren't so many pieces of shit in this world, I could take a vacation, but there's not. So I can't stop!...all I can say is I'm sorry"

The pink hedgehog leans back in her comfy leather seat

"Yeah. I am, too"

The Chrome-plated Limousine rides into the glossy town of Vace Beach at sundown. Knuckles looks out as they ride down The Strip, a long stretch of Fancy Bars and Nightclubs that only the richest can enter. Everyone looks like they're enjoying themselves, while he's stuck in the back of a limousine with his ex.

"Where can I drop ya?" Sonia asks

"The park across from the Cop Shop is fine"

They fly through traffic and Sonia's driver pulls up to the curb at Stillwater Park, an urban grassland with fake trees, grass and plants. Only thing real in this park are the Christmas lights left over from the holidays. Unlike most of Mobius, it never snows in Vace Beach so the town folk decorate the city in fake snow and hang up plenty of lights.

Knuckles jumps out of the backseat and the driver grabs his bags from the trunk, while Sonia opens a bottle of what looks like Wine.

She reaches out and passes a card to him

"Call me if you get lonely, Mr. Complicated" Sonia says with a smile

Knuckles takes the card and puts it in his front shirt pocket. He knew it would be warmer down south so he packed his best summer clothes. Sonia's limo races out of the area and disappears into local traffic.

The Echidna crosses the street and walks up the concrete stairs leading to the local Police Department. Vector and Espio needed to get him the job tracking Angel and Dogg, otherwise he wouldn't have been acting within the confines of the law as a vigilante.

As police scan his bags, Knuckles fist bumps Vector and Espio when they meet up with him in the lobby.

"Hey, boys. Where's the meeting room?"

"Upstairs. Top Brass are already waiting" Espio answers

"Seems like they're fans of yours, pal. You, Sonic and Tails are like movie stars down here, man" Vector says

"Yeah, well not everyone is a fan..."

The customs officer calls out to the trio

"Buddy, you're gonna have to leave your bags here" She says

"That's fine. But there'd better still be 4 bottles of Jack in there when I come back" Knuckles jokes

The trio get in an elevator and ride up to the 5th floor. Upon seeing him in the offices, Knuckles is surrounded with officers and cubicle workers who want to shake his hand. He says hello to everyone, but the sight of one officer makes him stiff

Mighty the Armadillo stands at the front of the office with his arms crossed, waiting for everyone to settle down.

"Are you morons done kissing his ass or can I continue?" Mighty asks

"Relax, copperhead, you can go on with your little speech. I'm just gettin' settled in" Knuckles responds

"First off: in here, you'll address me as Detective. Out in the field, you'll address me as M. for identification safety purposes. Got that?"

Knuckles sits in an office chair "Sure pal. Sure"

M quickly walks over to Knuckles' desk, so he jumps up and stands face-to-face with the Armadillo

"Get this through your thick skull: You work for us, Jonathan!"

Knuckles glares at him "Don't call me that wack-ass legal name the government gave me"

"Listen, I don't give a shit what you, Sonic and Tails did ten years ago. You guys don't run jack shit these days-"

"Oh, is that how you see me? A glorified Vigilante?" Knuckles asks

"I see you as a lucky bastard to even BE let in on this operation. But we don't do things like you're used to. We pay you, which makes us your boss! I tell you-"

Knuckles pushes M away from him

"You don't tell me shit! You wouldn't even be a detective without us!"

Without warning, M throws a punch at Knuckles, which he easily dodges. He ducks under and tackles M onto a desk, while the rest of the personnel try to split them up. Knuckles punches his opponent in the body 5 times before he's pulled off.

"What the hell is goin' on?!" Staff Sargent Luggs asks

Everyone scrambles to hold Knuckles and M apart, while they curse each other out in front of the top brass.

"Sir, for the record, this is EXACTLY why I didn't want him joining this operation!" M shouts

Knuckles says nothing, just glares at his former friend

"Stand down, both of you! Jonathan, you cool down!" Luggs orders

Knuckles puts his hands up "I'm cool"

"Take the day off, get settled into your apartment. Go check out The Strip. Just stay away from each other until you're called in"

"Sounds like a great idea, sir" M says

"Yeah, blow me, pal" Knuckles responds "And by the way, your bosses called me in because YOU couldn't do your job. I'm your best chance at catching these pieces of shit, so calm down"

Vector and Espio lead Knuckles out of the board office, while M keeps talking trash to him.

