Demented Memories

by Falconpawnch7

Knuckles has always been the way he is, but what about his dark past? Here we have some happy memories, and some sad ones, as remembered by the Rad Red Himself.

"He will be great! He will be powerful! He will win the war!" Locke's voice rand through his laboratory as he set the egg that would be his son on the pedestal and pressed several buttons, lowering the radiation shield. He then threw a lever which bombarded the egg with Chaos Radiation. "My son, the Ultimate Weapon, soon everything will be set in motion and the future will be safe." He ended the radioactive blast and he lowered the shields. "Come before your mother misses us." He said to the egg. After Locke left, a tribal Mask, which had never been there before, started to move. "This isn't how it was supposed to happen. The boy was meant to be the Ultimate Guardian, not the Ultimate Weapon. To convert the others not destroy them." The mask started to glow as it faded from that dimension.

"Knuckles, it's time to wake up." The voice of Laura-Le came slowly, like a song. The young toddler opened his eyes and yawned, he didn't say a word, he never did. "Are you hungry?" Laura asked hoping he would say a simple yes. His lack of speech confounded even the most skilled doctors, and all they could say is, "He doesn't seem to want to talk." Even more this became the case, and Knuckles only nodded and sat up. Laura sighed and picked him up. "Everyday I see you smile, sometimes I hear you laugh. Why can't I hear your voice?" she asked as she carried him to the dining room. She sat him in his seat and got him some juice. Knuckles stared intently at the cup and grabbed it in his hand. "Crunch" He whispered and squeezed it until it was a pile of wet dust. "OH! Knuckles did you do this?" Laura said with a hint of anger. Knuckles shook his head and pointed at Locke who was just entering the room. Laura sighed, "So Daddy broke your cup?" Knuckles nodded. Locke looked confused and simply sat at the table. Laura looked at her son a hint of tiredness in her eyes. "Knuckles, it's not okay to lie to us. Now please apologize." Knuckles looked at her, his eyes pools of confusion. "Say your sorry son." Locke said, contributing to the conversation. "I'm sorry." Knuckles said quietly. Laura's jaw dropped, her son had spoken! She hadn't been so excited since she first held him in her arms. She picked him up in a hug and started to laugh, "Say more! Say more! Please say more!" She held him as he considered what to say. Finally he spoke, "Mom, what is Caviar?" He said pointing to a tin can. "Oh it's only fish eggs" She said smiling at the face he made when she told him. Locke cleared his throat and spoke, "Son, now that you have shown you have the capabilities to carry conversation, you're ready for schooling to begin." For the next two years Knuckles was taught all sorts of things, Science, Math, Medicine, History, Worldly concepts, Literature Skills, And how the mind works. He was taught how to use his mind to look into others, and how to defend his from being breached. He also learned the rules of this skill, and the punishment if any were broken. He never noticed his parents in the background, fighting over what was going on. He never saw his mother getting angry at his father. He never saw the divorce coming, nor did he see him losing his mother to the courts decision.

It had been five years, five long years since he and his father had left into the wild. He had been trained in the ways of fighting, training his body to be as on par as his mind. He had learned about his ability to manipulate the Chaos force, and how to heal his wounds using a technique developed by his Great Great Grandmother. Not that he needed it, because apparently he had an advanced healing factor. Now he was at his final test, the prize? The title, the final ability all Guardians have; flight through a form of Chaos, and of course his father's pride and blessing. "Easy, to the edge without dying. Surprise twist at the end. No hints as to what though, not even a letter. Oh well." He sprang forward ducking under a swinging pendulum, jumping over buzz saws, dodging arrows with inhuman speed and precision and side-stepping bursts of flames. At last the end came into sight, just one corner to round and… there was an Ice Dragoness. "I think I'll call you Chompette." Knuckles said jumping up to avoid her ice breath. He placed his palm on her head and focused, "I'm a friend, my name is Knuckles. No need to fight a friend." He broadcast into her mind. Her gaze softened and she mentally embraced him. "Friend" She broadcast into his mind. Knuckles patted her head and hopped down to where his dad was waiting. "Impressive. I've never seen anyone face an Ice Dragon and not kill it." Locke said, obviously not noticing Knuckles had broken rule number 7, never communicate with the Dragons. He bowed and clapped his hands to rid them of any dust he might have let gather. "It was easy, just gotta show them you mean no harm." Locke nodded and continued, "It is with great pride then, that I grant to you the title of Guardian! Rise Guardian Knuckles." Knuckles stood up his Guardian mark glowing a bright white, smoke billowing out. "The final technique I can teach you, the Chaos Cloud. It engulfs your body in a mist and allows you to fly through the air as if you were air." Knuckles watched as the mist slowly enveloped him, "AWESOME!" he said, "So what are we going to do now?" Locke gave a sad smile and said, "I'm afraid this is where I leave you. I'm afraid that my time here is up, and I've been called to the next phase. Go back to the camp son, find Archimedes, he will teach you what I cannot, and whatever you do, never forget who you are." Locke turned and walked away, a wall of flames erupting from the ground. He turned and watched as the smoke engulfed his son completely and lift him into the sky, "NO! DAD! DON'T LEAVE ME!" Locke smiled as the flames engulfed him. Within seconds he was no longer visible. Knuckles let a tear fall, "I guess I'm alone…" He flew back to the camp, grabbing his gear. "No use staying now that he's never coming back." Knuckles thought as he fought back tears. He headed back towards the city. When he arrived, nothing had changed since he'd gone. Nothing except the posters with his face on it, the ones his mother had made. "Hey! Boy! What are you doing out here alone?" Knuckles turned to the voice to see an Icy blue echidna girl with Lightning white hair coming up to him. "Don't you know it's not safe to wander the streets without a parent?" Knuckles looked at her, she seemed uneasy. "Don't you know it's not smart to back talk a guardian?" This seemed to get her very mad. "YOU DO NOT TALK TO PEOPLE LIKE THAT YOU LITTLE BRAT!" Knuckles laughed, she was funny when she got angry. "IT'S NOT FUNNY PUNK! I MEAN IT!" Knuckles laughed harder and she picked him up and started to shake him, "LISTEN TO ME YOU LITTLE BRAT, I'M THE COMMANDER OF THE E.S.T! YOU BEST SHOW SOME RESPECT!" Knuckles laughed again, he forgot why he was upset before, this lady was hilarious. But slowly she stopped shaking him and stared at him. "You. You're the guardian's boy… YOU! THE LITTLE ARROGENT BRAT THAT MADE A FOOL OF MY PARTNER SEVEN YEARS AGO!" Knuckles realized that she wasn't being funny and that she was going to hurt him if he didn't say anything. "I'm on a missing poster…" He said hoping to draw her attention away from him. She looked at the poster, and her face changed a bit. "You're lucky that you're mother is in the state she's in right now." She took Knuckles to the complex where he used to live. Pressing the button for the penthouse she left Knuckles in the elevator shooting an angry yet concerned look at him. When the elevator reached its destination Knuckles found the door ajar and heard someone crying inside. In one swift motion he jumped through the door onto the couch, which he vaulted off of up to the second floor to find the source of the crying. "Mom?"

