Chapter 7: Seeing Red
March 6th, 2314 – 6:30 PM – Cyndica Square, Rotisiv, Tneicna
A few hours later, the final match had finally come. Knuckles and Nick were the two fighters in this last match. However, Sonic could see this final match coming from a mile away, because both of them had taken the tournament by storm. Since the two of them had so easily beaten everyone in their matches, the tournament had been a little boring. However, this last match would surely be interesting with how each of them had previously performed. Only one of them could emerge from this ring victorious, so who would it be?
The two fighters faced each other in the ring, and once again the pink rabbit said, "Ready?! FIGHT!"
Nick launched an attack straight at Knuckles with his sword, and swung it towards his head. Knuckles ducked to avoid the blow. The blade sliced off a few of the dreadlocks that he couldn't move out of the way in time.
Oh well, it's not like losing some hair can hurt you, Sonic thought.
However, Isaac spun around after his slash and did a surprise kick. Knuckles was blown across the ring by the attack, since he was too busy dodging the sword slash to avoid the kick. He flew to the ground and scraped along the stone ring, sliding to a stop just at the edge of the platform. He picked himself and dusted himself off.
"You'll need more than one lucky hit to beat me!" Knuckles shouted.
"Luck? Heh," Nick said, a smug grin on his face. "What you call luck I call skill."
Knuckles growled, and then said, "I'll show you skill!"
He charged across the platform with a mighty shout, drawing back his arm to put more force behind the punch he was about to throw. Nick smiled, and calmly sidestepped the attack. Knuckles gasped in surprise as he punched the air where Nick was standing a second before. Nick formed his hand into the shape of a blade, and chopped it down upon Knuckles' back. Knuckles was knocked hard to the ground from the attack.
"We've seen some awesome victories from both Nick and Knuckles throughout the tournament," the pink rabbit shouted. "I know you've all been dying to see who would be the superior one, and it looks like that person is Nick! Knuckles may have dominated in his other matches, but now he's getting knocked around like a rag doll!"
"You hear that Knuckles?" Nick teased. "You're a rag doll!"
Knuckles jumped up off of the ground. He appeared unhurt, although his breathing seemed a little labored. He started to step towards Nick, but Nick stepped up towards him and ducked. The hedgehog then suddenly leaped up, thrusting his fist upward into an uppercut. Knuckles caught Nick's fist fully underneath his chin, and was sent spiraling into the air. A few seconds later, he began to come back down, and it looked like he was going to fall out of the ring. Nick smiled, apparently sure that Knuckles wouldn't fall back to the platform, and that he'd win by ring out.
However, what happened next surprised everyone. Knuckles went into a somersault in midair, and then spread his dreadlocks out. The dreadlocks caught the air like a parachute, and Knuckles was now hovering in midair. Nick's mouth gaped open and his eyes widened, surprised by this sudden thing Knuckles had done. Knuckles smirked, looking quite pleased with Nick's expression.
"What the hell just happened?!" Nick yelled.
"Indeed folks!" the rabbit said. "What kind of a move did Knuckles just use there?"
"I can use my dreadlocks to catch the wind," Knuckles said. "So I can hover and glide in midair. You can't beat me with a ring out if I can do this."
"Meh, whatever," Nick said, swinging his sword around. "I can still win just by beating the crap out of you."
"No, you won't Nick," Knuckles said, as he glided down to the ground.
"Why not?" Nick said. "You weren't a match for me before, so what makes you think you can win now?"
"I was holding back the entire time, Nick," Knuckles said. "I was getting bored of winning all my matches so quickly, so I decided to let this one drag out a little. I only let you land all those blows on me to make you think you could beat me."
"Knuckles is saying that everything before was just acting!" the pink rabbit declared. "Is he telling the truth, or is he just bluffing?"
"I'm definitely not bluffing," Knuckles said. "Anyway, I'm getting bored of just toying with you, so let's finish this now. I'll stand right here, and I won't move anywhere else until after your next attack. Give me all you've got, and show me that 'skill' of yours. I can take it. I know I can from how weak your blows were before."
