The Adventures of Knuckles and Hawk
Knuckles! Clenched Fists of Anger
It was nighttime in an oriental city, and a low-flying jet plane flew over the city. Knuckles stood at the bow of a small freight boat, his arms folded.
"Things were in pretty bad shape. We've been stranded in this weird world for what felt like forever, and no matter how many times we beat Eggman, we still weren't any closer to getting back home. But all that changed about two months ago, when I first met Hawk." Knuckles narrated.
At a temple.
"I've been travelling for a while through the south side of the continent, searching for a Chaos Emerald. I saw an old stone temple of some kind, and I decided to check it out. Everything was eerie and quiet, until I heard a voice..."
In a flashback, Knuckles arrived at the temple and stepped down into it.
"Please! Somebody! Help!" someone said
Knuckles caught sight of an Oriental man, trapped between two walls threatening to crush him. Then he punched a hole in the wall, and they escaped safely. A grateful man bowed to him.
"I didn't know it then, but Hawk and I were looking for the same thing." Knuckles narrated.
At the oriental city Knuckles was walking through the streets of the oriental city, ignoring the stares he is receiving.
"I heard from Hawk again a few weeks later. He told me he found what he was looking for. Naturally, I was suspicious and curious, so I decided to pay my new friend a visit." he narrated and walked up to a man. "Hey, how do I get to Jack's place from here?"
"Ah, I know you! You're that Sonic guy, aren't you?" the man said.
"You must be crazy! I don't look anything like Sonic! I'm Knuckles!"
"I didn't mean to offend you, pal. We don't see many hedgehogs around here."
"He led me through a half-dozen dirty alleys right to Jack's place." Knuckles narrated.
At Fwan's shop Knuckles entered the shop, receiving stared from one and all - including two spies: a tall one and a short one. Knuckles approached Fwan, who was behind the counter.
"I'm looking for a guy by the name of Hawk." Knuckles said but Fwan just stared at him. "It's not polite to stare, pal."
"Sorry. I don't see many folks like you around here." Fawn said.
"Never mind that. Have you seen Hawk or haven't you?"
"Nope. Name doesn't sound familiar."
"That's strange."
"Sorry, wish I could help ya."
"You're lying."
"Hey!" someone said.
Knuckles turned around and saw the men had stood up. They were all tough-looking men, known as the Bruiser Boys.
"Hey. The man told you he hasn't seen your friend. Now you can either thank him and get out, or me and my friends can show you the way out." bruiser boy said and Fwan ducked behind the counter.
"Well... Maybe you and your friends are the one who need to leave." Knuckles said.
"Oh, is that so? Well I'll show you, you dirty little-" he said then lunged for Knuckles, but he tripped him, and he landed behind the counter.
He turned to the others, who cower in fear.
"I would not do that." someone said and veryone turned the newcomer. "I have a feeling he's tougher than he looks."
The Bruiser Boys bowed to him.
"Mr. Li Yan." he said and Li Yan approached Knuckles."
"What is your business?" Li Yan asked.
"A guy named Hawk said I could find him here. He has something I want." Knuckles said.
"You must be Knuckles. I've been expecting you. If you are looking for Hawk, you're talking to the right guy. Just follow me and I'll take you right to him."
"Then lead the way."
As Knuckles followed Li Yan out of the shop, the two spies were Decoe and Bocoe in disguise.
"Knuckles." Decoe said.
"I was not expecting to see him here. We must report this to Dr. Eggman." Bocoe said.
"Yeah."
At Oriental City Li Yan lead Knuckles into a house, down a staircase, and to another door, where he held it open for Knuckles.
"After you." he said and Li Yan chuckled.
"Okay."
Li Yan stepped through the door and closed it. Suddenly a trap door opened beneath Knuckles, and he started falling. Then he extended his arms and legs on the walls to stop his fall, then dropped to the ground. He found himself in a jail cell with Hawk.
"I'll share this cell with you, but don't think I'm gonna share my food. If you want to eat, you're goona have to wait until tomorrow. Got it?" Hawk said.
"That's no way to treat a friend, is it?" Knuckles said and Hawk turned around.
"Knuckles, it's you!" he said and embraced Knuckles' hand. "Ah, it's so good to see you! How did you get down here?"
"Well... Let's just say I decided to drop in." Knuckles said.
The Egg Fort was still floating in the water and Eggman was speaking with holograms of Bocoe and Decoe.
"What was that nincompoop Knuckles doing in a dive like that?" Eggman asked.
