Ayyy what's happening! So this is a what-if one-shot on how good Tikal would be if she got out of her pacificist habit for a bit. I went through their character info pages to get an idea on how they would perform so there will be things relating to the games and movie. As the summary describes, who will win in this friendly fight? Read on and find out!

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or locations. They belong to Sega.


Lover's Battle: A Knuxikal Story

It was a peaceful day up in Angel Island. The sun was shining, the wind was flowing through the vast regions it encompassed, and the tall mountains stood proudly in the middle of the floating atoll. Birds chirped as they flew in the sky and several animals that were on ground went on with whatever task they did to ensure they can go on for more. It was a very peaceful day indeed and it was a great time as well for a certain red echidna.

Knuckles was busy moving several large pieces of lumber he broke to an area next to the Emerald Altar. The great Master Emerald perched onto its center glowing its brilliant green light along with the Chaos Emeralds surrounding it with their own colors as well. It was a sight to be amazed of if anyone new to the island were to encounter it. For the red guardian it wasn't anything special, having protected the gems since he was born. He wouldn't argue why he had to do it, but he did it to prevent them from falling into the wrong hands. Not only that, but he also used to be the last echidna alive. Emphasis on 'used to'.

Tikal sat on top of the steps doing some knitting. It was a hobby of hers that she did a lot back then when she was living in her time. Due to the request of Knuckles pleading to the Master Emerald to not be alone anymore, the jewel granted his wish and revived her. They both got to know one another, fell in love, and did many things together such as exploration and a lot of kissing and mating. She couldn't be a lot happier than she was now, enjoying the peaceful day with her lover and knowing she'll be with him forever.

She was currently making a tribal poncho for Knuckles, seeing that he didn't have anything to keep warm besides the scarf she made for him earlier. The peach-colored echidna ensured her red protector was healthy and content, the latter doing the same as well. If one got sick then the other would make sure they were cared for; Knuckles tended to be more sick because of the more workload he did compared to Tikal. She didn't mind though, as it gave her A LOT more time to be with him and when he does get better do they get it on in bed afterwards.

"Well that's the last of it." Knuckles said, placing several chunks of wood in a neat pile next to the altar. "This will keep the fire going whenever it gets cold. Winter's almost here so gotta stay prepared."

The emerald guardian then walked towards the steps leading up to the Master Emerald, his eyes on the sole figure sitting on the very top. Tikal noticed him approaching and waved, a gentle smile on her face to which he returned. 'I'll never get tired of that. She's so beautiful.'

"All finished Knuckie?" Tikal asked, stopping her knitting to get up and get close to him with hands on his chest.

"Yup, got a good amount this time so I don't have to do it again until the end of the season." Knuckles replied. "This'll keep us warm so you don't have to worry about me getting cold anymore Tikie."

The orange echidna smiled and kissed him, the emerald guardian returning it with happiness and separating after a few seconds. "Good, and I'm also making you a poncho so you can wear when it does get cold."

"Hehe well alright. It'll be kinda strange for me since I've never worn anything to cover my upper body, but if it's from you I'll cherish it." Knuckles said. Tikal smiled and nodded, grabbing his hand and leading him to sit down next to her.

"I'm almost done so you can relax now. I don't believe we have anything else to do for today." she informed.

"That's good, now I can do what I do best." he grinned, his lover giggling to this and returning to her knitting.

It was a comfortable silence, Knuckles resting on a rock he placed behind him to lean on while Tikal continued making him the poncho. For the red echidna he simply laid there with eyes closed and a smile on his face, arms behind him to act as a pillow with his legs crossed.

'No Sonic, no Tails, no Eggman, no Rouge. Life is good now.' he thought, breathing gently as he felt the calm breeze hit his face. 'Not only that, but already a good amount of time with Tikal makes it all the better.'

