-1Chapter 3: Collisions of Power

Knuckles stepped forward, "Hey Sonic, I'll handle this," he said calmly.
Sonic kneeled down, "Thanks Knuckles," he said, "I could really use a breather."
Knuckles chuckled to himself, he'd never seen Sonic so worn out. Tank was still breathing heavily, "No fair, they're replenishing their fighters!" one of the mysterious Arcane Renegades complained.
"Shut up Tick," Tank ordered.
Tick then emerged out of the shadows, he was an armadillo like Tank, but much smaller. He looked to be about 13, and had golden armor plates around his forearms. Out of these armor pieces came silver blades with razor sharp edges. Like Tank, Tick was bald and had pointed ears.
"Well then finish this job," Tick said smugly.
Tank spat to his side, "So your name's Knuckles, isn't it?" he asked.
"Yeah, Knuckles the Echidna!" Knuckles roared with pride.
Tank smiled, "Excellent, I've heard of you, you're supposed to be powerful, stronger than Sonic, but your speed is a little underdog, ain't it?" he asked curiously.
Knuckles closed his eyes and smiled, "You'll soon see," he said, and with those words, he vanished in a blinding red light.
Knuckles then appeared behind Tank and punched him in the back and he went flying. After Tank slowly got back to his feet, Knuckles once again sped forward, this time though, punching Tank in the face with his spikes on his hand.
Tank stepped back, clutching his bleeding face. He then gripped the mountain and remained still. Knuckles raised his fist, and readied the final blow, and let loose.
Just as Knuckles fired his punch, Tank raised the palm of his hand and grabbed Knuckles' fist and squeezed so hard that Knuckles too fell to the ground.
On the other side of the battlefield, Tails readied another laser cannon fire which he would use on all four of the Arcane Renegades. He charged, but just as he was about to let his cannon-fire go, a small ball crashed into Tail's jet and made it explode.
Tails managed to get to his feet, and saw what looked to be a miniature version of Tank in his ball form. The ball uncoiled itself and Tick emerged, "Alright bro, if you take care of Knuckles, I'll cook this fox here," he sneered.
Tails backed off, knowing he was no match for the warrior by himself. On the other side of the field, Knuckles had been tossed against the laboratory wall by Tank, and was being severely punished.
"So this is it, eh?" the final Arcane Renegade asked, and as she emerged from the shadows with the others, her appearance was clear. She was a Mara that wore a full black body suit and had two yellow stripes going down each side and had brown hair that reached down to the back of her head. Her ears were pointed, and she had no tail.
Spike looked at her, "Yes, it appears so, although that blue hedgehog was faster than I expected."
Jade smiled, "Yes, but they at least were able to get the job done," she said coolly.
Tank threw Knuckles on the ground, yet he still rose to his feet to meet his challenger, "You'll not have your satisfaction with me monster!" Knuckles screamed.
The renegade laughed, "Really? Well then I guess I'll have to" he started, but just then Knuckles threw a flurry of punches that sent Tank flying back.
Knuckles didn't stop there, though. He chased his foe and curled his fists together and raised them over his head and pounded Tank's stomach and sent him crashing to the ground.
"No way!" Jade screeched.
Once again the smoke cleared, and Tank had once again gotten to his feet, "What are you?" Knuckles asked.
Tank didn't answer, but he spread his fingers apart, and long steel nails that looked to be about 3 inches emerged from his fingertips on each finger. Knuckles gasped, and as Tank charged, he ran for his life.
On the other side of the field, Tails and Tick stared each other down, and as Tick dashed forward, Tails was lucky enough to jump into the air and come crashing back down with his right foot to send Tick crashing into the rubble of his jet.
"ENOUGH!" Spike yelled louder than any screams that had occurred in the battle, "Tank, Tick, let's go. Arcane Renegades, out!"
Tank and Tick followed their boss without hesitation, and the four of them dashed back into the darkness without much opposition from Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles.
The three heroes rested for a bit, before they decided to make their way into the laboratory.