"BWA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Came Vector's laugh, "You are so screwed!" Knuckles just glared at him. 5 years had passed since he had returned, and in those five years he had learned manners from his mother and how to survive on the streets from his cousin Xena-Le. He kept up his Guardian training with Archimedes, his mentor, and had grown strong and hard, with a permanent glare and a rough voice, which his mother liked to attribute to smoking. The friends he was with were collectively referred to as the Chaotix. "If I'm screwed then what are you? I told you all I did was ask her out." He was trying to keep his anger down. Espio spoke up, "Shut your face Vector before you say something you shouldn't." Vector smiled a twisted jerky smirk, "You mean that our main man is gonna fail miserably because he's a total home body?" Knuckles smiled a kind and friendly smile and walked up to Vector, "You wanna sign that death warrant?" Vector should've stopped, but he didn't of course, "Sure! Whom shall I make this out to? YOUR MOM?" Knuckles moved to punch Vector put Espio made a quick jab to his side and said, "Enough! We're all friends here, let's not fight about this." Mighty agreed, "Come on guys, what's say we all just sit down and play a round of good ol' fashioned arm wrestling?" A long pause ensued. Knuckles broke the silence. "You know what? You guys are right, this fight is a pointless venture, no one's gonna win. And I'm pretty sure we'd all react the same way if Vector came up here saying he got a long term girlfriend." Vector blew a quick raspberry and then he to thought for a minute and said, "Yeah, I guess you'll be okay. Hey if you want I'll even give you some advice-!" "NO!" Came the combined voices of Mighty Espio and Knuckles.

