THE LEGEND OF CHAOSE

"You ready, champ?" Mighty said as he playfully tapped Knuckles' shoulder with his fist. "Yeah," his friend replied. Mighty had never seen Knuckles more serious in his whole life. It was almost scary how focussed he was. Julie-Su kissed his cheek and placed his hat back on his head. "I kept this safe for you," she whispered. "I know," he replied with a smile. "Wear it for luck." "I won't need it," he said before he kissed her. He looked up at the end of the corridor and began to walk towards it. When he stepped into the stadium, the dark chao began to cheer. The Mobians in the stands cheered wildly for Knuckles, for he was their last hope. He slowly stepped into the ring and stood in the center. Lightning struck, and all went quiet. It was so silent, you could hear a pin drop. Suddenly, there was the sound of feet walking. Everyone turned to the corridor opposite the one Knuckles had entered from. Out of the shadows came Chaose. His chest plate had been removed, and his bare, dark blue chest was revealed. His black, jagged helmet remained. A fierce wind blew, which made all but Knuckles turn away, and when they looked again, Chaose and Knuckles were face to face.

"I have waited so long for this day," Chaose said. "So have I." "The final match has arrived! Enigma the Echidna versus…Lord Chaose!!!" The dark chaos cheered with his name. Everyone was on the edge of their seat. This was the fight that decided their fate. Julie-Su bit her lip as they awaited the match to begin. "Ready…FIGHT!!!" "Shall we warm up first, or shall we just go all out?" Chaose asked. "The sooner you're dead, the better. All out." "Fine," Chaose said as a blue energy surrounded him. He growled as he powered up his energy, the entire arena shaking. "Holy crap!" Vector shouted as he tried to stay steady. When he was finished, Chaose's body was glowing dark blue as he chuckled. "So what do you think?" Knuckles smirked and replied, "I must say, you've got more power than I thought you did, but is that really all you've got?" Chaose laughed and said, "HA! This is one hundred percent of my awesome power! There is no power greater than mine!" Shadow was sweating bullets along with F.C. and Vipes. His aura was huge. "I defeated your predecessors. What makes you different?" Knuckles' dreadlocks flared up as he said, "The Walkers figured out that to defeat an evil like you…you need to use a different kind of evil." Knuckles screamed as he became enveloped in a green energy. His body flashed pink, then white, them a bright green. The arena shook more violently than before, startling all. Chaose stared in awe as Knuckles finished powering up. Like before he died, he was a bright green, but his violet eyes remained.

"What…what is this???" Chaose asked. Knuckles chuckled and said, "This is the power of Eclipse. Here's a free trial!" In a flash, Chaose felt a powerful kick land in his stomach, which sent him into the air. Knuckles teleported in the way of his path and smacked him back to the ground, unleashing a barrage of energy blasts. When the smoke cleared, Chaose slowly got up as Knuckles levetated back to the ground. Chaose threw a quick jab, but Knuckles has teleported out of the way and elbowed Chaose in the back of the head, knocking off his helmet.

"Everyone stared in complete shock. "How…how is this possible???" Sally asked. "He has become so much more powerful in only six months time! Amazing!" Vipes replied. "This is won! We're set!" DJ, Morph, Freezie and Swiper shouted together.

Chaose rose up and turned to Knuckles. He had no mouth, his fiery red eyes stared violently, and his face was covered with strange markings. "I know all about you, Chaose. You were once one of the Ancient Walkers." Chaose growled and shouted, "How dare you compare me to them! They will die as soon as I am free!" "You're never getting free." Chaose growled and attacked Knuckles in a blind rage, only to find he wasn't connecting. Suddenly, Knuckles was behind him and blasted him in the back. As Chaose rose, he thought to himself, 'How?!?! It cannot be! Too much has happened for me to fail now!!!"

Thousands of years ago, Chaose was one of the four Ancient Walkers. They prophesized to the people of Mobius, telling them of future events. Chaose, however, became tired of wasting his awesome power and decided to strike out on his own. He took on a bodily form and began his reign of terror on Mobius. He slaughtered millions on innocents for the mere pleasure of exerting his power. He then created the dark chaos to do his bidding. He clouded the skies, made volcanoes erupt, cities sink beneath the waves, or be swallowed by the planet itself. He created a grand palace for himself, and made the people of Mobius his slaves. Those who refused, or did not meet his standards faced the horrible death of being eaten alive by the dark chao as Chaose watched laughing. It was the darkest time on the planet Mobius.

