Daily log, March 2nd, 1 A.E. Knuckles the Echidna reporting.

Things have definitely calmed down a bit around here. Metal Sonic and SCOPE are still out there, of course, but they haven't reared their ugly heads in over a month. We're still keeping an eye out, but we can't forget that we still have a bigger war to fight.

Our resources have started running down a bit. No one here is starving, but we're moving through them faster than we're getting more, especially since our numbers keep growing. I've had to resort to some…more difficult methods of keeping our supply cave stocked. It's a long walk to Casino Night Zone, but it's the only place where our Rings are any good these days. And the only place where no one asks questions.

—–—

Emerald Canyon — Rebel Camp Alpha

Knuckles walks through the canyon carrying an impressively large crate filled to the brim with food supplies, large enough that he is forced to press the side of his face against it for support.

"Hey, Knuckles!" Captain Johnnathan Naka runs in from the side, waving a hand in greeting.

Not stopping, and not risking any abnormal movement carrying the heavy load, Knuckles still greets in a slightly exasperated voice, "Hey Johnny."

"Looks like a nice haul you got there."

Knuckles agrees, "Yeah, got pretty lucky, found some good deals. Spent all the Rings I brought, though."

"Need a rest? I can take that the rest of the way."

"What? No, no, I'm fine. And, no offense, but I think this one might be a bit heavy for…" He trails off.

Johnny curtly finishes, "For a human?"

"I didn't mean that, I just meant you specifically. I mean, you're…not exactly a bodybuilder."

Johnny rolls his eyes. "Well that makes me feel better. You know, combat training isn't exactly made for the weak and scrawny. I can handle a heavy load. In fact, I insist."

"No, really, don't worry about it."

Johnny places a hand under the crate, insisting, "You've given me something to prove now, and I'm not letting this go. Just let me carry the box."

"I really don't think that's–" In a sudden fumble, Knuckles nearly trips over himself, and the box is dropped, forcing both of them to jump backwards.

Johnny immediately bends down to pick it back up. "Honestly, I…" As he glances up at Knuckles, a look of surprise appears in his face. He repeats, "…Eye…?"

Previously hidden by the box against his face, the flesh around Knuckles' right eye has grown dark and swollen, and the edges of the eye itself have gone red. Only slightly less noticeable is a cut on the same side of his lip. He quickly covers up the black eye with both hands. "Don't look at it!" He frantically rearranges his hands, but consistently fails to cover up the entire injury. "D-don't say anything!" Uncharacteristically, Knuckles turns and runs the other way, covering up his face as he goes.

Johnny scratches at his head in confusion. "Well that was strange…"

Sonic the Hedgehog: The Chaos Project

Season 2, Episode 7

Casino Fight Zone

Written by ChaosProjectAuthor

Knuckles grimaces as he applies an ice pack to his face.

Charmy advises, "You'll have to reapply that ice pack every hour for the rest of the day. If you do, you should see it start to heal up in a week or so."

Tails nods in satisfaction. "You're really getting the hang of this, Charmy."

Vector and Espio appear to be watching in the background as well. Espio holds out his hand expectantly. Vector grumbles angrily as he reluctantly places something in Espio's hand. "Stupid bet…"

Sonic, standing at the entrance to the med tent, crosses his arms. "Alright, Knuckles. Time to talk. What happened to you? Why'd I hear that you were injured from Johnny instead of from you? Did you honestly think you could hide an injury like that for over a week?"

"It's not an injury, it's just a bruise. I…I fell, okay? And I was embarrassed about it. So leave me alone."

"Yeah, that's exactly the trouble. It was one thing when these supply runs were just a quick trip over to Westside Village, but now that you're going out farther, I can't have you going out alone anymore. From now on, these supply runs are a minimum two-person mission."

"Sonic, don't be ridiculous! That's a waste of manpower. I can do this on my own, I just tripped is all."

"Well, whoever goes with you next time can watch you to make sure you don't trip."

"But–"

"That's an order, Knuckles. You know I don't like saying that, so stop making me."

Knuckles grumbles something under his breath, but doesn't verbally object.

—–—

One week later…

"I may've collected a lot of Rings over the years, Knuckles, but even my supply won't hold out forever." Sonic places a capsule of 100 Rings onto the desk, and slides it across to Knuckles, whose black eye has healed only slightly.

"I don't think we have much of a choice. Ever since Eggman started circulating that new Imperial currency, Rings have become practically worthless." Knuckles takes the capsule anyways. "The longer we wait to spend these, the less we can get out of them."

"A currency that only has value because Eggman says so." Sonic shakes his head in disbelief. "Barbaric."

"Is it really much different? Didn't Rings only have value because people said so?"

"Not true at all. Rings have an actual use. They put off a small magnetic field, which is useful for generating power—not to mention repelling robots and energy attacks when they get too close. And then there's the fact that they naturally hold small amounts of Chaos energy. Rings have an inherent value. These, uhh…what does Eggman call them? Yolks? These Yolks are a joke."

"Well, these Yolks can buy us a lot more food than these Rings can. You can't exactly claim that the system isn't working."

"Yeah, whatever. Just take 'em and go. Stretch 'em out as far as you can."

"That's the plan." Knuckles turns and waves a hand in farewell.

"Oh, one other thing."

Knuckles stops.

"Rouge will be going with you."

"What? Rouge!? Why her!?"

—–—

"Aww, does that mean you don't want to spend time with me, Knuckies? I'm hurt."