"Why you!" Nick screamed. "I'll slice you to pieces for that!"
Nick hefted his sword over his head, and charged right at Knuckles. When he was about to reach Knuckles, he heaved the sword into a downward slash, aiming for the top of Knuckles' head. However, Knuckles threw one punch straight up into the air at the oncoming blade. The blade was shattered to pieces from the impact, and the metal shards rained all over the fighting ring.
"But...but...how?!" Nick said, staring at the hilt of his sword in surprise.
"Told you I wasn't bluffing," Knuckles said with a grin.
"Heh...well...I've been holding back too..." Nick said, smiling. "I didn't think I'd have to use my last resort on you."
"What?" Knuckles said.
"See this bracelet?" Nick said, holding out his arm to show it to Knuckles. "It's not just for decoration. It serves its own purpose in battles... With this next attack I'm going to use on you, I can take your body and rewrite its data into whatever I want it to be. I could make you into a spaceship, or ten million demens, or even a pile of crap for all I care."
Nick began to press buttons on the bracelet.
"REWRITE!" Nick screamed.
The crowd looked on in wonder, as strange glowing shapes appeared from the bracelet and hovered in midair. The shapes quietly floated around for a few seconds, but suddenly the shapes fired a red and orange beam at Knuckles. Knuckles swiftly sidestepped the beam, as it crashed into the stone floor of the fighting ring. Taking advantage of the break after Nick's attack, Knuckles rushed up to him and punched his bracelet. Sparks began spitting out of the strange device.
"No!" Nick screamed. "You broke it!"
The shapes and beam dissipated from the air, and a flashing warning sign appeared on Nick's bracelet. Sweat beads rolled down his eyes as he frantically pressed buttons on the device.
"My turn now!" Knuckle's screamed.
Nick's eyes widened open in fear as he turned to face Knuckles. The echidna somersaulted right in front of Nick, and unleashed the punch combo he had used before on Drake. Nick looked like he was being riddled with bullets or something with how fast Knuckles was punching him. Finally, Knuckles stopped and stepped back to admire his work. Nick fell down to his knees, and then fell flat on the ground as his knees gave way. Some blood dribbled out of his mouth onto the stone.
"One!" the rabbit started, beginning the count. "Two! Three! Four!"
"Waste of time..." Knuckles muttered, turning away from Nick and walking to the edge of the ring. The rabbit continued to do the counting. "He's not getting up again for a while."
For some strange reason, Nick's body began to fizzle and was covered with static. It almost looked like static on a TV set or something. Knuckles had no idea what was happening.
Nick reached towards his bracelet again, and mumbled, "Initiate...gate out..."
"Now what?" Knuckles said.
Nick's body flashed and it began to dissipate, almost like a fog. A gold ring went over his body, and he was gone. Just like that, he had simply vanished into thin air. There wasn't a trace left of him.
"Wait people!" The rabbit said. "Nick has vanished, and I have no idea how he did it! I'm not sure what to do in a situation like this... I think I'll just call this a ring out, since Nick has clearly left the ring! So, Knuckles wins by default!"
The crowd erupted into cheers. Some were chanting "Knuckles! Knuckles!" over and over again. The pink rabbit climbed up into the ring to join Knuckles.
"Congratulations Knuckles!" the rabbit said. She pulled out an envelope. "Here's your prize money! All 3,000 demens of it!"
Knuckles took the money, without saying anything. He had a frown on his face.
"So, how do you feel about winning Knuckles?"
"Uh...well..." Knuckles started. "I dunno, I feel good...I guess?"
"Why so glum? You're frowning!"
"I was hoping I'd find somebody stronger to fight in this tournament. That's why I'm disappointed."
"Aww...that's too bad! Try coming back next year! Maybe you'll find that someone if you do! We'd love to have him back again, right folks?"
The crowd cheered.
"Maybe I will. We'll see..." Knuckles said.