Indeed, both Knuckles and Tikal have been together for some time now. Their relationship was so strong that when Sonic and Tails visited the island to see them, Sonic teased Knuckles about his encounters with Rouge to which Tikal simply shrugged off. The red echidna told her about the white batgirl long before the heroic duo arrived, and she felt no jealousy or anger since Knuckles stated beforehand that he felt nothing for Rouge. He told her how she constantly annoyed him and the many attempts she tried getting her hands on the emeralds. To her that was a definite sign that he wouldn't cheat on her for another to which Sonic was shocked, seeing that Tikal wasn't falling for his teasing. He received a scolding from Tails on it however to which the Blue Blur grinned sheepishly and congratulated them on their new bond. They left the next day with no issue.

The pair continued to enjoy the day with no interruptions, hearing the sounds of nature all around them and feeling the radiant power of the emeralds near them. Tikal hummed a bit while twirling the string between two sticks, adding more to the poncho as it got bigger. Knuckles on the other hand had a random thought which made him curious as he napped.

'If I remember, Tikal was trained to fight by her father. Though she doesn't like to fight since she hates violence, I wonder how good she is if she had to defend herself?' the emerald guardian mentally said. It was something out of the blue that came to him so he didn't think of it before. Now though he was peculiar to see if Tikal isn't as gentle as she appears. 'She doesn't look physically strong, but even then I can't judge a book by its cover.'

More time has passed and Knuckles was close to actually falling asleep. 'Maybe I should… nah I don't think she's willing to. I… think I'm starting to fall asleep…'

"I'm done Knuckie!"

Tikal's cheery shout awakened Knuckles, luckily he wasn't surprised by it. Her voice was something he could never get annoyed of, even if it were to interrupt his slumber. Rubbing eyes with a small yawn, he looked at his lover's slightly worried eyes. "Oh I'm sorry, did I interrupt your sleep?" she said.

"No, if it's you I'd never get annoyed. I'd rather be woken up by you than anything else." Knuckles replied with a smile. Tikal then picked up her finished result and showed it off to him. "Tada! It's big and warm and will fit you exactly!"

With a small laugh Knuckles got up and grabbed the poncho, putting it on as he stood. He turned his head all over his body, seeing the intricate patterns on it while admiring how comfortable and warm it was. "Wow, I'm really liking this!"

"Thank you Knuckie, anything for my wonderful guardian~." Tikal replied, standing up and going under the poncho. Knuckles was confused in this until her head popped up the upper hole where his head also went through. "I also made it so it fits both of us just in case."

"You don't cease to amaze me Tikie." he smiled, both closing the gap and kissing. They've done it so many times, but each kiss was an amazing experience for the pair and they would never get tired of it. Whether it be day, night or whatever time it was, the feelings of their lips against one another would always be a luxury they can enjoy.

Separating once again, Knuckles internally debated with himself. 'Should I tell her? I mean it doesn't hurt to ask?'

Tikal noticed his puzzled stare. "You okay Knuckie?"

'Ah to heck with it. Might as well.' Knuckles shook his head. "Oh uh yeah I'm good, but I've been wondering. You're a total pacifist right?"

A shot of confusion hit the echidna girl as she raised an eyebrow. "Why yes Knuckie I am. What would make you say that?"

"Oh no reason it's just um… I was wondering. Since you trained to fight under your father, I was maybe itching to see how you actually fight in self-defense?" the emerald guardian asked.

'Is he trying to…?' Tikal thought to herself. She knew it was a strange question for him to ask her, seeing that she doesn't like violence due to her traumatic experience in the past. He was curious though and since she didn't want to disappoint him, she gave her answer. "Well if you want to see… maybe we can do a friendly spar?"

Knuckles' eyes widened: he couldn't believe she agreed to this! And for her to spar against him of all people! "O-Oh um sure. Whenever you want to do it." he replied.

"We could do it right now if you'd like?" Tikal said, removing herself from the poncho and getting her knitting supplies together. "I may not like fighting, but I don't mind showing you what I can do."

'And maybe I can impress him with my fighting skills. Oh I'm not gonna like this at all, but for my Knuckie, I'll do anything~.'