Carrying a pack over his shoulder, Knuckles scowls silently ahead as he and Rouge trek out of the canyon.

"And here I thought you might actually be getting used to having me around again. Don't you trust me?"

"I did trust you. With a shard of the Master Emerald. And you brought it to Eggman."

"You're really still mad about that? Eggman never even knew that I had it, he had to go through the effort of getting Heavy Magician to steal one for him instead. And I got mine back to you as soon as I could. Then I basically took a bullet for you. How are you not satisfied?"

"You have the wrong idea. I just need an excuse to make you leave."

"That's still pretty harsh."

"I don't need a babysitter. And I certainly don't need it to be you."

"Always a matter of pride with you, isn't it, Knuckles? It's just a supply run, what's the big deal? It's not like anyone's trying to steal your glory in a big battle or something."

"Well, if you really think it isn't important, maybe you should just turn around now and let me handle this on my own."

"Nuh uh uh, tough guy. Sonic's orders. I couldn't let you out of my sight, even if I wanted to." She raises her eyebrows suggestively.

Knuckles rolls his eyes with an audible groan of disgust.

—–—

Casino Night Zone

"Now this is my kind of town." Rouge looks around in awe at the streaking neon lights, loud sounds, and decorative architecture of the casino city. Both she and Knuckles have donned hooded black outfits, concealing their identities.

Knuckles looks up at a massive, building-sized neon depiction of Eggman's face. "Is it really?"

As they walk through the streets, Rouge continues to look back and forth across the bright city skyline. Knuckles places a hand over Rouge's head, and forcefully pushes down. "Keep your head down."

"Hey! Hands off!" She swats his hand away.

Ignoring her, he adds, "And don't, steal, anything."

"Steal? Me? What kind of common crook do you take me for? I only steal when it's for a good cause."

"Like your pocketbook?"

"Like the you-know-what that we're a part of and is in desperate need of supplies?"

"No. We're not stealing from innocent civilians, and we don't want to attract any attention. Just stay down, stay quiet, and stay behind me." He leads them into a dark, narrow alleyway.

Rouge's expression rapidly changes from enthralled to creeped out as they walk deeper in.

Finally, Knuckles stops in front of a plain metal door. With the back of his fist, he knocks against the door five times in a deliberate pattern. Almost immediately, the sound of a lock being pulled back responds, and the door is opened from the inside.

The animoid waiting on the other side, tall and portly with black and white fur, perhaps a skunk, welcomes with open arms, "Well, if it isn't my favorite anonymous customer. And I see you brought a friend." He gives Rouge a wink. "Hello, lovely lady."

Rouge lets out a disgusted scoff as Knuckles is led inside. Knuckles immediately begins, "Not a lot of time today, Clancy. Just here for a currency exchange."

The skunk, Clancy, takes a seat behind the desk set up in the small, dingy room. "Aww, is that all? Disappointing. But business is business. How much you got for me?"

Knuckles pulls the Ring capsule out of his pack, and places it down on the desk. "Hundred. All uncirculated."

"Circulation doesn't mean much anymore, my friend. It's all illegal to carry either way. Not that I let that deter me. But the value just keeps going down, I'm afraid."

"Can you exchange it, or not?"

"Of course. Anything for you." Clancy leans in to take a closer look at the capsule. "Let's see…for these, I can probably get you…fourteen yolks."

Rouges suddenly exclaims, "Fourteen!? That's barely enough to buy a loaf of bread! Those Rings are worth as much as your lousy life!"

Knuckles shoots her an intense glare as he holds out a hand in front of her. "Ignore her. We'll take the yolks."

Rouge presses, "But–"

Knuckles silences her with an even angrier glare.

As Clancy prepares a small stack of orange paper bills plastered with Eggman's face, he says, "I'm afraid this is all I can offer you. Of course, if you're interested, my dear, there are always…" He leans uncomfortably close to Rouge. "…other ways of making up that difference. You look like you got some–"

Knuckles curtly interrupts, "She's not interested." He swipes the money out of the skunk's hand. "We're leaving." He turns for the door.

Clancy calls after him, "Will I be seeing you again next week?"

Knuckles stops for only a moment. "Maybe sooner."

Clancy smirks. "That's what I like to hear."

—–—

"How could you let that guy rip you off like that!? How are we supposed to get the rest of the supplies we need now!?"

Just as Rouge suggested, they appear to have bought a loaf of bread, though a comically large one that sticks out of Knuckles' pack and reaches high above his head. "Just calm down. We'll have to see what we can forage up on the way back. You don't want to tangle with that guy, trust me."

"First of all, never tell a lady to calm down. Second, you're Knuckles the Echidna! You could've clobbered that bozo!"

"I already told you, we're not stealing anything. And keep your voice down, we don't want people to hear who we are."

"You said we're not stealing from innocent people. That was the shadiest rathole I've ever been in, and I used to live in a place like that, so I would know. That smuggler wouldn't have missed the extra cash if you'd put on a little pressure."

"That's not what this is about. If I wanted your opinion, I wouldn't have been asking you to leave."

"Sounds to me like you're just scared."

Knuckles comes to a sudden stop. "I fear no one."

"I think you're so afraid of getting caught that you aren't willing to get things done."

"Take that back."

"Oh, sorry. Maybe you're not scared. Maybe you're just a big jerk who doesn't care that his friends are all going to starve at this rate. But I guess I shouldn't be surprised. What did you ever care about, other than that Master Emerald of yours?"

