Knuxikal: There Can Only Be One Man

It was a calm day in Angel Island, as Tikal was in the kitchen preparing a nice, hearty dinner for her family. The pale reddish-orange echidna hummed a calm tune as she tossed in some sliced vegetables in the stewpot.

"Hey mom, could you play ball with me?"

Tikal turned around and saw her son Frisk, a crimson red teen echidna with baby blue eyes like her's, holding his football.

"Sorry sweetie, I'm cooking dinner." she replied in a motherly tone. "Why don't you go ask your father?"

Frisk sighed at the mention of his father. "I already did, but he said he was taking care of his baby." he replied. Tikal's eyes widened in confusion.

"His...baby?" she asked.

"Yeah, the Master Emerald."

"...Be right back,dear." Tikal replied, leaving her son in the kitchen. The mother headed outside her hut and walked to the shrine of the Master Emerald, which was in their backyard. She climbed the stairs and found Knuckles holding a baby bottle next to the Master Emerald, cooing and talking to the gem as if it were a baby.

"Does my wittle baby need more milk?" the powerhouse cooed. Tikal's eyes widened, she wasn't sure on whether to laugh or be angry at him for not wanting to play ball with their son for this, she decided to take the latter.

"Knuckles the Echidna, what is the meaning of this?!" she demanded. Knuckles dropped the bottle as soon as he saw his wife with her hands on his hips and a sharp glare.

"It's not what it looks like!" he protested.

"Oh it's exactly what it looks like, why are you cuddling the Master Emerald?!" she asked.

Knuckles sighed and approached his wife. Knuckles was always taller than most of his friends except Vector, but now he grew even more over the years. Tikal's head was now at Knuckles's chest.

"Look, the Master Emerald needs me more than ever." he explains. "She needs her diaper changed."

"Dear, it's an emerald!" she replied.

"Sorry, but this thing is my baby." he replied back.

"But your SON is your baby!" Tikal protested. "How could you do this to him?!"

"Look, I'll play with him another time. I promise." Knuckles assure. Tikal sighed and cursed under her breathe, which was rare of her to do. She felt sorry for Frisk, there wasn't much people living in Angel Island, all he had was his parents. Suddenly a familiar, large blue plane landed next to the Emerald Shrine.

"Is that-" Knuckles started.

"Hey guys!" Sonic greeted as Tails turned off the engine. The hedgehog and fox got off the plane and ran towards Knuckles and Tikal.

"Sonic, Tails, what brings you here?" Tikal greeted with a warm smile.

"Well Ames baked a bunch of pies so she told us to give this to you." Sonic replied, handing Tikal a fresh apple pie.

"Oh I love her baking!" Tikal replied. "I'm gonna put this on the counter." she added, before going back to her hut.

Tails turned his attention his his long time friend. "Knuckles….why are you trying to feed the Master Emerald milk?" he asked.

"Boy, this really takes the cake with you, huh Knux?" Sonic chuckled. Knuckles growled a bit while blushing darker than his fur.

"Knock it off, Sonic.." he replied.

"Uncle Sonic! Uncle Tails!" a voice called out. The three turned around and saw Frisk running towards them, holding a football.

"Hey, champ!" Sonic greeted, giving him a highfive. Knuckles looked at how they interacted which bothered him for some reason.

"Hey Uncle, wanna toss the pigskin?" Frisk asked.

Sonic nodded and took the ball. "Sure bud, go long."

Frisk ran away from the shrine before Sonic threw the ball a long way only for Frisk to successfully catch it. The echidna son threw it back in which Sonic caught.

"Yeah, good job, Frisk!" Sonic complimneted.

"Thanks Uncle, you got an arm on you too!" Frisk replied.

Knuckles growled quietly. "That should be me playing ball with my son...not Sonic.." he thought.

"They look like they're having fun." Tails commented. "Right Knuckles?"

"Alright that's it!" Knuckles ran towards Sonic and snatched the ball. "This time I'LL be throwing you the ball, so get ready!" Frisk smirked while Sonic shrugged and watched.

"Alright, bring it on old man!" Frisk challenged. Knuckles nodded and chucked the ball at Frisk, which crashed into his head.

"OW!" Frisk called out. The echidna son fell to the ground with his forehead in pain. Suddenly Tikal came out of her hut.

"Boys, dinner's read- Oh my goodness Frisk, are you alright?!" she panicked, running up to her son.

Frisk sat up and rubbed his head. "Yeah...I'm fine." he lied.

Knuckles walked up to his family followed by Sonic and Tails, deeply regretting the hard throw. "Sorry Tikal...I….accidentally chucked the ball at his head." he nervously admitted.

Tikal sighed and shook her head. "I'll get the first aid kit. Sonic, Tails, would you like to stay for dinner?" she offered.

"What?! No!" Knuckles thought.

"Guess we could stay for a quick bite to eat." Sonic replied. Tails nodded in agreement.