In front of the Emerald Altar…

Knuckles and Tikal stood a good distance away from each other, separated by the large green landscape that laid out in front of the shrine. Both did a few warm up stretches to loosen up, knowing that the two echidnas want to prove how strong they are to one another.

The emerald guardian watched as his girlfriend locked her hands together and raised them high in the air, closing her eyes as she did so. 'Even if she didn't fight Chaos directly, I'm not planning on fooling around. I'll start off easy though.'

The orange-furred girl glanced at her boyfriend, seeing him twisting his waist back and forth by swinging his arms. 'I still don't like this idea, but this is my chance to show him that I can be strong as well. I can help out too!'

"Okay you ready Tikie!" Knuckles shouted from across the field. Tikal looked up after stretching her legs and nodded. "Yes, I'm ready!"

"This'll be a best two out of three match! Whoever downs the other twice will be the winner!" the red echidna informed. Tikal gave a thumbs up and got into a battle stance reminiscent of her people. "Okay!"

Knuckles got into position as well, pumping his fists together. "Alright, show me what you got." he whispered.

Round One: Knuckles – 0, Tikal – 0

Both opponents moved silently, walking to the side to find an opening. Knuckles' violet eyes were trained on Tikal's determined blue ones, seeing if she has anything planned with the latter doing the same as well.

WHOOSH!

Knuckles threw the first attack, throwing his fist forward so fast and strong that it created a pressured air wave heading straight towards Tikal. The air wave itself crossed the field within a second, approaching the orange-furred girl. 'Right let's see if she can-?!'

With no effort Tikal dodged the incoming attack, blowing past her quills. She countered by dashing across the field, becoming a blur as Knuckles quickly got ready.

'She moved away from it!' he thought as Tikal approached him and threw a series of fast punches. Knuckles blocked all of them while dodging several of them, feeling the powerful blows from each punch. Quickly did Tikal get low and threw a sweep kick, catching the emerald guardian off-guard as he fell towards the ground. At the last second however he placed a hand onto it and pushed himself up, doing several backflips to get some distance away from her.

'I did NOT expect that-?!' Knuckles stopped as Tikal was within arm's reach again, smirking deviously as she threw an uppercut. The male echidna leaned backwards quickly, the attack narrowly missing him as he saw an orange streak pass his vision. However he was too focused on dodging the current strike to see Tikal using her other arm…

POW!

"GAH!" Knuckles felt the full force of his girlfriend's punch landing into his mid-torso, sending him back a few feet. He also failed to notice a rock that was embedded into the earth which caused him to trip and fall on his back.

Feeling a bit of pain from the attack while shaking his head off, he looked up to see an incoming fist approaching fast. His eyes widened, shocked to even move as the punch got closer until it stopped an inch to his face. It was decided just from that move.

"Looks like I win this round Knuckie~." Tikal teased, reeling back her arm and putting both of them behind her back innocently. She smiled at him while sticking out her tongue playfully as she turned and got back to her initial position.

'Holy cow that was incredible! She would've made a fine warrior for the tribe!' Knuckles thought as he got back up, dusting himself as he too walked over to his previous starting point. 'Okay now let's kick it up a notch hehe.'

Round 2: Knuckles – 0, Tikal – 1

Tikal stared at her lover, confidence driving her as she took the first win.

'Alright I did it! He looked so shocked that I almost laughed at his face haha!' she mentally said, getting into her battle stance as Knuckles stretched a bit more. 'Just one more win and he'll see that I can hold my own just as well!'

Knuckles finished stretching and then looked back at her, his face morphing into a bored expression as his arms laid simply on his sides. Tikal was confused by this but kept her guard up. 'He may be planning something. After all he should know that approach already but I have something else as well.'

The two continued to stare at one another, except for the emerald guardian it looked like he just gazed at her without a care in the world. His eyes were unreadable and for the orange echidna, she still had a feeling he would do something soon.

WHOOSH!

And soon he did, approaching her in a zig-zag formation as shockwaves of air and speed rapidly came to her position. A red streak was left in his wake as Knuckles jumped into the air and prepared to land an overhead punch, Tikal looking as well as she lowered her stance… only for him to vanish immediately.

