"Where's Sonic?" Knuckles asked himself as he sat on his rock, his arms crossed. "He should've been here by now."
As he wished, Sonic skidded to a stop right in front of the red echidna. "Hey, there, Knuckles."
"You're late, slowpoke." Knuckles grumbled in annoyance.
Sonic smirked, glancing up without opening his eyes. "Yeah, well, I stopped to enjoy the scenery." He held a flower to his nose and sniffed it. "This planet is pretty cool. It's nice here. Yeah, you'd like this world, too. If you weren't such a party pooper."
"Enough talk. Let's go!" Knuckles hissed.
Sonic lifted the flower to the sky, his eyes still closed. "Ah, relax, will ya? We have all day to duke it out, buddy-boy."
"I'm not your buddy, you smart aleck." Knuckles was fuming with anger more than annoyance now. "Now put 'em out! I didn't come here to sniff the flowers!"
Sonic smirked, eyes still closed. "That's your loss. You don't know what you're missin'." He opened his eyes and grinned at Knuckles. "But, if you'd rather get clobbered by me-"
"SHUT UP!" Knuckles roared. "GIVE ME THOSE EMERALDS YOU STOLE, OR ELSE..." He gritted his teeth, too angry to finish the rest of his sentence.
Sonic looked curious about what he meant, but decided to play along. The hedgehog smirked. "Oh. You're brain's even slower than your feet."
Now that ticked Knuckles off entirely. He let out an angry growl and readied himself. Sonic smirked and tossed the flower off, getting into a fighting stance himself. Knuckles let out an angry roar and dodged towards Sonic, and the blue speedster was lucky enough to jump out of the way before he was clobbered by fists and flying debris from the spot Knuckles smashed.
Sonic landed easily on his two feet, giving Knuckles a smirk. Knuckles hissed furiously and tried punching Sonic, but Sonic easily dodged them. Thinking Sonic was in the spot he wanted, Knuckles smashed a boulder, sending its pieces flying everywhere.
Hearing a chuckle, the echidna looked up to see Sonic standing on a small rocky hill, arms on his hips, giving him a disappointed look.
Knuckles took off, letting out an angry yell as he shot another punch, but just like the many times he did before, Sonic dodged them. The blue hedgehog jumped into the air, giving Knuckles a spin kick of his own. The echidna grunted, summersaulting and landing skillfully on his feet, breathing heavily, fists at his side.
Sonic wiped his cheek and smirked. Knuckles once again leaped at him, and once again Sonic dodged his every punch. The two hopped across stepping stones, and Knuckles smashed at Sonic again, but AGAIN Sonic dodged it, letting out a proud laugh.
Sonic landed on the ground and quickly took off, Knuckles close at his heal. The two chased each other at each other, running up a giant mountain. Well, Sonic was running. Knuckles was just using his fists and grunting as he tried to keep up with the blue hedgehog.
Sonic kept running until he climbed to the top of a very tall tree, and he couldn't help himself and glanced at the view in front of him. "Huh, not a bad view!"
The tree creaked, and Sonic let out a startled yell as Knuckles pulled the tree from its spot. He used all of his strength to catapult Sonic into the air. The hedgehog let out a yell as he fell, and quickly got to his feet as more trees fell towards him. Sonic laughed, even pausing to taunt Knuckles as he escaped the trees which were falling down on him like a row of dominos.
Sonic laughed as one more punch on a tree from Knuckles, and he was in the air again. The blue speedster quickly turned into a ball and sped down the tree, right on Knuckles. Knuckles grunted as he tried pushing the spinning Sonic off him, but the force pushed Knuckles back. The two crashed into a fallen tree and tumbled down the road, and ended up landing in a pool of water.
Completely panicked, Sonic let out a frightened yell, splashing around. "HELP ME! HELP ME!" He wailed. After a few moments of wailing, Sonic paused, and glanced around.
The pool of water wasn't even deep!
Sonic glanced at Knuckles, who was pouting at him, his arms crossed. Sonic smirked sheepishly. "It's lucky I fell in the kiddy pool!" He put on his war face and once again they clashed.
"GO, KNUCKLES!" Eggman cheered next to his caged prisoners. "SHOW SONIC THAT HE CAN'T KEEP US HERE! OUR ONLY HOPE IS FOR YOU TO TROUNCE THAT TYRANT!"