The night was young and so were they. Knuckles hadn't bothered to dress up, thinking they'd just go out for a bite to eat and then take a walk through the park. He pressed the buzzer for Julie's apartment, "Hello?" Came the voice of Floren-Ca Julie's Foster Mother. "Hello Lady Floren, I'm here for Julie." His voice sounded even enough. "She's getting her jacket now, so she'll be down in a second." Knuckles started to sweat, nothing he'd ever faced before could compare to the hormones raging inside of him. At last Julie opened the door, wearing a leather jacket for some reason. "Hey… It's cold tonight." Knuckles tried to make a joke, "Yeah, it's like… ummmmmm…" Julie smiled at him and grabbed his arm, "Come on, it's a date. You don't need to be funny just for me." Knuckles regained his voice a block later, "Where are we going?" Julie smiled and laughed, "That's the fun part! We'll never know for sure until we get there!" She started to run, stopping to mess with the jacket, which Knuckles noticed was to big for her. At last they came to a community center. "In here." Julies said with a whisper full of poorly hidden excitement. Knuckles was confused but he went inside the dark building anyways. That's when the Lights came on. "SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" Came a thunder of voices. Knuckles was pleasantly shocked. "Guy's! Man I can't believe I forgot." Vector high on Sugar interrupted, "COMEONMANITSTIMETOPARTY!" Music started playing as Knuckles felt himself getting dragged to a corner. "Knuckles, your father and I need to talk to you." Laura-Le looked content, so this was probably about his birthday and if he liked it, so he ignored the buzzing at the back of his head. "Son, we all know what you chose for your talent isn't what you wanted to pick. We know you wanted boxing to be your talent, not psychology. And we're deeply sorry that you can't use your talent the way you wanted to." Knuckles was caught off guard, talk about rubbing salt in the wound. Here they were telling him something he had already figured out on his own, when his mother announced her engagement to Wymancher. It deeply upset him when this happened until his father continued where his mother left off. "While your dream for us is impossible, it was for us, and not for you, and that alone deserves reward. You gave up something you loved in order for us to be happy, not seeing that you already had." They both embraced him and he gave thought to this, now that he did have this skill a whole new world of possibilities were open to him. He could use his skills to help people, not just his parents. He returned the embrace and said, "Thank you, I guess I'm okay with you doing whatever you want, as long as you're still here, I'm happy." Just then his cousin, Xena, walked over holding her baby in her arms and said, "Hey baby Cuz, looks like Miss Su is waiting for you to cut in." she pointed to Julie dancing with Rynor looking longingly at Knux out of the corner of her eyes. He got up and tapped Rynor on the shoulder, "Take five bud, maybe Wendi will finally talk to you." He whispered in his ear hole, he then turned to Julie and said with an overbearing accent, "Excuse me Miss, may I cut in?" Julie tried not to laugh as she moved in front of him, "You know a simple tap on the shoulder usually suffices." Julie said pretending to be annoyed. "Knuckles is my name, you should know by now simple isn't part of that." He sais in a stern voice. Both of them held back their laughter until they burst. "I really needed to let that out!" Julie said catching her breath, her jacket sort of weighing her down. "Isn't that thing heavy?" Knuckles asked. "It should be, it is your jacket." She said slinging it over his shoulder. She was wearing a stunning black dress underneath it, with a gold watch on her right wrist. "Do you like it because I can't stand it." Julie said trying to hide her hatred for the garment. Knuckles stared into her eyes and said, "Earlier you said I didn't have to be funny for you. Well you don't need to dress up for me. As long as I can see your eyes, I don't care what you wear." Julie blushed deeply and said, "Shall we get together next Saturday then?" Knuckles whispered, "It's a date." Then kissed her deeply.

It had been two weeks since the party, a few hours together turned to days, they felt they were ready for the next step. But the council had voted that they not do anything that severe until they approved it. They didn't care, in fact after some searching they found a way around it. The Joining Ceremony. As the usual jitters set over them, Knuckles and Julie looked longingly at each other. "You first." Knuckles said. Julie took off her left glove revealing her slender yet powerful hand. She took the Ceremonial Blade and opened a cut along her palm. "My pain and turmoil are washed away by the presence of love." Knuckles took his right glove off and did the same thing, "I shall take on the responsibility of our fathers." They joined their bleeding palms together. Knuckles continued "Blessed Aurora, I take the place of both our fathers in saying the Ceremonial incantation, please may it be acceptable to you." He then went into the Incantation. Julie never blinked or flinched when their wounds started to bleed into each others. After he finished they spoke in unison. "We are of one heart, one mind, and two bodies, the light in us illuminates the path to enlightenment. Our bond shall never be broken, and blessed we shall be by the Gods and Goddesses. In a single voice we declare our love, and in a drop of blood we seal our pact." They finally pulled their hands apart and stitched each others wound shut. Julie was pale, but Knuckles didn't notice. "I feel… funny." Julie said in a slow voice. Knuckles nodded, feeling strange as well. "Perhaps we're just excited about defying the council?" Julie looked at Knuckles in an odd manner before he finished, "No that's not it…" She said in the same slow detached voice. Knuckles saw her eyes glazing over and began to frantically look at the papers he brought to see if they offered an explanation to what was happening to Julie. "Knux, I feel a bit light headed, can you get me some water?" Knuckles relaxed, it was just a bit of blood loss getting to her. He remembered her acting similarly when she had given blood last month. Her disorientation had made her do whatever she was told, so Knuckles prepared to tell her to lie down and get some rest when he saw something he had missed. "Hey Julie, do you know what it means by consummate our union?" Julie brushed her hair out of her eyes and pushed Knuckles on the ground, "It means we get to go home tonight." She said in her disoriented voice. Not in her right mind she climbed on top of him and whispered, "Home plate that is."

"NO! This is not what I wanted to hear!" Doctor Finitevus screamed at the top of his lungs. "You said to speak freely what I never felt like telling people, so I did. My past is none of their business, and now you know it, thanks a lot!" Knuckles said with a smirk. "Never mind, when I come back I will have a way to make you tell me what I want to hear!" He said exiting the prison chamber. Knuckles laughed, "What a moron! I should get captured by this guy more often, he's hilarious when angry. But I bet Julie's missing me right about now, so fun's over." And with that he vanished, using a technique he learned from Archimedes to teleport out of the room. A strange mask on the wall came to life and stared at where Knuckles had been. "So he's chosen to stay on the path of right, after all this time of jumping back and forth? Perhaps he does deserve the title of Ultimate Guardian after all."