"He said he was looking for someone named Hawk. It all seemed very suspicious, Doctor." Decoe said.
"Very interesting. Perhaps it's time to put our little plan into action. It ought to be loads of fun! Now let's see..."
Chuckling, he pressed a button that shuffled his deck of robot cards and his glasses glowed.
"Excellent."
A the jail cell.
"...and you're sure it was a Chaos Emerald you saw?" Knuckles asked while Hawk held up his hand to estimate the size of the Chaos Emerald.
"It was a big red stone, about this size." Hawk said.
"It is a Chaos Emerald." he said with a red Chaos Emerald. "That's one more. If only we had them all, I could get back home again. Angel Island... paradise." he said. "Just me guarding the Master Emerald without a care in the world." he said watching himself guard the Master Emerald.
Then a butterfly lit upon a leaf that was in Knuckles' mouth.
"Hour after hour... Day after day... Just watching and dreaming... But mostly dreaming." he said and the butterfly flies away. "I thought it would last forever..."
He watched himself protecting the Master Emerald, come rain or shine.
"Even when things got tough, I always knew they would eventually be all right. And then, out of nowhere, it happened."
Then he had a flashback of the Chaos Control burst and the flashbacks ended.
"You mean the reason you want to find those Chaos Emeralds is so you can go back home?" Hawk said.
"Best reason I can think of."
"So that's it. I thought you wanted it for the same reason I did, for money."
"It doesn't matter now, though. I assume they took the Emerald when they put you here."
"Don't you worry, Knuckles. I was smart enough to hide it before they came for me. I knew they'd be looking for it, you see."
"Where is it?"
Hawk laughed.
"I hid it where nobody could find it. It's in a-" he started but Knuckles covered his mouth.
"This place really isn't so bad. It's kinda cozy once you get used to it, you know?" he said and jerked his thumb toward a listening device. "Didn't think I'd like it when I got here, but I really think it's growing on me." he said and released his grip on Hawk, who immediately caught on.
"Yeah, come to think of it, this could be a lot worse, couldn't it? I mean, most places like this are the pits! As far as jail cells go, this one's first-class all the way! Ahh, and I'll tell you something else, the food's not half bad either! The baked beans they serve are pretty good. Even though the other day they were as cold..." he said.
Elsewhere Li Yan was listening to the conversation.
"...as ice and a little dry, but you didn't hear it from me. While we're on the subject, they could change the menu once in a while. I mean, baked beans day in and day out, you'd think they'd never heard of steak or fried chicken or even a cheeseburger with fries. Wouldn't that be something?" Hawk said.
In the jail cell.
"IT SURE WOULD!" Knuckles shouted out.
In Li Yan's room Knuckles' shouting caused Li Yan to yell and fall backward in his chair. Then two of the Bruiser Boys entered.
"You all right, sir?" bruiser boy 1 asked.
"What happened?" Bruiser boy 2 asked and they helped Li Yan up.
"Play games with me, will they?" Li Yan said.
They left the room and headed to Hawk's cell, only to find it empty. The only sign of escape was a hole in the wall.
Outside Knuckles and Hawk raced out of the building and onto a street corner.
"Taxi!" Hawk said and an oriental taxi stopped for them.
It was ridden by a cyclist, with a two-person coach being pulled by the bicycle. Knuckles and Hawk climbed aboard.
"Well, what are you waiting for? Start pedaling!" Hawk said and the taxi cyclist took off.
Unknown to them, Rouge was watching them from the air.
"Take a right up at this corner." Hawk said.
The taxi cyclist made a right, and Rouge followed them. They soon arrived at their destination, then disembarked from the taxi as it sped away.
"We're here." Hawk said.
"Where are we?" Knuckles asked.
"The old factory district." Hawk said and they looked around. "Come on. Let's go."
Then they headed to the top of a staircase leading down to the subway. As they headed down, Rouge arrived at the top of the stairs, but is suddenly karate-chopped from behind by a man - the same man who was the rickshaw driver!
At the subway Knuckles and Hawk reached the bottom of the stairs.
"I found it at the place where my friends had their business transactions. I thought my mouth was going to burst out of my heart- I mean, my heart was going to burst out of my mouth." Hawk said and arrived at a place where one of the railroad ties was marked. "Over here." he said and bent down and started digging. "Yeah..."
Then he lifted a bag out of the ground and emptied its contents into his hand - the red Chaos Emerald.
"There she is!"
"That's a Chaos Emerald!" Knuckles said.
"It's all yours. And thanks for getting me out, pal."