"To think I used to call you a brother..." Knuckles says as he leaves

The trio leave the elevator, pick up Knuckles' bags and laugh hysterically as they get outside

"Man, that's one way to introduce yourself to the local PD" Vector says as he laughs "Shit, man that was awesome!"

"Somebody's gotta show him he ain't as bad as he thinks he is. 'You will address me as M in the field' oh, fuck off with that movie-cop bullshit! He really has his head up his ass this time" Knuckles says

"The boys have been tellin' us he's been acting like quite the superstar since he got transferred here" Espio says

"Screw him. He ain't nothing... so, where's the apartment I'm staying at?"

Vector and Espio look at each other for a moment, then they jump inside a car to drive Knuckles to it. As the sun sets, the neon lights illuminate the streets and the parties begin all around town.

They reach a secluded part of Vace Beach with very few houses, then Vector pulls into a long driveway that leads to a three storey house, most of the lights already turned on.

"What, am I sharing the space with someone?" Knuckles asks

"Yeah. Our friends from Green Hill" Espio answers

"What? The punks?!"

Even before they get out of Vector's car, the trio are welcomed by Starr, Duncan and AJ. The Enhanced trio they fought back in Green Hill.

The three teenagers almost succeeded in killing Knuckles, Tails and Manic a few months back, with some outside help. Eventually, AJ, Starr and Duncan were defeated and arrested.

Facing a minimum of 15 years in prison, Vector offered them a chance to cut that sentence in half, by helping to catch Angel and Dogg.

"No.."

"Yep. It was one of M's orders. He outranks us, so he got final say on where they put you. Sorry, dude"

Knuckles grabs his bags, walks inside and looks around the moderate looking house. His phone rings so he answers it

"Hey Knux!"

"What, M?..."

"Remember all that shit you were talking in the office? Well, I hope it was worth it! I wish I could see the look on your face right now!"

"You'll get yours soon, buddy. I promise you that"

"Hey, Knux, just to let you know: If anything happens to those punks, if they get killed, or if they escape custody, it's your ass that goes down. Seeing as it was YOUR idea to bring these drop outs to this operation, we figured they should be YOUR responsibility. So be a good boy and keep them in line"

Knuckles hangs up his phone and puts it in his pocket, while thinking about what to do. What to say.

He knew he would be working with the teenagers, but he had no clue he'd have to share the same safe house with them.

"Alright. Lets get this shit outta the way" Knuckles says "If you guys be cool, I'll be cool. Lets just get this job done as fast as possible, and then we'll never have to see each other again"

AJ, the teenage echidna twice the size of Knux, approaches and looks down at him "What's stopping us from kicking your head in, breaking these ankle bracelets and gettin' outta here before anyone can find us?"

"I'm willing to bet M's got this place wired up with cameras and microphones, as well as having the phone lines tapped... you could jump me and try to escape, but you wouldn't get far"

"Yeah, you're in deep with the Cops, so I can imagine they'd save your ass in a heartbeat" Duncan says

"M doesn't give a flying fuck about me, he's probably hoping you will kill me just so he don't have to see me anymore" Knuckles fires back

"Wait, why are you here, then?" Starr asks

"Ask AJ why. He knows who these assholes are and what they've done. What they're going to keep doing"

"Come on, there's gotta be more to it than that. I bet they're paying you"

"What difference does it make? You wanna have your jail sentences cut in half or not? Just shut up, do the job and we can be done with this"

Knuckles walks past AJ and goes into the kitchen to pour himself a glass of Whiskey. The teenagers watch him fill it up, knock it back in one gulp, and pour another one.

"You look like you take this job seriously" Starr says sarcastically "You're quite the role model, Knux"

He slams his glass down "Let me make this clear: I'm not your father, any of you. I'm not your friend, and not anyone's role model. I'm here to finish something I started, that's all. So don't expect any good guy bullshit because you won't get any from me"

"So, we can expect some bad guy bullshit instead" Duncan says with a grin "You can start by pouring me a glass, bro"

"YOU can start by fucking right off and sitting your asses down. Look, there's a TV in the living room, why don't you guys go play a video game or something?"

