Guardian Angels

by KatherineTheMoth

After saving the Sol Dimension from being taking over by Battra, Kathy the Moth teleported him and herself to Sonic's dimension where she will stay there as her new home dimension and protect it from Battra and from other evil forces. By Battra's meddling, Kathy had crash-landed on Angel Island and was found by Knuckles. But little did he realize that he had found Mothra herself.

10. Angel and(pt 5)

Guardian Angels

S1:E6: Angel And...(Pt. 5)

Kathy was just running around throughout the park as Knuckles chases her. Kathy was giggling happily the whole time while Knuckles was just smiling a lot. He had chased her through the gymnasium, the cage, the monkey bars, and around the seesaws, the wheel, and the swings. He and Kathy had ridden on every slide and had climbed through the cage and the monkey bars. Of course, Kathy keeps him on his toes as she made some sharp turns here and there and had tricked him by going in a different way than he had originally thought. Those silly actions had caused Knuckles to laugh due to how surprising they were at times. He was honestly having fun playing with Kathy like this and had wished in his heart that it will never stop.

...I could just chase her all day, and it'll never get boring to me. I never had this much fun before. I...I love this...Knuckles pondered fondly as he chased Kathy around the swings again.

"Hehehehehe! You'll never catch me, Knuckles!" Kathy exclaimed playfully with a happy smile as she giggled a lot.

"Oh, we'll see!" Knuckles exclaimed playfully with a smirk as he chased her towards the monkey bars again.

"Not unless...I get up here again!" Kathy exclaimed jokingly as she climbed up the ladder and had grabbed onto the monkey bars again. She looked down at Knuckles with a bright smile, and Knuckles had smiled back at her as he stood next to the ladder.

"Oh no! You got away again!" Knuckles joked with a smile as he watched her climb across the monkey bars with ease.

"Pttth!" Kathy blew a raspberry at Knuckles as she kept climbing across the monkey bars.

Knuckles chuckled at this and had replied playfully, "Oh, you are so going to pay for that!".

"No, I won't! …Because you'll never catch me! Hehehehehe!" Kathy exclaimed playfully as she giggled a lot. However, Kathy wasn't paying attention enough as she had accidently slipped off the monkey bar just as she had grabbed it. "Ah!" Kathy yelped in shock as her eyes went wide and as her mouth went agape. She soon fell from the monkey bars in surprise.

Knuckles had gasped at this and had instinctively ran towards Kathy fast enough before she had reached the ground. "Gotcha!" Knuckles exclaimed with a surprised look on his face as he grabbed her by the waist with his arms. Knuckles slightly shifted backwards when he grabbed Kathy's body, but he stood still after he had caught her.

Kathy was alarmed at first but felt relieved when she had landed safely in Knuckles' arms. She took a sigh of relief as she realized that she was safe. "Whew! That was close!" Kathy exclaimed with relief on her face.

"Tell me about it...(Sigh)..." Knuckles commented casually while also sighing a bit in relief. I almost had a heart attack when I saw her slip off. I'm glad that I had caught her in time. Whew! Knuckles thought with a worried look on his face as he frowned a bit at her.

Kathy soon looked at Knuckles, and Knuckles looked back at her. They stared at each other for a moment before smiling again in amusement. "Heh...Guess who caught you? Tag. You're 'it'," Knuckles replied playfully with a smirk.

"Hehehehehehehehe! I guess that I'm 'it' then! You better run away from me, Knuckles! I'm gonna get you!" Kathy exclaimed happily as she giggled a lot from this.

"Oh, you may try, but you'll never will! Hahahaha!" Knuckles exclaimed playfully with a smirk as he chuckled a bit. He then puts Kathy down and had started to run away from her. Kathy gave Knuckles three seconds to run away before starting to chase him.

"Get back here!" Kathy exclaimed back with a grin.

"Ha! Never!" Knuckles exclaimed back with a grin of his own as he looked back at Kathy. Knuckles already knows that Kathy is a slow runner, so he hadn't run too fast so that she wouldn't catch up. He wanted to be fair and give her a chance to catch him.

"Hehehehe! I'm getting closer!" Kathy exclaimed tauntingly with a grin as she giggled a bit.

"No, you're not! Heheheh!" Knuckles taunted back with a grin as he chuckled a bit. He soon started to run towards the fields outside of the playground. Kathy was smiling a lot as she chased him throughout the rest of the park.

"Hey! Get back to the playground, you!" Kathy exclaimed playfully with a grin.

"Heh! Make me!" Knuckles exclaimed back with a mischievous smirk as he looked back at Kathy. Kathy giggled a lot at this, and her infectious laughter got to Knuckles too. They both giggled and laughed the whole time as they ran throughout the long, green, fields of the park.

While Knuckles and Kathy were busy having fun, someone else is busy making "their own kind of fun". What kind of fun you ask? Well...the destructive kind of course...

[Meanwhile At The Western Edge of Central City]

"Well, well, well...It seems that there is one Sol Heart lying somewhere in the city," Battra said calmly to himself with a devious smirk as he flew above the western portion of Central City. He was holding onto his Dark Sol Gems to sense the Sol Hearts' energy, and he was pleased when he had felt its energy.

He continued monologuing to himself, "I knew that I wasn't mistaken when I had felt some sort of energy when I had attacked this city yesterday, but who knew that the Sol Heart was just right around the corner from where I originally was? Quite a convenient coincidence if I do say so myself".

He then placed his fists down to his sides as he stared down at the city below with an evil smirk on his face. "Hmph...I highly doubt that naïve girl has found the Sol Heart already. It's clear that she lacks experience into using the Sol Gems for sensing the hearts' energy. If she had used them correctly, then she would've known that the heart is somewhere in this section of the city. But of course, an expert like me has no problems into sensing the hearts since I've been doing that for at least 15 years. It's pretty much a cakewalk at this point," Battra continued his monologue with a confident smirk on his face.

He then looked even more devious as he rubbed his chin with his finger and had pretended to think. "Oh...But there is at least one problem that I have in this scenario...I don't know exactly where the Sol Heart is. There are just too many buildings in the way. Hmmm...Perhaps my search would be much easier if all of these buildings were...'deconstructed'. Yeah...that would make things..." Battra continued monologuing in a bit of a playful tone of voice. He then smiled evilly as he held onto his Dark Sol Gems and had commanded them to create new Dark Thoughts.

He finished his monologue by saying darkly, "...A whole lot easier...Mwahahahahahahaha!".

The Dark Sol Gems glowed black for a bit before it had stopped a few seconds later, and thus, Battra's Dark Thoughts are now fully created and are ready to destroy the city.

[Meanwhile With Kathy and Knuckles]

Kathy and Knuckles were still running and laughing a lot as they were still playing tag. Knuckles playfully ran back and forth in the field to keep Kathy on her toes. He even ran in circles a bit to further tease her. Kathy was very amused by this as she kept giggling while she tried to catch Knuckles but keep failing in doing so.

"Hehehehehehe! Hold still, you!" Kathy exclaimed playfully as she giggled a lot.

"No!" Knuckles exclaimed back playfully as he turned around again and ran towards the opposite direction from where Kathy is running towards.

"Hey! Hehehehehehehe!" Kathy exclaimed happily with a grin as she skidded a bit before turning around and chased after Knuckles in the other direction.

"Why don't you give up, Kathy? You'll never catch me at this rate! I'll always be a few steps ahead of ya!" Knuckles taunted playfully with a smirk as he looked back at Kathy again.

"Never! I won't give up! No matter...how tired I am!" Kathy exclaimed confidently with a smile as she tried to run faster to prove her point.

Knuckles smiled a lot in amusement when he had heard that. He doesn't know why but hearing that Kathy won't give up just made his heart swell up in warmth. In a way...he felt proud that Kathy is this determined to catch him. It makes this whole experience a lot more fun to him.

"Well, you better keep on running then! Because I'm not stopping for any reason!" Knuckles exclaimed proudly with a confident grin while he still looked at Kathy.

"But what about that tree?!" Kathy exclaimed in slight worry as she noticed that Knuckles was heading straight for the tree ahead of him.

"Huh? A tree? What tre-Ah!" Knuckles replied in confusion before in shock as he looked back and had noticed the tree a few feet in front of him. Knuckles immediately skidded to a stop after seeing the tree. He stood before the tree and placed his hand on its bark. "Whew! That was a close one. For a second there, I thought that I was going to have a huge bump on my head. Well, I guess that's-" Knuckles replied calmly with a little frown on his face as he rubbed the tree a bit before turning around.

"DOGPILE!" Kathy shouted triumphantly with a huge grin as she tackled Knuckles.

"ACK!" Knuckles yelped in complete surprise before he felt Kathy's body slamming into him. He and Kathy fell towards the grass below. Knuckles grunted a bit once his back had hit the ground but was still okay in the end. Meanwhile, Kathy was on top of Knuckles and had her hands on his shoulders after she had landed. Knuckles had his eyes closed after he was tackled to the ground, but he had slowly opened them after ten seconds of being on the ground. Once he had his eyes open, he saw Kathy smiling sweetly yet giddily at him. He can't help but smile too after seeing that cute smile.

"Hehehehehehe! Tag! You're 'it', Knuckles! Hehehehehehehe!" Kathy exclaimed jovially with a happy smile as she giggled a lot.

"...Y-Yeah...Heheh...I'm 'it' alright..." Knuckles muttered quietly with a sheepish smile as his face blushed red in embarrassment. Kathy beamed at him after hearing that, and Knuckles smiled even more in shyness. He can even see Kathy's beautiful, colorful wings on his right and left. Her wings look even more stunning as the sunlight is hitting on them and had made them glow brightly through the shade of the tree. Knuckles felt even more shy than before when he had noticed that.

...Oh...Oh, good grief...She...She looks even more beautiful now...Make it stop...Knuckles thought in embarrassment as his face was glowing red. He had a huge, goofy smile on his face again as he stared at Kathy fondly.

Kathy was smiling gently at him as her light-blue eyes sparkled. This look had made Knuckles' heart pound even faster out of nervousness. He was smiling widely at her while a sweat drop had formed on his head. O-Oh no...I'm...I'm trapped, aren't I? Kathy...really is on top of me...and I...I kind of...want her to stay there for a little while...Ummm...Heheheh...This...This is awkward, isn't it? Heheheheh...Knuckles pondered awkwardly with a nervous smile on his face. He can feel his heart pound even faster when he went to his last thoughts.

...She's...She's so pretty...so gorgeous...and so...so stunning...I...I want to just...just...