Penny placed her hands up to the cage, her eyes showing worry. "Sonic..." She muttered, exactly the same time Chris muttered the hedgehog's name.
"Do they have to fight now?" Amy frowned in annoyance. "Can't they free us first?"
"They probably don't know we're here." Penny pointed out with a shrug.
"There."
The sound of something clanked, and Penny, Chris, and Amy turned to Tails. He had managed to take apart a piece of the robot.
Chris glanced at Tails in surprise. "Good work. How'd you do it?"
Tails smiled sheepishly, pulling out his screwdriver. "I used my screwdriver!"
"You're really handy." Chris grinned. Penny grinned at Chris. "You have no idea. You won't believe the stuff he can do with technology!"
"Aw, Penny, stop flattering me." Tails blushed a little, laughing sheepishly. "After all, it's no big deal."
"No big DEAL?!" Penny exclaimed. "Man, you have no idea how wrong you are!"
Tails chuckled, quickly turning back to the wires of the robot. "Now I just have to figure out how this thing's wired..."
"We don't have time for this, Tails!" Amy yelped, pulling out her hammer. "Step aside!"
Tails turned around and his eyes widened to see Amy threateningly holding her hammer to the robot's wires. "I'LL fix that robot!"
Penny, Chris, and Tails let out startled screams, trying to keep Amy from smashing the robot because who know what would happen if the wires were destroyed incorrectly!
With a fierce yell, Amy smashed the wires. Penny shrieked and covered her eyes as a bright light exploded from the center of the robot, nearly blinding her. The glass shield of the robot smashed due to the explosion, and it fell to the ground.
Sonic frowned when he heard the sounds of screaming and glass smashing. The hedgehog turned towards the smoke, and Knuckles took that as an opportunity to smash Sonic in the air. Through his freefall, Sonic had the chance to spot Eggman cheering from his mobile, yelling: "GET HIM, KNUCKLES!"
Sonic frowned. "Eggman!"
The blue hedgehog landed on the ground and sped off.
"GET BACK HERE!" Knuckles roared, taking off after Sonic. "YOU QUITTER!"
Sonic sighed, glancing over his shoulder at Knuckles. "We'll settle this later."
Penny coughed, covering her mouth as she staggered to the opening, her ears drooping.
"Hey, get us down from here!" Amy cried.
"Look what you've done!" Eggman hissed at them, lowering his mobile to their level. Penny didn't waste a second to glare at Eggman, but the doctor seemed too annoyed with the destruction of his robot to even faze with the pink and white hedgehog's anger. "You've wrecked my robot! And it isn't even insured!"
A gust of wind swept across Penny's face, and she smiled. She recognized that wind.
The same gust of wind sawed off the robot's legs, and it fell to the ground. Penny, Chris, Tails, and Amy let out a frightened yell as it crashed to the ground. The group climbed to the opening, coughing.
Sonic sped to a stop, smiling gently at them. "Hey, what's up?"
"Thanks, Sonic!" Penny and Chris grinned at the blue hedgehog.
"It's not over, Sonic!" Eggman hissed, curling his fist threateningly. "My robot may be down, but it certainty isn't out!"
Penny sweat-dropped. "Wait. What?!"
She let out a startled yell as the robot got up from the ground, using his claws to push himself up. Penny and Chris clung to each other, screaming along with Tails and Amy. It turned upside down and started firing missiles at Sonic
"ATTACK!"
At Eggman's yell, the robot started firing at the blue hedgehog. Sonic leaped from his spot and dodged them with ease. Sonic dodged behind a rock, but the lasers quickly destroyed it. Sonic winced and dodged the lasers again.
A heavy grunt and a smash soon came, and Sonic glanced up to see Knuckles smashing away he robot's missiles. When they were defeated, Knuckles landed on the ground and glared at Eggman. "This is a battle between Sonic and me. I'll fight it my way!"
Sonic shrugged, smirking.
Eggman frowned. "Fight it your way? If you're going to insist on fighting a clean fight, then I'm going to start playing dirty!"
Penny yelped and fell to the bottom of her prison as it lifted in the air. She and Chris clung to each other once again as the robot flew across the lake. She, Chris, Tails, and Amy all screamed through the frightening ride.
