High above the Mystic Ruins is an island in the sky inhabited by few woodland creatures and one echidna. Knuckles the echidna to be exact, the last of the echidna race, the guardian of the master emerald, and loyal friend to Sonic the hedgehog.

However, as much as Sonic had wished to have his friend around, Knuckles had his responsibilities to watch over the master emerald and protect it from those who wished to do harmful plots and schemes with it. Like many of Sonic's first meetings with people he may call friends, it didn't go well. At all.

Knuckles had been visited by Eggman and tricked into believing that Sonic had come to capture the emerald for himself, and needless to say their standoff together wasn't friendly. Yet Sonic was soon revealed to be the hero and everything was simply a mix up due to Eggman's lies and Knuckles gullibility.

The echidna felt guilty, terribly so, that he had been deceived into thinking Sonic was the villain but Sonic forgave him for that. In the beginning Knuckles was unsure that Sonic was...happy. It was hard to tell, because he didn't know the hedgehog very well and eventually his suspicions disappeared when Sonic's bad mood just seemed to disappear. He had been glad Sonic got better and was over what was bothering him, so he didn't worry too much for his blue hedgehog friend.

While Knuckles was away with his duties not knowing the state in which his friends have been recently. He didn't know just how much had changed since he had been gone. Though he will quite soon as he makes his way through the thick rain-forests to spend some quality time with his friends.

. . .

Amy skipped merrily along through meadows splashing in puddles and twirling her umbrella in her hands to prevent herself from getting any more soaked from the rain while on her way to Shadow and Rouge's home to find her Sonic for two things. One to get severally angry with him and punish him for skipping out on their date, and two for writing the lovely letter for her. She hummed a tune to herself and she felt curiosity pull at her making her eyes drop down to look at the notebook held in her hands.

"Oh I wonder what he said about me, does he finally admit his undying love for me? What if he compliments my beauty and my grace just like he should!" Amy giggled and her fingers jestingly opened the notebook while shutting her eyes. "I don't want to spoil it. But~ I could just read a line or two." Her eyes opened and she simpered to herself. Her confusion showed with the first page that she began to read, where was the love letter for her?

Amy reread the notebook's entries, her skipping skidded to a slow walk and then she paused in her steps. The pink hedgehog stared with disbelief. Her eyes darted from line to line and she grew furious with each word full of lies.

Amy couldn't believe it...her Sonic...is a coward. What kind of idiotic fool wouldn't want to be a hero? It is every mans dream to be one! He's a freak! A weak pathetic coward who dares to lie about their true love!?

She dropped the umbrella she borrowed, it clattered onto the sidewalk below her and the rain poured over her. Her grip on her hammer tightened and she snapped the notebook shut with her other hand and clutched it not so gently with her nails embedding themselves into the book.

It was one thing to miss their date, but this was something Amy cannot simply just forgive and forget. What did Sonic want to speak with Shadow about that he couldn't share with Amy? They were rivals, both striving to be the better and faster hedgehog. So there was no way Sonic would willingly want to go talk to Shadow and same with Shadow wanting to talk with him.

And the fact that Sonic thought he didn't want to be a hero made her blood boil. Sonic is supposed to be the hero, it's who he is and those stupid expectations or whatever he called them very much annoyed her.

He was only being whiny and looking for more attention like he always does, whatever Sonic may think the actual reality, or in Amy's eyes at least, is that Sonic enjoyed any attention he got and this was just some new way to get it.

A tugging suspicion made her think, what if...he really felt this way?

"Ridiculous!" Amy spat out. He is a hero, her hero, he is her boyfriend and soulmate. So what if Sonic feels a little sad that he can't have as much freedom as he wants or whatever he really wants, it's his duty to do whatever it takes to be a hero to regular mobians. Set on her way to find Sonic, Amy was preparing herself to be expected to be proposed to. After all, that is the only way she'll ever forgive him for being a mean boyfriend and getting married forever would most definitely strengthen their love. Because in the end true love prevails.

Mentally she shook her head, it was laughable and absurd for Sonic to think like this. She didn't care about that and neither should he.

Oh. She didn't care.

She was going to punish him.

He will be punished.

And he will learn his lesson.

He will learn to love her back.

Because he is hers.

No matter what he thinks. What he wants. None of that matters to her because Amy loves him. She loves him so much she is willing to hurt him to make him see they belong together. That what he is thinking and writing down, it's all wrong.

She is the only thing he needs.

He doesn't need "Shads." No, he only needs her.

Amy resumed her walking, there was no merry skipping or soft humming. The sky only darkened and more bitter freezing rain poured down over her. A grim expression rested on her face, trickles of black mascara ran down her blue stony eyes. Lightning flashed across the skies with roars of thunder drowning out her yell of rage and cold determination.

"You will love me Sonic the hedgehog! I'll do whatever it takes to show you!"