"That's right, my Emerald. Keeping talking, and I might decide to take your piece of it back again, bat girl."

"Oh, I'd like to see you try."

"Careful what you wish for. You might just get it." Their faces now inches apart, the two glare at one another intensely.

A very young child's voice interrupts, "Excuse me, sir?"

Knuckles turns to the source of the voice. Down near his knees, two young animoid kittens, possibly siblings, stare up at him with wide eyes. He kneels down to get closer to their level. "Well, we meet again."

Rouge questions, "You know these kids?"

The slightly older one continues, "We noticed you were getting some more food, and…we were wondering if you might be able to share some more."

Knuckles explains, "These two came asking me the same thing last week."

The younger one adds, "Our Mama's sick. She can't work."

Knuckles gives a gentle smile. "I'd be happy to help." He reaches back and breaks off a sizable portion of the massive bread loaf. One of the children starts to reach out for it, but Knuckles keeps it back. "But this time, only if you promise to do one little favor for me." Knuckles reaches back into his pack, this time digging around a bit before finding what he needs. Rouge watches over his shoulder, trying to catch a glimpse of something in the pack as she hears the sound of clinking metal. Knuckles takes out the object he was looking for, and quickly closes up the pack. "Now, don't tell anybody, don't show anybody, but when no one's looking, I want one of you to take this sticker, and slap it up somewhere people can see it later." He hands the sticker over to the older one. It depicts the familiar two-Emerald emblem of the Rebellion. "Can you do that for me?"

The kitten looks up from the emblem to Knuckles' face. "Wow…you're with the Rebellion…" He looks over to his sibling, and they both echo at once, "Cool!"

Knuckles holds a finger up over pursed lips, swearing them to silence, as he hands the piece of bread over to the younger one. "Shh…"

The children excitedly run off, giggling as they go.

As Knuckles stands back up, Rouge questions, "What was that about?"

"Even though it's been a couple months now, most of the world still doesn't know that we managed to swipe a Chaos Emerald from Eggman. Just getting the word out."

"Aren't you worried those kids'll get caught?"

"Can't happen. Haven't you noticed anything strange around here?"

"Strange how?"

"We haven't run into a single Eggman robot since we got here. That's because there aren't any. There's a global curfew under the Empire, but most gambling tends to happen well after that hour. This Casino is one of Eggman's biggest funders, so to keep it coming, he looks the other way. No enforcers anywhere in the city. That's also how smugglers like Clancy are able to operate without getting caught."

"How do you know all that?"

"You tend to hear things when you come here as often as I do." Knuckles throws his pack back over his shoulder, and resumes their walk down the road.

"Hey…Knuckles? I'm…sorry…for what I said."

Knuckles doesn't seem particularly moved by the apology. "Why the change of heart?"

"Well, I guess I forget sometimes that under that thick skin of yours, you're…one of the most kind and caring people I know." She adds with a wink, "And good with kids, to boot."

Knuckles rolls his eyes. "Ugh. I'm not sure what I hate more between the flirting and the complaining."

"Both excellent ways for a lady to get what she wants."

"And what exactly is it that you want?"

Rouge feigns surprise. "Knuckles, are you implying something?"

"Huh?"

"No, I see you're as oblivious as always. What I want right this second is to know why you keep making such a big deal about not wanting me around."

"You mean, besides the flirting and the complaining?"

"Yeah. Besides that."

"Well…yeah, no, that's pretty much the heart of it."

"So it's just my personality?"

"Yep."

"Gee. Thanks."

"Any time."

Shrugging it off, Rouge starts to look around. "You know, we still have a yolk or two left over. If we took it to the slots, we might be able to make enough back to—"

Knuckles suddenly lets out a loud gasp.

"What, what is it?"

He glances around nervously. "I-I just realized, I forgot something. You should keep going, I'll catch up." He turns to run in the direction they came from, but then he stops. "And no gambling!" Rouge raises a finger as if to ask a question, but Knuckles preempts, "No stealing, either!" He runs off.

Rouge watches as he disappears around a corner. "'Forgot something'? Really, Knuckles? Was that your idea of subtle?" She shakes her head and shrugs her shoulders with a sigh. "At least I finally get to figure out what all this is really about." She walks to follow him at a casual pace. "Honesty, you could have made it a little harder for me."

—–—

Rouge arrives in the same alleyway from before, finding the metal door into Clancy's hideout being hurriedly shut. She walks up to the door, and puts an ear up against it. The sounds of fading steps can be heard.

Rouge knocks on the door with the same pattern that Knuckles used earlier. For a moment, there is no response.

Then an unfamiliar voice announces on the other side, "Twenty yolks."

"Twenty yolks!?"

The voice answers, "Ticket fee. You have it or not?"

Rouge stops to think for a moment. "I'm…not here for the…event. I have…a business proposition. For Clancy. I need to speak with him personally."

The voice goes quiet for a moment. "…No ticket fee, no entry. Them's the rules. Unless you's a participant. Which you isn't."

Rouge hesitates for another moment. "Well…if you want to be the one to explain to him why I took the proposition we talked about to the guys on the other side of town instead…" Rouge makes a point of turning and beginning to walk away at the last few words.

"Wait." The locks behind the door are audibly slid open, and Rouge smirks at her success. The door is opened by a short animoid with a pointed nose, most likely a rat. "Just don't tell 'im how you got in." He stands to the side, opening the way to the back of the room, where a large panel in the floor has been lifted away to reveal a stairway leading underground. "You know where to find him."