"Anyway, nice chatting with you Knuckles!" the rabbit said cheerfully. "As for the rest of you, thanks for coming out to our tournament! Have a safe journey back to your homes, and we hope to see you again next year!"
The crowd gave one final round of applause, and then everyone started filing out of the makeshift stadium. A few people climbed up into the ring to talk with Knuckles, but he seemed to be trying to get away from them.
Sonic turned to Carrie and Tails, and said, "You two go on ahead. I'll meet up with you at the tent later."
"Okay Sonic," Carrie said. "I think I'll go shopping in the marketplace while I wait for you. Want to come with me Tails?"
"Sure," Tails said.
"Bye," Sonic said.
"Bye!" Tails and Carrie said together.
While the two of them walked out of the stadium, Sonic ran towards Knuckles.
---
Knuckles slowly moved out of the ring, trying to get rid of the throng of people who had decided to come up to him because he won the match. They were saying all kinds of annoying things:
"Hey Knuckie! Where'd you learn them crazy moves? I wanna learn them too!"
"Can I get your autograph, Mr. Echidna?"
"I want my picture with you, Reddie!"
Knuckles didn't say anything back to them, and only focused on trying to push his way out of the crowd. Too bad not saying anything didn't deter his fans' determination. It was driving him crazy, and he was very close to using his own fighting moves on the crowd to make them go away. Couldn't they just leave him alone and let him go?
The crowd's not the only bad thing. This fighting tournament turned out to be a bust. Jeez, it's been so long since the last time I've met somebody worthy of my fighting skills. Those 3,000 demens is a nice reward for whooping some ass though. I really need that money right now, since most of the treasure I've found around here won't get me a lot. I figured there'd be more artifacts in this country, since it's the center of ancient Freedomian culture. I guess I'll move on now. There's nothing left for me around here.
Finally, he leaped up into the air, fanned out his dreadlocks to go into a glide, and floated over the heads of the crowd. They looked up in surprise as he glided away. Knuckles smiled, glad that his idea seemed to have worked.
I'd love to see them try to get me now...
However, when he set down in front of the fighters' tent to get his backpack, he found a blue hedgehog waiting there for him.
"Hey Knuckles!" he cheerfully said.
"Get away from me!" Knuckles snapped at him, brushing him aside as he walked towards the tent flap.
Suddenly, the hedgehog reappeared in front of the tent flap, barring his path. It was like he had just teleported in front of Knuckles. The echidna was a little caught off guard by this little move.
"How'd you do that?" Knuckles asked, his eyes wide open in surprise.
"Do what?" the blue hedgehog asked.
"You just appeared out of thin air right in front of the tent, like magic," Knuckles said. "How did you do that?"
"My super speed," the hedgehog said with a grin. "Watch..."
The hedgehog vanished from in front of Knuckles. Suddenly, he felt somebody tapping on his back shoulder. Knuckles turned around to see who it was, and leaped back in surprise to see that it was the hedgehog again.
"Holy crap!" Knuckles said. "That's incredible! You move so fast I can't even see you move! What's your name? You look a little familiar."
"Sonic Hedgehog," Sonic said.
"I remember your last name. That was the last name of that war hero in the Robotnik War. His name was Swift Hedgehog."
"He was my dad," Sonic said.
"That explains why you can move so fast. You got it from your dad, didn't you?" Knuckles said.
"Yeah... Well, you already know about me, so can I hear about you?"
"Sure!" Knuckles said. "I'd like to tell you about me. My name is Knuckles Echidna, and I'm from the country of Tresed."
"The desert nation?"
"Yeah. There's a lot of ruins around there, and my parents are archeologists who study the ruins. I got bored living with them, so I decided to just run away."
"You ran away?" Sonic said in surprise.
"Yeah, so what? I'm not doing so badly on my own. I wander Planet Freedom as a treasure hunter now, and look for things I can sell to get money to survive. I can easily find treasure with my special sensing ability. I must have gotten that from my parents, because they were really good at finding tombs, artifacts, and stuff."
"That's pretty cool, but you ran away from your parents? I'd never run away from my dad if he were still alive."
