CHAPTER 18: A Change of Plans

Knuckles and Blah stared at each other from opposite ends of the field. They had a sizable crowd of one or two dozen, and everyone in the crowd watched tensely, nobody certain of how this was going to end.

"Any day now," Knuckles taunted.

"Ladies first," retaliated Blah.

"You're toying with the wrong guy!" Knuckles charged at Blah, fist held back. Blah ducked to the side of Knuckles' punch, blocking his other fist coming around for a hook with his left arm and kicking Knuckles squarely in the chin. Minimizing the recoil, Knuckles swung his right fist again at Blah's gut, but he jumped back and out of the way.

Blah was next to advance. He lunged with a spinning kick, but Knuckles caught Blah's foot and shoved him onto the ground.

"Anyone could've seen that coming," Knuckles boasted, looking down at his opponent.

Blah answered not with words, but with actions, jackknifing and using the momentum to spring forward with a diving clothesline. Knuckles didn't forsee that one.

Knuckles angrily rolled onto his feet and leaped at Blah with an uppercut, which he dodged, but Knuckles continued the assault with punch after punch. After the third punch, Blah's fleet feet faltered and he started taking hits left and right.

For a moment, Blah recovered, landing a body punch, but it was a weak shot and Knuckles soon regained the upper hand.

Finishing with a solid hook to the jaw, Blah was sent crashing to the ground again with several fresh bruises and cuts. But this didn't stop him from standing up again. "This is becoming more of a chore than a fight," Knuckles sighed.

"Believe me, I'm just getting started," Blah said, wiping a stream of blood from his lips.

Knuckles rushed again, landing a body shot which stunned Blah long enough for him to poise himself for a spiral uppercut.

He sprang forward, a trail of fire surrounding his glove, twisting around and throwing his fist. He followed through with a jump at the end.

Blah was hit hard before he even had time to react. Knuckles had launched him several feet in the air, sending Blah onto his back yet again.

Knuckles landed, tightening his glove. "Do us both a favor and stay down," Knuckles commanded.

[Look at that smug face.]

The voice was back. Blah's vision blurred, but he heard the voice clear as day.

[He thinks he's better than you because of his abnormal strength and his fancy moves. But he's not, because you have a sleeve full of your own tricks. Show him what the short end of the stick looks like!]

Blah jaw was burnt from his opponent's flaming punch. "That was a special technique..."

"You better believe it," affirmed Knuckles.

"You're not the only one with special techniques."

Blah stood up again, slower than before, and distanced himself from Knuckles a bit. The voice's words seemed to open up a new channel for his Hajike, a quicker one despite his physical wounds. "Fist of the Milky Way..." He took on a reddish aura. "Rage of Taurus!"

"What is he..." Knuckles didn't have time to finish his sentence, as Blah was charging at unprecedented speeds with his head lowered, like an enraged bull. Knuckles got into a blocking stance, but in mid-charge Blah's aura formed into two huge, sharp bull horns, one of which he used to gore Knuckles in the stomach and toss him behind like a ragdoll. The conjured horn wasn't as sharp as that of a real bull, but it was enough to create a notable puncture wound.

And as if that wasn't enough, Blah turned straight around and literally trampled the winded Knuckles, stomping on his chest.

"Hold on, that has to be cheating!" cried Amy.

"If Knuckles can use fire," Sera disputed, "then Blah can use Hajike."

"Hadge-what?" Amy questioned, but Sera was already fixated on the battle again.

Knuckles was not yet down for the count, and he certainly wasn't happy. He grabbed Blah by the ankle and slammed him into the ground. Blah's horns impaled the dirt, reducing some of the impact but leaving him stuck.

Blah swung his body forward, the horns disappearing in time for him to roll back into a standing position. Knuckles, fists flaming once again, aimed a swing at Blah's stomach, which he dodged by jumping backwards. He was taken by surprise and upon landing, he stumbled.

By the time Blah looked back up at Knuckles, he was curled up and charging for a spin dash.

The red sphere shot at Blah, and he began to focus again, channeling the new crimson energy. He drew back his leg. "Fist of the Milky Way, Comet Kick!" With a sound like a whip cracking, Blah's foot collided with the Knuckleball and sent it flying high into the sky.

The force of the kick, coupled with his angular momentum, prevented Knuckles from unfurling - he was stuck in ball form at the mercy of his adversary. Blah leaped upward with the force of a rocket and met the echidna at the apex of his flight. With a front flip, Blah slammed down on the ball with his foot, causing it to reach terminal velocity in the blink of an eye.

CRASH! In an explosion of dirt and dust, Knuckles left a huge crater in the face of the island. Most of the stunned viewers had a new coat of grass and soil, and Knuckles was buried a good 10 feet into the ground.

Blah landed gracefully as the red aura faded again, and he instantly felt the side-effects of expending so much energy in one maneuver. He dropped to one knee, and his breathing intensified. For a fleeting moment, Blah wondered just what he had gotten himself into, but then he remembered that in the end, the cause would ultimately benefit everyone... especially himself. Right?