"Of course." Rouge strolls past the rat confidently. "Why wouldn't I?" She moves straight for the stairs, not allowing a single glance backwards. The farther down she goes, the darker it seems to get. She mutters to herself, "Something smells rotten around here… And it isn't just the skunk smell." Light comes through from a turn at the bottom of the steps, where an odd, continuous sound can also be heard. Rouge is forced to cover her eyes as she steps into the surprisingly bright beam.

Spotlights shine in on the center of the impressively large underground stadium, seats packed nearly full with chattering spectators, mostly animoid, though with a small number of humans scattered throughout.

"What in the world would Knuckles be doing in a place like this…?" She walks towards the arena in the center for a closer look. Surrounded by a low rope wall, the elevated, circular fighting arena is split into two halves, red and blue, with a small set of steps leading up to each side.

Over a loudspeaker, an announcer's voice suddenly declares, "Ladies and gentlemen, we've at last come to the final round of the Casino Night Tournament of the Fighters! In the blue corner, we have our challenger!" The crowd cheers as a tall, muscular animoid, clothed in a tight green suit with an orange wrestler's mask, steps up his stairs and into the blue half of the arena. "Returning for a rematch after a close call last week, our challenger has no intention of losing a second time. Hailing from the frigid north, this polar bear is two hundred pounds of bark and bite—and you wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of either one. It's…the Arctic Crusher!" The fighter props his fists against his hips in a pose of strength, and the crowd begins to cheer.

"And in the red corner waits our returning champion! Hailing from a tribe of ancient warriors, this brawler is gracing our ring with the skills of his ancestors once again! Give it up for the Masked Guardian!" The spotlights shift to the opposite side of the ring, where the challenger waits. Still wearing his black hooded cloak, he's also donned a pair of thick, padded gloves, a familiar brown hat, and a feathered metal mask that gives him the appearance of an Echidna Chief.

Rouge sees right through the thin disguise. "Knuckles!?"

Knuckles apparently does not notice her, as he looks only to his opponent through the jagged eye holes of his mask. "Back for more, eh? And here I thought I sent you packing last week."

The Arctic Crusher pounds his fists together in challenge, not saying a single word.

"Well, then I guess it's time for another lesson."

The excitement in the crowd picks up. The announcer declares, "The match is about to begin!" Knuckles and his opponent take up fighting stances. "Ready… Go!"

The Arctic Crusher makes the first move, slamming his fists into the ground hard enough to send an intense ripple through the mat on the ground, heading straight for Knuckles. Knuckles leaps into the air to avoid being tripped, and dives straight for his opponent. The Crusher throws up his arms in a block, just as Knuckles' fist connects, allowing him to easily push Knuckles away and onto the ground. Unrelenting, the Crusher prepares to pound a fist into the spot where Knuckles has fallen onto the ground. Knuckles rolls out of the way, and the fist collides with the ground next to his face. He leaps up into an uppercut, but the Crusher continues his own movement into a kick which solidly impacts Knuckles' chest, sending him flying back.

"Ooh, that one looked like it hurt! But our champion doesn't go down so easily!"

With a clear grunt of pain, Knuckles gets back to his feet. The Crusher is already charging at him. Knuckles dives to the side, but the Crusher rebounds off of the ropes behind him, and leaps back in for a full body press. Rather than dodge, Knuckles ducks down and grabs the Crusher from underneath, using the full force of his attack to throw him overhead, right over the ropes and onto the hard ground beyond.

"And that's a Ring Out! We have our winner! The Masked Guardian has won the round and defended his title!" The crowd goes wild.

Knuckles hardly seems to notice, as his attention has become locked on the person standing right next to the spot where his opponent landed. Rouge stares up at him with crossed arms and a disapproving glare.

—–—

Rebel Camp Alpha

Charmy wraps a tight bandage around Knuckles' chest. "We've gotta stop meeting like this."

Tails comments from behind him, "Trust me, you'll be seeing a lot of Knuckles around here. Definitely our most accident-prone patient."

Knuckles complains, "Hey!"

Sonic rolls his eyes. "You don't get to complain right now, Knuckles." He shakes his head with a sigh. "Tell me one more time, let me make sure I understand this. You've been beating people up…for money?"

"No, I haven't–…" Knuckles stops to think for a moment. "Well, I guess, technically…"

"There's nothing technical about this, Knuckles! Have you completely lost it!?"

"I don't see what the big deal is, anyways. These fighting matches are going on with or without me. I'm just making sure the prize money goes to a good cause."

"The big deal!? You're kidding me, right? Let's pretend that this isn't a big risk to your identity. Let's pretend that doesn't put all the rest of us at risk, too. Let's pretend that you aren't hurting yourself by doing this. It's still wrong! We're supposed to be using our abilities to protect people, but you're using yours to hurt people!" Sonic suddenly looks to Rouge. "And you let him do this!?"

Rouge holds her hands up innocently, and fibs, "Hey, don't look at me. By the time I caught up with him, he already had the prize money. Figured we might as well not let it go to waste."

Knuckles presses, "I'm only fighting people who signed up to be there like me. You're making it sound like I'm mugging people. Besides, it's not a bad thing we're doing. We're sticking it to Eggman! We're breaking his rules, giving the people some enjoyment. Seriously, you should see how many people–"

Sonic interrupts, "That's not the point, Knuckles. And if you really believed that, you wouldn't have been hiding it from us. How long has this been going on?"

