FIGHT CLUB

From the [Eternal Chaos] fan-series.
Chapter 2: "Another One Bites The Dust"

Newark. Three weeks later.

Oh how the tides so quickly turn. One day you're the enforcer, the next you're just some sorry SOB who can't so much as hold a steady job.

They'd managed to fend off the landlady who'd been demanding rent money for days on end, everyone having somehow managed to land themselves odd to steady jobs around the unforgiving city. Tails was currently working as a telemarketer, making those obnoxious phone calls all day every day. But hey, amongst their group, he had the best paying job. Sonic was running around as an errand boy for some pizza delivery company. Fasted thing alive indeed. Seemed happy enough with himself anyway. Amy and Cream were waitressing at a local diner somewhere downtown. Not the most proper customers always paid them visit, but the tips were nice.

And him? Well, that was a sad little story in and of itself, wasn't it?

It wasn't always easy being a hothead, that was for sure. Whether it was door-to-door sales pitching or construction work, Knuckles always managed to find some way to get pissed off and in turn, piss everyone around him off, including but not limited to customers, associates, and employers. So, pretty much everyone, yes.

And no. This time was no different. Pity that.

"You don't understand, sir! They started it! It was self-defense!"

"You gave one man a black eye and sent the other to the hospital for a concussion!" Was his stark reply. "Do you have any idea what kind of lawsuit I have on my hands? I could go out of business thanks to you!"

A single fist slammed down on the desk, vibrating the entirety of the small office. "I already told you, it wasn't my fault!"

The fattened, pointy-bearded man behind the desk instantly recoiled, dropping the phone he'd been furiously punching numbers in and folding into himself like some sort of bug curling in defense. "Don't hurt me!" He cried out, sure to fear for his safety from such a display. "Please! I have a family!"

Knuckles paused for a moment as if realization hit, then retrieved his fist, imprint left on the metal desk before him. "I... didn't mean... Look, I'm not going to hurt you, I just-"

"Just get out! Go! Leave! Please!" The man persisted. He reached for his phone dangling off the desk. "I'll call the police if I have to! I will!"

The Newark police. Right. What a joke.

"Don't bother." Knuckles bit out, shoulders stiff and fists balled with tension. "I don't stay where I'm not wanted. I'm outta here."

And that had been that.

This had been his fifth job. Five times now he'd been let go or straight-up fired. And not once - not a single once - did any of his companions even hint as such woes. How did they do it? How did they manage to scrape by time and time again without trouble? Like it was effortless. How did they deal with... with people? And why couldn't he?

"I'm not cut out for this." He decided on the long trek home, absentmindedly kicking a tin can in the street as it dinged across the chipped pavement, thoughts wandering back to the peaceful days on Angel Island, guarding the Master Emerald in the comfort of his lone solitude. He was out of his element here, away from what he knew so well. If simply understanding how these people lived was hard, then actually fitting in and existing with them was impossible. He just couldn't do it. And no one could say he didn't damn well try.

It was well into the evening by the time he reached the boarding house. The orange hue of the setting sun was actually a nice change of pace from the dull overcast usually plaguing the city, the river beyond the building illuminating with a golden-orange reflection, making it almost seem pure and unsoiled. But beauty was only skin deep, as Knuckles had found out, the river more a sewage system for the city than an actual body of water. Comparing it to the rivers of the Mystic Ruins only reinforced how incredibly out of place he really was in this world.

But oh, if only his woes stopped there with his own depressing mood in beating himself up.

"What do you mean you were fired!" Amy's shrill voice scolded without restraint. "That's the fifth time this month!"

"Well it's not like I asked to be fired!"

"Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if you did!" Amy spun on heel, arms crossed over her flattened chest with pout as she stood center in the second-floor living room of their esteemed boarding house. "You're not even trying! Everyone else is working so hard every day to help pay for expenses, and all you can do is goof off and get yourself fired!"

It was times like these that both Sonic and Tails found themselves withdrawn to the far reaches of the second floor living room, Amy's dramatic ranting seeming to be some sort of anti-augmentation to Sonic's typical freelance persona. And Tails... well... Tails. What could he say; Amy could be downright terrifying sometimes and with the lot of them living under the same roof, she wasn't always easy to escape. On the other hand... those cowards.