"By Celestia's mane," breathed Hailstorm. "How much did I miss...?"

"This is Blah's Hajike," Seraphina filled him in. "A powerful energy that comes from the subconscious itself. But Blah's aura... it's nothing like the energy I'm used to seeing from him."

Blah stood up again, shaking it off as best as he could as he saw Knuckles' clawed glove emerge from the fresh hole.

"What do you mean?" asked Hail.

"It's as if his subconscious is controlling him, rather than him controlling his subconscious... that could explain why I'm unable to reach him..."

Knuckles brushed himself off. He was covered in scratches and bruises now, and he was angrier than ever. "That was impressive..." he panted, "but it'll take a lot more than that to defeat me!"

As Knuckles charged yet again, Blah felt the voice taking control once more.

[This battle isn't yet over, and you still have everything to prove. You can no longer hold back.]

Blah began to feel numb, as if the exhaustion was fading from his body. The aura surrounded him again.

Knuckles threw punch after punch, but Blah dodged each and every one without even thinking about it. He kept this up as he waited for a perfectly straight punch, through dozens of strikes, patiently dodging and waiting for the perfect opportunity.

And, when it finally came, he grabbed Knuckles' arm and twisted it over the echidna's own shoulder in a tight lock. He had angled it such that if Knuckles made any sudden movements, Blah could break his arm with a twitch.

[You have him on the ropes. Time to hammer the final nail in the coffin.]

"Fist of the Milky Way..."

Blah's aura intensified. Knuckles braced himself. The entire crowd braced themselves.

"Supernova."

Blah himself began to shine with the intensity of a red sun, and the light engulfed both him and Knuckles. The island shook as the temperature skyrocketed for a split second. When the light faded, Knuckles fell unconscious to the ground, his entire body charred and blackened by the heat.

Blah's clothes were singed, but he was completely unharmed beyond his prior injuries. The numbness went away, and in its place the exhaustion returned, utterly agonizing. He dropped to both knees, breathing into the ground.

Though Blah felt no better than Knuckles looked, the victor of the match was clear. The beholders all stood with wide eyes and dropped jaws. Even Sera's eyes were showing.

All was silent. Blah slowly made his way to his feet.

"I believe you are all familiar with the proposition."

He retreived his armor, calmly slipping it back on. "I gain control of the island and everything on it. I used no weapons, no armor, no tools. Only my limbs and my natural abilities." He strapped his hammer to its usual place. "Now, considering you echidnas live on the island... and your leader was defeated... you must swear your loyalty to me."

The natives held their spears close, blatantly showing fear and yet retained some defiance. But with a quick angry glare from Blah, the entire population dropped their weapons and kneeled before him.

"Why I outta..." Amy started forward with her brightly-colored hammer, but Sonic grabbed her arm.

"He did win this fair and square," Sonic lamented. "Come on, we gotta take care of Knuckles."

Tails silently and hastily helped Sonic carry Knuckles back to the Tornado. Amy gave Blah one final look of disapproval before hopping into the plane, followed by Sonic, and Tails drove off into the sky.

"Ooooookay," Hail nervously droned, "so now you've got the jewel... and your own personal army apparently... congratulations I guess?" It was obvious he didn't quite approve of Blah's methods either, and when Blah looked at him with the same menacing disposition, even Hail cowered.

"Thanks," Blah said simply, taking a seat on the steps of the shrine and leaning back.

"So uh... you want to break that jewel now?" Hail prompted, tentatively taking a backward step.

Blah glanced up at the jewel whose redness was nearly identical to Blah's unfamiliar aura. "Well, I wouldn't want to send my new island crashing into the ocean, now would I?"

"WHAT?" Hail snapped. "But you... the whole reason for... was to..." He trailed off as Blah's gaze met his again. He looked over to Sera.

"I was afraid of this," she sorrowed. "The jewel has some sort of spell over him. As soon as he laid his eyes upon it... something took hold of his conscious."

"But... what...?" Hail uttered, straining to form words. "And... why?"

"My best guess... the jewel has determined that Blah is a more suitable bodyguard, and so it recruited him."

"Well... how do we reverse it?" Hail whispered as Blah began to fall asleep.

Sera looked at Hail. "That... is anyone's guess."

["Everything went according to plan! Operation 'make him saw off the log he's sitting on' was a complete success!"]

}"Brilliant. Now, time to clean up the mess. I trust that you have that branch under control, Blue?"{

/"My keepers are already on it. Those nubs will never know what hit them."\

SLAM.

"What do you want with me? Hey! Put me down, or I'll..."

"Or you'll what? TEACH me something? BWAHAHAHA! Take her away, boys!"

"I TRIED to warn you..."

CRASH.

"Argh!"

SLICE.

SMASH.

ROAR!

Crackle...

"Hah! Looks like too much friendship can give you HEARTBURN..."