Knuckles' violet eyes twinkled in fondness and in adoration. He stared intensely into Kathy's beautiful, twinkling, light-blue eyes. He can see her sweet, gentle smile on her colorful face. As if her face was drawing him to it, Knuckles then slowly raised his right hand and grabbed her left cheek. He gently stroked it in fondness and was smiling gently as he did so. His eyelids even went down halfway as he stroked Kathy's cheek. He was silent when he did this, and Kathy was silent too as she allowed him to do this. Since Knuckles saw that Kathy was comfortable with him doing this, he soon just held her cheek a bit before he...slowly brought it down to his face.

"..." Knuckles was silent but smiled longingly at Kathy as he got his face closer to her face.

"..." Kathy was silent as well as she was smiling longingly at Knuckles as her face was getting very close to his face. She may not know what Knuckles was going to do, but...she didn't mind it. She was simply curious.

Knuckles may not know why he wanted to do this. Perhaps it was something by nature. Perhaps it was by instinct. Perhaps even...by passion. He can feel a burning desire to get intimate with Kathy. He'll admit that he found it crazy that he desired intimacy from a girl in less than two days after meeting her, but alas...he can't help it. His "thing" for Kathy has grown very fast and very large. Every single time that he and Kathy spend quality time together, his "thing" grows even larger than before. Kathy is his weakness, and...it's no wonder why he wants to do this just this once.

Kathy's and Knuckles' faces were just inches apart now. They are both staring deeply into each other's eyes. They still had huge, longing smiles on their faces as they stared at each other. After a few seconds of staring, Knuckles soon placed his right hand onto the back of Kathy's head and had closed his eyes as he was about to kiss her.

But suddenly!

RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE!

"...!" Knuckles and Kathy gasped at the same time in shock when they felt ground rumbling. They looked shocked and confused as their eyes went wide and as their mouths were open wide. Kathy then pulled back from Knuckles as she looked around to see what's going on. Knuckles was also looking around the area too. He was confused as to why the ground was shaking. What's going on?! Is this an earthquake or what?! Knuckles thought in shock and in confusion.

RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE!

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" the children screamed in terror as they felt afraid of what's happening right now.

Soon, the tall buildings in the city had started to crumble and collapse.

CRAAAASH! BOOOOOOM! CRAAAAAAASH! BOOOOOOOOM!

The streets had also been ripped apart and broken up as well.

CRAAAAASH! BOOOOOOOM! BOOOOOM! CRAAAAAASH!

And then a few seconds later...the Dark Thoughts had risen from the ground and had roared.

AAAAAARRRRRRREEEEEEEEGGGGGGHHH! AAAAAAARRRREEEEEGGGGHH! SCCCCRRREEEEEEKKKK!

"AH!" Knuckles and Kathy exclaimed in shock as their eyes had widen fully once they saw the Dark Thoughts.

...No way...It can't be...Kathy thought in shock as she recognized those Dark Thoughts.

"Megalons!" Kathy exclaimed in surprise as she stared at a dozen of Megalon monsters standing on top of the rubble of buildings and streets.

"'Mega'-what?!" Knuckles exclaimed in shock and in confusion as he stared at the Megalon monsters with a shocked look on his face.

Yep, what Battra had created was a replica of the original Megalon kaiju monster in the past. The two differences between the original and the replica are its height and appearance. The Megalon replicas are only 12 feet tall (AKA: 4 meters tall). Their body structure is the same, but their bodies' colors are different. They all have black bodies with red and yellow streaks on their carapaces and wings, and their round, bug eyes are red instead of orange. In other words, they all have the same color scheme as Battra's as a part of their identity as the Dark Thoughts.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" Everyone screamed in terror when they saw a dozen of Megalon monsters coming up from the ground and destroying several towers in the process of showing up. Everyone ran away from the huge monsters before they started to attack the city.

SCRRRREEEEEEEKKK! AAAAAAARRRRRRREEEEEEEGGGGHHH! AAAAARRRREEEEEEGGGHHH!

CRAAAAAAASH! BOOOOOOM! CRRAAAAAAASH! BOOOOOOOM!

All twelve Megalon monsters roared in unison as they smashed the buildings with their Drill Arms and had drilled into them to tear them down. The buildings crumbled into rubble after the Megalon monsters had drilled them down to the ground.

CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSHHHH!

And just like that, twelve skyscrapers crashed down to the ground below and had covered the ground with rubble. The Megalon monsters roared in victory after successfully destroying some buildings.

AAAAAAARRRRRRREEEEEEGGGGGHHHH! AAAAAARRRRRREEEEEEGGGGGHHH! SCREEEEEKKK!

The monsters soon decided to walk further into the city in separate groups. More screams are heard from the people in the city and soon enough, the emergency siren was heard again.

WHEEEEEEEEEEOOOOOO! WHEEEEEEEEOOOOOO!

"Kathy! What the heck are those things?! They're huge!" Knuckles exclaimed in shock and in worry as he looked back at Kathy while still having a shocked expression on his face.

Kathy quickly got off Knuckles and helped him get up. "Those huge things are the Dark Thoughts. They are simply monsters created out of Battra's mind and out of his Dark Sol Pendant. But to be more precise, they are simply replicas of the original kaiju monster known as Megalon," Kathy answered calmly with a frown as she stood up and pulled Knuckles up back to his feet.

"What?! That's what the Dark Thoughts look like?! Just some huge, bug monsters?!" Knuckles exclaimed in shock and in confusion as he looked back at the Megalon monsters with a surprised look on his face.

"Not necessarily. Battra can recreate any kaiju monster in the past if he wished to. This is just one of the many kaiju monsters that he has," Kathy corrected calmly while shaking her head.

Knuckles looked back at Kathy with a shocked look on his face after hearing that bit of information. "...You mean that...there are MORE monsters that Battra can bring out from his pendant?!" Knuckles exclaimed in shock as he looked worried.

Kathy simply nodded her head and had replied calmly, "Most certainly".

"..." Knuckles felt speechless after hearing that confirmation. I just couldn't imagine what the other monsters will be like. But I know for certain that it is going to be a challenge fighting them. That's for sure. Knuckles pondered while still having a shocked look on his face.

"Just how could you be so calm at a time like this?" Knuckles asked while looking at Kathy with a stunned look on his face.

Kathy shrugged a bit while replying calmly, "I'm just used to seeing these monsters at this point. I had tried to fight them for at least eight years. You get used to it if it's a regular thing in your life".

"How can you possibly get used to monster attacks?!" Knuckles exclaimed in shock as he looked freaked-out by this.

"Well..." Kathy replied calmly as she crossed her arms and looked inquisitive as she asked, "Aren't there some things in your life that you're used to when in other circumstances it would be seen as scary or intimidating?".

"Well...uhh...umm..." Knuckles muttered awkwardly with a frown as a sweat drop fell from his head. ...Ah...She's right. I've fought Dr. Eggman's robots for a long time that it doesn't even faze me anymore. If I'm used to that, then I guess it isn't much of a stretch to imagine how much Kathy is used to seeing these huge monsters for most of her life. I guess that we're not that different after all. Knuckles pondered calmly with a stunned look on his face as he stared at Kathy.

"Okay...You have a point. But anyways..." Knuckles replied calmly as he shook his head and looked solemn again as he looked at the Megalon monsters. He had his right hand on his hip as he asked calmly, "What should we do now, Kathy? Should we go fight them?".

Kathy smiled calmly at Knuckles as she grabbed his left shoulder while she stood next to him. "Well, that depends, Knuckles..." Kathy replied calmly with a smile as she looked at the Megalon monsters before at Knuckles. She then asked calmly with a confident smirk, "...Are you willing to go and try to fight them?".

Knuckles looked at Kathy after hearing that question and had smirked back. "Heh. Are you kidding? A strong warrior such as me never runs away from a fight. That's just the type of guy that I am, Kathy. You bet that I'm going in for a fight or my name isn't Knuckles the Echidna! Heheheh!" Knuckles replied calmly yet cockily with a confident smirk as he winked at Kathy while chuckling a bit.

Kathy smirked even wider after hearing that. Knuckles shared the same expression as Kathy's since he felt pumped up to fight his new enemies. He may have already been strong, but somehow, having Kathy at his side just made him feel invincible.

"Well then, since you're ready, I guess that we're going to fight together as the Guardian Duo!" Kathy exclaimed brightly with a smirk as she gently squeezed Knuckles' shoulder in encouragement.

"Hmph. I guess that we are," Knuckles replied calmly with a smirk.

"Alright. Now, be careful when you fight these Megalon monsters, Knuckles. Be wary of their laser and projectile attacks. Those attacks are very dangerous. Also, be careful when they burrow underground. They can easily trip you up that way and attack you when you least expect it. Do you understand?" Kathy warned gently with a solemn frown as she stared at Knuckles caringly.

"I understand completely, Kathy. I'll be careful," Knuckles replied calmly with a nod as he frowned solemnly.

Kathy smiled gently at Knuckles as she looked serious. "Then let's go and fight," Kathy replied calmly with a confident smile.

Knuckles smiled back as he calmly replied, "Lead the way".

Kathy nodded in understanding and had let go of Knuckles' shoulder. She then ran forward towards the park's exit with Knuckles following her. They ran across the long fields before reaching the playground and then the exit. At this point, Kathy already looked exhausted from the running as she panted a lot.

"You okay, Kathy?" Knuckles asked as he ran right beside her.

"(Pant pant pant)...You know...(Pant pant pant)...Maybe playing tag...(Pant pant pant)...was a bad idea...(Pant pant pant)...I'm already feeling tired...(Pant pant pant)…" Kathy replied in exhaustion as she panted a lot while sweating.

"I can see that you're tired, Kathy. But don't give up. Keep running," Knuckles replied calmly as he looked at Kathy with a frown.

Kathy looked at Knuckles with a surprised face. She was surprised that Knuckles is encouraging her to keep running. Just hearing him say "Don't give up" makes her feel...inspired. Stronger even. Like she can take on any challenge that she faces in her life. Maybe she can get better at running. Maybe she can get used to doing that. Maybe she can...

Oh, wait a minute, what am I thinking? I CAN FLY! Kathy thought in slight annoyance as she realized that she could've flown this whole time.

...start doing that on another day.

"Screw that!" Kathy exclaimed with an annoyed look on her face as she started to flap her wings. Once she had flapped her wings fast enough, she then stopped running and just flew over the ground instead.

"Huh?! Hey! That's cheating!" Knuckles exclaimed in surprise as he saw Kathy flying above the ground.

"It's not cheating. It's called 'being efficient'!" Kathy replied with a smile as she looked back at Knuckles. Knuckles raised his eyebrows at this, but he soon looked playful towards Kathy as he decided to joke a bit.