"You don't know what you're talking about!" Knuckles defended, equally incensed. "You don't even know what happened!"

"I don't have to! It's the same story every time and I'm tired of hearing it!"

It was true. The same story bit, anyway, Knuckles' often unmanageable tempter going unmatched in the trouble-making scene. He'd lose his temper, he'd lose his job. Pretty simple, really.

"Hold on a second, Amy..." Tails dared to squeak out, slowly crossing the room towards the fiery dispute. "We should really give Knuckles the benefit of the doubt here. I mean, we don't really-"

"He lost his temper and got himself fired!" Amy cut the boy off, turning to face Tails in all her ferocity, who recoiled back with a wince. "How many times does it have to happen before you finally get it, Tails?"

"Mister Knuckles didn't mean it, Amy..." Cream was then the one to brave, standing in the kitchen area and holding onto the counter as if some sort of protective barrier. "I'm sure he can find another job..." Poking its head around the corner of the same counter, Cheese offered an echoing "Meow" in agreement.

Great. Knuckles couldn't help but feel a sense of shame now.

Amy gave a pouting huff. "Cream, you're too young to understand. Just... go to your room, okay?"

Cream withdrew more behind the counter and he could just swear her long pigtails drooped slightly as if rabbit ears.

"Leave her out of this." Knuckles defended. "I'll get another job. I've done it plenty of times before. It's not that hard."

"I don't know if you've noticed, Knuckles," Amy shot back. "But you're getting a serious rep in this city. People aren't going to hire you because you have such a horrible working record."

"That doesn't mean anything!" Knuckles countered. "There are jobs everywhere if you know where to look!" He turned to their assumed mediator. "Tell her, Tails!"

"Yes, Tails, tell her." Amy agreed, expectant gaze upon the boy.

Tails looked to Knuckles, then to Amy, then to Knuckles, then to Amy. He poked his two index fingers together and seemed to sink into himself with a hint of guilt. "Well..." He admitted with unease, looking to Knuckles. "You do get into fights a lot..."

He couldn't believe it. Even Tails was against him now. Knuckles let out a grumbling growl.

"We need money to stay here," Amy continued, ever the lecturer. "And we can't do it without you pitching in too! If you can't find and keep a job, we're going to be evicted!"

"I'm not going to let us get evicted!" Knuckles threw back with unsure assurance. "I'll find another job, so quit hassling me already!"

"You are SO stubborn!" Was all Amy could shout, stomping a foot. "I can't believe you! You're missing the point entirely!"

"I still believe in Mister Knuckles..." Cream again offered, daring to again peek around the cabinet corner.

A steady pause echoed around the room with that, the storm quieted but tension ever-present. It was in that fleeting moment Knuckles offered a single, quick glance to Sonic across the room, of whom was oddly silent. He didn't get much in return for his lazed effort, only one of those pitying sort of looks. Typical.

Finally, Amy gave into a tired, exasperated sigh, holding her head. "Cream... you're just so naïve sometimes." She continued after a moment. "Knuckles isn't ever going to learn how to control his temper. He's never going to change." She gave a look to the culprit directly with all accusation, her following words more a statement than a question. "Are you?"

Knuckles grit his teeth. Amy's condemning eyes of unforgiving accusation harshly fixated on him were like daggers twisting in his chest. God, he hated this.

As if in some sort of last-resort effort, he turned to Sonic, still across the room. "And what about you?" He finally had to ask. "You think I'm a lost cause too?"

For the first time in a long, long time, Sonic was silent without spark-of-the-moment answer. Maybe he was going to answer. He probably was. He always did. But the anger and hastiness within him had no time or patience for it.

Knuckles bit out a bitter tsk, head snapping away. "Whatever. I don't have to take this." And without further ado, he stormed over to the coat rack, snatched his jacket off with a good yank, the coat rack almost falling over, and was no sooner out the door.

"Knuckles, wait a minute!" He could hear Tails calling after him.

"Please don't go!" Even Cream pleaded.

The door slammed.

TBC...