This is my first fic for Sonic the Hedgehog, largely revolving around Knuckles. This will most likely be a romance fic, I won't say you will have to work out the couple themselves but they will become obvious as the story continues onwards.
The plot is really simple. Robotnik wants the Emeralds and the Master Emerald, as per usual, maybe G.U.N being involved too. This is based loosely on the Sonic X series but is my own reality so there will be differences. Please feel free to comment and correct me on anything, including the storyline if I miss out any key events or details you feel should have been included. Please enjoy the fic, hopefully.
The rain fell heavily on Angel Island, soaking the luscious plant life that covered the surface. The dark clouds overhead looked ominous; the threat of lightning was very real. The electric buzz in the air palpitated with every passing second sending every animal into hiding. From the smallest insect to the largest bear sensed the inevitable crash of thunder which was about to occur. The rising humidity has finally manifested itself in a storm unseen by the inhabitants for many a year. The wonderful diversity of life that colonised the island was a testament to the mysterious and extremely powerful gem that stood upon an altar at the centre. Aside from generating the many different organisms that enriched the island, it held a far greater power. It suspended the entire rock high above the world's surface, floating along the winds like a massive stone kite. The gem was beautiful to behold which drew people in like moths to a candle. It allures of both beauty and power caused great myths that spread like wildfire amongst the inhabitants far below it on the surface. Those myths told of an immeasurable power capable of destroying the world if the emerald was discovered by the unworthy. But the myth spoke of more. It spoke of a lone guardian from an extinct tribe of people, destined to protect the emerald and the terrible power it contained from all. But the myth was true.
The guardian sat alone on the steps of the altar. His bright red fur was matted and dark in the rain which ravished the island. His long dreadlocks clung to his face, his eyes closed, his head tilted downwards at his towards his feet. He seemed oblivious to his surroundings and the cold heavy rain that engulfed him. To an observer he looked asleep if that was at all possible in this weather, but they were wrong. His senses were on full alert, knowing that the weather was perfect for someone brave enough, or dumb enough, to try and strike in an attempt to steal what he was sworn to protect.
Suddenly a bright flash lit up the dark, closely followed by the crashing sound of thunder. The storm was right on top of him but he paid no heed. His posture never faltered, never flinched, unmoving against the ravishes that swept the island.
Knuckles looked up at the sky, his purple eyes peering into the darkness that enveloped his surroundings. His sensitive ears picked up something else amongst the torrent of rain and noise, and it was getting closer. Standing up, his bones creaking from his prone position, he glared at the direction in which this intruder was. He waited.
Suddenly a blue blur shot through the trees, leaving a tidal wave of water and air in his wake. The newcomer looked up at the silent guardian and smirked.
"Trust you to be standing in the rain" he told him, still smirking. Knuckles expression turned darker at the words.
"What do you want Sonic, I am in no mood for a social call" he replied bluntly. Sonics smirk grew into a flow blown smile at his answer.
"Well, I could have been Rouge" he answered. Knuckles relented a little bit. Sure Sonic could be a pain for the Echidna but he wasn't the worst visitor he could have had.
"...true"
They stood for a second looking at each other, Sonics smile still plastered on his face, and Knuckles could feel his patience getting smaller.
"Well?" he asked his blue visitor
"Well what?" came Sonics answer. Knuckled fought the urge to shout at him and throw him off his sanctuary.
"Why are you here" came the trim reply.
"Oh yeah, Robotnik is playing around again. That loser is up to something"
"Is he on the Island?" came the response.
"No but-"
"Then go" said Knuckles. It was a little mean but he didn't want any distractions around now, the weather made the approach of an unwelcomed visitor harder to predict.
"Aww shucks, Knucks" came the blue hedgehogs answer. Suddenly he burst into laughter, "Shucks, Knucks" he cried, apparently humouring himself. Knuckles looked on at Sonic laughing and snapped. The weather, the supposed threat of Robotnik, and now this irritating hedgehog, his patience had well and truly gone out the window.
"Sonic!" he shouted, cutting the blue hero short, "if you don't leave now I will make you leave!"