"Heh. More like being lazy," Knuckles quipped with a playful smirk as his lowered his eyelids at Kathy in a smug way.

"Oh, it might seem lazy to you, Knuckles, but let's be real here. You wish that you have wings like mine. It makes traveling a whole lot easier," Kathy replied playfully with a smirk as she lowered her eyelids at Knuckles in a smug way too.

"..." Knuckles was quiet as he still stared at Kathy with a playful yet smug look on his face. Kathy was starting at him back with a playful yet smug face of her own. They kept staring at each other for a few more moments before they both laughed in amusement.

AAAAAAARRRRRREEEEEEGGGGHHH! AAAAAARRRREEEEEGGGHHH! SCREEEEEEKKK!

Kathy and Knuckles soon stopped laughing after hearing the Megalon monsters roar again. They soon smiled in understanding as they looked serious again.

"Let's pick up the pace, Kathy! It's time to show these monsters who's the Queen around here!" Knuckles exclaimed confidently with a smile as he stared calmly at Kathy.

"Right! Let's head right over there!" Kathy exclaimed back with a smile as she looked ahead of her and pointed at the three Megalon monsters in front of her.

"Got it!" Knuckles exclaimed solemnly as he ran faster. Kathy kept flying with Knuckles as he ran.

They can see the Megalon monsters attacking more skyscrapers with their Drill Arms. The Megalon monsters drilled up onto the skyscrapers and had made them crumble to the ground.

CRAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSHHH!

AAAAAAARRRRRREEEEEGGGGGGHHHH!

The Megalon monsters roared as they swung their Drill Arms at the vehicles below and had caused them to crash into the buildings.

CRAAAAAASH! BOOOOM! BOOOOOOM! CRAAAAASH! BOOOOOOOM!

Explosions and rubble came from the buildings as the cars, trucks, buses, and motorbikes had hit them. The Megalon monsters kept hitting more vehicles with their Drill Arms and had destroyed more buildings that way.

CRAAAAAASH! BOOOOOOM! CRAAAAASSSH! BOOOOOM! CRAAAAAAASSSH!

ARRRRRREEEEEEGGGGGHHHH! ARRRRREEEEGGGGGH!

The Megalon monsters roared in victory again after destroying a ton of buildings. They were about to attack another set of buildings until they felt the ground and their feet being on fire.

AAAAARRRREEEEEEEEGGGGH! SCRRREEEEEEEK!

The Megalon monsters roared and hopped a bit in pain after sparks and fire had come off of their feet. Kathy had initiated the fight by attacking the monsters' feet with her yellow energy beams. The monsters hopped on the ground some more before looking at Kathy and Knuckles and had roared angrily at them.

AAAAAAARRRRRRRREEEEEGGGGHHH! AAAAAARRRRRREEEEEGGGHH!

SCREEEEEEEEEE! KIIIIIOOOOOOO!

Kathy screeched back at the monsters to show the Megalon monsters that she meant business. The Megalon monsters saw this as a challenge and had turned around to face Kathy and Knuckles. The Megalon monsters then started to attack them by shooting their Geothermal Napalm Bullets at them from their mouths. Their silver horns glowed yellow, and soon enough, they shot out the red bullets from their mouths.

"Now, Knuckles! Dodge!" Kathy exclaimed quickly as she moved to the left to dodge the incoming bullets.

"Got it!" Knuckles exclaimed back as he immediately ran towards the right to dodge the bullets too.

BOOOOM! BOOOOOM! KAABOOOM! BOOOOM! KAAAABOOOOM! KAAABOOOOM!

Multiple, fiery explosions had appeared as the bullets hit the street behind Kathy and Knuckles. The bullets even hit some buildings and had made them explode and crumble.

BOOOOOOM! BOOOOOM! KABOOOOOOM! CRRAAAAAAASH!

The Megalon monsters were irritated that Kathy and Knuckles had avoided their attacks. So, they tried again by firing more Geothermal Napalm Bullets at them as they turned their heads from side to side. Kathy and Knuckles saw that they were attacking more haphazardly, so, they dodged to the right and left to avoid getting hit by the bullets. As a result of them dodging, more explosions had appeared from the ground and from the buildings as the bullets hit them instead.

BOOOOOM! KAAABOOOM! KAAABOOOM! BOOOOOM! BOOOOOOM! KAAAABOOOOM!

The street and buildings were being destroyed and being on fire due to these attacks. But despite this, Kathy and Knuckles were unharmed. The Megalon monsters were now furious that they couldn't hit the two, small targets and kill them easily. They lifted their heads to the sky and roared in anger.

AAAAAARRRRREEEEEEEGGGGGH! AAAAAARRRREEEEGGGGGHHHH!

"Hey! Calm down, fellas! Why don't you just lie down and rest a bit!" Kathy exclaimed playfully with a smirk as she grabbed her Sol Gems and flew upwards to attack the Megalon monster on her left.

"Yeah! What she said!" Knuckles exclaimed enthusiastically with a smirk as he ran towards the Megalon monster on his right and had jumped up high towards it.

At the same time, Kathy and Knuckles had punched at the Megalon monsters hard in their stomachs. The monsters roared in pain as they fell backwards towards the ground.

POW!

SCREEEEEEEEKKKKK! SCREEEEEEEEEKKK!

THUMP!

The two Megalon monsters were on their backs and were feeling confused. Knuckles was on top of the Megalon monster that he had punched while Kathy was just flying above the Megalon monster that she had punched. The standing Megalon monster looked shocked as he had looked at his fallen comrades. The monster saw Kathy and Knuckles at his right and left. The monster then felt even more furious when he saw that they had hurt his comrades. The standing Megalon monster roared again, and Kathy and Knuckles looked at him as they were prepared to avoid his attacks.

AAAAAAAARRRRREEEEEEGGGGGGHHH!

The Megalon monster had swung his right Drill Arm at Kathy, and she had flown upwards to dodge the attack. The attack had missed and had hit the building instead.

BOOOOOOOM! CRAAAAAASSSSSH!

Rubble fell from the building and had hit the fallen Megalon monster below. The Megalon monster roared in pain again as he felt the rubble hitting his body.

SCREEEEEEEKKKK!

The standing Megalon monster was getting irritated again since he missed his target. So, he turned around and tried to attack Knuckles instead. The Megalon monster jumped a bit before swinging his left Drill Arm down onto Knuckles. Of course, Knuckles immediately jumped away from the attack and had landed on the ground below. The Megalon monster had hit his fellow comrade instead, and his comrade had roared in pain after feeling that hard attack.

SCREEEEEEEEEKKKK!

The standing Megalon monster was distracted by his comrades' roars to even notice Kathy and Knuckles coming towards him to attack. Kathy and Knuckles looked at each other and smirked as they moved towards the Megalon monster's stomach. Knuckles jumped up towards the monster at his right while Kathy flew around and went towards the monster at her right. They both punched at the monster's stomach together and had made him fall onto his comrade.

SCREEEEEEEKKK!

SCREEEEEEEKKK!

The two Megalon monsters roared in pain as the other had been hurt. Knuckles had landed on the ground below, and Kathy flew down next to him.

"So, what do we do now? We've got these monsters down on the ground already. Is there anything that we could do that would get rid of them?" Knuckles asked solemnly with a frown as he looked at Kathy while having his fists up.

"Just keep attacking them until they explode into dark particles. By then, they'll disappear forever," Kathy answered calmly yet solemnly with a frown as she stared at the two Megalon monsters.

Knuckles smiled at this as he replied calmly, "That works well for me. I'll take the one at the back while you take the two in front of you".

"Heh. I was planning to do that anyway. But thanks for volunteering to take out the lone monster behind you. He needs some company," Kathy replied calmly yet playfully with a smirk as she looked at Knuckles.

"Heheheh...He sure does...Now, let's finish this!" Knuckles replied deviously with a smirk as he turned around and punched his open palm while glaring at the Megalon monster in front of him.

"Right!" Kathy exclaimed confidently with a smile as she flew up into the air again. She flew above the two Megalon monsters and had fired her yellow energy beams at them. Sparks and explosions had come off of the monsters' bodies as they were being hit by the beams. They roared in pain as they were being attacked.

SCREEEEEEEKKKK! SCREEEEEEKKK!

While Kathy was attacking the two Megalon monsters, Knuckles had jumped on top of the lone Megalon monster and had attacked his stomach by punching him rapidly with both fists. Knuckles looked fierce as he attacked the Megalon monster with no mercy. The poor Megalon monster roared in pain as his stomach was being punched repeatedly by a small yet strong creature.

POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW!

SCREEEEEEKKKK! SCREEEEEEKKKKK! SCREEEEEEKKKK!

Knuckles didn't stop punching for any reason. He continued to attack until the monster had "disappeared" like Kathy had said.

POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW!

POOF!

Suddenly, the Megalon monster combusted into multiple, dark particles and had disappeared from Knuckles' sight. Knuckles gasped a bit in surprise of this before he fell to the ground. He landed on the ground in a crouching position and had a shocked look on his face.

...What...What just happened? Did that monster really disappear? Is it...gone now? Knuckles pondered in shock and in confusion as he panted slowly while looking at his right and left to see if there is any trace of the monster left. He can see nothing else but Kathy and the two Megalon monsters at his left. He stared at Kathy with a gaped mouth as he watched her destroy the two Megalon monsters.

Kathy flew down towards the Megalon monsters multiple times and punched them on their heads and stomachs. Each time she had punched them, they would try to attack back by swinging their Drill Arms at her, but their attacks missed since she was too fast for them to react. The Megalon monsters roared in pain and in anger since they were being attacked.

ARRRRREEEEEEEGGGGGHHHH! SCREEEEEK!

Kathy flew up above the Megalon monsters again and soon dove down to both of their stomachs to punch straight through them. Kathy had a serious look on her face as she was frowning. She had both of her fists together to make her next attack. The Megalon monsters roared one last time before Kathy inevitably defeats them by punching through their stomachs.

ARRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEGHHHH! ARRRREEEEEEEGGGH!

POW!

POOF! POOF!

Both Megalon monsters exploded into dark particles and had vanished the moment Kathy punched through them. Kathy soon landed on the ground in a crouching position too after she had finished her attack. She panted a bit before smiling a little once she saw that she had destroyed the monsters.