'Huh?! Where did he-?!'

"GOTCHA!"

Tikal's eyes widened at the voice behind her, feeling two strong hands grab her waist as the larger male instantly tossed her into the air. She yelped from it, flailing her limbs as her world was spinning and she couldn't control her flying. "WAAH!"

Another hand suddenly grabbed her in the air, watching in shock as Knuckles then threw her straight towards the earth as she approached it very fast. Acting quickly she extended her arms to catch herself once she was several feet away from the ground, except she never touched it. Yet another hand grabbed one of her ankles as she turned her head towards her boyfriend, a grin etched on his face as he chuckled a bit. She did not expect this at all, nor was the next action as Knuckles threw a hard kick into her back.

"AUGH!" Tikal felt sharp pain as well as the wind, flying across the field rapidly and heading towards a tree. The female echidna's blue eyes widened at this as she braced for the collision. Yet once again it never came, another large hand gripped her ankle and immediately stopping her.

She opened her eyes in shock and looked up to see Knuckles, but just for a second as within even less than that time did he push her leg so hard that she flipped back to his level. Only to see a fist coming at her faster than a bullet.

Tikal witnessed it but didn't process Knuckles stopping his fist and then grabbing her white top as he heaved her towards the ground in an overhead throw. The orange echidna felt the rush along with the grass quickly approaching towards her. 'NO NO NO NO NO-!'

And then her motion stopped. Her face was hovering several inches above the ground, cerulean eyes wide as dinner plates. She felt herself being turned and standing on her feet, the grip on her disappearing as she came face to face with Knuckles. A soft smile was ever present on his face. "Looks like I win this time Tikie."

For the red guardian however he saw that his girlfriend was trembling from the experience, scared out of her mind. 'Oh crap did I overdo it?!' he panicked, going to her and instantly giving her a hug as she wept a bit.

"I-I… I'm sorry my love." he whispered, rubbing her back gently and in a circle motion to ease any possible pain still there. She leaned into his chest, the male feeling wetness from his female which caused more guilt to flow through him. They stayed like that for several minutes, eventually hearing Tikal sniffling which meant she was calming down.

Knuckles pulled back a bit to stare into her puffy eyes. "I-If you want we can stop here. You already showed me how strong you-."

"No." she said.

Shock came to Knuckles, seeing her face turn into a determined one. "I wasn't expecting something like that and I know that you're the better fighter, but I want to keep going. I want to prove to you that I can do more than just tend for you." she said, giving one last sniffle as she pulled away from his arms and went to her starting position.

'… Wow. She has a lot of courage doing this and even though she doesn't like to fight, she really wants to show me what she's got." Knuckles grinned again and walked towards his spot. "Alright the last round."

Final Round: Knuckles – 1, Tikal – 1

"For this one I want you to give me everything you got!" Knuckles shouted. Tikal was taken aback by this, her eyes gazing at him worriedly. "Are you sure?! That means I'll have to use my powers you know?!"

"That's fine! I can take the pain so show me what you're made of!" he encouraged, smiling brightly at his lover. Tikal watched him in awe for a few seconds then took a battle stance, beaming the same gesture at him. "Okay, get ready then!"

Gathering spiritual energy within her, a gentle green aura surrounded her being to which Knuckles was clearly amazed. 'Is there anything else that Tikie can surprise me with? I'm sure there is and this is definitely something.'

Tikal leaned forward ready to attack. 'Alright Knuckie here I come.'

ZAP!

The orange echidna vanished, shocking Knuckles as he narrowly dodged an incoming punch from Tikal appearing right in front of him. A series of punches and kicks were thrown from her, each carrying a ton of force behind them to which Knuckles actually took direct hits from the ones that bypassed his defenses. He scurried back a bit from the onslaught, countering with a double punch of his own but only for the smaller of the two to disappear once again.

'Crap!' he thought, looking around to see where she might appear next. Clenching his teeth in slight frustration he couldn't see her anywhere, assuming that she took some cover. 'Okay calm down Knuckles calm down. I told her to throw everything she has at me so don't argue.'