"Then it's settled! Come in and help yourselves...and Knuckles, you can join when you're done with that emerald" she said. The group all left but Knuckles, who stood frozen with envy. The echidna was always somewhat envious of the hedgehog's fame and freedom, but this took the cake for him. He decided to soon come in and join his family and friends for dinner.

"Hey.." Knuckles groaned.

"Oh hello, dear. Glad you could join us!" Tikal replied. Knuckles sat down and saw Sonic and Frisk chatting while Tails was eating some beef stew. Frisk was now wearing a long white bandage, which was wrapped around his forehead.

"You really took the ball, Frisk." Sonic commented.

"Yeah, dad's a hard thrower, but it's all good." Frisk assured. "By the way, Uncle Sonic..could I ask you something?"

"Sure, Champ."

"Well..could you give me advice about….girls?" Frisk asked shyly.

"What? He's asking Sonic about girls?! I'm supposed to be the one he asks!" Knuckles thought.

"Ah girls...Well you gotta play it cool around them, getting them to want you more. Someday they'll become crazy for you and follow you and go on adventures with you and stuff like that...that's how I met my Ames." the blue hedgehog explained. "So got any girls in mind?"

"N-No." Frisk lied. "That white hedgebat is kinda cute, though…" he thought.

Sonic shrugged. "You'll get one someday, son."

"DON'T CALL MY SON "SON", SONIC! HE'S MINE!" Knuckles yelled. The gang froze, and stared with their eyes widened.

"Knuckles dear...is everything alright?" Tikal asked.

"Yeah, it's all fine! Everything's just peachy!" Knuckles replied. "Look, I can enjoy your cooking better than Sonic!" he added, plopping his head in the bowl of hot stew.

"Dad, what are you doing?!" Frisk asked.

"Knuckles!" Tikal called out. Knuckles walked to the window where the pie was.

"And i can enjoy his wife's pies more!" Knuckles challenged, stuffing his face with apple pie. Soon the echidna's face was covered with food. His eyes were bloodshot red as he looked insane. Tikal soon realized that she had enough.

"And I'm a better father than Sonic!" Knuckles protested.

"KNUCKLES THE ECHIDNA, what in chaos has gotten into you?!" Tikal asked. Knuckles immediately calmed down.

"I don't know.." he replied, before going out to the waterfall to wash his face. Tikal watched Knuckles go before turning her attention to the table.

"You boys mind helping me clean up?" Tikal asked.

"Sure, no problem." Sonic replied. "But what was..that all about?" he asked.

"I have no idea.." Tikal sighed.

"I think I know what's going on, I'll explain while we clean." Tails replied.

After cleaning, Sonic and Tails left on the tornado to go back to their families. However before leaving, Sonic had a man to man talk with Frisk about Knuckles, giving him some insight and assuring him that his father loved him with everything. Frisk's confidence rose up, hearing this from his "uncle". When the moon rose in the night sky, Tikal decided to find her husband by going out to the Emerald Shrine.

"I knew you'd be out here." Tikal said in concern. Knuckles was sitting in front of the Master Emerald, looking quite depressed and angered at himself. He turned around and saw his wife with a warm smile. She sat next to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I knew you cared…" Tikal said.

"Huh?"

"Tails explained everything..how you felt left out...like Sonic was taking over." she explained.

"Oh..that guy knows everything, I swear." Knuckles joked, which made Tikal giggle.

"So...why were you treating that emerald like it was a baby?" she asked.

Knuckles sighed. "Don't tell anyone this but...honestly I kinda missed having a baby...I would like another..preferably a..daughter this time." he admitted.

Tikal felt relieved and hugged him. "Oh Knuckles, why didn't you tell me?" she asked.

"Well..cause I know how tough it was on you having Frisk that I thought you may not want to go through it again.." he replied.

"I'd go through anything with the ones I love." Tikal said. "As long as you stay by my side.."

"Whatever it takes." Knuckles said with a smile. They two stood up and went back to their hut to sleep, leaving the Master Emerald alone. Before going back to their room, they were stopped by Frisk.

"Hey dad, welcome back!" Frisk greeted.

Knuckles grinned. "Hey, thanks, kiddo. Sorry about your head by the way."

"No worries, pop...so..could you give me advice about girls?" he asked.

Knuckles eyes widened at the thought of his son asking him for advice, not Tikal, but him and him only. Knuckles decided to play it cool and contain his excitement. "Well son, women love strength and guys that can protect them." he said.

Tikal smiled at her two boys and decided to go to the bedroom to give them space.

"Really?" Frisk asked. "To be honest, I wanna get into the best shape this year."

"Yep, it's all in the fist!" Knuckles replied. "Why don't we start weightlifting tomorrow morning?" he suggested.

"Really, you'd do that with me?" Frisk asked.

"Sure, it'd be fun." Knuckles said. "Now let's go to bed, Champ."

Frisk nodded, before leaving he wanted to say one thing.

"I love you, dad."

"I love you too, son…"