Knuckles sighs. "A while. Eight or nine months."

"Months!?" Sonic sighs once again. "Knuckles, you're off supply duty. Rouge can handle it in your place. From now on, you only leave the camp for approved missions."

"What!? Sonic, you can't do that! This is how we afford the supplies we need! If I don't keep doing this, we won't last the rest of the year!"

"Then we'll start rationing more strictly. And I'll ask Cream to expand the garden. There's no way I'm letting you continue with this."

Without another word, Knuckles stands up and marches out angrily.

—–—

Knuckles sits atop a high stack of crates in the camp supply cave, staring up at the ceiling with a grumpy expression. Although there are still many supplies in the space, almost as many of the crates appear to be empty.

"I thought I might find you here."

Knuckles looks down slowly at Rouge, his expression not changing. "What are you doing here?"

Rouge walks over to him slowly from the mouth of the cave. "Seemed like you could use someone to talk to." She takes a look around as she stops near his feet. "What is it about this cave with you, anyways? I hear you always come here when you're miffed. You haven't been afternoon snacking, have you?"

Knuckles sighs as he leans back on his perch. "I guess…I just feel better about myself when I'm guarding something. It's what I was born to do, after all."

Rouge suddenly leaps up, flying around to stick her feet to the ceiling, so she can look at Knuckles upside-down at eye level. "Is that what all this was about to you? You thought you were protecting all of us by keeping us fed? Protecting us from the truth that we didn't have enough food to survive?"

Knuckles watches with a scowl as Rouge sways back and forth slightly, continuing to stare at him upside-down. "Could you not do that? It's distracting."

Rouge ignores the request. "You didn't answer my question."

"Sure. Something like that, I guess."

"And it's not at all about scratching the itch to fight?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"Oh, come now, Knuckles, we both know you've always been a fighter at heart. You aren't happy if you don't have something to punch."

"That's not true at all. You know, my life was pretty peaceful before Sonic walked into it." He dwells on that for a moment, letting out a brief chuckle.

"Did I miss something funny?'

"You know, maybe you do have a point. I'd like to think that I'd rather go back to my life the way it was before I met Sonic. But…I guess a lot's changed since then. Sonic showed me…a completely different way of life. Not just passively protecting the things that matter, but…acting to keep them safe. Using your own gifts to keep the world safe. My world used to be an island. Now, that island is gone. But I have a bigger world instead. Even if it were possible, I could never go back to who I used to be—because then I'd be abandoning my world. So yeah. Maybe I'm not happy if I'm not fighting the things that threaten this world. Maybe… I don't know. Just thinking out loud, I guess."

"No, go on. This whole 'thinking' deal looks good on you, you should try it more often."

Knuckles glares at her silently.

"Okay, I admit it, that was a mean thing for me to say. Please, continue."

Knuckles closes his eyes as he thinks a little harder. "Lately…it's been feeling like…we're wasting time. So many of us are left to sit around here at the base, waiting for the next problem to come up. I know Sonic's doing everything he can, but…what are we really accomplishing? It took us an entire year to get just one Chaos Emerald, and it seems like that's the only thing resembling progress that we've made. So is that the only progress we can make? Is this going to take us another five years? Is that how long we've committed to this war? Will that even be enough? It seems wrong. That shouldn't be our only option. And that shouldn't be Sonic's plan, not the Sonic that I know. It makes me mad. It makes me…furious. Most of us have powers beyond anything that anyone else can do. That should be enough. We should be taking this world back, not waiting for one miracle after another to happen."

"Have you tried talking to Sonic about this?"

"I don't have to. Because every time I see him, I hear it in his voice that he knows this just as well as I do. And I think it makes him as mad as it makes me. And neither of us can really do anything about it. The odds are just stacked too high. So here we are, waiting around. And I guess…if I'm using my strength in a way that could help us win the war, even if only a little bit, then…that way, at least I'm not doing nothing. So maybe you're exactly right. Maybe I'm not happy if I'm not punching something. Not happy if I'm not using my power to do good."

"You know, when you put it that way, it almost sounds noble."

"One thing's for sure. If we don't find a way to keep funds coming in, we aren't going to last the rest of the year, let alone five."

"Well, I'm sure I can handle it. I could always go out and steal a few—…"

Knuckles silences her with a glare.

"Kidding, kidding." She mutters to herself, "Mostly…"

Knuckles rolls his eyes as he leans back again. "Talking to you is a waste of time. Just leave me alone."

Rouge seems offended. "Waste of time? And here I thought I'd just helped you learn a few things about yourself. You know me, always doing my best to help others."

Knuckles scoffs loudly. "Sure. Once you're all finished helping yourself, first."

"Well now who's the one being hurtful?"

"You want to talk about being hurtful? You didn't have to report this to Sonic. But I guess you care more about staying in his good graces than you do about the rest of us surviving. That sure hurt me."

"Well now you're just being a baby, whining about tattletales. Why don't you get off your high horse and admit that you're the one who got caught breaking the rules?"

"I did that to protect everyone! Why can't you seem to get that through your head!?"

"I'm not trying to tell you that you did anything wrong, just that you can't go blaming other people when your own decisions catch up with you! It's your problem!"

"I take care of my problems by myself, so why don't you just leave me alone!?"

"Fine! Maybe I will!" Rouge drops from her spot on the ceiling, lands upright on the ground, and turns to walk away. "Just don't come crying to me next time a stupid decision comes back to bite you."