Heh...Piece of cake...Kathy thought with a relieved smile as she wiped her forehead a bit. She soon put her Sol Gems back into her pendant and stood back up. She then looked at her right to see Knuckles staring at her with a flabbergasted look on his face. She smiled even more in amusement after seeing that look on his face. Hehe...He must be shocked that he saw those two monsters explode so suddenly into dark particles. I wouldn't blame him for being surprised by that. Kathy thought with a smile as she turned around and walked towards him.

"See? I told you they would explode," Kathy said casually with a smile and stood next to Knuckles while looking down at him.

"..." Knuckles was still speechless as he stared up at Kathy. He still was surprised that what he just saw was real. They...They really did disappear! Knuckles thought in shock as he stared intensely into Kathy's eyes. He soon smiled widely at that and had stood up from his crouching position.

"Wow! So that's how it's done, right?!" Knuckles exclaimed in excitement as he grinned at Kathy while having a fist up.

Kathy nodded happily as she replied brightly, "Yep! You know it!".

Knuckles grinned even more at that and had looked mischievous. Simple and easy...Just the way I like it...Knuckles thought with a mischievous grin as he looked ahead of him and punched his open palm again. "Heheheh...Well, when you put it that way, then I guess that there's no reason for me to hold back! Let's find the rest of these monsters! I want to play rough with them!" Knuckles exclaimed passionately with a mischievous grin.

"Hehehehehehe! Down boy! Down! Hehehehehehe! You'll get to fight them soon enough!" Kathy exclaimed happily while giggling a lot as she put her hands in front of herself.

Knuckles looked at her and smirked playfully as he replied confidently, "I can't help it. I always get excited whenever there's a new challenge for me to fight. That's what I consider 'fun', Kathy. Fighting new oppoenents until there's no one left".

"Hehehehehehe! You're more passionate into fighting these monsters than Blaze was!" Kathy exclaimed brightly with a grin as she giggled a bit.

"Hmph. That's because I have the blood of a warrior in me. Even when my clan is gone, its fighting spirit still rages on within me. It'll never die out no matter how difficult the challenge is!" Knuckles replied calmly yet confidently with a smirk as he put his arms to his sides.

Kathy smiled brightly at him after hearing that, and Knuckles smiled back at her after seeing her smile. Hehehehe! I never thought that Knuckles would be like this! He really is like a different person when he's all fired up! Fighting these Dark Thoughts is going to be so much fun now since he's excited to fight them in the first place! Kathy pondered in amusement as she smiled brightly at him.

"Well, what are we waiting for then?! Let's go find the rest of the Dark Thoughts and destroy them!" Kathy exclaimed brightly with an excited grin on her face as she raised her fist.

"Now, you're speaking my language! Let's go!" Knuckles exclaimed excitedly with a grin too before he looked ahead of him and ran.

"Follow me!" Kathy exclaimed as she flew beside him as he ran and had turned left.

"Okay!" Knuckles exclaimed back as he turned left too.

They went towards the next block on the left and had followed the monsters' destructive path since there was crumbled buildings and teared-up roads everywhere. They soon heard more roars from the Megalon monsters and had made another left to follow their roars.

ARRRRREEEEEEEEEEGGGH! ARRREEEEEEEEEGGH! SCREEEEEKK!

"There they are! Show no mercy, Knuckles!" Kathy exclaimed with a smirk as she pointed at the three Megalon monsters ahead of her.

"With pleasure!" Knuckles exclaimed back with a smirk as he ran faster towards them. Kathy flew faster too to keep up with Knuckles.

While Kathy and Knuckles were getting closer towards the monsters, they were being spied on by none other than Battra himself.

No! Those fools! How dare they sabotage my 'deconstructing' scheme! Grrrrr! Well, this is annoying. I was hoping that stupid moth girl and that piece of red meat won't show up here. But it looks like fate has other plans for me. Ugh...Hmph. No matter. It's only a minor setback. I still have plenty of time to find the Sol Heart before either of them does, and once I find it, I'm getting the heck out of here! It's best to take your winnings and leave than to gamble them by tempting fate. Battra brooded with a frown and with crossed arms as he leant against a wall in a dark alleyway. He glared harshly at Kathy in particular as he finished his musings with this thought.

...And by "tempting fate" I meant the annoying, little, naïve, moth girl over there.

---

Meanwhile, the three Megalon monsters were busy destroying more buildings by firing their Beast Killer Laser Beams at them from their horns. Sparks and explosions came out from the buildings as the laser beams had hit them.

BOOOOM! KAAABOOOOM! KAAABOOOM! BOOOOOM! KAAABOOOM!

Multiple buildings were set on fire due to those strong attacks, and the fire had spread through the other buildings in the area. The monsters roared in victory for destroying the buildings around them.

ARRRREEEEEEEEEGGGH! ARRRRREEEEEEEEGGGGHH!

PEW! PEW! PEW! PEW! PEW! PEW! PEW! PEW! PEW!

ARRRRRREEEEEGGGGHHH! SCREEEEEKKK!

Suddenly, the Megalon monsters were attacked by bullets from the Neo G.U.N. Air Force. The monsters roared in pain due to these attacks. They turned their heads to the skies and saw several fighter jets flying towards them and attacking them with more bullets.

PEW! PEW! PEW! PEW! PEW! PEW! PEW! PEW!

ARRRRRREEEEEEGGGH! ARRRRREEEEEEEEEGGH!

The Megalon monsters roared in anger as they kept getting hit by the bullets. The jets then fired some missiles at the monsters and had hit them. Sparks and explosions came off from their bodies when the missiles hit them. The monsters roared again in more anger.

ARRRRRRREEEEEEEGGGGH! SCREEEEKKK!

Knuckles and Kathy stopped at their tracks once they saw the monsters being attacked by the jets. "Woah! I didn't think that Neo G.U.N. would show up to help us out! They are actually doing well into stopping those monsters! I'm impressed!" Knuckles exclaimed in shock as he stared at the Megalon monsters ahead of him with wide eyes and with a gaping mouth.

"They may seem impressive now, but they won't be much longer," Kathy replied calmly yet solemnly with a frown as she crossed her arms while staring at the Megalon monsters.

"Huh?! Why do you say that?!" Knuckles exclaimed in shock and in confusion as he looked at Kathy with a shocked face.

"You'll see..." Kathy replied calmly yet simply with a shrug as she kept staring at the Megalon monsters. Knuckles was still confused by what Kathy had said, but he looked back at the monsters and waited to see what she had meant by that.

The jets kept firing more bullets and missiles at the Megalon monsters, and more sparks and explosions came off from the monsters' bodies when they were hit. The monsters couldn't take the repeated attacks anymore and had started to attack back. One Megalon monster attacked some jets by firing his Beast Killer Laser Beam from his silver horn. The laser beam had successfully hit some jets, and they had exploded from the attack.

BOOOOOM! KAAABOOOOOM! KAAAABOOOM! BOOOOM! BOOOOM!

The rest of the jets dodged the laser by going into either the west or east directions. The jets circled the monsters and had kept attacking them with bullets.

PEW! PEW! PEW! PEW! PEW! PEW! PEW! PEW! PEW! PEW!

Some of the bullets did hit them in the head and stomach, but when the bullets hit their carapaces, it just plinked right off of them as if it was hard diamond. Another Megalon monster looked at several jets on his right and had made his attack. The monster then...jumped high into the air and had swung both of his Drill Arms at the jets. He had successfully hit a lot of the jets with his attack, and the jets had exploded too.

KAAABOOOOOM! BOOOOOM! KAAABOOOOM! BOOOOM! BOOOOOM!

ARRRRRRREEEEEEEGGGHH!

The Megalon monster roared after he had landed on the ground again. The remaining jets had either kept attacking by firing missiles at them or had retreated since there were few of them now. But of course, the Megalon monsters showed no mercy towards them as they went and destroyed them all. The same Megalon monster who just jumped into the air had done it again, but this time he had drilled up into the jets with his Drill Arms. The two jets exploded from that attack.

BOOOOOOM! BOOOOOM!

The other two Megalon monsters attacked the remaining jets by firing their Geothermal Napalm Bullets at them. The bullets had hit the jets, and they had exploded immediately.

BOOOOOM! KAAABOOOOM! KAAABOOOOM! KAAABOOOM! BOOOOM! BOOOOOM!

All three of the Megalon monsters roared in victory after seeing that they had destroyed the jets.

ARRRRRREEEEEEGGGGH! ARRREEEEEGGGGH! ARRRRRREEEEEGGGH!

"...My word...They've just annihilated those jets..." Knuckles muttered in shock while looking stunned by this.

"That's kaijus for ya. They'll take down anything that is a threat to them and show their opponents why they're known as 'gods' of the world. Why no person or threat stands in their way..." Kathy replied calmly yet solemnly with a frown as she stared at the Megalon monsters before looking at Knuckles next when she added, "...That's just who they are, Knuckles. They're that ruthless".

"..." Knuckles was silent while having a stunned look on his face. He still couldn't believe what he just saw. He saw all those jets get destroyed so easily by the Megalon monsters. He certainly knows by now that kaijus are no joke when it comes to their incredible strength. Knuckles then frowned as he looked determined again.

They may be strong...and they may be ruthless...But they are NOT going to take ME down! I'M going to be the one who gets to stand in their way! Knuckles thought in determination as he looked fierce again while having his fists up.

"I'll show them who's ruthless..." Knuckles muttered lowly yet solemnly with a fierce look on his face before he ran off towards one of the Megalon monsters.

"Ah! Knuckles! Wait! Stop!" Kathy exclaimed in surprise as she quickly turned her head around and reached her hand out towards Knuckles as he ran. Knuckles didn't listen to her as he kept running towards the Megalon monster with a determined look on his face.

"HEY!" Knuckles shouted fiercely with a disgruntled look on his face as he ran up towards one Megalon monster and jumped up into the air. He shouted confidently as he punched the monster's carapace, "WHO'S RUTHLESS NOW?!".

POW!

KAPLINK!

"Ah!" Knuckles exclaimed in shock as his eyes went wide and as his mouth went agape. He was shocked when he saw that he didn't even make a dent on the monster's back with that hard punch. When he landed back down to the ground, he looked up at the monster's back and muttered awkwardly with a sheepish look on his face, "Uhh...Let's try that again".

He jumped back up and shouted confidently as he punched the monster's carapace again, "I SAID, 'WHO'S RUTHLESS NOW?!'".

POW!

KAPLINK!

"Ah!" Knuckles exclaimed in shock again as he saw that his punch made no damage on the monster's carapace. He was even more shocked since he punched much harder than before. As he dropped down to the ground again, he thought to himself with a sweat drop on his head. Just what is this thing made of?! Diamonds?!

He looked even more determined than ever as he shouted fiercely, "ALRIGHT! YOU ASKED FOR IT!".