They become aware of the sound of Eggman laughing. Turning, they saw the doctor in his Eggmobile.
"Well, if it isn't my little friend Knucklehead. Hand over that Chaos Emerald. I promise to keep it safe and sound." Eggman said.
"I'll give you something, but it won't be this Emerald." Knuckles said and charged toward Eggman, but he and the Eggmobile faded before his eyes.
"I'm a hologram!" Eggman said and laughed.
"Knuckles! Help me!" Hawk said.
Knuckles turned to see Hawk at the mercy of the nunchucks belonging to the rickshaw driver.
"It's you!" he said.
"Never judge by appearances, Knucklebrain. She may have seemed just like a rickshaw driver to you, but she's so much more. Say hello to E-91, also known as the Lady Ninja!" Eggman said and the man threw off his costume, revealing Eggman's robot, E-91 Lady Ninja.
"Ninja?"
"Yes, and quite a lovely one at that. But don't let her loveliness dazzle you; you might get hurt!"
"A robot... Eggman!"
The Egg Fort was now flying above Oriental City.
"It's time, my beauty. Time for you to get me that Chaos Emerald!" Eggman said.
At the subway Lady Ninja yanked the nunchucks causing Hawk to throw the bag her way. But Knuckles kicked a bucket onto her head, and the bag missed. Lady Ninja removed the bucket and leapt forward, holding her nunchucks.
"Let's throw a bit more weight behind things." Eggman said.
One end of the chain became a giant 16-ton steel ball which she attempted to swing into Knuckles, but he leapt into the air and glided above her. She swung the ball into the ceiling, but he dodged, then leapt out of the way as a piece of the ceiling fell right where he was standing. Lady Ninja attacked again, but Knuckles avoided it. The impact of the ball caused even more of the subway to collapse.
"Quick, Hawk! Grab the Emerald and run!" he said and Hawk made a run for the emerald, but Lady Ninja's ball hits the wall next to him, causing rubble to fall on the bag.
Hawk cried out and attempted to remove the stones. Then Knuckles appeared next to him.
"Let's go!" he said.
"Knuckles, the Emerald! It's buried!" Hawk said and they were forced to dodge another ball-and-chain attack thst strikes the fallen wall.
Meanwhile at Oriental City, Rouge regained consciousness.
"Sneaking up on a girl... That's no way to treat a lady." she said and caught sight of the rising dust cloud coming from the subway. "I don't know what that is, but it's not good... What the-?"
Then she noticed the Egg Fort above her.
"I think that's my cue to get outta here." she said and flew away.
On the subway the reckless Lady Ninja was destroying the entire sunway with her ball-and-chain.
"Hawk! We have to get away from that thing!" Knuckles said.
"I know, but how?" Hawk said.
As the ceiling cracked and collapsed, Knuckles saw his opening. Grabbing Hawk, he leapt across the falling chunked of stone to safety above ground. As the entire subway collapsed, the Egg Fort left.
Later at Hawk's house Hawk was watching the news.
"Now our top story this hour. Interesting developments in last night's building collapse - eyewitnesses reported spotting Dr. Eggman in the area around the time of the collapse. Officials have launched a full investigation." the news reporter said.
"Guess there's not much we can do now, 'cept maybe hang around here for a while 'til the dust settles." Hawk said.
"I had that Emerald in the palm of my hand." Knuckles said and punched a punching bag with such force that it flew off of its support, and a few of the house's support beamed fall as well. "Shoot!"
"Knock it off, Knuckles! That won't do any good!"
Then another piece of ceiling fell on Knuckles when he noticed something on the ground in front of him.
"Is this... The Shover Claws! How'd they get here?" he asked.
"Those metal things? I dug 'em out of that old temple. You know, when you saved me." Hawk said thinking about the temple, then the Shovel Claws in the temple.
"The Shovel Claws..."
"What about them?"
Later at Oriental City Knuckles and Hawk arrived at a certain part of the destroyed subway and Knuckles started climbing underground.
"Careful down there!" Hawk said while Knuckles slipped on his shovel claws and started digging through the rocks.
"I know it's around here somewhere..." he said and dug a little more, then lifted the Chaos Emerald.
Then he returned to the surface, only to find Hawk no longer there.
"Hawk! Where are you?!" he said when Bokkun arrived with his television.
"Pay attention, Knuckles. Special message from Dr. Eggman." Bokkun said and Eggman's face appeared on the screen.
"If you want to see your friend again, you'd best mosey over to New Town, and make it snappy. And don't try anythign funny - Bokkun's been studying the marial arts. He's getting... better." Eggman said.
