Disclaimer: None of the original character mentioned in this story are mine. They belong to Sonic Team and Sega

It started as a normal day. Okay, as normal a red echidna can have it on a floating island while guarding an ancient stone known as the Master Emerald. My name is Knuckles the Echidna and this is basically one story of my misadventures to try to find a place on Earth other than Angle Island.

Like I said before, it was a normal day in the life of Knuckles. I was playing with a deck of cards. You see, Tails thought I would get bored, so he got me a deck of cards. I've been stuck playing Solitaire since Christmas. You'd think the genius could be able to come up with a better gift, like a portable DVD player or a Game-Boy. Anything is better than that stupid deck of cards!

There was a loud crash somewhere in the forest. My first instinct was to think Tails and Sonic had crashed landed on the Island again, considering the fox couldn't land if his life depended on it(and most of the time, it does). The crashing became louder and the ground began to vibrate. Whatever had come onto Angel Island, it was huge. I ran up the Shrine's stairs and stood in front of the Emerald with my fists up. This thing was going to get a piece of my mind.

The crashes were getting worse, but I held my ground. A small robot bursts through the trees. It reminded me of Bokkun. The small robot gave me an evil grin. I was a bit confused. How did this thing make such noise on it's way to the Shrine?

"Halt!" I cried at the grey bot.

It stopped. "Hi! My name is Backdrop! You are Knuckles!"

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, Backdrop, I'm aware that my name is Knuckles. Now, why are you here?"

Backdrop walked right up to the Shrine. "Oh, don't worry, you don't have to fight the likes of me! I'm just bringing the creature that Eggman wishes you to meet!" Backdrop called and ran away.

"Freak," I muttered. Then the crashing started again. I spun around to see a beast that even made my wish to run in terror. There, standing behind the Shrine I had lived my entire life, was a creature so horrible, I had to fight every instinct to make myself stay there to face the Beast.

The creature had the body of a wolf, the head of a lion, the horns of a bull, the hind legs of a cheetah, the front legs of a tiger and the tails of a Kitsune. The Beast roared. The noise sounded as if all six of the creatures were screaming all at once. I threw my hands to my ears, screaming in pain from a head-ache.

When the cry ended, I realized I had on thing to do, protect the Emerald. Briefly I wondered how Eggman came across this Beast. I shook the thought away and stood in my fighting stance. The creature made a rumbling noise that sounded much like laughter. "You won't be laughing soon, Beast!" I screamed and lunged at it.

I went in for a normal punch/kick combo. The Beast easily side stepped the attack and slashed out at me. It caught my arm. I twisted in the air to avoid a much swifter attack from the hind claws. I landed on my knees, breathing heavily. This creature was no push over. It was smarted than I had given it credit for. It had to have the brain of a Kitsune too to be this smart.

I stood up and lunged at it again. This time, I aimed right, doing everything to make it look like I was going to attack right. Then, at the last second, I twisted my body and changed direction. The Beast saw the move coming. I felt it's front claws rake deeply into my back.

I screamed horribly and landed with a thud on my arm. Luckily, though, the arm wasn't broken. I went again for an attack, but before I could ever lift another hand, it slashed again. It caught me in the head. I tumbled to the ground, unable to move, let alone fight again.

I heard another loud crash and then it the crashing faded. I managed to turn myself over to face the Shrine. The last thing I remembered seeing before slipping into the darkness was the empty space where the Emerald should have been.