Finally, the other Walkers, whose power was inferior to Chaose, who was the Supreme Walker, gathered enough energy to send Chaose to another dimension with his dark chaos. Time passed on, and the planet was eventually repaired to it's former state. However, Chaose's power created a gate between the worlds, but could only be opened every five thousand years. The Walkers took this into consideration and took it upon themselves to hand pick one fighter to finally defeat Chaose. In this new dimension, his power was filtered. If ever released to Mobius, his power would become unstoppable. In order for Chaose to pass through the gate, he would have to defeat three fighters, representing the three Ancient Walkers of Mobius. The last two failed. Now, all hope rests on the shoulders of one echidna…

'No. There must be a way…Yes…That's perfect!' Chaose smiled as Knuckles said, "Face it. I outclass you in every way. You can't win." "Very true! Your power exceeds my own…so I'll have to improvise!" Chaose began to growl as he glowed again. Knuckles braced himself as he felt a strange energy emitting from Chaose. Suddenly, Chaose' body began to tear, and then there were two! All eyes widened as the splitting continued, until Knuckles was surrounded. They all chuckled and said together, "Do you like it? I call it Mitosis." "My who-wha?" Sonic asked. "Mitosis. It's a form of cell division. The parent cell splits, creating two identical daughter cells…OH CRAP!!! That means they're all as strong as the original Chaose!!!" DJ shouted. 'Oh crap,' Knuckles thought to himself as he was attacked.

"Chaose, kick him in the head! Beat him up until he's dead!!!" the dark chaos chanted. Grim growled in frustration. Enough was enough. "THAT'S IT!" he shouted as he stood up, his fists ignited in flame, "I've had it with the rhyming! You all die now!!!" F.C. stood up and held his glowing hand in front of Grim's face, "Calm yourself my friend." Grim mumbled, looked over at DJ and said, "I love you!" DJ slowly inched away as Freezie said, "Change him back, please!" "I see your point," F.C. said as he reversed the spell. The dark chaos continued to chant, and DJ finally stood up and shouted "Oh yeah? Knux! Knux! Get him, Knux! Hit him fast before he ducks!!!" He sat back down and looked over to see some of the Mobians staring at him. "You find a word that rhymes with 'Knux'!"

It was insane. He couldn't even attack. Every time he blocked one blow, another came. He was barely blocking/dodging! "Soon you will tire, and I will overcome you!!!" the Chaoses said as one upper-cut Knuckles into the air. Knuckles regained his balance and charged his fist with chaos energy. "Here we go!!!" he shouted as he rocketed down to the center of the arena. He smashed his glowing fist into the center of the arena and it shattered, sending fragments flying at the Chaoses. Knuckles used this to his advantage and began to attack the Chaoses one by one as they dodged the rocks. The fighters of Mobius found themselves protected by one of F.C.'S energy shields. Grim laughed as hard as he could as he saw dark chaos crushed by the rocks. "I love karma! HA HA HA!!!"

Once again, Knuckles was gaining the upper hand. Chaose was greatly angered. No one had ever disgraced him so much. Even when he landed a solid punch, Knuckles seemed uneffected, as if he had lost his sense of feeling. 'How? How can he be so strong?!?! It's like he has no weakness!!!' One of the Chaoses was distracted by the cheering of the Chaotix, Freedom Fighters, and Ravagers. It was then that it hit him. 'Now there's an idea!'

Knuckles quickly dodged and jabbed at one of the Chaoses, and then noticed they were flying upwards. "Running? It won't help you. It'll only make it more fun," Knuckles shouted. "Oh, on the contrary," one said as each of them powered up an energy ball, "The fun is about to start…FOR ME!!!" They all began to rain down their energy blasts all at once. 'He can't possibly hope to even hit me once with a slow attack like that…' Knuckles thought to himself. It was then that he saw that the blasts were directed at his friends.

"OHHHHH CRAP!!!" Mighty shouted as they realized what was happening. "My shield won't block that!!!" F.C. shouted. "Well, I'm not throwing in the towel yet!" Shadow growled as he powered up his chaos energy. "Right! Let's at least give it a try!" Cap shouted as they got ready for the oncoming doom. Suddenly, a red flash appeared in front of the blasts, and there was Knuckles, being pounded away by the raining energy blasts. He didn't scream, or even growl in pain. He really couldn't feel anything. However, it did deal the damage it was meant to, and he went crashing to the ground. They watched in horror as he struggled to get up, not getting very far. Then, Chaose began to laugh. All of him. "Fool! You let your emotions get in the way!" That is why I will win today!" Knuckles' friends watched as all of the Chaoses surrounded him and began to kick him through the air, using him as a soccer ball.