Sonic stopped laughing and stared at his friend. Suddenly he giggled. He giggled again, this time laughter. Soon he flew into full blown laughter once more.
"Lighten up" he told the red Echidna. Knuckles stepped forward and started to descend the steps, never taking his eye of Sonic. The hedgehog smirked and held his hands up.
"Come on Knuckles, is this really a way to welcome a friend after so long?" he asked innocently, his smirk still plastered on his face. Knuckles relented a bit. Sonic was his friend after all, and he didn't have many at that. Meanwhile, the hero stood in front of him had millions of adoring fans.
"Okay" said the Echidna.
"So Knuckles, what have you been doing in the last five months?" asked Sonic. Knuckles threw him a look.
"Oh yeah...here huh?" came Sonics sheepish answer to his own question, rubbing the back of his neck.
'Has it really been five months?' the Echidna asked himself.
"Anyway, the rest of the gang is here. They're obviously having trouble keeping up with me, so they may take some time" he said smugly. Modesty wasn't one of Sonics numerous virtues.
"You're not telling me the whole story" Knuckles said.
"Okay, well...the whole gang is here including Rouge and Shadow. Oh and the Chaotix have come along for the ride" he told him. Knuckles were a little stunned. Everyone was here on his island, even those who were not really allies.
"What's going on?"
"Well, long story short, and I don't know the details but... Robotnik got all seven emeralds and has built a really powerful weapon. In short, we screwed"
"What!?"
Knuckles was flabbergasted. 'All seven emeralds? When did this happen? How did this happen?'
His questioning was cut short by the arrival of several new visitors which had finally navigated through the thick jungle. There in the rain stood the drenched commrades that Sonic had spoken of. There was Tails, Amy, Cream, Cheese, Rouge, Shadow, Espio, Vector and Charmy.
"What took you so long Shadow?" Sonic asked him. He only got a glare in return.
"You were supposed to go ahead and explain things to the Echidna" came the solemn reply.
Knuckles looked at Sonic, still waiting for the situation to be explained.
"I told him Robotnik has all the emeralds and built a super weapon with them"
"Okay, well what do we do now?" asked Amy, nervously twiddling her hair. Cream stood next to her looking fearful, her eyes silently begging for someone to come up with a plan.
"I don't know a head on attack on a weapon that powerful is futile" answered Tails.
"We need to find a weakness" said Rouge, inspecting her nails.
"Knuckles? Do you have any idea?" asked Amy innocently. Knuckles turned to look at her, and she could see the undeniable fury behind his eyes.
"Do I have an idea? Maybe someone should tell me what's going on!" he shouted at her. She looked at him shock, and then her eyes grew firm.
"No need to act like a jerk!" she told him. Knuckles turned away and looked at Sonic once again. Before he could open his mouth there was a loud crash from the jungle.
"That's Robotnik!" shouted Amy. Cream grabbed onto Amy and Cheese and held them tight.
"Look out!" shouted Sonic as a tree flew high up into the air and came heading straight for the unfortunate three. He propelled himself forward and dragged them out of the way as the huge tree came crashing down, smashing the ground beneath it. Coming to a stop Sonic let the three of them go.
"Oh thank you Sonic!" cried Amy as she hugged him, squeezing the blue hedgehog tightly.
"It's no problem" he told her, trying to shake her off.
"Here it comes!" shouted Tails. The trees flew apart as a gigantic robot lumbered through them. Without pause it swung one of its large arms at the heroes. They all managed to jump out of the way as the mechanic limb thrashed the ground, throwing mud and rain water at them. Attempting to dodge the rocks and debris, the band of heroes launched an attack at the large robot.
Standing tall the robot was an impressive and scary sight as Knuckles be held it for the first time. It was in the shape of a large humanoid, easily thirty feet in height. The large arms contained massive barrels running along the forearm that meant only one thing, lasers. The hands had large mechanic claws capable of tearing apart anything that held them. The legs extended downwards to gigantic feet that were simply razor sharp talons which dug into the wet mud. Knuckles looked up at the rain pouring down onto the head of the robot, a glass dome that sparkled from an internal light source. The sources of the light were the seven Chaos Emeralds that glinted in the rain. Knuckles saw the obvious weak point of the robot, the seven emeralds contained within the glass dome. Getting hold of them would destroy the unstoppable power of the robot.
"The Chaos Emeralds! Get those and the power is stopped!" he shouted. Sonic turned to him.
"Well duh! What do you think we've been doing for the last week! The power is giving that glass some extra strength, we can't break it!"
Knuckles looked at the robot, a plan forming in his mind. He turned and ran up the steps of the altar towards the Master Emerald. The robot took aim at the red echidna and fired a powerful blast and narrowly missing him. The stairs above him exploded in a hail storm of fire and rock that mixed with the blinding rain. Coming to a halt he stared at the large chasm in front of him, he turned and looked at the robot.
"Distract him! The Master Emerald can negate their powers!" he shouted.
"Negate? I didn't know that was in your vocabulary" teased Rouge.
"Just do it!" he replied.
The others shouted in agreement and continued their attack. Sonic and Shadow tried to confuse it with their lightning speed while Rouge attacked from above. Amy and Tails tried valiantly to attack its legs, but to no avail. Amy's hammer could do no dent in the indestructible amour. Trying to kick out at her, the robot narrowly missed smashing her into another dimension. Vector and Espio darted around the feet of the gigantic mechanism of terror, confusing it even more. Their attacks were to avail but they continued nevertheless. The robot was getting closer with his laser attacks but couldn't hit them.
Meanwhile Knuckles had climbed the steps of the altar and stood in front of the Master Emerald. He tried to focus on the task in hand but the loud explosions were a major distraction. He shut his eyes and channelled his thoughts to the Emerald, trying to become one with it. He focussed on the dormant power deep with the emerald in an attempt to control it.
'Come on, I need your help!' he thought. His hands moved around the jewel trying to find both of their centres.
'I need your power! Stop the Chaos Emeralds!' he told it. The giant gem started to shake and vibrate as he channelled the energy. The glow of the Emerald was growing brighter by the second almost blinding him.
'A little bit more!' he told himself.
"Chaos Fighter, stop that Echidna!" came a shout from behind him.
"Robotnik!" shouted Sonic. The huge robot aimed its laser at the guardian and fired. The laser streaked towards Knuckles and his Emerald.
"That's done it!" he shouted excitedly. The Master Emerald erupted in a flash engulfing the entire area just as the laser smashed into the gem. With a deafening roar the ground began to shake. Unable to stay on their feet the heroes fell to the ground expect for Rouge and Robotnik who floated high in the air. The gigantic robot fell to the wet mud with an almighty crash. The emeralds within the glass dome flashed brightly, the resulting energy smashing the dome that contained them.
"No!" shouted Robotnik. Before he could move Sonic rushed forward and grabbed the emeralds out of the way. Shadow jumped high into the air and came thundering down through the robots tough armour.
"We can hurt it!" shouted Tails.
"Uh guys?" shouted Knuckles, "Something is happening!"
They all turned to look at the red echidna standing in front the glowing Master Emerald. It cracked. The crack spread all along the gems surface as the rumbling got louder. Stepping back from the emerald Knuckles stared at the glowing gem. Suddenly all sound and time seemed to stop, the rain was caught in the air and the rumbling ceased. The heroes looked at each other in trepidation before the Master Emerald exploded and covered them in a blinding light.
"This doesn't look good guys" said Sonic.
The rumbling resumed and suddenly it all went black.
Knuckles opened his eyes to stare at the bright blue sky above him. He could feel the grass underneath him and the gentle breeze flowing through his dreadlocks, soothing him. He let out a contented sigh as he continued to lie there, simply enjoying himself. Suddenly realisation hit him. The fight.
'What happened?'he asked himself. He sat up and looked around him. All he could see was rolling green fields stretching far away towards snow capped mountains. A small clear stream meandered its way through the beautiful valley and heading out of site. Birds sung in the trees behind him, taking flight in the sky above.
'The Master Emerald exploded!' he remembered. He looked around to see if any of his friends were around. He couldn't spot anyone.
'Where am I?'
Ok there is the first chapter. I hope you enjoyed reading it and please, any criticism is welcome.