Knuckles scoffs even more loudly than before. "Whatever."

As Rouge steps into the open air outside, she stops and looks down to the ground. "Well…so much for getting his help with this."

—–—

One week later…

Rouge knocks against a solid metal door with a familiar pattern.

The voice on the other side answers, "Twenty-five yolks."

Rouge is about to respond, but stops as she realizes something. "Wasn't it twenty?"

"Uhh… Yeah. Twenty. That's what I meant to say."

"Well, you're not getting it from me either way. I'm a participant."

—–—

Rouge has been seated in a posh box-shaped room with wide windows that look out at the stadium below. "Pretty nice deal you've got yourself, here. Just how many businesses do you run?"

Clancy sits across from her at a polished wooden desk. "More than I allow any one person to know about. Normally I only allow my most trusted associates in here, but for you, I make an exception. I was very pleased to hear that you changed your mind about my offer. I knew I saw some fight in you."

"I'm here for the money. How much do I get if I go through with this?"

"You understand, of course, that this is not a job you're being hired for. If you win the tournament, you take home the prize pool. If you don't, you'll just have to try again next week. I do hope that you'll be coming as often as your friend."

"That's the plan."

"Well then, you're in luck. Tonight's prize pool is the largest we've ever held. Last week's tournament encouraged a few other new participants to step up as well. If you impress the crowds, we may be able to keep up these high numbers. Now, before we move on here…what's this I hear about a 'business proposition'?"

"Oh, that? That was just a fib to get me in here last week."

Clancy lets out a hearty laugh. "Well, I respect the hustle. Don't do it again."

"Shouldn't be a problem."

"That leaves us with just one other order of business. What will your future fans be calling you?"

—–—

"Stepping up into the blue corner is our up-and-coming challenger! Treasure disappears as she goes—look away, and you'll never know! Tonight, this master thief has come hoping to take the grand prize! It's the Night Bat!" Dressed in all black, Rouge winks to the audience, and they enthusiastically cheer.

"And in the red corner, her final opponent! Looking for adventure wherever she can find it, this lemur knows how to play it rough! It's the Tail Twister!" Wearing a striped black bodysuit with a bright orange mask over her head, the Tail Twister steps up into her corner, waving her long tail to the audience as if it were a hand.

Rouge takes up a fighting stance. "Don't expect me to go easy on you, kid."

The Tail Twister nods her head down in response. "Likewise."

"The match is about to begin!" All of the lights center on the ring. "Ready… Go!"

Rouge leaps in on the offensive, aiming for a direct kick. The Tail Twister smirks, and swings her tail around from behind, stretching it out far enough to wrap around Rouge's leg, stopping her dead in the air. The Twister taps her foot and pretends to yawn as she uses her tail to swing Rouge in circles over her head, finally stopping to slam her into the ground.

Rouge struggles to get back to her feet, muttering, "Knuckles made this look so much easier…" She is suddenly forced to roll out of the way before the Twister's tail can slam down onto the spot where she was lying. She leaps into the air before the tail, continuing to slide across the ground, can strike her in the side. Rouge remains flying in the air, watching her opponent carefully. The Twister's tail rises from the ground, and lashes out for a direct strike. Rouge flies straight backwards to keep out of its way, until finally, the tail stretches taught, freezing just inches from her face. She smirks. "Found your limit."

The Twister shouts from the ground, "Hey, no fair! Get back down here!"

"If you insist." Rouge grabs the tail and pulls, flinging herself back towards the ground. She reorients herself feet-first, spinning into a drill kick. The Twister barely leaps out of the way, but then her tail snaps back, hitting herself in the face.

"Ow, ow, ow." While the Twister holds a hand over her nose, Rouge leaps in for another kick. The Twister reaches out to grab with her tail once again, but this time, Rouge feints to the side, grabbing the tail and twisting herself around to lift the Twister from the ground, and throw her right out of the ring.

"It looks like the Tail Twister is all tangled up! That makes the Night Bat our winer!" The crowd goes wild.

Clancy, watching from the sidelines, gives a satisfied nod. "Whaddaya know? The crowd loves you. That spiral kick move was very impressive. Make sure you use it in the final round."

Rouge raises an eyebrow as she leans over the ropes. "Final round? Didn't I just win?"

"Not quite. Now that you've proven yourself to be the best of our challengers, you have to face our champion before you can claim the title for yourself. And I think you'll find this one to be a much more suitable challenge."

Rouge turns nervously back to the other side of the ring. "You don't mean…?"

"The time has come once again for the championship round! The Night Bat has fought her way to the top and earned the right to face off against our defending champion—the undefeated brawler, the master of scrappers—stepping up into the red corner, it's the Masked Guardian!"

Knuckles and Rouge lock eyes at the same moment, and both at once demand, "You! What're you doing here!?"

Rouge is the first to answer, "Me? I'm trying to pick up where you left off, you said I needed to find some way to—"

"You, replace me in a fighting tournament, that's a laugh! I told you that I needed to find a way to keep this going, and that's exactly what I'm doing!"

"You snuck out against orders!? I told you I can handle this!"

Murmurs of confusion spread through the audience. The announcer interrupts, "Well…it would appear that our two contestants have some history together. You know what that means!"

The audience begins to chant, "Cage, cage, cage!"

Rouge glances over her shoulder to Clancy. "Did they say 'cage'?"

