New chapter! Yay! And school's almost out, woohoo! This story's got plenty of backstory in it, as will the next few chapters. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own none

Thank you for the review, SegaCD. Yeah, you're right, I probably could have put that description better. I was using that to introduce some more quirks that I gave him, and it didn't come out right. I'm glad you're enjoying the stories, though

Story IV: The Warrior

Starring: Knuckles

Recommended Music: Wildstyle Pistolero, from Sonic Mania (Mirage Saloon act one theme in Knuckles' campaign)

Changes to Character: I've brought up his I.Q. a bit. He's not tech smart like Tails or Eggman, but more...cunning, I guess. He's also more isolated than his game counterpart, rarely leaving Angel Island unless he absolutely has to. And he wears glasses, because why not.

Ah, Angel Island.

Knuckles couldn't think of a better place to live. Sure, there was a whole world out there, but the floating island housed the greatest collection of natural wonders in the world, including the most important, the Master Emerald. Knuckles didn't know exactly why he guarded it, he only had a vague memory to go on, someone's dying request maybe? A wish to keep the gem safe. For him to protect it with his life. So he guarded it. A massive chunk of emerald, lacking form, but not needing one either. There were several divots in it, from where the Chaos Emeralds had been scraped off. Knuckles knew little about his old civilizations history to find out more about these stones, which he'd only seen a couple of times, and tried searching the island for clues when he felt there was little danger to the stone. He hadn't found much. Ruins yes, historical writing, or even pictures, not so much.

At the moment, danger was low. Today's gonna be a good day, eh? thought the echidna, and set off from the hidden palace, adjusting his hat, which he'd received when he met that blasted thief- Let's not think about that right now he told himself as he wandered through the steaming caverns of the lava reef that encircled the M.E.'s shrine. Digging through a wall, he found himself in one of the old mines of his people. They tunneled under the island, seemingly endless, a good way to trap thieves, or hide the M.E. if needed. Also underground was a massive ruined underwater city that seemed to be a lower level to the marble gardens. These were Knuckles' favorite part of the island. They took up most of the island, and Knuckles could always find something new when he searched there.

The guardian slogged his way over to an old temple he'd found roughly two weeks ago. It was in terrible condition, covered in vines of all sorts, some of which he didn't even recognize. Noticing some writing on the wall, he went to check it out, but it was so worn after so many years of erosion that all it spelled out was gibberish. Annoyed, the guardian went outside again, and leaned against a ruined pillar.

The sun was getting higher in the sky, and its heat was getting more noticeable.

Glad I'm not in the desert thought Knuckles, thinking of the bizarre haunted desert on the other side of the island. He rarely ever went there, unless he felt like exploring deadly pyramids, which wasn't often. Reckless exploring was more Sonic's thing.

Knuckles thought back to when the blue blur first came to the island. It was maybe a month or two after Knuckles' first encounter with people not from the island. Until that day, he had been content to live alone, floating over a world he protected, but honestly couldn't care about too much. But then a strange warrior tribe came to the island to steal the Master Emerald. He had more skills than most of them, but they had surprising amounts of numbers. He would have been much worse off had not one of the tribe's members, a chameleon named Espio, switched sides and helped him. One more on his side might not sound like much, but Espio had talents even his former superiors hadn't known about, which had helped them ultimately prevail.

Wonder what happened to him? The next visitor had been the mad doctor, who tried to trick Knuckles so he could use the M.E. fors plans unknown. Had Knuckles not received his earlier visit, he would have fallen for it, but he was not in a trusting mood at the time. Then Sonic showed up.

From the second Knuckles saw him, he immediately sensed something. Power. Tons of it. The hedgehog almost seemed to be pure power granted physical form. He drove off the madman like it was nothing. Knuckles would later learn that this was only Sonic's second encounter with Eggman, and that he then dropped off the radar until the events leading to the Time Stop happened, which catapulted him to celebrity status. Knuckles wasn't too surprised, as the Sonic he met then seemed different from the one he knew now. Less intense, almost, as if the attitudes he adopted now were a show. But he was a good actor if they were.

Since then, the two biggest events of note were when that blasted thief found her way onto the island, and when the Black Arms attacked. That had been one of the only times Knuckles had left the island, sensing the aliens didn't know about the M.E. The aliens, not prepared for the two most powerful beings on the planet (Sonic & Knuckles) to go against them, had quickly fled, leaving nothing but their defeated creation, whom Sonic had befriended.

Pulling himself out of his reverie, Knuckles got up, stretched, redid his ponytail, and climbed to the top of the ruin, not sure what he wanted to do next. He kicked a loose brick with one of his climbing boots and stared at the landscape around him. Then he jumped off and started gliding with no clear destination in mind. He landed at the azure lake, and stopped to look at some of the many flowers that grew in the area. He just loved how the island always managed to look beautiful, no matter where he was. He started walking towards the wreckage of some of Eggman's ships from when Sonic had trashed them, when a voice startled him.

"Shhh, you're spookin' the fish" came the heavy voice of the island's only other resident, a large purple cat, who had somehow found his way up there chasing his pet frog. To this day Knuckles could not figure out how the fat feline had gotten on the island. But he let him stay, as he was nice, didn't try to take the Master Emerald, and mostly just fished, sometimes for his frog, on the frequent occasions that it ran away.

"Oh hey Big, how 'ya doin'?" asked Knuckles, who had started calling the cat Big, because the guy seemed too dumb to remember his own name, so Knuckles had never learned it.

"Pretty good. Fish are awfully calm today."

"Cool" said Knuckles, lying down beside the lake. In all honesty, the guardian was glad Big had come to the island. The easygoing fat cat was a good reminder that worrying, plotting and planning weren't always the best ways to spend time. Sometimes it was good to relax.

Knuckles pulled his hat over his eyes and took a short nap. He was an incredibly light sleeper, and woke up a few minutes later after hearing Big leave. He decided it was time to head back to the M.E. Down into the ground he went, tunneling through the mines back to the lava reefs.

At last he made it back to the emerald shrine. The Master Emerald looking like it always did, bathing the place with its mystical light. Knuckles sat down on the steps leading up to it, becoming its guardian once more, and content to do so for as long as he had to.

Okay, I that chapter could have been a bit better. The next one should be better, as I have more of a plan as to what I'm gonna write. Also, if you're wondering what this "Time Stop" is that's been mentioned in the last couple of stories, don't worry, I'll get to that in...four stories. Also, for my classic fans, did you find the references to all 8 (I think) S3&K stages? One's incredibly vague. Thank you to all you fantastic readers, and to those who have reviewed, it means a lot. See you later!

Next time: Moody n' broody