Icy Knuckles is here with the next installment, but first, I want to take the time out to thank all my supporters. It's all you. Also, if you want to view some of my OCs, three of them are included in Supergamergreg's story, Sonic Riders: Ultimate Tournament. Check out Team Dynamic. Well, I feel a need to start a new story; so let me finish this one up.


The following morning, Knuckles and Rouge found themselves positioned in front of Central Banking Inc. They were sitting in a foreign sports car that they just happen to get into this morning after Knuckles found another key chain. They both agreed that it was best to switch cars since G.U.N. knew Rouge's car on sight.

"Okay, what's the plan here?" asked Rouge.

"I'm going in and bringing the cash out," said Knuckles.

"That's a brilliant plan," said Rouge sarcastically.

"Give me a break. I'm making this up as I go along," said Knuckles.

"Well, it doesn't matter. We'll figure something out," said Rouge. When she put her hand on the door, Knuckles grabbed her by the arm.

"I'm afraid that I can't risk that. I must do this one alone. If they recognize you, it's all over for both of us," said Knuckles.

"Come on, Knuckles. You know that you need me," said Rouge.

"I can do this on my own. There's no illegal activity; so there's no reason to cause a scene," said Knuckles

"Who says that I'll cause a scene?" asked Rouge. She put on an innocent look.

"I do. Now, stay put. I'll be right back." Knuckles got out of the car and walked into the bank. This bank was unlike most banks. It was pretty upscale. The place looked brand new. There wasn't a sign of aging anywhere. Knuckles could feel the cash flowing through this place as he approached an uppity-looking man. Even his voice sounded fake. His French accent sounded like an illegal immigrant who was trying to learn English.

"How can I help you sir?" he asked.

"I'd like access to my safe deposit box please," said Knuckles.

"Name?"

"Percival Peabody," said Knuckles.

"You're THE Percival Peabody? You look a little plain to be someone so wealthy," said the bank clerk.

"Well, you look a little Mexican to be someone so French; so that makes us even," said Knuckles. He was tired of questions already.

The clerk gave Knuckles a dirty look. "Well, you wouldn't mind if I could have some identity then. Would you?" asked the clerk.

Knuckles slowly reached into his pocket. He knew that he would be found out if the guy saw his I.D. As he felt around for his wallet, he tried to think of a way out of this predicament but nothing came to mind. Just then, a woman next to him started getting loud. She was complaining about her check.

"Why can't you cash my check? You cashed everyone else's checks; so mine shouldn't be a problem. Let me speak to the manager," said the lady.

Frenchy was distracted by the lady's rude remarks and forgot all about Knuckles' situation. He pulled out a pad.

"Just sign here and go on back. There'll be someone there to assist you," said Frenchy. He placed a pen and a pad in front of Knuckles. Knuckles scribbled his 'alias' down on the pad and walked on back to the safe deposit box.

Meanwhile in the car, Rouge was getting quite bored. She laid her seat back and tried to listen to the radio, but nothing good was on her favorite stations. After a while, she just turned it off.

"I hope Knuckles hurries up. It's boring out here playing lookout," said Rouge

Rouge closed her eyes and sighed. If she did not get out soon, she would go stir-crazy. Why'd she let Knuckles make her stay anyway and so easily? Was it because he made her feel vulnerable last night or something else? Whatever it was, she did not quite understand it.

Rouge reopened her eyes. She looked in the mirror and they quickly became wide at what she saw. Two G.U.N. agents were heading her way.

"Damn, How'd they find me so fast?" she asked herself aloud. Then, she looked down at her phone. "Of course. They've been tracking my signal." They were quickly heading her way. It was no use trying to escape because they'd see her if she stood up, but they'd see her anyway if she stayed inside the car. Rouge was trapped between a rock and a hard place.

"Hey, Spencer, the signal is coming from over here," said one of the agents.

"Where?" asked the other agent. His voice was gruff and his physique was quite impressive.

"Wait a second. I'll tell you which vehicle." The agent crept closer and closer until he was standing next to Rouge's car. "It's this one."

They both looked inside the car. Rouge's cell phone sat on the charger inside the cup holder on the front seat, but that was all that was in the car.

"There's her phone, but where is she?" asked Spencer.

"She's probably trying to cash a check or something to get some funds while she hides out," said the other agent. He sounded like the guy that operates Big Foot on SA2B.

"Well, it'll be nice to rain on her parade," said Spencer.

They both headed towards the bank. Rouge emerged from under the car. Some smut managed to get on her face, but that was about all the damage she received from being crammed under the car.

"I got to get to Knuckles before they do, but I can't let them see me," she said aloud to herself again. Rouge looked over and saw an air vent that led into the bank. "Bingo!"

Back inside the bank, a lady had led Knuckles back to the safe deposit box room. Knuckles looked around. There must've been over a thousand boxes in there.

"What's your box number, sir?" asked the young lady. She was an echidna who favored Tikal in the face, but her coloring was way off. She was a dark brown instead of a light orange and she wore large earrings.

"187456," said Knuckles.

"Right this way," said the echidna girl.

Knuckles followed her over to a box marked with his respective box number. Knuckles inserted his key into the box and unlocked it, but what was inside was not what he wanted to see. He counted a couple thousand dollars of cash, but the rest of the box's contents were valuable gemstones and documentations.

"Is this all that's in here?" asked Knuckles.

"Well, sir, you were the one that placed it in here. I assure you that no one has touched it before today," said the echidna girl.

"Who touched it?" he asked.

"Uh, you, sir," said the echidna girl.

Knuckles mentally slapped himself for ever asking that question. He was glad that Rouge wasn't there to see it. He'd never hear the end of it. "Well, how about this one?" he asked.