. . .

"Sonic? Tails?" Knuckles called out, the pair's home seemed to be void of anybody, he stepped into the kitchen and wiped his slightly muddy shoes off onto the floor mat and kicked them off. The echidna took off his rain jacket and turned, hanging it up on the coat rack. The warmth of the house was very comforting and pleasant after his long journey to come visit.

Knuckles placed his house key that Sonic had given to him, Sonic had entrusted Knuckles to come and go as he pleased when he came over to stay. However Knuckles didn't even need to use the key as the door had been unlocked so he assumed someone would be home.

The echidna knew he had his own guest room upstairs, and he had been weary and tired but he couldn't wait to see his friends for the first time in a while. "Is anybody home?" Knuckles asked aloud. There was silence and Knuckles decided to check out the bedrooms to find out if that's where they were.

In no hurry at all, Knuckles walked through the halls and peeked into Tails bedroom first. The kitsune's bedroom had been dark and empty and he ambled into Sonic's room. With a quick flick of the light switch Knuckles had been surprised to see a large hole in his floor as if something heavy punched it down, there were chips and pieces of broken wood every all around the hole and he tentatively stepped forward.

Sonic's room looked to be untouched all day aside from the broken floor, though he did wonder. Why was it broken? And where on earth is Sonic at? Normally Sonic would stay inside on rainy days like this and moped around the house.

He left the room, shutting the lights off as he closed the door shut and turned around to head into Tails bedroom. He had the same results as before, except there was no gaping hole in the floor this time.

Had they gone out to another friends house? Were they on errands? Another mission? Saving the world?

"Knuckles? What are you doing here?" The young kitsune asked, jolting in his place Knuckles spun around to see Tails with goggles resting on his forehead. The younger male had been covered in black dust staining his sunshine yellow fur charcoal black.

"Hey buddy, long time no see huh." Knuckles cracked a smile. "I'm here to see you guys, I didn't mean to take this long but I had to keep watch of the emerald, especially now that Eggman has been on the low lately." The echidna reached out to give a small hug to Tails who instantly backed away from the hug while rolling his eyes.

"I don't want any hugs, chaos you and Sonic are the same. I'm not a little kid anymore, so don't go treating me like one." Tails brusquely said. Knuckles raised his hands in defense, a little hurt that Tails brushed him off like that. But then again, Tails was right in him not being so little or a kid anymore. Being fifteen and only and inch or two shorter than Knuckles now had really put him being older into perspective.

"Okay no hugs for the teenager. So where is Sonic at? And why is there a hole in the floor in his bedroom?" Knuckles asked, Tails sighed and looked impatient.

"He's over at Shadow and Rouge's place. And Amy's the one who broke the floor, she thought he was hiding so she swung that stupid hammer of hers trying to scare him out." Tails shrugged his shoulders in a nonchalant fashion, not noticing Knuckles concerned expression. "She asked where he was at so I sent her his location not that long ago." He took a quick glance down to his communicator watch on his wrist. "I have to get back to my lab, I have to finish up some projects for the auction this weekend." He turned to leave when Knuckles stopped him in his tracks by placing a hand on Tails' shoulder.

"Wait- Didn't we have a talk with Amy about boundaries the last time I was here." Knuckles questioned, his brows furrowing in confusion. "It's like you don't even care about her obsession with Sonic."

"Because I don't. It's not that much of a big deal, I think it's good for Sonic." Tails lightly shoved Knuckles hand off his shoulder and.

"Good for him? What's gotten into you? Her obsession is in no way healthy for either of them." Knuckles said incredulously.

"That's where you're wrong. Amy is a perfect match for him, she grounds him from doing reckless things and she agrees with me that Sonic needs to learn how to be a better hero and do what is expected of him. He has his status as a hero to maintain and if he's out there being careless than how can he hope to keep his status?"

"Holy chaos Tails, everything you said there is completely off." He rubbed his temples and took a deep breath. "Look, I'm not going to sit here and argue with you about this. I'm going after Sonic before the pink brat gets there to hurt him. And you need to learn to be more sympathetic and caring for those around you. Imagine what Sonic has to go through day in and day out with you and Amy acting like this? I can't believe you would even say this."

"Tch. Whatever. You'll see, I'm right when I say Sonic needs to change and Amy is the solution."

"..." Knuckles couldn't believe the audacity and smugness Tails radiated with his statement. The echidna merely left without correcting Tails and was out the house in under a minute with his shoes and raincoat on and hoping to reach Sonic before Amy does.

Ahhhhh! I swear Shadow, Rouge, and Sonic are coming up in the next chapter I just needed to get some more of Knuckles in here to give y'all a more clear outlook on him! Hope y'all enjoyed I got to 2k words on this chapter, please R&R your ideas, comments, or concerns and have fabulous nights and days! :D