"Your butt-buddies took them away when they arrested us, dummie" Starr says

"Butt-buddies? Do people actually still say that?" Knuckles asks

"I do, because I think you're in local circle-jerk contests with the cops"

Knuckles puts the bottle down "Do you listen to the words that come out of your mouth, I mean, what 14 year old talks like that?"

"I'm not 14. I'm 15, now. And there are plenty of kids who talk much worse than me"

Knuckles sighs as he pours another glass "Then I am getting old, pretty fast"

AJ crosses his arms and leans against the hallway wall "You didn't seem like a spry-chicken when I was whooping your ass all around Angel's arena"

Knuckles quickly gulps his drink and looks at AJ "First off, fuck you, I won, even when you had the advantage of being a giant red rage-monster. Secondly, I saved your life, so a little gratitude would be nice. And I'm getting a little sick of having highschool kids calling me an old, out of shape piece of shit"

"Don't forget alcoholic, old piece of shit" Duncan adds

Growing much angrier, Knuckles closes his eyes and inhales, trying to calm himself down. He exhales and walks to the living room, so the teenagers follow closely and continue bugging him.

He picks up the TV remote "If you're going to follow me, at least be a little helpful and tell me which channels are the music ones"

"Yeah, it's Channel Eat Shit" Duncan responds sarcastically

Knuckles sits down "I would say something snappy back, but I'm not an immature 16 year old douchebag who wears body spray instead of showering.."

"But you - you just said you wouldn't say anything snappy-"

"You-you-you, shut the hell up, kid"

The teenagers laugh as they sit down on the other black leather couches and watch Knuckles looking through the TV guide.

He gets a text from Vector so he throws the remote over to Duncan

The ankle bracelets can detect if the enchanced trio are trying to escape custody, and electrocutes them to prevent that. It also stuns them if they try to use their abilities against you or law enforcement

-V

Knuckles reads it over, then looks at the teenagers. He types a reply and waits for an answer

Currently, the house is in Safe House mode, meaning if they step out the door, they'll get zapped

-V

While reading this text, Starr leans over and tries to read over his shoulder

"Who are ya talking to? What's it say? Is it your boyfriend? Aw, that's cute, Knuxie!" She gleefully says

"Tell him to take it easy on ya, Knux! Your back looks like it's aching from that last pounding you took!" Duncan adds

"Yeah, uh... Gay!" AJ calls out

Knuckles springs off the couch "Okay, I think I've had enough of this bullshit. See ya later"

"Aw, come on, we're just kidding! Hey, where are ya going? Can we come?"

Knuckles starts packing his gear bag "I have a feeling you're going to follow me regardless if I say yes or no"

"Cool, we're going on a walk with our new big brother!" Duncan says "Take us to the arcade, my man!"

"Lets go get ice cream!" Starr exclaims

"To the hell with both of those, take us to the nightclub!" AJ says

"We're not doing any of that shit, so settle down" Knuckles says as he opens the door

He walks outside and looks back to watch the show.

As expected, all three teenagers get shocked as soon as they take a step out the door. Knuckles laughs as they fall to the ground and groan in pain.

"What the hell was that?!" Duncan shouts

He gets electrocuted again, so he crawls back inside and his friends follow him

"That is called Safe House mode. If you try to leave the house before the operators change the settings to free roam, then you will be zapped in the most painful way possible" Knuckles says

"That's bullshit!" AJ shouts

"..You idiots try to kill me or escape? You'll be hit with 5 000 volts. Got it?"

"What, you're just gonna keep us here against our will? That's illegal! We're helpless kids!" Starr says

Knuckles walks closer to the front door "You can literally melt people with your mind-"

He points at AJ "You can rip anyone's arms off with ease-"

He points at Duncan "And you almost killed my friend Tails with a freaking cellphone"

The trio go silent

"You're not helpless kids. You're entitled little shits because of the things you can do. Well, now you know what it's like being afraid to leave your house because of what might happen... get that chip off your shoulder"

Knuckles turns around and walks across the large lawn, leaving the Enhanced Trio with nothing to say.

He pulls out his phone and calls a taxi, then Duncan stands up to ask him a question

"What do we do if we get hungry? There's like, no food in here!"

"Order a pizza"

"With what money?"

"Jesus christ..."