He jumped up again towards the monster's carapace, and this time, he went all out by rapidly punching it with both fists.

POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW!

KAPLINK! KAPLINK! KAPLINK! KAPLINK! KAPLINK! KAPLINK! KAPLINK! KAPLINK! KAPLINK! KAPLINK!

"Aaaaaaaarrrrrggggh!" Knuckles yelled loudly as he punched the monster's carapace as fast as he could.

POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW!

KAPLINK! KAPLINK! KAPLINK! KAPLINK! KAPLINK! KAPLINK! KAPLINK! KAPLINK! KAPLINK! KAPLINK!

"I! SAID! WHO'S! RUTHLESS! NOW?!" Knuckles shouted angrily as he punched the carapace along with each word he said for emphasis.

POW! POW! POW! POW! POW!

KAPLINK! KAPLINK! KAPLINK! KAPLINK! KAPLINK!

"Grrrrr...(Pant pant pant)…(Pant pant pant)…" Knuckles growled in irritation before he panted in exhaustion after punching for a while. Even his punches are growing weaker since he's getting tired.

POW! POW! POW! POW!

KAPLINK! KAPLINK! KAPLINK! KAPLINK!

"...(Pant pant pant)…(Pant pant pant pant)…...(Pant pant pant pant pant)…" Knuckles panted a lot as he soon stopped punching and fell back down to the ground before grabbing his knees. He kept panting in exhaustion as sweat went down on his head. He looked back up at the monster's carapace and was still shocked that none of his punches had made a SINGLE dent on it.

...How is this thing durable? ...And where can I get one of those? Knuckles thought in annoyance with a frown as he panted slowly while sweat went down on his face and head. But just when he thought that things couldn't get any worse, the Megalon monster turned around and stared down at Knuckles.

"...!" Knuckles gasped a bit in shock when he saw the monster staring at him now. Even more sweat went down on his head as he thought. ...Aw crud...

ARRRRRRREEEEEEGGGGGH!

The Megalon monster roared in anger, and this had caught the other Megalon monsters' attention. The Megalon monster started to spin his Drill Arms and had raised them up a bit in the air before thrusting them down to the ground.

"GAAAAAAAAH!" Knuckles screamed in fear as he stared widely at the large drills coming towards him. But before the drills had drilled into him, Kathy flew as fast as he could towards him and grabbed him before flying away from the attack.

CRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSH!

RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE!

The Megalon monster had hit the street instead and had drilled into the ground with his huge drill hands. The ground rumbled a bit as he drilled into it. Dirt and debris came up and surrounded the hole that the Megalon monster had drilled into. The monster kept drilling the ground for a few more moments before stopping. He stood back up and saw the huge, empty hole on the ground. He roared in anger and in confusion when he saw no signs of the little, red creature anywhere.

ARRRRRRRRREEEEEEGGGH! SCRREEEEKK!

"...(Pant pant pant)…(Pant pant pant)..." Knuckles panted again out of shock as he held Kathy over her shoulders. He stared at the Megalon monsters while looking utterly shocked and shaken. Kathy just stood still while she held Knuckles in her arms. She held him by the waist and had carried him up a bit from the ground. She also stared at the Megalon monsters too, but she had a calm, solemn expression on her face. Knuckles then looked at Kathy next and saw that calm, solemn look on her face. He can see her determined, twinkling, light-blue eyes as she stared solemnly at the monsters ahead of her. He even saw her solemn frown on her beautiful face. It might have been the adrenaline pumping in his veins, but somehow, Kathy looks breathtaking to Knuckles now. Just seeing that serious look on her gorgeous face after experiencing a near death experience like that...it just made Kathy more attractive now than ever before.

How could one, adorable-looking moth girl look so...so...hot? Knuckles thought in admiration as his eyes were still wide.

"...(Pant pant pant)...You...(Pant pant pant)...You really are an angel..." Knuckles whispered breathlessly in admiration as he panted slowly.

"Knuckles..." Kathy muttered calmly yet quietly while still looking serious.

"...! Y-Yes? (Pant pant pant)…" Knuckles muttered in shock as he gasped and panted a bit.

"...Don't attack the Megalon monsters' backs. Their carapaces are as hard as diamond," Kathy warned calmly yet solemnly with a frown.

"Ah! Uhh...I think that I got that part...No need to remind me..." Knuckles replied slowly while blushing a bit in embarrassment as he took deep breaths to recover.

"...Yeah...It's a bit too late to warn you now after you had tried multiple times..." Kathy replied calmly with a frown as she looked back at Knuckles.

"You know...you could've warned me...BEFORE I had tried to attack its back," Knuckles replied with some slight annoyance in his tone as he frowned and narrowed his eyelids at Kathy.

"And you're right. I should've..." Kathy replied calmly with a nod before she smiled sheepishly at him as she added awkwardly with a sweat drop on her head, "...But...umm...I forgot...S-Sorry about that...".

"..." Knuckles was silent as he stared at her with a frown on his face in annoyance. But he soon smiled a bit and looked amused instead. "Heh. I forgive you. But still...that's a HUGE thing to forget though..." Knuckles replied in amusement as he smiled smugly at her with half-lidded eyelids.

"Hahahahaha...But it's not like it's dangerous or anything unlike his special attacks..." Kathy replied with an awkward smile as she chuckled a bit.

Knuckles looked even more smug as he questioned teasingly, "Are you saying that what I went through was NOT dangerous?".

"Well, I mean...If you just stayed put when I called out to you, then you wouldn't have gotten yourself into a dangerous situation to begin with," Kathy replied calmly with a sheepish smile and a shrug.

"..." Knuckles was quiet for a bit as he smiled smugly at Kathy even after hearing that. Kathy is now smiling a lot since Knuckles' smug look is getting to her. Knuckles then replied jokingly after the short bit of silence, "Kathy...I was about to be drilled into the ground by a huge, bug monster of all things. Don't you dare start sassing me now".

"Heheheheheheheheheheh! Hehehehehehehehe!" Kathy giggled a lot from this.

Knuckles still looked smug at her but had soon started giggling too. "Heheheheheheheheh! Hey! Hehehehehehehe! We're supposed to stay serious here! Heheheheheheh! Don't make me giggle! Hehehehehehehehe!" Knuckles exclaimed in amusement as he giggled a lot.

"But you started it! Hehehehehehehehe! You made me giggle! Hehehehehehehehe!" Kathy exclaimed back in amusement while giggling a lot.

"Oh! Well, EXCUSE ME! Hehehehehehehehe! I didn't mean to make you giggle through my dead-pan humor! Heheheheheheh! SORRY, my Queen! Hehehehehehehehe!" Knuckles replied sarcastically with a smirk as he giggled some more.

"Hahahahahahahahahahaha! Knuckles! Hehehehehehehehehe! You made it worse! Hahahahahahahaha! Now, I'm laughing! Hehehehehehehehe!" Kathy exclaimed back with a smile as she laughed.

"Ahahahahahahahaha! You're such a silly girl! Hahahahahahahahahaha! Oh no! Now, I'm laughing! Hehehehehehehehehe! Thanks a lot, Kathy! Hahahahahahahaha! I blame your infectious laughter for this! Ahahahahahahahahahah!" Knuckles exclaimed back in amusement as he started laughing now.

"Sorry! Hehehehehehehehe! Hahahahahahaha!" Kathy exclaimed back with a smile as she laughed a lot.

"It's okay! I forgive you! Hahahahahahahahahahaha!" Knuckles exclaimed back with a smile too as he laughed a lot. They both ended up laughing a lot in amusement of this. They assumed that it was the stress of the intense moment that had made it easy for them to laugh at a time like this. They figured it was the case since their stress levels had lowered quite a lot after they started giggling and laughing. But of course, their laughter was soon cut short when they heard the Megalon monsters roaring again.

ARRRRREEEEEEEGGGGH! ARRRREEEEEEEEGGH! SCREEEEKK!

Kathy and Knuckles stopped laughing and had stared at the Megalon monsters again with surprised looks on their faces. They can see the Megalon monsters being grouped together again. The monsters soon clanked their Drill Hands together as they were ready for their opponents to attack. Kathy and Knuckles looked at each other briefly before smiling a lot in amusement as they looked back at the Megalon monsters.

"Hey! Can't you read the room?!" Kathy joked with a huge smile on her face.

"Yeah! We were having a moment together! Just go and destroy yourselves or whatever!" Knuckles joked too with a huge smile on his face.

ARRRRRREEEEEEEEEGGGGH! ARRRRREEEEEEEEGGGGH!

The monsters roared in anger in response to this. They started to spin their Drill Hands and had aimed them towards Kathy and Knuckles as a way to challenge them to a fight. Kathy and Knuckles looked back at each other and smiled even more in amusement to this.

"Aw, our break is over. Now, we have to fight again," Kathy replied playfully with a smile.

"Aw, how boring," Knuckles replied playfully with a smile.

"Not! Heheheheheheh!" Kathy and Knuckles exclaimed at the same time before laughing again in amusement. Kathy soon put Knuckles down on the ground again, and Knuckles got onto his feet again. They had laughed as they do this, but they soon sobered up and looked determined again as they prepare their bodies for battle.

"Ready?" Kathy asked calmly yet confidently with a determined smile.

"Ready!" Knuckles answered confidently with a determined smile too.

KIIIIIIIOOOOO! (GOOOOOOO!)

Kathy screeched proudly in her native language before she flew towards the Megalon monsters. Knuckles ran with her after hearing that screech. They went charging towards the three Megalon monsters with determined looks on their faces as they were prepared to fight them now.

The Megalon monsters saw them coming towards them, so, they initiated the fight by firing their Beats Killer Laser Beams at them. Kathy and Knuckles quickly dodged the laser beams by going either right or left. Sparks and explosions had appeared behind them as the ground and buildings were being hit by the laser beams.

BOOOOOM! BOOOOOOM! KAABOOOOM! KAABOOOOOM! BOOOOM! BOOOOOM!

The Megalon monsters kept firing their laser beams at Kathy and Knuckles. They even fired their lasers in front of their paths to block them. More explosions and sparks occurred due to the lasers hitting the ground.

KAABOOOOM! BOOOOOM! BOOOOOM! KAABOOOOOM! KAAABOOOOM!

But of course, this fails since Kathy and Knuckles dodged the attacks again by going either right or left. Kathy and Knuckles were nearing the Megalon monsters now and were about to attack them. However, two of the three Megalon monsters roared angrily and had started to bang the ground with their Drill Arms in a fit of rage. Their Drill Arms clanged with the ground and had unintentionally made the ground rumble because of it.