Knuckles eyes widened, feeling intense pain course through his body as a lightning bolt appeared and fell down from above him. His body radiated bits of electricity, not only harming him but also paralyzing him. He grunted as he couldn't move, standing there defenseless.

He was more shocked at Tikal instantly appearing before him, the aura still radiating off her as she looked at him with no emotion. She raised her hand into the air and suddenly his vision was engulfed by blinding light.

"AAH!" he clenched his violet orbs shut, turning his head away from the flash. Sudden blows to his body were felt as the orange echidna rapidly struck her boyfriend with increased speed and accuracy, appearing as several afterimages to which she did not relent on her strikes. Knuckles staggered back, slowly regaining his movement but unable to see or defend as the barrage kept on coming.

Tikal then jumped high into the air, looking down below and launched herself towards the ground. She threw a devastating punch into the ground that caused an earthquake, throwing Knuckles into the air. Fissures erupted through the environment as several cracks were made on the ground, and for the red echidna he was unfortunate enough to land in one of them to which he disappeared into the crevice below.

Raising herself up slowly, Tikal panted lightly as the glow around her body was slowly fading away. "Doing this takes a lot of energy from me. This was everything I can give and hopefully Knuckie can forgive me." she muttered, looking at the area around her which was damaged from the attack. "I also must apologize for causing harm to the land. Now that I won, let's go get Knuckie before-."

BOOM!

A violent eruption of fire and seismic waves resonated from below the cracks, causing smoke to rise into the air. Tikal gasped at the display, watching as a silhouetted figure rose from the crevice it fell into and walking towards her. Knuckles was revealed, except he was surrounded by a red aura covered in red lightning with glowing crimson eyes staring her down.

"That was good, I actually felt something from that. If that was everything you can give then I'm very proud of you." he said with a smile, pumping his fists together which caused several bits of electricity to resonate. "Now let me show you MY power."

Tikal crossed her arms to block an empowered punch from Knuckles, feeling the intense force coursing through them and causing pain. She yelped from it but couldn't react quick enough as the emerald guardian immediately struck the ground in front of her, sending her flying several feet away and landing onto the ground.

"Ugh…" Tikal muttered out, slowly getting up as the aura was still present on her but was slowly dimming. She raised her hand to block another lightning-fast punch, but it was so powerful that she couldn't repel it to which it caused her to stumble. Arms quickly surrounded her waist from behind, the orange echidna thinking quickly as she assumed he would try the same tactic again.

'Not this time!' she then flipped backwards and threw her leg for an overhead kick, only to strike pure air. Her eyes widened as she looked around quickly to locate him but wasn't able to find him at all.

"AAHHH!"

Tikal screamed in pain, feeling intense jolts coursing through her body and immobilizing her. 'N-No way! H-He can do that too?!'

She tried calming herself by focusing more of her spiritual energy, but unfortunately she used almost all of it on her special attacks. The green glow was razor thin on her being yet she attempted to gather whatever she can.

WHOOSH!

Blue eyes widened at the appearance of Knuckles a few feet away from her, his crackling aura radiating in the air as a display of power and might. He slowly approached her, feeling more of his energy as well. Tikal tried moving herself again, feeling her limbs starting to respond as she slowly stood back up.

Purple orbs appeared around Knuckles as the energy within him became stronger and stronger. Tikal witnessed this and was confused at what he was doing, noticing that the purple orbs then disappeared and his aura became a mix of red and purple. The last thing she saw was Knuckles bolt around her at sonic speeds, a red streak with purple orbs in his wake. Ironically he wasn't striking her at all with this attack, merely weaving around her at insane speeds.

'W-What? Why isn't he…' her thought stopped when he stood in front of her again. Knuckles then spread his arms and closed his eyes, raising his head as more energy converged around him. Tikal was again confused at this and couldn't move. 'What is he doing?'

Her question was answered by a large shadow covering the field. Noticing it she looked up and froze instantly: a giant meteor was hovering above them!