Knuckles pulls out his wallet, walks back across the lawn and hands Duncan $50 dollars

"Great. Unhealthy junk food is what we really need..."

Duncan walks away, and Starr looks up at Knuckles

"Where are you going?"

He sighs as he pulls out Sonia's card from his pocket "..I'm feeling a little lonely"

His taxi comes and races through the bright city streets, seemingly drenched in Neon lights and reflective Chrome buildings.

He reaches Sonia's hotel and rides a fancy gold themed elevator all the way up 50 floors. He walks down a wide hallway and knocks on the door of Sonia's luxury suite.

"There you are, I was wondering when you'd call" She says, breath smelling like exspensive wine

"..you a day drinker, now?"

"Only on my off days from work. I own the biggest share of The WestCorp Waste Managment company"

"So, you're a CEO of a cleanup company. Not bad"

Sonia bites her bottom lip and puts her drink down "That sounded like a jab, Jonathan"

"Why is everyone obsessed with bringing up my government name today?"

"I don't know about the others, but I remember when you actually liked that name. It suits you. Knuckles just sounds so ...childish"

"Is that what we're reduced to addressing each other? Like children? Or are we adults, now? Cause if you don't want to have a rational conversation, I'll just go"

Sonia pushes her door all the way open

"Is that what you came here to do? Talk rationally?"

She and Knuckles' eyes meet and they both smile

Sonia grabs Knuckles' shirt and pulls him inside her suite, while he shuts the door. She jumps up and wraps her legs around his waist, while he holds her up and they lock lips. He walks towards her bedroom, picks up a bottle of wine on the way and shuts this door next.

After almost an hour, Knuckles sits up on the edge of Sonia's bed, while she lays under her covers.

"I knew you still had some game left, but wow... that was-"

Knuckles' phone rings so he picks it up, listens to a frantic voice giving instructions, and he just replies with "Understood"

"What was that?" Sonia asks

"It would seem like I have some business to attend to" Knuckles resplies, putting his tank top back on

"Wait, you're leaving?"

"I have to. It's important that I go, or I might lose my job" He lies

Sonia sits up "But what about, y'know...us?"

Knuckles walks over to her and kisses her once more

"I'll come back. It won't take long"

"Please don't tell me that and just never speak to me again, I can't handle that a second time. If you can't come back, or you just don't want to, then just tell me. But please don't do this"

"I promise you, on my life, I won't make that mistake again"

He lightly squeezes her hand and walks towards the door, until Sonia calls his name

"You never did tell me why you're here"

"Friend of mine got me a job, it's easy work and good pay"

"But, doing what?"

Knuckles takes a moment to answer, sparking curiosity in Sonia

"Site cleanup"

"Bullshit"

"It's true. Buildings get abandoned or torn down, and we clean up the mess"

"You're out here to hurt someone, aren't you?"

"Only thing getting hurt here are my hands, they get sore easily-"

Sonia gives a passive laugh as she senses through his lies.

"Is it really that hard to tell me the truth?" She asks

"I am telling you the truth. My friend got me a job cleaning up messes around town, exactly the way your company does"

"My company cleans up forrests and grasslands, we don't clean blood off the streets, Jonathan"

"Look, what difference does it make what job I have? I make money, that's all that matters"

"It matters because you told me the same thing 7 years ago and you fucking left me!"

"Okay, I'm done saying I'm sorry to you. I know was wrong for doing that, but that was 7 years ago. A lot has changed since then, I changed and I'm not that guy anymore-"

"You haven't changed at all. You just got older"

Knuckles takes off a pair of dog tags, grabs Sonia's hand and gives them to her

"These dog tags were given to my father by the Alliance back in the old days, and he gave them to me before he passed. Not many things in life that I care about, but these are up there... I'll come back for these, I promise, I swear to you"

Sonia looks at the old silver plates, then nods at Knuckles. He grabs his gear bag and takes off into the elevator, ready to go to work.

He gets back to street level and pulls out his phone

"Alright, fill me in. What's the situation?"

"There's been two shootings in the last 10 minutes. First target is a known gang clubhouse, no civilians involved. Second appears to be a random shooting, victim is a single parent. Expected to live. I'll text you the address through the encryption line"

"Great. Lets go find these sons of bitches"

PLEASE REVIEW AND LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK!