Disclaimer: I dont own any of the characters.
Story- Who are you? Who am I?
He knew it wasn't often he left the Master Emerald unguarded but in the few times he did it either because Sonic had suckered him into another adventure or when he decides to go do his absolutely favorite hobby. Treasure hunting.
Given his uncanny ability to locate any rare treasure he now sported a massive collection of rare and ancient items that he was always looked forward to adding too.
So when Angel Island was drifting above another island and he felt the familiar pull in his gut wake him from his nap he immediately took the opportunity and slowed his island to a stop.
Vibrant red dreadlocks surrounding a pair of lavender shaded eyes peered over the edge of the peculiar floating landmass at the non-flying island he had stopped over.
Noting the tall volcano on the island he nodded. If he put Angel Island at the right altitude he could simply jump from the top of it and glide to the bottom of his island and climb the rest of the way up.
Jumping off the edge Knuckles the echidna flared his dreadlocks began the glide down to his awaiting treasure. His targeted landing zone was a small clearing in the middle of the forest that felt relatively close to his goal.
Landing amongst several low grown young trees he took a cautious look around the clearing to watch for any unwanted attention he might receive. Being on the surface never failed to make him a bit edgy, and the longer he spent down here the longer the master emerald was in danger made him slightly impatient as well.
Knuckles never spent much time on the surface.
A brief glance around the clearing brought a brief glimpse of something not natural. Moving closer he pulled off a bunch of small shrubs and vines revealing a rusted pile of metal. It took Knuckles a full ten minutes to realize that he was looking at a armed walker mech. Though it couldn't really be called as such anymore given its current state of destruction. The cockpit was completely exploded, likely the pilot with it, and rest of it was covered in rust and overgrown flora.
Knuckles had no doubt that this had been abandoned for years. Though he was nonetheless curious of how or why it was here. But even Knuckles knew that he wasn't going to get answers by standing here staring at the pile of junk.
Moving deeper into the jungle he eventually stumbled into a pile of rubble. Literally. After tripping over several pieces he examined them more closely and realized it was camouflage coloring on what he recognized as the outside wall pieces. Clearly recognizable despite the destruction and disuse the building had suffered.
"Odd," He commented to himself. Why would someone go to such lengths to hide a already well hidden building. Obviously they had wanted to remain hidden. Perhaps from whoever had almost obliterated the building.
"Could the mech have something to do with this?" Pondered Knuckles.
In either case whatever had happened here was long over and Knuckles had no doubt that at least a few treasures had been left behind. Despite this he was still a little cautious to start digging into the rubble in case any traps may have survived the carnage.
Whenever someone tries this hard to remain hidden it must mean they have something hide.
And so his determination to recover and collect more possibly priceless artifacts drove him on and to his own surprise he found a still sealed hidden metal hatch under what remained of one of the toppled reinforced walls.