Chapter 5: Super Knuckles

Note: YESSS! Fans rejoice! S.H. is back, baby! And there's only one chapter left after this (okay, maybe two).

Another note: Sonic, Knuckles, and Rouge are property of SEGA. I don't own 'em. Nor do I own the master emerald, Station Square, Eggman, etc. Universal Tower I made up, but I'm sure there is a building with that name.

It was about fifteen minutes after the missile had launched when Knuckles had finally reached the altar on his tiny, floating Angel Island. The thriving pine trees rustled in the wind, the sun shone everywhere on the grassy plains, and the Master Emerald stood on its shrine, illuminating the welcoming green aura Knuckles always saw.

Sonic was there. "Took ya long enough, Knuckle-head."

Knuckles immediately threw himself away from the beautiful surroundings. It was a time of urgency. "Did you bring any chaos emeralds?"

"Seriously!" Sonic didn't seem to listen the question. "You could've taken a cab or something!"

"Did you bring the chaos emeralds or not?"

"Whoa! Chill, Knux!" Knuckles hated when he called him that. "Yeah, I brought a couple." From behind his back, Sonic pulled out two chaos emeralds; one white, one yellow. "This is all I have. I somehow lose all of the emeralds every time I go super..."

"That's fine." Knuckles didn't really care for the rest of his story. "Will we be able to go super, then?"

Sonic sighed. "Well... by the looks of it, if your bat friend brings two emeralds as well, then yeah. We'll all be able to go super."

"And if she doesn't?"

Sonic sighed again. "Then it'll only be two of us."

"...That'll have to do." Knuckles looked around. "Has Rouge shown up yet?"

Sonic shrugged. "I thought she was with you."

Knuckles steamed. "Why? Just because she's my friend, you think she is always with me!"

Sonic laughed. "Chill, Knuckles! I didn't mean it like that! I just thought she might-"

"Rouge!" Knuckles shouted. He was looking to the east, where Rouge was crossing the wooden bridge to the island. "Did you bring any of the emeralds?"

She jumped into the air and flew the distance between her and Knuckles, then landed gracefully in front of them. "I did," she replied. Knuckles could tell she was still trying to catch her breath. She pulled out from behind her the green chaos emerald.

Knuckles didn't say anything. Rouge's patience was thinning. "Well?" she asked.

"Is that it?" Knuckles finally said.

"What do you mean 'is that it!'" Rouge shot back. "Don't you know how rare these are? There's only-"

"Seven," Sonic finished, "we know. But we need four of the chaos emeralds for all three of us to get into our super forms. Which means..." he looked between the other two. "One of us will need to sit out."

A long, yet thoughtful pause followed Sonic's speech. Rouge piped up first. "You guys do it." Sonic and Knuckles turned to her. "I'm only a jewel thief," she continued. "Sonic has his experience with being in his super form, and Knuckles has his strength behind him. I'm sure you guys can do it."

"And what about you?" This came from Knuckles, which sort of surprised Rouge. "You should probably find shelter."

Rouge smiled at his thoughtfulness. "I'll find a way to help."

The missile was visible over the horizon. The sun was near setting on the horizon to the west. It must've been pretty high up, Knuckles thought, since it appeared to be going so slowly.

"It looks like it's heading for Station Square." Sonic chuckled to himself. "Typical Eggman..."

Knuckles threw his arms in the air. "How can you be so calm about this? Station Square is going to blow up if-"

"-if you guys don't get your act together and stop it!" Rouge finished. "Both of you! Now! I'll go see what I can do." She headed across the bridge, but stopped nearly halfway there. She quickly turned around. "Oh, and good luck, Knuckles!"

Knuckles wondered why she hadn't wished Sonic luck too, but Sonic interrupted his thoughts. He shoved two chaos emeralds into Knuckles' chest. "Knuckles, stand on the other side of the master emerald! We don't have much time!"

Finally, Knuckles thought, Sonic is being serious now.

"Now concentrate your power into the two emeralds!" Sonic ordered once more.

Knuckles wasn't quite sure how he could concentrate power into emeralds. He closed his eyes and squeezed them, but nothing happened. He opened his eyes and saw that Sonic was being slowly lifted off his feet six inches off the ground, his eyes closed, and an emerald in each hand. Knuckles tried to mimic his position, but couldn't feel any difference in him. He opened his eyes again, but this time found himself at Sonic's height. He was floating now.

He closed his eyes and held the same position as before. Now he could feel the power in him. His quill stood on end. A bright burst of light flashed from the master emerald, and Knuckles felt his feet touch the ground softly again.

Knuckles opened his eyes and saw not Sonic, but a golden, floating Sonic with glowing red eyes. He was glowing with a brilliant, golden yellow aura, the two emeralds at the ground beside him. Super Sonic had returned.

Sonic opened his eyes, but didn't see Knuckles, but instead, a flashing red and lighter red echidna. His quills were long, almost touching his feet, and the metal gloves he wore over his fists bore many painful-looking spikes. After many long years, Super Knuckles was back.

The two swiftly flew toward the direction of the city-bound missile.

Rouge flew high to the rooftops of the Station Square. She didn't know anything about missiles, or what Eggman wants to do accomplish with this missile, but she thought that wherever he was trying to hit, the tallest building would be the easiest target.

Universal Tower just happened to be the tallest building in Station Square. Over twenty stories tall, the giant, grey structure stands out amongst the others in Station Square, the highest being fifteen stories. It wouldn't be too hard to find.

After only minutes of locating the building, Rouge stood at the base of the building. Relieved, Rouge took the handle of the glass door and started for the lobby, but the door wouldn't budge. She slammed into the door in a humiliating fashion. Bystanders laughed.

After stepping back from the door, she read the small sign to the right. "Sorry, we're CLOSED," it read.

Rouge huffed. "Well, how am I to get to the top?" she asked herself. "Come on, Rouge, use your bat instincts!"

That's when she got an idea. This idea struck another idea.

"There it is!" Sonic shouted. It didn't take long to find the humongous hunk of flying metal in the sky. Their super flying speed was also a plus. "But what are we gonna do with it? We can't just destroy it! We might detonate it!"

Knuckles was wondering the same question. "I don't know," he replied. "I don't know anything about missiles!"

"Hey, how 'bout this?" Sonic queried. "If we can't blow up the missile, how about moving it?"

They were now nearing the missile. Although they were still far from the city, the missile was still drawing closer and closer. "Hey, good idea!" Knuckles grinned. "Let's aim it at Eggman's base! Give him a taste of his own medicine!" Sonic grinned too.

Now they had reached the missile. The missile seemed to stretch as long as a baseball diamond. Knuckles and Sonic grabbed the fins near the rear end of the missile. Three blue flames roared out of the large thrusters. The hot air smelled of rocket fuel.

Over the loud thrusters, Knuckles shouted "Let's pull the missile from the fins!"

Sonic, on the other side of the thrusters, couldn't hear. "What!" he shouted back.

"I said," Knuckles shouted once more, "Pull from these fins!"

"What!"

The short-tempered Knuckles wanted to go over to Sonic's side and tell him, but time was running out. Just in the distance was Station Square. Knuckles shouted as loud as possible, "Pull!"

Knuckles started pulling on his fin immediately. He couldn't see over the flames if Sonic was pulling or not, but he didn't have the time to. With all his tremendous strength, Super Knuckles heaved the missile in the opposite direction. He caught a glance between the large blue flames to see Sonic pulling his side. At least he got the message.

But the pulling hadn't slowed the missile one bit. Knuckles stopped pulling and breathed for air. Still hanging on to the fin, he could see ahead Station Square, now a great deal closer. The missile, he could now see, was heading for Universal Tower. Screams and sirens can be heard faintly.

But something stood out on the top of the tower. Standing on the rooftop railing was a large, pink spot.

"Rouge!" Knuckles shouted.

Knuckles immediately let go of the fin and rushed for the front of the missile. His speed was just faster than the missile to get him to the front in time. Now the screams and sirens could be heard more clearly. The missile was drawing nearer.

Knuckles put both hands on the smooth, rounded cone and pushed against it. The power of the chaos emeralds was quickly draining. Regardless, Knuckles pushed with all his might to send the missile away. The missile finally began slowing down.

Seconds turned into minutes in Knuckles' desperate struggle. The missile was now only meters away from the top of the tower. Knuckles could faintly hear Rouge cheering him on from the tower. The mammoth missile was only inching closer to its destination. Knuckles' feet now touched the side of the tower.

With his remaining strength, he finally slowed the missile to a halt. He slowly pushed his arms to the sky until they were above his head. Finally, he let go.

The stray accelerating missile launched clear above Knuckles, only chipping off the antenna on the tower. The roaring missile rushed over the tower and into the sky on the other side. Knuckles had saved station Square.

Rouge turned and shouted with a large smile "You did it, Knuckles!" But her smile quickly faded away, for Knuckles wasn't at the top of the tower with her; his unconscious body was falling twenty stories into the concrete sidewalk below.