"Oh yeah...I forgot, he died in the last battle of the war, right?"
"Uh huh... I really miss him."
"If he's been dead for six years, where have you been living then?"
"I got adopted by Kyle Prower, my dad's friend in the war."
"That guy, I remember him too. Well, what are you doing out here in Tneicna alone though? Kyle isn't dead too, is he?"
Sonic looked down at the ground. A few tears formed in his eyes.
"Oh...I'm sorry..." Knuckles said. While Knuckles had a tough guy exterior, he wasn't insensitive all the time to everyone around him. He still respected other people's feelings when they were in suffering.
"It's all right," Sonic said, wiping his eyes.
"When did he die?"
Sonic laid out the story of Kyle's and Natalie's deaths, and then told him of his journey up until this day.
"You've been through a lot, haven't you?"
"I know."
"Hey, this may sound like a strange request, but do you wanna have a match?"
"Match?"
"I wanna fight you. You're the son of Swift Hedgehog, a legendary warrior in the Robotnik War. Some of him has definitely rubbed off onto you, and I think you'd make a worthy opponent. I entered this tournament, and hoped I could find somebody worthy of fighting, but everyone was weak compared to me. I think you're different though."
"Well...we could fight later. Me, Tails, and Carrie are stuck in this city until the airport can spare us some fuel for our plane, so I'll be free later. Not right now though, I need to meet my friends back at our tent in the park."
"Okay then," Knuckles said with a grin, "But this better not be a lame excuse to get out of fighting me."
Sonic smiled, and said, "Oh no Knuckles! You caught me red handed! I admit it! I'm really really scared of you! I know you'll kill me! Aaaaaah!"
The two of them laughed.
"Anyway, when you want your match, I'll be at my tent at Baca Park later."
"I'll remember that."
"See you later," Sonic said, waving goodbye as he walked off.
"Bye!" Knuckles said.
Knuckles turned back towards the fighter tent, pleased with his new exhibition match coming up.
The son of Swift Hedgehog... While he's not the real thing, I can feel that he will be equal, or even better than his father in combat. I'm getting chills just thinking about fighting him. It's pure luck that I met someone like him out here. It looks like me fighting in the tournament was worthwhile after all. I think now I'll stick around Rotisiv a little longer.
He put the envelope with the 3,000 demens in his backpack. He then took his backpack, and went out to eat at a nearby restaurant. His dinner was relatively uneventful, at least until one thing happened... Somebody who wasn't watching where he was walking accidentally smacked into his table and fell over.
"Are you okay?" Knuckles said to the fallen guy.
"Yes...I'm fine..." He said as he climbed to his feet, and rubbed his head to soothe the pain. "Sorry about that. I should watch where I'm going."
"It's okay," Knuckles said. "I'm feeling too good right now to be mad at you."
"Well, see you later then," the cat said.
"Bye..." Knuckles said.
Knuckles finally finished eating, and a waitress handed him his bill. Knuckles reached down for his backpack where he had put his prize money...and it wasn't there.
"What the...?" Knuckles whispered.
He looked all around the bottom of the table, but his backpack was nowhere to be found.
Where is it?! It was here when I sat down to eat...
Knuckles thought very hard about what had happened while he was sitting here in the restaurant.
I came in, sat down, put my backpack down, ordered my food, got the food, started eating, then that guy bumped into the table and...WAIT! Maybe he deliberately ran into the table so that he could swipe my backpack! I was too busy asking him if he needed help to see him stealing it! Damn it! I'm so stupid! I am gonna give him one hell of a beating once I hunt him down!
Knuckles stood up from his table, and prepared to fire up his hot-cold treasure finding ability. Basically to use it, he concentrated hard on an item he needed to find, and he could detect that object's aura if he was close enough to it. The feeling of the aura got stronger the closer he got to it, and he could use this feeling to find the item he was after. He concentrated on his backpack, and sensed the feeling of the aura getting weaker. It was being carried off somewhere... Knuckles took off after the signal, hoping he'd find his bag and the punk who had it with him.