Chapter 10

"Yo Tails, how far til we make it to Angel Island!?" Sonic yelled. "A few more miles!" Tails yelled back. "How ya holdin up Calvin?" Sonic asked. "J-J-Just fine!" I replied shakily.

After training with Sonic yesterday, Today I was gonna train with Knuckles.

From what the gang told us, he was on Angel Island guarding the Master Emerald. Guarding the Master Emerald was Knuckles' utmost duty so I understood perfectly. The best way to get to Angel Island was by air. I was afraid of heights but I was determined to help out Sonic and his friends so I put my fear aside and flew with Sonic and Tails to Angel Island.

During the flight, Angel Island was starting to come into view.

"Hey, Angel Island!" I exclaimed. "Alright! Now let's go pay Knuckles a visit!" Sonic said as we flew further to Angel Island. Once we landed on Angel Island, we walked to the Chaos Emerald Shrine, where Knuckles was resting. He opened his eyes and saw us.

"Oh, hey guys. I didn't know you were coming." Knuckles said. "Well we would've called ya Knux, but modern technology isn't exactly your thing." Sonic joked. "Ha, ha, ha so what exactly are you guys here for?" He asked.

This time I spoke.

"Okay, to summarize: On the day that I trained with Espio, her told to talk to you and Sonic about training me too. Yesterday, Sonic helped me boost up my cardio, so I thought you could help me with my strength today." I explained.

Knuckles was silent for a moment before he spoke.

"Alright." He said. "Yes!" I cheered to myself. "Well, now that Calvin's in your hands, let's go Tails!" Sonic said as he started walking back to the Tornado. Tails followed him. "Where are you two going?" Knuckles asked. "Apparently Eggman's got some new robot that he's gonna release onto Knothole City tomorrow. So I figured me and Tails could pay him a surprise visit today." Sonic joked. "Alright then, see you guys later." Knuckles said. "Bye Sonic, Bye Tails." I said waving. "Later Calvin!" Sonic said. "Bye Calvin." Tails said back waving.

They got in the Tornado and began to fly to Eggmans' base, leaving only me and Knuckles.

I then looked at Knuckles. "So, you want me to help you toughen up more?" Knuckles asked, wanting to make sure I was certain of my reason for seeing him today. "Yes." I confirmed. "Okay, first off we'll work on your muscles." Knuckles began. "You have muscle but they could be better. Luckily, I have some weights for you to use." Knuckles said as he went to go get the weights. I waited for him to return.

He came back with the weights after a few minutes.

He then placed them down.

"Did you exercise when you were back on Earth?" Knuckles asked. "Not...really." I admitted. "Hm, well you still should do fine. I'll check on you in a few minutes." Knuckles said as he walked off. I assumed he was gonna go back to guarding the Master Emerald for the time being.

With that said, I picked up the weights. (Man, these things are heavy. But since Knuckles is a pretty tough guy, this should be expected)I said to myself in my head. I began to lift to boost up my strength.

Minutes go by and my arm was getting extremely tired.

It felt like my arms were gonna fall off. Knuckles showed up to check on my progress. "Working hard?" Knuckles asked. "In a way...if my arms being sore counts." I said tiredly. "Heh heh... here." Knuckles said as he tossed a bottle of water to me. "Thanks." I said as I opened the bottle and drunk from it.

I sat down on the grass.

"Man, my arms hurt." I said. "Hey, it wasn't that bad." Knuckles said. (Easy for you to say)I thought to myself. "Moving on, we'll see about your skills in fighting. You took any fighting classes back on your world?" Knuckles asked. "Well, I did for a year." I replied. "You remember any moves?" Knuckles asked. "A few." I answered. "Good, then this should be interesting." Knuckles said, getting in his stance. "You're serious." I said in disbelief. "C'mon Calvin, I'll go easy on you if that makes ya feel better." Knuckles reassured me.

I exhaled slowly. "Alright." I said uneasily, getting into my stance. In a short time, we rushed at each other and engaged in combat.

Hours pass by and the night was starting to come into view. I notice the night sky along with Knuckles. "Heh, nighttime already." Knuckles said. "We're done for today. You did pretty okay." Knuckles complimented. "Thanks." I said, rubbing my bandaged cheek.

Earlier, Knuckles landed an attack on my cheek, causing it to bleed. It was painful at first but as time passed it just stung.

Knuckles took notice of me rubbing my cheek. "And sorry about messing up your cheek." Knuckles said apologetically. "Ah, it's cool." I reassured him. "Now that our trainings done, you ready for me to take you back to the city?" Knuckles asked me. "Yeah." I replied. "Okay, let's go." Knuckles said.

Knuckles gave me a piggy-back ride and glided me down to Knothole city.

We landed after a short while.

"Thanks Knuckles, not just for getting me down back down to Knothole, but for today in general." I said. "Happy to help Calvin. See ya later." Knuckles said. "Later." I said back as I started walking home.

Knuckles began to glide back to Angel Island.

During my walk, I rubbed my cheek again and started to think to myself. (While the training was a hassle, telling Vanilla about my little incident is gonna be a bigger hassle)I thought to myself as I continued walking home to rest for tomorrow.

Author's Note

Hey guys! GamingArtist here wanting to thank you guys for all the views. I means a lot to me that people are viewing my stories and giving their opinions. Same goes for my Sneran Kagura story. It actually encourages me to keep my stories going. Just saying that I appreciate the views.

GamingArtist out!