Notes: ...and Knuckles

Disclaimer: I definitely don't own Sonic the Hedgehog (and Knuckles)

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles

Ch. 14: Knuckles' Turn to Shine

It was a beautiful day, and Knuckles was lounging under a tree in Mushroom Hill. It was a chance to finally relax after the ordeal with Dr. Robotnik and the Master Emerald. He was watching all the different animals frolic through the forest, and starting to doze off. Just when he was starting to nap, something fell to the ground in front of him, startling him awake.

"What in the world...?"

It was a bomb adorned with Robotnik's face. Knuckles bolted around the tree.

*BOOM*

He poked his head out from behind the tree, looking around to see where the bomb could've come from. That's when the culprit appeared.

"I remember you."

It was one of Robotnik's Eggrobo Badniks. It wasn't armed with a laser gun like the others back in Sky Sanctuary.

"What do want? What are you doing here? Why am I asking a robot? No, wait, I'm not asking a robot. I know you can hear me, Eggman! You always listen in on your important scrap heaps."

Despite all that, the Eggrobo remained silent and flew off.

"Come back here! I guess losing his precious Death Egg wasn't enough to dissuade him. He has to be making another attempt on the Master Emerald."

Knuckles headed for the Angel Island jungle to look around.

"We're still in the sky, which means he hasn't found the Master Emerald yet. If I'm going to put a stop to this, I'll need the Chaos Emeralds."

Knuckles ran off into the forest.

Meanwhile

Sonic was lounging on a deck chair, taking it easy. Tails was nearby in his workshop. Amy Rose was in there as well, listening intently as Tails recounted their adventure.

Suddenly, a strange glow covered Sonic's body.

"What in the world? Tails!"

Tails and Amy rushed out to see what was wrong. In a flash, the Emeralds, both Chaos and Super, went flying off in different directions.

"Were those the Chaos Emeralds you talked about?" Amy asked.

"That was them alright. I almost forgot you had those, Sonic. Do you think there's trouble?"

"They usually disappear on their own at some point, but something tells me you're right. I think we'd better check on Knuckles. No, Amy, you can't come, there's not enough room in the plane."

"Oh, you're always leaving me behind!"

Angel Island

Knuckles was exploring through the jungle. He looked out over the horizon, confirming that the Island was still floating. He then closed his eyes and tried to sense if there were any giant rings nearby. There certainly was, and he followed his instincts to locate it. He came to a large boulder that most likely blocked access. He took a deep breath, and punched the boulder to tiny pieces. Sure enough, behind it was a giant ring.

*FLASH*

"I don't know what I expected when I jumped into that ring, but it wasn't a checkerboard dimension full of spheres."

Knuckles maneuvered through the special area as deftly as Sonic had before.

"So I have to collect the blue and avoid the red? That hardly seems fair to me."

Just like Sonic, he was rewarded with a Chaos Emerald upon completion.

"I wonder if the Emerald itself creates that weird layout. Oh well, best keep moving and find the rest along the way."

Knuckles continued to explore the area, occasionally having to take care of a few Badniks.

"Already trying to rebuild his army? We'll see about that!"

He soon sensed another giant ring, this time from right beneath him. He quickly started digging to find it. Sure enough, he came upon a cavern, and there it was.

*FLASH*

"I wish there was a faster way of doing this, but then if it was easy, that would defeat the purpose."

In no time at all, he had another Chaos Emerald. With that accomplished, he continued to scout out the area.

"Looks like everything's fine here. Now to find that stupid robot. Wait, there it is!"

Eggrobo was diving off a cliff.

"That's the cliff where I sent Sonic to those underwater ruins. Get back here!"

Knuckles dove down as well. He wasn't worried about the water since he knew how to swim. That was one thing Sonic couldn't do. Now in HydroCity, Knuckles swam and climbed until he sensed another giant ring.

"Hidden behind another wall, are we? Well...oh, never mind, it's a fake wall. No smashing required."

*FLASH*

"I may have missed out on a few things living in isolation, but even I can tell these colors are garish. Oh well, the Emerald is what's important."

And with that, he now had three. He explored all over the sunken city, but there was no sign of the Eggrobo.

"He couldn't just disappear! That machine must be here somewhere."

Knuckles thought he saw something out of the corner of his eye, so he spun around to get a better look. Eggrobo had already zoomed off. He was headed back towards the surface.

"Of course...he's headed back up top. Well that's just great. How am I supposed to get out of here that quickly?!"

Just then, the floor began to shake.

"I probably shouldn't have said that."

That's when a huge water spout erupted from beneath him and shot him to the surface.