AAAARRRRRRRREEEEEEEGGGGHH! AAARRRRRRREEEEEEEGGGHH!

RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE!

"Ack!" Knuckles exclaimed in shock as he felt the ground rumble under his feet and had accidently tripped because of it.

"Ah! Knuckles!" Kathy exclaimed in surprise as she turned her head around towards Knuckles and had flown in place instead.

"D-D-Don't w-w-worry a-a-about m-m-me! J-J-Just g-g-go a-a-ahead a-a-and f-f-fight!" Knuckles exclaimed while his body is shaking due to the ground rumbling. He had lifted himself halfway from the ground with his hands and had stared at Kathy while saying that.

"Okay! I wi-Ah!" Kathy exclaimed confidently with a nod before she cringed when some dirt got into her eyes. The two Megalon monsters had decided to drill into the ground with their Drill Arms and move them from left to right as an attempt to stop their enemies from reaching them. This event had unfortunately caused more rumbling and more dirt and debris to fly out from the ground.

RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE!

KIIIIOOOOO!

Kathy screeched a bit when the dirt got into her eyes. She rubbed her eyes to try to get rid of it, however, more dirt keeps coming into them since she was flying close to the Megalons' attack.

"Aaaaaah!" Knuckles yelled a bit as his body went back down to the ground again since the rumbling got worse. Argh! I can't even get back up! How am I supposed to attack these monsters when all they do is drill, drill, drill into the ground?! Ugh! At this rate, I have to rely on Kathy to defeat these monsters for me! This is just humiliating! First, I can't attack their backs, and now, I can't attack them at all to save my life! I thought that these guys would be easy after the first three I've fought! ...Well, technically one-Oh, you know what I mean! Just how are we going to stop them n-Ack! Knuckles pondered in frustration with a grimace as he opened one eye to see the Megalon monsters. He then looked alarmed when he saw the third Megalon turning his head towards Kathy and charging up his attack as his silver horn glowed.

"K-K-KATHY! L-L-LOOK O-O-OUT!" Knuckles shouted quickly amidst the rumbling.

"H-Huh?" Kathy muttered in confusion as she stopped rubbing her eyes and stared blearily at Knuckles.

Unfortunately for Knuckles, his warning did get through to Kathy in time since the third Megalon monster fired his Geothermal Napalm Bullets at her. The bullets had hit her multiple times, and this had knocked Kathy far away from the Megalon monsters.

SCREEEEEEEEEEE!

Kathy screeched in pain as sparks and explosions came off from her head, body and wings. She cringed in pain from the attacks. She tried to shake it off, but the Megalon monster fired more bullets at her and had hurt her again. Kathy screeched even more in pain.

SCRREEEEEE! KIIIOOOOOOO!

"K-KATHY!" Knuckles shouted in shock and out of worry as he watched Kathy being knocked back by the Geothermal Napalm Bullets. He soon gritted his teeth and glared coldly at the Megalon monster who did that. When I get back up, you are so dead! I don't even care that you aren't even alive! I'm going to kill you for hurting my Master! You are going to pay so dearly for that! Knuckles brooded while growling in fury as he glared at his personal enemy.

Kathy cringed even more in pain and had shook her head a bit. She was still flying in place even after she had been knocked away. She opened her eyes again and could barely see the Megalon monster thanks to the dirt in her eyes. She grunted as she thought tiredly. I must...fight back...Just...attack them...

Kathy then tried to attack the Megalon monster with her energy beams, but unfortunately, her attacks missed the target and had accidently hit some buildings instead. Sparks and explosions had come off from the buildings as they were hit by the beams.

BOOOOOM! KAABOOOOOM! BOOOOOM! KABOOOM! BOOOM!

...Did I...Did I get him? Am I winning? Kathy thought in confusion as she squinted her eyes to try to see the monster. While still confused, she kept firing her energy beams at the monster to see if she is doing damage to him. Instead, she was just destroying more buildings and was destroying the ground too.

KAABOOOM! BOOOOM! KAABOOOM! BOOOOM! BOOOOOM!

The Megalon monster roared a bit in amusement since he saw that his attacker was missing him.

ARRRRREEEEEEEEGGGH! SCREEEEKKK!

The Megalon monster then fired more Geothermal Napalm Bullets at Kathy to attack her. But luckily for Kathy, she just fired her energy beams at them to defend herself. She had managed to defend herself without even realizing it.

KABOOOOOOM! BOOOOOOM! KAABOOOM!

The bullets exploded upon contact with the energy beams, and Kathy smiled a little as she thought that she might done some damage to the monster. H-Hey...It's...It's working...I think that I had landed a hit on him! Kathy pondered a bit with a smile as she placed her hand over her forehead to try to see clearly.

"K-Kathy! Y-You n-need t-to a-aim b-better! Y-You're m-missing h-him!" Knuckles yelled out as loudly as he can as he looked back at Kathy. He was still on the ground as it is still rumbling.

"What?! I am?!" Kathy yelled back in shock and in confusion as she shook her head and rubbed her eyes again.

"Y-Yeah! Y-You a-are! Y-You're j-just h-hitting b-buildings a-and s-streets!" Knuckles yelled some more while looking worried and solemn.

Kathy had finally managed to get the dirt out of her eyes, and her eyes had widened when she saw the destruction that she just caused with her attacks. She gasped and covered her mouth with her hands. "I'm so sorry! I thought that I was hitting him! I mean! Those huge explosions I just saw looked like-!" Kathy yelled back in sadness and in worry as she looked guilty.

"Y-You j-just d-destroyed t-the m-monster's p-projectiles! Th-That w-was w-why th-there w-were h-huge e-explosions e-everywhere!" Knuckles yelled back while grimacing a bit after hearing Kathy apologize again.

"O-Oh..." Kathy muttered in disappointment as her head was down.

"H-Hey! D-Don't g-give u-up j-just y-yet K-Kathy! T-Try a-again! Y-You'll g-get it th-this t-time!" Knuckles yelled again in an encouraging tone while still looking worried.

Kathy sobered up after hearing that encouragement from Knuckles. She looked serious as she thought. He's right. It's only a mistake and bad luck on your part. We still got this!

Kathy smiled again as she replied brightly, "You're right, Knuckles! Now, let's try and help you get back up on your feet!".

Kathy then flew towards the Megalon monsters again with a determined look on her face. Knuckles smiled proudly at this as he cheered, "G-Go g-get h-him, K-Kathy! A-At l-least s-save h-him f-for m-me!".

Kathy flew a bit higher than before so that she wouldn't get pelted by dirt and debris again. She stared at the standing Megalon monster and had looked even more serious. The Megalon monster saw Kathy coming towards him and had attacked again by firing his Beast Killer Laser Beam at her. Kathy dodged the laser beam and had attacked back by firing her energy beams at the monster. Sparks and explosions came off from the monster's body, and he roared in anger and in pain from this.

ARRRREEEEEEEGGGGHH! SCREEEEEKKK!

Kathy kept firing her energy beams at the monster as she flew over him and the other two Megalon monsters. The Megalon monster kept trying to attack back by either firing his Beast Killer Laser Beam or his Geothermal Napalm Bullets at her. But Kathy kept flying circles around him to dodge his attacks. The attacks missed her and had hit the buildings instead.

BOOOOOOM! BOOOOOOM! KAABOOOOM! KAAABOOOOM! BOOOOM! BOOOOM! KAAABOOOOM!

Sparks, explosions, and fire were the result of these failed attacks. The Megalon monster was upset that he couldn't attack Kathy and that he was getting hit instead. The Megalon monster stomped a bit in a fit of rage, and Kathy smiled a bit as she saw that the monster was already irritated. Now, it's time to let him blow off some steam! Kathy thought with a smile as she turned again and flew towards one of the Megalon monsters that was drilling the ground.

"Hey! Come on! I'm right here! Hit me! Hit me!" Kathy taunted playfully as she flew above the monster's back.

The Megalon monster stopped stomping and looked at Kathy. He glared at her for a bit before attempting to hit her. He swung up one of his Drill Arms into the air and had swung it down hard towards Kathy. However, Kathy quickly dodged to her left and had flown above the second Megalon monster's back. The Megalon monster had hit his comrade very hard at his back and had made him roared in pain as he fell to the ground.

SCREEEEEKKK!

The Megalon monster stopped drilling the ground the moment he got hit hard in the back. He was now on the ground. The standing Megalon monster saw that he missed his target and had looked at his right to see that his target had moved to a new spot.

"Aww, come on! How hard is it to hit me?! I mean really! Hit faster!" Kathy taunted playfully with a smile and a shrug as she looked back at the Megalon monster glaring at her.

The Megalon monster roared in anger and had clanked his Drill Arms for a bit before trying to attack again.

ARRRRREEEEEEEEEEGGGGH!

The monster then swung both of his Drill Arms onto Kathy, but she dodged again by quickly flying backwards. The monster had hit his other comrade's back instead and had made him fall face first into the ground. The Megalon monster roared in pain from that hard attack and had stopped drilling into the ground as he fell.

SCREEEEEEKKK!

The standing Megalon monster looked confused when he saw no signs of his target anywhere. All he sees are his two comrades lying down on the ground. He roared again in confusion of this.

ARRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEGGGGGHH!

While the standing Megalon monster was being confused, Kathy had quickly flown back towards Knuckles to help him get up from the ground. She soon reached him and had knelt towards him while putting a hand on his back.

"You alright, Knuckles?" Kathy asked in concern as she watched him get up on his knees.

"Y-Yeah...I'm alright. S-Still a little shaken though," Knuckles answered calmly as he sat up while looking at Kathy with a little frown.

Kathy frowned a bit in concern as she rubbed his back a bit. "I won't blame you for feeling that way. You were down for a long time. But hey...you can shake it off, right?" Kathy replied calmly with a frown before she smiled at the end while rubbing Knuckles' back some more in encouragement.

Knuckles smiled back at this and had nodded in amusement. "Heh...Yeah, I can. Thanks for the help, Kathy. I'm still in this!" Knuckles replied calmly with a smile as he looked determined again.

Kathy smirked at this and had exclaimed while patting Knuckles' back, "Great! Now, let's get right back into the fight!".

"Hmph! Don't mind if I do!" Knuckles exclaimed back with a smirk as he carefully stood back up to his feet. Kathy also stood back up with him and took her hand off of his back. They both stared at the Megalon monsters and saw that the two monsters that had fallen were starting to get back up.

Kathy frowned a bit as she said, "It certainly won't do any good if they start drilling into the ground again. I couldn't even hit them without having dirt coming into my eyes".