"That's not your box, sir," said the echidna girl.

"I don't care. This isn't even close to the amount that I need; so open another one," said Knuckles.

"I'm afraid that I can't do that," said the echidna girl.

"Never mind. I'll do it myself," said Knuckles. Knuckles used his gargantuan strength to rip a safe deposit box out of the wall and used his fist to open the box. Inside that box was more gems and a few thousand dollars. Knuckles put the money into his pocket and poured the gems into his safe deposit box.

"You can't do that," said the echidna girl.

"I just did," said Knuckles. He ripped another box off the wall, put the money in his pocket, and placed the gems in his box. He was intended on repeating this process until he had enough for his daughter's safe return.

"Somebody help me!" screamed the echidna girl. She ran over to a corner and pressed the alarm button. The alarm sounded all throughout the bank Both customers and employees ran out of the bank. Knuckles, however, ignored the alarm and continued doing what he was doing. After a while, his pockets were filled, and the safe deposit box couldn't hold another gem. Knuckles decided to make a break for it, but he found two G.U.N. agents blocking the exit.

"Hey, look! It's Knuckles," said the other agent. "Do you think he caught the perpetrator?"

Spencer looked at Knuckles, who remained motionless. He noticed the box in his hands and put two and two together.

"He is the perp, Johnson" said Spencer.

"Knuckles, why are you stealing from safe deposit boxes? Did you get bored of watching your Master Emerald?" asked Johnson.

"Let's just say that there's a very good reason. Now, move out of my way," said Knuckles very deeply. He didn't want to be the bad guy, but he needed the money.

"Well, we can't let you leave here with that. Now, drop the box and come with us," said Spencer.

Knuckles laughed. "Try and stop me."

They both came right for Knuckles. Knuckles threw one punch and knocked them both back. When they were recovering, they saw Knuckles walking past them.

"He's strong," said Johnson.

"I noticed, but this is no time to reflect. Hit him with the taser," said Spencer. Johnson took a long, hard look at Spencer. "Do it!" Johnson slowly raised the taser and aimed it at Knuckles.

Knuckles was nearly at the front door when he received a paralyzing shock to the body. Knuckles stopped in his tracks and dropped the box. His body started twitching uncontrollably as megavolts went through his body. Knuckles could feel his body weakening as things started to go black. Just a split second before Knuckles blacked out, a card sharp flew through the air and cut the taser wire. Knuckles fell to his knees and panted hard.

"Hey, what the-" That was all Spencer could say before a boot collided with his skull, knocking him unconscious on the spot.

Johnson stood on his feet….. for about a split second. He did, however, get a glimpse of his attacker before he was rendered unconscious after being kicked in the chin. It was Rouge. She had glided down in the nick of time.

Rouge rushed to Knuckles' side and helped him to his feet.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"I'll live. Right now, we got to get out of here," said Knuckles. He picked his box back up. Then, he and Rouge ran out to the parking lot and got into the foreign sports car. Knuckles collapsed in the passenger's seat as Rouge drove off after tossing her phone out the window.

Later that day…

Knuckles awoke on his stomach with his shirt off. His back was aching like crazy. That taser really hurt. He looked around and saw that he was on a beach that was in the middle of nowhere. The car was parked under a tree, but there was no sign of Rouge. Suddenly, Knuckles felt a sting hit him in the spot where the taser had struck.

"Agggggggggggh!" Knuckles yelled very loudly as a wet cloth touched his back.

"Well, look who's up," said Rouge with glee.

"Rouge, what did you put on that towel?" asked Knuckles as he slowly turned over and sat up.

"Nothing. Just a little hydrogen peroxide," said Rouge with a smirk.

"That stuff felt worse than the taser," said Knuckles.

"Well, if I hadn't done anything, the place where the taser pierced your body would've gotten infected," said Rouge.

"Next time, just let me die," said Knuckles.

Rouge joined Knuckles on the rock. He still had his shirt off and she sat close. If she sat any closer, she'd be in his lap.

"How much did I get?" Knuckles asked.

"Not enough," replied Rouge. "While you were out, I counted it all up. We're only about a quarter of the way finished, and we only have three days left. It's impossible to complete now."

"I'm not giving up on my little girl. It's time to get serious," said Knuckles.

"What do you have in mind now?" asked Rouge.

"It's one final job. It's a real bank robbery, not like this heist bullshit that we've been doing. We're going to hit the national bank in Central City the morning of the day that we have to meet Magic," said Knuckles.

"Are you crazy?" asked Rouge.

"Possibly, but it's all or nothing now. We're both fugitives of the law without any contact to any friends. Other than Silver, no one would understand anyway," said Knuckles.

"Still, how can the two of us take a national bank?" Rouge asked, still perplexed by the plan. She really thought that Knuckles had lost it.

"Who says that we're going to be alone?" asked Knuckles.

"Okay, now you've lost me," said Rouge.

"I'm going to ask some old friends, or rather some old rivals, to help us and offer the gems that I lifted from the safe deposit boxes as a bribe. They're probably the only ones I know that will understand what we have to do," said Knuckles.

"Who are they?" asked Rouge.

"I'll tell you on the way tomorrow. We're headed for the Sand Ruins," he said.


Who are they, indeed? I believe that most of you already know who I'm referring to. I mean, it is so obvious. They'll be in the next two chapters. There are five left. The next one might not have a lot of action, but it will be essential to the plot. After that, the final chapters will have you on the edge of your seat. I can promise that. Don't get on the edge of your seat now. I have to write the chapters first. Oh, and after that, I already have my next idea planned.

ICY KNUCKLES