'K-Knuckie… p-please, no more… you win...' her lips trembled, falling to her knees as her eyes threatened to spill tears. The aura around her finally disappeared and complete dread was on her face, watching the enormous fireball floating in the air. She then lowered her head in defeat. She knew she wouldn't be able to beat him even if she tried her hardest.

Only to feel the intense heat and energy to disappear slowly. She rose her head up a bit to watch in slight curiosity, noticing the surroundings return to the way it was back before. The cracks closed up with whatever burnt grass and debris going back to its original state. She looked above, seeing the meteor no longer there then switching over to Knuckles who stood there watching solemnly with guilt.

"I-I… I'm sorry." Knuckles simply said, shame flowing throughout his body at seeing his lover cry. "I overdid it again; I always do and it just makes everything worse. If you want to leave for some time you can to settle your mind, but if you leave forever… then it was great knowing you." He then proceeded to walk up the steps of the altar, raising a hand towards the blue Chaos Emerald to which it began hovering towards his palm. Tikal watched this in horror, knowing what he was about to do.

'NO!' was all she thought, feeling a burst of energy shoot into her as she bolted towards him desperately. Knuckles felt the angled texture of the jewel in his hand, raising it high into the air and beginning the chant.

"CHAOS CONTR-!"

Tikal tackled him, knocking the larger echidna onto the ground. Knuckles was surprised feeling tremendous strength from this, not experiencing it in the fight. His body felt the stony floor with the Chaos Emerald slipping out of his grasp.

"T-Tikal please I have to-."

SLAP!

A burning sensation was felt on Knuckles' cheek, his head off to the side in astonishment. Wide purple eyes turned to a crying yet furious looking Tikal, her hand raised into the air from the strike. She straddled him to prevent him from escaping.

"STOP ACTING LIKE AN IDIOT!" she screamed at him. Knuckles was speechless, having never heard her shout so loud in fury like that. Ever.

"YOU THINK BY SENDING YOURSELF AWAY WILL IT SOLVE ANYTHING?! YES I WAS TRAINED TO FIGHT, BUT I DO NOT LIKE FIGHTING! RIGHT NOW WE ARE FIGHTING AND I DON'T LIKE IT! I ONLY AGREED SO THAT I CAN IMPRESS YOU, EVEN IF YOU ARE STRONGER AND BETTER THAN I AM!" Tikal heaved large amounts of air quickly before narrowing her eyes dangerously and grabbing his shoulders to pull him in closer.

"Yes I may be crying right now because of how scared I was, but don't you ever… EVER leave me!" she seethed out, gripping his shoulders like a vice. Knuckles was still stunned, his eyes focused on the rage induced ones she emitted as she continued. "W-Without you I can't go on in life. You're my other half and with you I am the happiest girl ever. Just because our spar got out of hand doesn't mean that our relationship ends." she said lowering her voice.

'… fuck.' Knuckles simply thought.

She was right. He was her everything once she was resurrected by the Master Emerald and without him she wouldn't have anyone to guide her in the new timeline. She would be lost and hopeless knowing that their people were wiped out long ago and would probably end her life quickly if it came to that. Knuckles was able to keep going in life because he was bound by a duty to ensure the emeralds don't fall into the wrong hands; Tikal experienced war and hardships during her time and all of that made her mind more fragile and sensitive. Especially knowing she lost her only friend in the past along with the only living blood relative being her father. She lost so much that she looks up to him as comfort and her source of joy, showering him with tender love and care. He does the same to her as well and it brings her immense peace knowing that someone with the same mindset as she exists as well. She did say in one of their conversations that if he lived in her time then she wouldn't hesitate to beg her father to have her marry Knuckles. He was incredibly happy of that.

His train of thought was broken by a sniffle, Knuckles shifting his focus back to Tikal who looked at him in sadness this time. She looked like a kicked puppy in pain and his heart clenched tightly because of it. Seeing that words wouldn't come out of him just yet the emerald guardian settled by wrapping his arms around her frame and brought her close, the peach-colored girl leaning into him and sighing in his chest.