As if in answer, a massive barred cage drops down from the ceiling, sealing off the ring with a loud thud. Rouge grabs onto the bars, glaring out at Clancy, and demands angrily, "Hey, let us out of here! This isn't what I signed up for!"

"I'm afraid, Ms. Bat, that this is exactly what you signed up for." He moves a microphone up to his mouth, and begins to announce to the audience, "Here at the Casino Night Tournament of the Fighters, we take the notion of a fair fight very seriously. That's why, in circumstances such as this, we implement a very special set of rules. For this cage match, a Ring Out victory will be impossible. The match will continue until a contestant has been knocked out, ensuring that both fighters give their all."

Rouge crosses her arms. "And what if we just don't fight? You can't keep us locked in here all night."

Clancy smirks. "In addition, both contestants will be receiving electric shocks of increasing intensity, until such time as a winner has been declared."

"Electric shocks!? Are you trying to kill us!?"

A buzzing noise sounds out, and Rouge grunts in pain as she throws her hands off of the bars. The crowd cheers fervently. Once the buzzing stops, Rouges glares out at them with irritation. "What a bunch of savages…"

Clancy has put the microphone down. "That was setting number one. I suggest you win the match before we reach number nine. Good luck."

Rouge continues to glare angrily at Clancy as the announcer declares, "The match is about to begin! Ready… Go!"

Rouge finally turns back to the ring, still glaring at the ground. "Alright, we have to— Whoa!" Rouge dives to the side just in time to avoid Knuckles' fist, slamming into the cage bars behind her with a loud clang. "What do you think you're doing!?"

Knuckles shakes off his fist as he turns to face her. "What does it look like I'm doing? I'm winning." He charges in for another punch.

Rouge leaps backwards, but once she lands, another shock is sent through the ring, freezing them both in place. As Rouge shakes off the pain, she growls, "Would you just calm down for one second!? I'm trying to get us both out of here!"

"This is how we get out! One of us is dragging the other unconscious, and I'll be the one still standing!" He charges with his fist once again.

This time, Rouge leaps up and grabs ahold of the cage bars, climbing up out of reach. "What the heck is your problem!? I always thought you were a hothead, but this is ridicu—" Another buzz announces another shock, and this time, sparks fly as Rouge is dropped from her perch.

Fighting through his own pain, Knuckles takes advantage of her weakened position, and slams a fist into her as she falls, knocking her even harder into the ground. "This is for your own good. For all of ours."

Rouge struggles back to her feet, wiping off her face as she goes. "Okay… Maybe you do need a little sense knocked into you." She suddenly turns with a swift kick, but Knuckles throws up his arms in time to block.

"And the Night Bat is in on the offensive, dealing a ferocious barrage of kicks, leaving the Masked Guardian no time at all to move! But his defenses aren't going down so easily! He's being driven back step by step, but— Oh, and there's the next shocker, putting both fighters on the ground! It looks like the Guardian is back on his feet first, but he's sure looking worse for wear. He's readying his attack—but the Night Bat makes a swift retreat along the ground! She leaps up and over him—and it's the signature drill dive! The Guardian hops back just in time, and the attack misses its mark! Yeowch, those boots must be sharp! She's driven a hole right through the mat! Is that even legal!? Trick question! There are no rules in this arena! But she'd better get that boot unstuck before— Nope! Another hard shock, and it looks like she's really feeling this one! The Guardian's playing it smarter, he took a leap just before the shock started, and he's…still going! It's like he can fly! And the crowd is loving it! The ground's safe again, but it looks like he's going for the cage! Could he be going for the Night Bat's strategy from before? I wouldn't be avoiding the fight for too long if I were them! But, not to be outdone, it looks like the Night Bat is going for the opposite wall! And now they're both as high as they can go, staring each other down, waiting for the other to make a move! Ooh, the suspense is palpable!"

At the same moment, Rouge and Knuckles both leap from the walls, flying straight at one another. They collide in the center, and grapple in the air as they fall. They both hit the ground hard, and the loudest jolt of electricity yet sends them both writhing in pain.

Both panting with heavy breath, Rouge and Knuckles each climb back to their feet slowly. Rouge finally breathes, "You have to see… …that this is pointless. Neither of us is going down. Which means neither of us is walking out. And even if you win, you can't keep this up. Not anymore."

"If I quit now… …we're all done for."

"That's not true! We'll find another way! I can—"

"No! It has to be me! It has to be this!"

"That's absurd! You can't shoulder the weight of the world on your own!"

"It's the only way!" Blinded by a sudden fury, Knuckles lunges forward on the attack.

Rouge easily sidesteps the attack, grabs Knuckles' arm, and pulls him up into the air. The ever-louder buzzing sounds off beneath them, but they're both out of harm's way.

Knuckles shouts furiously, "Get your hands off of me!" He uses his free arm to punch right across Rouge's face, tearing his other arm free and falling to the ground, wincing in pain as the final second of electricity shoots through him. "Stop trying to save me."

"I don't understand…"

"If I can't beat any opponent in a fight, no matter who it is… …then what good am I?"

"Well sorry to break this to you… But you've met your match." With a renewed determination, Rouge drills straight downwards. Knuckles once again dives out of the way, and Rouge punctures yet another hole in the ground, not far from the first. This time, she escapes much more quickly, but Knuckles has already begun scaling the cage bars. Rouge watches him carefully from the ground. Knuckles leaps off from the wall and glides until he's straight over Rouge, then dives down with a drilling attack of his own. Rouge seizes the moment, grabbing the two holes she's made and pulling, tearing off a jagged section of the mat, and revealing a large and complex machine underneath. Just as the next buzz sounds off, Knuckles crashes into the machine with the full force of his strongest attack, causing it to explode.