Knuckles finally landed with a large thud, struggling once again to get up. "This is getting boring," Chaose said as his copies reformed into one being, back at full strength. Chaose chuckled as he circled Knuckles. He stopped when the echidna tried to get up again and asked, "Why? Why even try. You've already LOST," Chaose said as he violently kicked Knuckles in the side. Knuckles' green light was beginning to fade away. Chaose laughed, until he saw Knuckles trying to get up again. "You can't win! What's the point? You're only making your pain last longer! Why do you do it? Why?!?!" Chaose shouted as he kicked Knuckles again. Knuckles, lying on his stomach, once again tried desperately to get up. Chaose stepped down roughly on his back, crushing him between the ground and his foot. Chaose then noticed Knuckles looking over at the stands at his friends. "What? You're doing it for them? Believe me, they don't care about you. They only want you to win so they can live," Chaose said as he kicked the ailing echidna again. Knuckles growled as he struggled to get up. Chaose watched and said, "Do you really think they care about you? After how you lied to them? Betrayed their trust? They want nothing to do with you!!!"

"That…won't work on me this time. I've let…my emotions be used against me before…but not now. I know I lied to them…but they forgive me. I need to fight for them. They're my…my family," Knuckles said as he got up. "Family? HA! They consist of a group of guerilla fighters, a band of misfits, and a bunch of wanna-be super heroes!" "HEY! We are NOT wanna-be's!" DJ shouted. He then turned to the others and asked, "And who here fights gorillas?" Grim groaned as he shook his head. Chaose merely swung his hand in the air before him, and a wave of energy knocked Knuckles down again. "I won't kill you yet. I'll let you watch me kill all of your friends first! And your little girl friend? I'll finish her nice and slow, so you can hear her pain before you die!" Knuckles growled as Chaose stepped over to him. "Now…the show can begin. Who to kill first…" Chaose said as he stepped towards the others. Shadow stepped forward and charged his chaos energy. "I'll hold him back while you get the girls to safety!" Cap and Grim jumped next to him and said, "We're not backing down! We need to stand together!" "Fine. You can all die together!!!" Chaose said as he drew his arm back. He paused when he felt something grasp his wrist, then turned to see Knuckles behind him. "You made the biggest mistake ever bringing them into this…bringing her into this…" Chaose pulled his wrist free and said, "How so? You have no power left." "Then do it. Finish me! Show me all of this awesome power you have! All I've seen is one fancy move!" Knuckles spat. Chaose became enraged and shouted "Fine! You have sealed your fate!!!"

Chaose uppercut Knuckles into the air and began to charge up his chaos energy to it's limits. Knuckles regained his balance and glared down at Chaose. 'Hope this works!' "NOW! FEEL THE MIGHT…OF MY CHAOSE CANNON!!!" Chaose shouted as he fired a huge energy beam up at Knuckles. Knuckles put his hands together and out-stretched his arms, creating an circular orange energy wall in front of him. The beam struck, and both growled as their bodies tensed up. Knuckles was sweating like crazy, but as soon as the sweat drops formed, they evaporated from the intense heat. Chaose laughed as he saw the echidna's end coming. "You can't win! That shield won't hold forever!" Chaose began to laugh again, but stopped when he heard a crackling sound. He looked at the ground under him, saw a small spark, and watched as a similar orange energy field began to grow. "That's no shield!!!" "It's a portal!" Knuckles shouted. Chaose looked down the portal and saw a bright light rushing towards him. "And that light isn't Heaven! It's Hell finally catching up with you!!!" "NOOOOO!!!" Chaose shouted before a powerful energy blast erupted from beneath him.

When the smoke finally cleared, there was nothing left. He was gone. They all stepped out of the stands and looked at the remains of the arena. "Wait a sec…Where's Knux?" Tails asked as they looked around for him. Then, from out of the smoke, a familiar echidna stumbled forward. "Hey! I'm…right here." They all ran over as the Mobian fighters began to cheer. Julie-Su threw her arm around him as she jumped towards him, causing him to stagger a bit as he caught her. "You did it!" Sonic remarked as he lightly patted him on the shoulder. "Dude! This is so awesome! We don't have to die, and Knux is back! Way cool, man!" Morph shouted. "I think it's time we took you back home…where you belong," Julie-Su said as she kissed his cheek. "Yeah. Home…" he whispered to himself with a smile. Wait a sec! How do we get back?" I mean, we got here by-" Mighty said, until they began to elongate again. "Remember to hold your breath this time!" Swiper shouted. "Yeah! Ray replied with a chuckle. Julie-Su wrapped her arms around Knuckles' neck as he whispered, "Hang on tight."

Just like before, the fighters from Mobius disappeared in a brilliant flash of light. Their mission was completed. It was time to go home.