Meanwhile

Tails was flying the Tornado, and Sonic was of course perched atop the wings. It had taken awhile to get ready since Amy insisted on coming along. By a lucky coincidence, Tails had installed a secret extra seat. He knew Sonic would never use it, but you never knew who would come along.

"Have I told you that sometimes you're too smart for your own good?" Sonic said.

"Very funny, Sonic," Tails replied.

"I know you're talking about me, Sonic," Amy said, "Is it really so bad that I want to see the Floating Island?"

"This isn't a vacation, Amy! We're going to help Knuckles, and most likely stop Eggman again."

"I can help!"

Sonic sighed, "Okay, whatever...everything okay, Tails?"

"Everything's optimal, Sonic. We'll be there in no time...it's just a matter of finding it again."

Sonic nodded and was silent for a bit.

"So...since you haven't figured that out yet, can we stop for lunch?"

"Sonic, why didn't you eat before we left?"

"Tails, you know how I am, I tend to rush into things. I didn't realize it would take time to find the island again."

"Tails, if you knew it would take time to find the island," Amy said, "Why didn't you stop him?"

"She's got you there, buddy."

"I admit I also got caught up in the moment. Fine, we'll set down and eat while I do some calculations."

Back to the show

Knuckles was now in Marble Garden, roaming through the ruins trying to sense another giant ring.

"A good chunk of this place looks like it's falling apart. No doubt from Eggman's dirty work. Wait a second...there it is. Down this tunnel."

He glided down until he came upon said giant ring.

*FLASH*

"Do these lights have to be so blinding? I'm just trying to get through here as fast as possible. The longer that robot is left running around, the more trouble Eggman is bound to cause. Ah, there's the next Chaos Emerald."

Knuckles was back to running through the gardens. He was soon in a confined area, a more underground section, when the ground began to rumble.

"If this is another water spout..."

That's when another one of the doctor's Tunnelbots emerged from the ceiling. It was hovering too high for Knuckles to jump at it. Luckily, due to its constant tunneling, a spike column erupted from the ground and began to rotate through the area.

"How convenient."

Knuckles jumped on top of the column, waiting for it to get close to the Tunnelbot, and then striking it. It wasn't long before the Tunnelbot was destroyed. Knuckles dusted himself off, and resumed his search.

"This is the first of the good doctor's machines that really caused trouble. That must mean the Eggrobo is here. All the more reason to find the Emeralds. Speaking of which, I believe there's yet another nearby."

A quick punch through a marble pillar gave Knuckles access to another giant ring.

*FLASH*

"All these spheres and checkerboards are starting to make me dizzy. No matter, this makes Emerald number five."

Knuckles was back in the garden, exploring ever deeper through the ruins.

"I know that Eggrobo is close."

Knuckles made his way into a deep chamber in the ruins, when suddenly the ground began to shake.

"What is it with this place and all the ground shaking?"

Out of the ceiling shot a small drill with a chain attached. The drill embedded itself into the ground. Then another drill and chain did likewise on the other side of the chamber. That's when the Egg Mobile also burst through the ceiling. It was now manned by the Eggrobo, and fitted with a re-creation of the doctor's Drill Mobile. It pulled itself along one of the spiky chains in an attempt to hit Knuckles, but managed to dodge out of the way, while at the same time giving the machine a hard punch. The mobile went back underground. Not long after, it emerged from the ground, pulling itself along the other chain. Knuckles was quick to run over and give the machine another punch.

"As if these ruins weren't already in bad shape after what you did last time, now you're burrowing through them again! I'm putting your rotten machine out of commission."

As soon as the chains had launched and the Drill Mobile emerged once again, Knuckles starting pounding on the mobile, now harder than ever. In only a few hits, the mobile was breaking down, causing the Eggrobo to hastily retreat.

"That takes care of that. Now where to next?"

Knuckles looked out over the horizon. He saw a familiar sight.

"It's that stupid amusement park the doctor built. Do I really need to go there?"

He stopped to think for a minute.

"Well, the Eggrobo did go in that direction, but I doubt it would stop there. I'll just give the place a once over."

Knuckles mostly glided over the now powered down carnival. With no signs of the Eggrobo, or indeed of any other Badniks, it wasn't worth checking out.

"Nothing here at all...hey, wait a minute. Is that a teleporter?"

It was indeed, but where did it go?

"I thought I knew where all of these things were. Oh well, I'm sure it'll take me closer to where I need to go. Admittedly that's just a feeling."

He stepped onto the teleporter, and in a flash, he was now in an ice cave.

"The Icecaps, of course, that Eggrobo is bound to be here."