"Couldn't you just use your laser beams to hit them? That could damage them at least," Knuckles suggested with a frown as he looked at Kathy.

"It does damage them but not very much. After all, they are replicas of kaiju monsters. Those monsters are resilient to radioactive attacks. They cannot be defeated by radioactive attacks alone. If they were, then it would be too easy to fight them," Kathy replied calmly with a frown as she looked at Knuckles.

"I suppose you're right about that. I should've figured that they would be as strong as you since you're a kaiju too," Knuckles replied calmly in understanding as he nodded and placed his hand on his chin while looking down in thought.

Kathy smiled a bit as she replied calmly, "That may be true, but there is one, huge difference between the Dark Thoughts and me".

"Oh? And what's that, Kathy?" Knuckles asked in curiosity as his eyes glanced at Kathy.

Kathy grinned playfully as she turned towards Knuckles and pointed at the Megalon monsters with her thumb. She answered Knuckles with a playful grin, "Unlike me, those monsters have no brains whatsoever. Literally. With no brains, they can't think for themselves. They're just mindless, emotional creatures who just kill and destroy things that they see as a threat. It doesn't matter how they do it. They just do it with no thought put into them. Pretty thoughtless if you ask me".

"..." Knuckles was speechless as he looked intrigued by this. R-Really? They can't think for themselves? "Mindless"? Knuckles pondered in curiosity as his eyes were wide.

Kathy then smirked as she added jokingly, "In short...they're pretty stupid".

Knuckles then snorted in amusement at that comment. "Heh...So, they are...Hmmm..." Knuckles replied calmly in amusement with smirk as he looked back at the Megalon monsters. He then looked surprised when he struck on an idea. Hey! Wait a minute! Knuckles thought in surprise as he remembered how Kathy had managed to manipulate the Megalon monster to hit his comrades.

"They really are stupid!" Knuckles exclaimed in shock as his eyes went wide and as his mouth was agape.

"Huh? What's up, Knuckles? Did you thought of something?" Kathy asked curiously as she stared at Knuckles with a little frown.

Knuckles then smiled mischievously as he stared back at Kathy. "Oh, you bet I did! I think that we can take advantage of their stupidity by making them hit each other!" Knuckles exclaimed confidently with a smile as he put his arms to his sides.

Kathy smiled a lot at this as she exclaimed, "Good thinking, Knuckles! If they fought each other, then it would be easier for us to fight them!".

"Exactly! Now, let's take them out!" Knuckles exclaimed back confidently with a smirk as he looked back in front of him and ran towards the Megalon monsters.

"Wait for me!" Kathy exclaimed cheerfully with a bright smile as she flew towards the monsters too.

All three Megalon monsters were standing up and had looked around for their two targets. They soon spot their targets as they got closer to them. Before any of the Megalon monsters start drilling into the ground again, Kathy fired her energy beams at their heads to cover their vision for a little bit. Sparks and explosions came off from their heads as the beams hit them. They roared in anger and in pain as they were attacked again.

ARRRRREEEEEEEGGGGH! AARRRRRRREEEEEEEEGGGGHHH! ARRRRRRRREEEEEGGGHHH! SCREEEKK!

As Kathy kept firing her energy beams at the monsters to distract them, Knuckles ran towards one of them and had jumped onto their feet before punching it.

POW! POW! POW! POW! POW!

SCREEEEKKK!

The Megalon monster roared when his foot got punched a bit and had hopped on one foot on the ground. However, Knuckles had jumped towards another Megalon monster before the other Megalon monster started hopping. Knuckles had landed onto the other Megalon monster's foot and had punched it as well.

POW! POW! POW! POW! POW!

SCREEEKKK!

That Megalon monster roared in pain and had started hopping too. But just like last time, Knuckles jumped away from the monster before he had started hopping. Knuckles then landed onto the last Megalon monster and had punched the monster's foot before jumping away again.

POW! POW! POW! POW! POW!

SCREEEKKK!

The last Megalon monster roared in pain before hopping too. All three of the Megalon monsters were hopping in pain. Because those monsters were close to each other, they had accidently jumped on each other's feet and had only hopped even more in pain. They glared at each other before they stopped hopping and had started to attack each other in anger. They swung their Drill Arms at each other and had hit each other very hard on the head, chest, stomach, and back. They sometimes missed and had hit some buildings instead.

BOOOOOM! CRAAAAAAAASSSH! BOOOOOOM! CRRAAAAAAASH!

Multiple buildings had crumbled to the ground after being hit by their Drill Arms. Knuckles had to jump away from the rubble falling towards him. Kathy had already stopped attacking the Megalon monsters as soon as she saw that they were hitting each other. She instead had flown towards Knuckles just to make sure that he won't get hit by the rubble. She and Knuckles watched the Megalon monsters fight each other while waiting for an opportunity to strike at them.

"Wait for it..." Knuckles muttered calmly with a frown as he stared at the monsters while in a battle stance.

"Mmhm..." Kathy mused in understanding as she nodded. She then grabbed her Sol Gems again and held them in her hands as she waited.

The Megalon monsters kept swinging their Drill Arms at each other. One of them then decided to fire his Geothermal Napalm Bullets at the two to attack them both. Sparks and explosions came off from each of their bodies and faces as they were hit by the bullets. The two Megalon monsters roared in anger before they fired their Geothermal Napalm Bullets at him too.

ARRRRRRRREEEEEEEEGGGH! ARRRRRREEEEEEGGGHH!

Sparks and explosions came off from the Megalon monster's body and face as he was pelted by bullets on both sides. He then whacked both of their faces with his Drill Arms, and the two Megalon monsters covered their faces with their Drill Arms.

"Now, Kathy!" Knuckles exclaimed solemnly with a frown as he ran and jumped towards the left Megalon monster before punching his stomach.

"Okay!" Kathy exclaimed brightly with a smile as she flew towards the right Megalon monster and punched his stomach with her Sol Gems.

Both Megalon monsters roared in unison out of pain.

SCREEEEEEEKKK! SCREEEEEEEKKK!

As Kathy and Knuckles went backwards to avoid the monsters' shuffle, they saw the two Megalon monsters turning towards the middle Megalon monster while believing that he was the one who had hit their stomachs. The two monsters then knocked down the middle Megalon monster with their Drill Arms and had made him fall on his back.

SCREEEEEEKKK!

The middle Megalon monster roared in pain as he felt that hard attack and had fallen to the ground. He can see the two Megalon monsters standing before him and glaring down at him before raising their Drill Arms up into the air. The two monsters then slammed their drills into the Megalon monster's stomach and started drilling into it. The Megalon monster roared in pain one last time before he combusted into dark particles thanks to that strong attack.

SCREEEEEEEEEEKKKK!

POOF!

ARRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEGGGGHHH!

The two Megalon monsters roared in victory after destroying their old comrade. Knuckles can't help but smirk in amusement of that. Heh. That's what you get for hurting my Master, stupid monster. I hope that you had felt that one. Knuckles thought in victory as he had his arms crossed and smirked triumphantly.

"That's one down. Now, there's two left," Kathy said calmly with a smile as she stared at the two Megalon monsters.

"Yep...But I think that we can take care of them ourselves..." Knuckles replied calmly with a smirk as he looked at Kathy. He then winked at her as he added mischievously, "Especially since they're still distracted...".

Kathy looked at Knuckles and smirked back at him. "This is going to be a piece of cake!" Kathy exclaimed brightly with a smirk as she had her fists up.

"You can say that again! Let's finish this!" Knuckles exclaimed triumphantly with a mischievous smirk as he looked back and ran towards the left Megalon monster again.

"Yeah!" Kathy exclaimed back brightly as she flew towards the right Megalon monster.

The two monsters were still roaring in victory; however, their roars were soon cut short when they felt hard punches toward their own stomachs. They were both knocked down on their backs after those hard punches. The two monsters had crashed into the buildings as they fell, and rubble fell on top of their heads.

CRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSH! CRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAASSSSSHH!

ARRRRRREEEEEEEEGGGGGHHH! SCREEEEKKK!

The two Megalon monsters roared in pain after being hit by the rubble. Knuckles and Kathy soon landed on top of their stomachs and had wasted no time into punching the stomachs repeatedly.

POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW!

Knuckles and Kathy grunted a bit as they punched through the monsters' stomachs repeatedly and as hard as they can. They kept at it until the monsters combusted into dark particles.

POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW! POW!

SCREEEEEEKKK! SCREEEEEKKK!

POOF! POOF!

The monsters roared one last time in pain before they disappeared into dark particles. Knuckles and Kathy then landed back down to the ground and had relieved smiles on their faces. Good. They're gone. Whew! Knuckles and Kathy thought at the same time as they wiped their brows a bit. They turned around and smiled widely at each other before walking towards the other. As Kathy walked towards Knuckles, she put her Sol Gems back into her pendant again.

"We did it! That's six down!" Kathy exclaimed brightly with a smile as she walked towards Knuckles and stood in front of him.

"Yep, and now there's only six left," Knuckles replied calmly with a confident smile as he stared back at Kathy while standing in front of her.

"Yeah! We really can take down anything together! You're a great partner, Knuckles! I'm happy to have you helping me! Hehe!" Kathy exclaimed happily with a smile as she giggled a bit.

Knuckles blushed a lot at the compliment and had smiled sheepishly at her. "Heheh...Hey, come on now...I'm just...I'm just getting started, alright?! Heheheh...It's...It's too early to be praising me like this...I mean...Heheh...We're not even done fighting yet! Hahaha..." Knuckles replied awkwardly with a sheepish smile as he rubbed the back of his head while chuckling nervously.

"Hey, just like I had said to Blaze when we had started fighting the Dark Thoughts together, you are incredible! Not many Mobians can defeat huge monsters like these! Even if you just destroyed only one them yourself, you're still much braver than anyone else who didn't try to fight them at all! It takes guts for anybody to be fighting kaijus like these! And with you, Knuckles, you got both guts and strength! You and Blaze are much stronger and bolder than you think! So, keep the compliment, Knuckles! You earned it!" Kathy exclaimed happily yet encouragingly with a huge smile as she had her hands out.

Knuckles gasped in shock after hearing that and had blushed very brightly in embarrassment. He then looked sheepish again and had looked down on the ground and away from Kathy in shyness. He rubbed the back of his head even more while saying shyly with an embarrassed smile, "Kathy...Stop...You're embarrassing me...I told you...It's not...Heheh...It's not a big deal...I've only destroyed two kaiju monsters...You've destroyed three...".