Suddenly the screen surrounding Bokkun turned into flame, as do his eyes.
"I know karate!" he said and attempted to kick Knuckles, who dodged.
The robot continued to chop the air.
"Hi-yaah! Karate chop! These hands are dangerous weapons! Take that! Don't mess with me!" he said and left.
At a construction site Hawk was tied up and dangling from a crane, with Lady Ninja guarding him. Then Knuckles approached.
"Knuckles! It's you!" Hawk said and a hologram of Eggman in his Eggmobile appeared.
"Good evening. I trust you brought the Chaos Emerald with you?" Eggman said and Knuckles lifted the Chaos Emerald high in the air. "Now give it to the little lady."
The hologram disappeared and Knuckles threw the emerald just past Lady Ninja. The newly-arrived Rouge dove after it. Lady Ninja leapt off the beam standing on.
"Egg ninja technique: Kite." Lady Ninja said and a kite appeared on her back, slowing her descent.
Hawk leapt up and freed Hawk from the crane.
"Knuckles! Whaah!" he said while Rouge grabbed the Chaos Emerald, and was pursued by Lady Ninja.
"I want that Chaos Emerald!" Lady Ninja said.
"How about I keep the Emerald and you get lost?" Rouge said and fired a laser at Lady Ninja's kite, destroying.
As Lady Ninja fell, she threw a shuriken at the bag, ripping it in half and causing the Chaos Emerald to fall out.
"Nice shot!" Rouge said.
"Quick, this way!" Knuckles said pointing.
"Egg ninja technique: Flying Squirrel." Lady Ninja said and expanded new wings, reminiscent to a flying squirrel, and continued the chase.
Knuckles was just about to grab the emerald when Lady Ninja pushed his hand away, sending the Emerald in a different direction Lady Ninja also sent Knuckles through an awning. The emerald landed in front of Hawk, who picked it up. He fled as Lady Ninja turned around and pursued him. She drew her weapons and swung it at Knuckles, but he threw a plate which deflects Lady Ninja's own weapon back at her, sending her through a table. Rouge saw the commotion.
"Uhh... Think maybe I'll pay another visit when things calm down a bit." she said.
Hawk ran into and alley, and found a dead end. Suddenly he saw the shadow of Lady Ninja in front of him. He turned around, but she wasn't there. Lady Ninja, who was hiding in the shadows, snatched the emerald from Hawk.
Lady Ninja emerged from hiding.
"Thank you." she said and tried to flee the alley, but was cut off by Knuckles.
"You're not going anywhere. Now hand over that Emerald before there is more trouble." he said.
Lady Ninja stored the emersld in her outfit. Then Knuckles attempted to attack her with a flurry of punches, which she dodged. She fliped backwards, then threw several shurikens, which he dodged. Then he rebounded off the wall and kicked her down. Then she got back up and traped him with a web of electricity.
"Egg ninja technique: Electric Bind." she said and Knuckles caught a quick glimpse of the Master Emerald in his vision.
"Master Emerald." he said.
"Stop it! You're hurting him!" Hawk said.
"Give up." Lady Ninja said.
Knuckles was still getting shocked by the electric bind. He saw another glimpse of the Master Emerald, which was illuminated by lightning. Hawk got an idea, and threw a bucket of water on Lady Ninja, who started shorting out and droos the Chaos Emerald. Knuckles, free of the electric bind, punched her into the sky, where she disappeared with a twinkle. Hawk held out the Chaos Emerald and smiled. Knuckles smiled back, and they shook hands.
The next morning, Knuckkes was on the dock about to leave by boat.
"Well... I know you have to be on your way... but maybe you could come back sometime to visit. ...'Cause I'm gonna miss you, Knuckles." Hawk said.
"Yeah." Knuckles said.
"We'll meet again someday, won't we?"
There was a pause then Hawk started to cry as the boat sets off.
"Yes, I'll be back. See ya, Hawk!" Knuckles said with a thumbs-up.
"So long, my friend!" Hawk said and ran to the edge of the dock. "Goodbye! Come back soon!" he said and wave goodbye.
On the ship, Knuckles glanced at the Chaos Emerald. Suddenly, it begins glowing. Knuckles is transported to a completely white area.
"Where am I?"
The whiteness was replaced by the Master Emerald shrine.
"The servers are the seven Chaos..." someone said.
"The servers... are the seven Chaos... What does that mean?" Knuckles said and found himself on the boat again. "What was that all about?" he said and looked back at the emerald.