Knuckles began traversing through the icy caverns in his search for the Eggrobo. That's when he got that feeling again.

"I might've known. There's a ring around here somewhere."

He gave the area a look around. The signal was coming from below the freezing water.

"I've got no problem with water, but at this temperature..."

He plunged in anyway, and swam up to a thick wall of ice.

*SMASH*

A quick punch was all it took to get at the ring.

*FLASH*

"With this, I'm one step closer. I just need to find the last Chaos Emerald."

Knuckles began to make his way to the surface. He did a quick look around for the Eggrobo, but then stopped to look out over the horizon.

"Look at the ice floe...how clear the sky looks...all this running around, I've got to remember to appreciate my island. All the more reason to put a stop to the doctor's creations. Angel Island must be protected."

Knuckles pressed on, digging through a pile of snow. After a few minutes, he emerged in a new area. It was the now dilapidated Launch Base.

"Looks like after the botched attempt to take off, most of the base sunk underwater. Well, okay, to be technical, it did take off, but then it fell into the volcano."

Knuckles went into the remains of the base, remembering most of the area from before.

"This is where I threw that bomb. I'm glad they didn't hold that against me."

He had just reach a large empty room, when he noticed a pair of crates.

"I vaguely remember those, but I never did find out what was inside them."

As if on cue, one of the crates opened. It was the same circular machine with extended ball and chains that Sonic and Tails fought, the Twin Hammer. This time, however, the other crate opened as well, and now there were two Twin Hammer machines.

"Two against one, huh?" Knuckles smirked, "This might be a fair fight now."

Knuckles dodged their flails, waiting for an opportune moment to strike at the pair of machines. His timing had to be perfect to avoid getting smacked by the spiked chain. He bobbed and weaved, throwing punches at the unarmed sections of the robots. After a few hits, they each lost one of their arms.

"I don't have the time to waste on you two."

A few more flurries of jabs, and the Twin Hammers were no more. Knuckles dusted himself off as he continued along the path. He was now running across a series of water pipes. Some were barely sticking out above the water.

"I sense another ring around here. As soon as I find it, I'll have all seven Chaos Emeralds."

Once again, his superior punching skills made quick work of the wall that was hiding the giant ring.

*FLASH*

"If these are bad now, I can only imagine what they'll be like when I have to collect the Super Emeralds. Well, I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. I finally have the seven Chaos. Now they're safe from Robotnik and his goons."

Knuckles pressed on, noticing that the environment was starting to flood. More and more sections of the base were now sinking beneath the waves.

"I've got to get out of here before there's nothing left above water. That pesky Eggrobo must be here somewhere."

All across the Launch Base, but still no signs of the Eggrobo. Knuckles came to what was essentially a dead end.

"This pipe leads underwater. Nowhere left to go. I guess I should've just left to look elsewhere once I obtained the Emerald."

Suddenly, he heard the sound of thrusters. He looked around to see where the sound was coming from. A shadow fell over him, and the Beam Rocket descended from above. Knuckles did his best to avoid any laser shots.

"Didn't the doctor use that machine before against Sonic? You seriously couldn't build something new to fight me? You must've exceeded your budget."

Using a series of well timed hits, Knuckles quite handily pummeled the Beam Rocket. What was left of the Egg Mobile took off.

"Too easy! Give me a real challenge."

That's when the Eggrobo returned, now piloting a rebuilt Big Arm.

"Bringing out the big guns, are we? Well two can play at that game."

Knuckles concentrated, and activated the Chaos Emeralds to become Super Knuckles! He was now a glowing bright pink.

"Pink? Oh well, what does the color matter? Time to deal with this intruder."

As the Big Arm swooped down at Knuckles, he delivered a swift uppercut to the cockpit. Big Arm was sent reeling, but pressed on. It began to swing its massive arms at Knuckles, who parried every blow.

"You've got fists bigger than mine, and yet it's still not a challenge."

Knuckles decided enough was enough, and soon left the Big Arm in scraps. The Eggrobo made yet another getaway.

"That's right, run away, coward! What are you really up to, Eggman?"

Meanwhile

"That echidna is a pain in my egg," Robotnik said, looking up from the monitor.

"Will that be all, sir?" asked one of his robots.

"Yes, I think my project is ready. My Eggrobo is doing a good job distracting that fool. However, that persistent idiot will be here soon. Lucky thing I'm already finished. These upgrades should ensure that the Master Emerald will be in my grasp once again."

"Why not just take it now, sir?"

"Because, you cretin, if I did that, it wouldn't take Knuckles, or Sonic for that matter, very long to give chase and take it back. With this, I'm making doubly sure they can't stop me this time."