Sparks and flaming pieces of machinery are sent flying in every direction, crashing through and knocking down cage bars, setting fire to the floor below. The audience begins to scream in a panic.
Clancy's voice echoes, "Stop! Don't leave! The match hasn't been decided yet! Any money spent on bets will not be refunded!" His words seem to do nothing, as the terrified crowd collectively shoves their way out through all available exits. The Tail Twister and the Arctic Crusher appear to be among them, doing their best to direct the crowds in an orderly fashion.

Knuckles shakily tries to push himself back off of the ground, but he collapses right down.

A hand is offered down to him. "Hey. I'm…sorry. If I hurt you." Knuckles takes Rouge's hand, and she pulls him up to his feet. "You know, I'm impressed. That was some pretty good acting."

"You…" Knuckles looks down to their linked hands. "You really wanted to hold my hand, didn't you?"

Rouge quickly rips her hand away in a show of disgust. "That's some way to thank the girl who just saved our lives, creep."

Knuckles starts to walk on ahead. "No matter what you say, it sounds crazy." He stops and glances back. "Oh, and…what did you mean 'acting'?"

Rouge matches stride beside him. "You're not saying that was all serious, are you? You…need some professional help." They both hop down through the broken cage.

Clancy looks nervously around at his burning stadium, realizing that he's become completely surrounded by flames. He turns at the sound of a fist being pounded into an open hand behind him.

Knuckles glares through his mask at Clancy as he repeats the gesture. "You and I need to have a talk, friend."

Sweating profusely, Clancy stutters, "H-h-hey, so, uh…I-I-I have a business proposition for the two of you. Let's say you…get a cut of all my profits from all my businesses, you'll never have to work again. A-a-and in exchange, you…don't crush my face?"

Knuckles looks over to Rouge questioningly. Rouge answers, "I don't know…crushing his face sounds like the much better deal right now."

"W-w-wait, no! P-please, no! Noooooo!"

—–—

In a familiar sight, Knuckles, along with Rouge, is seated in the med tent, both of them covered in bandages from burns and bruises.

Sonic holds his face in one hand in an expression of frustration. "Okay. So." He finally looks up at Rouge. "You invited him on a supply run, even though I clearly said he wasn't allowed to."

Rouge shrugs. "You said he could go on approved missions. I approved him for this one. You didn't expect me to carry all those supplies on my own, did you?"

Sonic chooses not to argue the point, turning to Knuckles instead. "And you are telling me that there just so happened to be a fire in the shop?"

Knuckles nods. "That's what I said. You know, it's a good thing I was there, otherwise—"

Sonic cuts him off with a hand. "Anything to do with this fire?" Sonic holds up a newspaper for both of them to see. "Just came hot off Press Garden."

The headline of the Eggsaminer reads, "Illicit Casino Night Arena Destroyed by Fire."

Sonic explains, "Says here there were no injuries, but that the manager of the operation was rescued by the two fighters—and promptly turned in to the police. Sound familiar?"

Knuckles and Rouge glance at each other for a moment, and they both agree, "Nope. Unrelated."

Sonic lets out another prolonged groan. "We can't keep going through this. These are supposed to be simple, but you two are making it more and more complicated. No more supply runs. For either of you. Understood?"

Rouge and Knuckles both nod.

"Good." Sonic's expression shifts slowly back to a smile. "Then there's one other thing." He takes out a decorated metal mask, and holds it out to Knuckles. "You left this mixed in with the supplies, Guardian. I wouldn't lose it if I were you. Could be a useful disguise later down the road." He hands it over with a wink.

Knuckles takes the mask with a silent look of surprise, and Sonic turns to exit.

Rouge and Knuckles sit in silence for a while, while Knuckles stares down at the mask.

Rouge finally questions, "So…what now?"

Knuckles shakes his head slowly. "The load we stole from Clancy's office, plus what I've been saving up the last few months, will last us a little while—or it'll last whoever's going instead of us, I guess. But after that? I don't know."

"We'd have a lot more if you didn't give so much of it away to those two kids. Or we could've just taken his offer, you know. Let him solve our money problems for us."

Knuckles shakes his head again. "That wouldn't be right. It's not right what I've been doing all this time. When I started working with him, I thought it didn't matter, because we're all criminals anyways. I pretended that he was just like us. But he isn't. He makes his money by ruining people's lives, and I don't want any part of that anymore."

"What are you gonna do now that you can't fight people to elevate your own self-worth?"

Knuckles glares over at her in suspicion at the backhanded question. Still, he answers, "I guess…I should probably thank you for helping me realize how stupid that was. Besides, I never lost a fight, so I'd say I'm in a pretty good place."

Rouge laughs. "Well, I suppose as long as you don't count that last one."

"What!? You're crazy. I was seconds off from taking you down."

"You were seconds off from collapsing. I had to help you up, remember?"

"That's because you blew up a machine in my face, that was cheating!"

"No rules in the arena, sugar. Like it or not, I won."

"Oh, that's it! We're going to settle this, right now!"

"Challenging an injured lady to a fight? Tactless as always, Knuckles."

"What kind of lady goes around entering illegal fighting tournaments, anyways!?"

The shouts of their argument ring out through the canyon, and for once, everything is normal.

To be continued…