They spent an hour in that position, Knuckles watching the blue sky up above as he caressed Tikal's back soothingly. He could feel her soft fingers rub gently at his sides, a calming effect blanketing them. No words were exchanged during their moment, the echidna girl's sniffles all but gone with only silent breathing being felt on his chest.

"I… will never do anything like this ever again to you. You have shown me that you are strong, but in doing so I ignored the fact of who you truly are inside." Knuckles began, continuing his hand ministrations. "I will never bring up anything like that again, I swear by my word."

Tikal looked up at him softly, her tears long since disappeared. "It's okay Knuckie. Just… never leave me. I'm one that does not want to fight even if it was a last resort, as I only want peace for everyone."

The two slowly got up, Tikal still sitting on Knuckles as they watched each other. "Does it hurt?" the emerald guardian asked, continuing to rub her back which he kicked before.

"N-No, not anymore. I'm more worried about you." she replied lifting her hand to rub the area where she struck him. "I'm sorry for calling you an idiot and hitting you…"

Knuckles smiled leaning into her hand. "It's fine, it takes a lot more to hurt me anyway and the battles I had with Sonic were a lot tougher."

"So you were holding back this whole time?" Tikal said.

"Hehe yeah, the first two rounds I was only seeing your fighting style and on the third one I bumped it up a bit. The powering up was kinda overkill." Knuckles returned rubbing his head. "When you regularly fight with and against a blue hedgehog who runs and attacks at high speeds, an evil fat guy with tons of robots, and a black hedgehog that uses chaos powers then stuff like this is easy enough."

Tikal was astounded at all of this. 'Then again, Sonic did tell me about Knuckie's heroics as well so it shouldn't be surprising.' she thought. 'Even then, Knuckie isn't like Sonic and he's more down to earth and rather be settled in one place than explore the world.'

"WAH?!"

The orange echidna gasped in surprise, Knuckles getting up while carrying her bridal style and walking down the steps. "K-Knuckie w-what are you-?"

"This time I'm taking care of you. Those hits you gave me only knocked out some wind from me but I'm not satisfied with a 'I'm fine' from you." Knuckles grinned looking at her. "My princess got hurt by me so I have to make sure her beautiful body is in good health."

Tikal's face was complete red from this. "N-No it's okay! I'm fine really!" she stuttered waving her hands around.

Knuckles simply laughed as he continued down the steps, Tikal pouting while crossing her arms yet she leaned her face into his chest. "Thank you, my guardian…"

'Well least everything turned out alright, and good thing I didn't tell her about the time I fought Chaos and beat him with six emeralds inside him. Can't believe I did that while Sonic had to go super to beat him with all seven hehe.' Knuckles thought, approaching their little home besides the altar.

'Tikie is a strong woman and I respect her for that, but I cannot ignore who she truly is. I won't ask her for a spar anymore nor will I have her be involved in anything dangerous. That is my duty: to protect and cherish the one close to my heart. My other half. My everything.'

Fin.


So it wasn't a total surprise that he would win, given that the dude knows all forms of lethal combat and has more feats compared to her; he survived a point blank bomb exploding in his face and forced Shadow to remove his inhibitor rings, the only one to do so! Plus if they were to actually fight one another it is GUARANTEED it won't happen since they don't want to hurt each other at all, and her whole life being molded to refuse any type of violence on her behalf won't allow her to do something like this. The Archie comics she was portrayed in with Knuckles at her side during the dark chao fight was of a different continuity so that personality of hers doesn't count, therefore her much more gentle one in the games and Sonic X anime was used. She would fit better as a healer/support role based on how she is portrayed.

So yeah Knuckles wins this one by a long shot. If she had her spiritual powers as a ghost then she can just teleport his mind into another time and insta-win, but since she is fully alive in this one-shot there's no chance she could overcome the raw might of tougher than leather guy hehe!

This is a what-if so basically something I did on the side as a bit of a parody thing and not an actual story connected to the others ones I post. Til next time!