"But what about that time you had cleverly made the monsters fight each other?! That was your idea, you smart, little doggie!" Kathy exclaimed brightly with a grin as she got close to Knuckles and gently poked at his left cheek.

"But you were the one who gave me the idea! You're the reason why we were able to fight back!" Knuckles argued with an embarrassed grin as he closed his eyes and blushed even deeper after hearing her say that he was smart.

"True, but you had used that idea! That's what being smart is about, Knuckles! Creating or using ideas!" Kathy argued back with a happy grin as she gently caressed Knuckles' cheek with her finger.

"Kathy! I had almost died because of my carelessness! Don't tell me that I'm smart now after what I had done earlier! Because I know that I'm not!" Knuckles argued back with an embarrassed grin as he looked back at Kathy while blushing even more. He even grabbed Kathy's finger and held it while saying that.

"Hehehehehehe! You're just denying that you're smart because you feel embarrassed, aren't you?" Kathy teased playfully with a silly smile as she giggled a bit.

"..." Knuckles was silent while grinning very much at Kathy. He was blushing very much, and yet, he was amused by this too. ...It's times like these where I wish I could freely say "I love you" because this right here is certainly one of those times...Knuckles thought in amusement as he grinned very much at Kathy while staring calmly yet amusingly into her light-blue eyes.

"Kathy..." Knuckles muttered calmly yet quietly with a grin.

"Yeah?" Kathy asked curiously with a sweet smile.

"...Why are you so silly?" Knuckles asked playfully with an amused grin.

"But I didn't say anything that sounded remotely silly," Kathy replied calmly with a happy smile.

"Heh. Oh, yes, you did," Knuckles argued back with a playful smile.

"No, I did not," Kathy argued back with a silly smile.

"Yes, you did," Knuckles argued back with a playful look.

"No, I didn't! Teehee!" Kathy exclaimed back with a giggle.

"I know you did," Knuckles argued calmly with a playful smile.

"I told you! I did not!" Kathy exclaimed back with a happy smile.

"Oh...I'm sure you did...not," Knuckles argued back playfully with a knowing smile as he closed his eyes.

"Oh, I sure did!" Kathy exclaimed back with a nod and an innocent smile.

"Ha! Got you! You admitted it! You admitted that you had said something silly! I knew it!" Knuckles exclaimed triumphantly with a huge smile as he opened his eyes again.

Kathy smiled teasingly as she replied playfully, "Au contraire, my little doggie. You only thought that I had said something silly, and having me confirming it just made you believe even more that I had said something silly when in actuality I did not".

"..." Knuckles was speechless while still smiling widely at this as he stared at Kathy. Kathy just smiled back at Knuckles while looking playful at him. Pfft. ...And you say that I'm smart...Well, look in the mirror, you clever, silly girl. Knuckles thought in amusement as he stared fondly at Kathy.

He then looked smug as he asked playfully, "Were you being smart there?".

"It may be, or it may not be. That's for you to decide, Knuckles," Kathy replied calmly yet playfully with a silly smile.

"I've decided to believe that you were being silly, silly girl," Knuckles replied playfully with a smug grin.

"Hehehehehehehehehe!" Kathy giggled a lot from this.

Knuckles just smiled fondly at her as he watched her giggle a lot. And that giggle just proved that I was right. Knuckles thought in amusement while looking fond. He soon lets go of Kathy's finger and smiled calmly at her.

"Hey, as much as I enjoy hearing your giggles, Kathy, I think that we need to get back at what we were doing and destroy all of Battra's Dark Thoughts," Knuckles replied calmly with a smile as he gently held Kathy's left shoulder.

"You're right, Knuckles! Let's go to the end of this block and look around for any more Dark Thoughts!" Kathy exclaimed brightly with a smile and a nod.

"Alright. Let's look," Knuckles replied calmly with a smile and a nod as he lets go of Kathy's shoulder. He soon walked towards the end of the block with Kathy at his side. Once they got there, they stood in the middle of the abandoned street and looked around for more Megalon monsters. They looked in the distance on the western and eastern directions and were shocked when they had spotted three Megalon monsters on both sections of the city.

"Ah! They're right over there!" Kathy and Knuckles exclaimed at the same time in shock as they looked at each other while pointing at the west and east directions. Their eyes had widened a bit in surprise when they saw that they had said the same thing at the same time again. They blushed a bit in embarrassment of this. How do we keep doing that? Knuckles and Kathy thought at the same time in embarrassment.

"Anyways, Kathy, we need to go in this direction. There are more Dark Thoughts over there," Knuckles replied calmly yet solemnly with a frown as he pointed at the eastern direction.

"But, Knuckles, there are also some Dark Thoughts over there! What should we do? We can't let these monsters keep destroying the city if we're not there to stop them. This city has enough destruction as it is!" Kathy replied in concern as she frowned sadly while she pointed at the western direction.

"Then we should split up and take out these monsters by ourselves!" Knuckles exclaimed proudly yet confidently with a solemn look on his face as he turned his back at Kathy and stared at the Megalon monsters in the eastern section of the city. He balled his hands into fists and looked more bolder than before after saying that. I am strong...and I am bold...Just like Kathy says that I am...Knuckles thought solemnly with a solemn look on his face.

"What?! Knuckles! Are you crazy?! You can't just go and fight these monsters by yourself! What if I'm not there to protect you?!" Kathy exclaimed in shock and in worry as she turned around and looked at Knuckles with wide eyes and with a wide mouth.

"But you had said that I'm stronger and bolder than anybody else. If I can fight these monsters with you and beat them, then I'm sure that I can fight these monsters alone and beat them as well," Knuckles replied calmly yet solemnly with a frown as he kept starting at the Megalon monsters in the distance.

Kathy looked worried as she stared at Knuckles' backside. Oooh...Me and my big mouth. Now, Knuckles wants to fight these huge monsters by himself. Since he had almost DIED to one of them... this does NOT bode well for him...or for me. Kathy thought in worry and in annoyance as she frowned and had a sweat drop on her head.

"Knuckles...I appreciate that you are taking what I had said to heart...but...uhh..." Kathy muttered slowly yet calmly as she put her hands in front of her before looking sheepish as she continued awkwardly, "...Umm...Don't you think that you're taking this a bit too far? Maybe...dial down on the bravado or something? Because if you ask me, this is a bit too insane even for-".

"Kathy?" Knuckles asked calmly yet quietly.

"H-Huh? Y-Yes?" Kathy asked in confusion and in surprise as her eyebrows were raised.

"...I think that I had told you this before but..." Knuckles replied calmly yet solemnly before he moved his head back to look at Kathy. Kathy can see him frowning solemnly and looking fierce as he was ready battle. She gasped a bit in shock after seeing that serious look on his face. She even felt her heart beating faster while she stared at his serious face.

She can see him furrow his eyebrows a bit as he continued calmly yet solemnly, "...I'll say it again. ...I never run away from a fight...Ever...".

"...!" Kathy gasped in shock as she covered her mouth with her hands.

"It doesn't matter how dangerous or threatening the situation may be. A true warrior keeps standing against adversity until there is no one left," Knuckles continued calmly yet solemnly as he stared intensely into Kathy's light-blue eyes.

"..." Kathy was just speechless as she stared deeply into Knuckles' solemn, violet eyes.

Knuckles then narrowed his eyes as he finished by saying calmly yet solemnly, "...And I'm not going to let these kaijus scare me off. I'll stand strong and keep fighting them until there is none of them left. You can rest easy, Kathy. I'll be okay. I'll make sure of that as I fight them...all by myself...".

"..." Kathy was still speechless as she stared quietly at Knuckles' solemn stare. She can see him staring back at her with his unwavering gaze. Like someone who is going out to war...that was the look that Knuckles is giving to Kathy right now. Kathy's eyes were sparkling both in worry and in admiration since she felt inspired by what Knuckles had said to her. He's...He's so handsome...Kathy thought in fondness as she stared at Knuckles with sparkly eyes.

She then clasped her hands together and put them near her chest as she whispered softly, "...Please be careful...I beg of you...Please stay safe when fighting them. I...I don't want to lose you...".

"..." Knuckles was silent as he stared deeply into Kathy's sparkling eyes. ...I...I don't want to lose you either, Kathy...But I trust that you can fend off the monsters yourself. I have that much faith in you. You can do it. Knuckles brooded with a solemn frown and with solemn eyes.

"...I promise, Kathy. I'll be careful..." Knuckles whispered softly with a nod.

"O-Okay..." Kathy whispered softly with a little frown as she still looked worried.

Knuckles can see that Kathy looked worried and had smiled a little as he was happy to know that she does care for him. "Bye..." Knuckles whispered softly with a little smile before he turned his head around and ran as fast as he could in the eastern direction.

After staring at Knuckles for a little while, Kathy soon sighed a bit in exhaustion and thought to herself with a sweat drop on her head. Oooh...My heart was just pounding the whole time he was staring at me like that...What's a girl like me to do whenever he does that? Uggh...Geez, Kathy, you can be so flustered at times and at the wrong moments! What would Knuckles say if he had found out that I felt hot when he was staring at me like that? He would probably say that he felt awkward and say that I was being silly again. But...can he even blame me?! Had he ever looked at himself in the mirror?! He's so...Why am I even thinking about this? THIS IS NOT THE TIME TO BE FAWNING OVER A HOT GUY LIKE HIM!

Kathy then slapped herself in the forehead and muttered in embarrassment as she blushed a bit, "...I just thought that he was hot, didn't I? Ugh! Pull yourself together, Kathy! We have A CITY to save!".

She then shook her head and quickly turned around to face the western direction. She ran a bit before flying again. She then pondered further to herself. Besides, Knuckles is going to be fine. You saw how he fights. He's tough enough to fend for himself, and in a strange way...he's about as resilient as a normal, kaiju monster...Except well...he's not radioactive proof. But that's beside the point! He can stand up for himself, and he's not going to run away from his battles...

Kathy then frowned solemnly as she muttered to herself, "...And neither should you, Kathy. You can stand up to these monsters yourself. You're not a weak, little larva anymore. You're a strong, adult moth now, and this is the time to prove it".

She then pondered one last time while looking determined again.

...To prove that I'm not useless anymore...

And the battle of the Megalon monsters will continue in the part! Been a while since I have updated the story. Just took a slight break from it, but I'm back and ready to finish the sixth episode. I predict that there will be three or four more chapters until I'm finished with it. I hope that you're enjoying the story so far! It's going to be mostly casual, but it will get exciting in certain parts like this for example. It'll always be a struggle writing these action chapters, but it'll be worth it in the end! With that said, let's continue the fight in part 6!