Eggman smirked at the boys. "Plan A didn't work, so now we'll have to go to plan B! Bring me the Chaos Emerald, or you'll never see your friends again!"
Knuckles frowned. "What's this? Eggman swore to me that all he wanted was to live in peace!"
Sonic smirked. "He's sure tricky, isn't he?"
Knuckles growled. "That swindler, he LIED!"
"You're catching on, pal!" Sonic said, smirk never leaving his face.
"SONIC!"
Sonic glanced up towards Eggman.
Eggman smirked down at Sonic. "We all know that your weak spot is water, so I stuck your friends over there where you can't save them without treading H2O!"
Sonic chuckled. Eggman was so naïve. "Yeah, that's what you think." He sped around the lake and landed next to the robot. The hedgehog smashed at the robot's claws and it fell to the ground. Penny and the others once again let out a startled scream as it crashed.
Penny let out a groan as Sonic grabbed her hand, pulling her out of the debris. "Penny? Are you okay?" The blue hedgehog asked with worry.
Penny coughed, and smiled warily at Sonic. "Thanks."
Sonic smiled back, relieved. He quickly turned to Chris and pulled him out, asking the boy the same question. Chris smiled. "I'm okay."
Sonic turned to Amy, who was on her hands and knees, shuddering. She let out a happy cry and tackled Sonic in a hug, much to Penny's displeasure. Amy started crying, clinging to Sonic.
Sonic smiled gently. "Take it easy, Amy!"
"I just KNEW you'd come and save me!"
Penny grumbled in jealousy, crossing her arms and looking away from the two.
Hearing rumbling, Penny, Sonic, Chris, Amy, and Tails turned towards the robot. Chris grabbed Penny and made a dash for it, while Sonic helped Amy run away. Tails let out a startled scream as well and ran after them as fast as his small legs could carry him.
"I'm not calling it quits yet, Sonic!" Eggman laughed. "You only had a preview of this robots' fire power. You and your friends are through."
The robot launched more missiles, and Penny felt Sonic pull her down, covering her from the missiles and debris.
"I've got you now!" Eggman laughed.
Knuckles quickly stepped in front of them. "Let ME take care of Eggman!"
Sonic glanced up with a small smirk. "Okay."
Knuckles dashed towards the robot, dodging the missiles and smashed his way up the robot, making his way to the top. Knuckles leaped into the air until he met Eggman's level.
Eggman winced as Knuckles raised his fist. "YOU. LIAR!"
Eggman let out a yell as Knuckles punched him away. When Eggman was gone, the echidna quickly fell to the head of the robot and gave it a powerful punch. The robot split in two and exploded.
Penny carefully glanced over the boulder, her eyes wide. "KNUCKLES!" She let out a shriek as the robot's debris headed their way, and Sonic pulled the girl down next to Amy and took a leap for Knuckles, quickly grabbing his wrist and using his free hand to latch onto a tree branch. The two held on until the explosion settled.
Penny glanced cautiously over the boulder, letting out a startled gasp to see the destruction ahead of them. Sonic and Knuckles were nowhere to be seen. "Sonic...Knuckles..." Penny whimpered worriedly.
To her relief, Knuckles and Sonic hopped from the trees and landed in front of them. Penny quickly ran from her spot and engulfed Sonic in a hug, which he returned. The little hedgehog gave Knuckles a smug look and quickly hugged him herself. Knuckles tensed up a bit, but slowly returned the hug. Knuckles glanced at Sonic, and their glares turned to soft smiles.
"SONIC!"
Amy took a big leap and once again engulfed Sonic in one of her hugs.
"You both made it!" Chris grinned.
"Knuckles and I had it all under control," Sonic said reassuringly.
Knuckles gently pried Penny off him, giving her a pat on the head before walking off. "Knuckles!" Penny cried, reaching out to him.
Knuckles turned to her, giving them a smirk and a wave. Amy frowned and hurried up to him. "I bet you want to apologize to Sonic for believing all the lies the man told about him, and you probably want to thank him, too, only you're too proud!"
"ZIP IT!" Knuckles yelled at her.
Amy looked down, then gave Knuckles one of her biggest smiles.
Knuckles sighed and glanced at the others. He chuckled and raised his fist again, muttering, "Later." He turned heal and walked off.
Penny, Sonic, Tails, Chris, and Amy said nothing as they watched the echidna disappear into the woods.