Presenting to you the chapter that will be rougher than the rest of them. Episode KNUCKLES.

But first review replies:

Alexandria Prime:
Thanks! And you're right. As far as I'm concerned the majority of the fandom agrees that it should've been Angel Island. Of course, mine is with the twist of Pachacamac's Village. I wonder what that's all about. Guess you'll find out in this chapter.
Actually, fun facts, originally the Resistance Base was gonna be a casino in the middle of the forest which eventually became Casino Forest and then a stormy prison in Green Hill Zone before they finally decided to put it in Sunset. It surprises me that the team never once thought of Angel Island, at least as far as we know with Knuckles as leader and all.

SpiderDom321:

Haha, good to see you reviewing as always. With all those woahs, you should change your name to BandicootDom321.
The action will always be present. Heck, if you loved the last chapter then you're gonna love the next patch of chapters I've got planned. But more on that in the future, I suppose. And Infinite's gotta have that edge x1000 ringtone.
Oh my gosh, that's an awesome comparison.
Sonic and Shadow's fight is actually a callback to their final showdown on the Space Colony Arc in Adventure 2 what with them chasing each other IN SPACE! And Odyssey's OST is glorious.
Rhythm's album is gonna be awesome.
Thanks for the review as always!

bajy:

Thanks so much!

Mr. Meme:
Good tastes, my friend.
I'm glad you enjoyed them.
Shadow's just being an edge lord as always. You'll find out what his real deal is later on.
Ooooo I bet it was awesome to those songs. Thanks as always!

ExMarkSpot:
For sure, she's gonna be ecstatic.

Now onto the chapter!

Sonic Forces

Chapter 6:

Episode Knuckles

Angel Island.

A beautiful place that has stood high above the surface of Mobius for ages. It was a lush and beautiful land filled to the brim with greenery that would've made the greatest of nature lovers envy anyone who got the chance to explore the vast tropical jungle amongst other wonderful environments that were housed on one floating island.

One of the many parts of the massive island was a simple half conical structure made entirely of aging stone with cracks and crumbles all around, but still stood proud and tall despite the tests of time. Pillars of the same rock stood around in a circle, none were perfect though with the same cracks and all but intact, others had holes in them or were at varying heights due to entire sections chipped away and others were just piles of rubble on the ground.

But in the center of it all sat a radiant green gem that shone brightly in the sunlight. It constantly thrummed with raw power that made even those that couldn't tap into Chaos Energy feel when near the emerald. It was powerful, but warm and welcoming to those who could bask in its presence.

There was one lucky person who had the honor of being around the emerald constantly. He was the lone inhabitant of Angel Island, the grand protector of the master emerald and rougher than the rest of them. It was…

KNUCKLES THE ECHIDNA

The red echidna smiled as he rested against the emerald, basking in its power and the natural beauty of the island. Birds chirped, squirrels chattered and life continued to live around him. The echidna wouldn't have it any other way.

As much as I love a good treasure hunt, you can't beat the peace and quiet of Angel Island. He mused and then put a hand to his chin in thought.Come to think of it, it's been a while since I've been roped into one of Sonic's adventures.

And that was true. He wasn't really there for the whole ordeal on The Lost Hex, he just occasionally helped on the com with Amy. The last real adventure he was a part of was the weird time travel thing on his birthday, but that was months ago.

Sure, he liked Sonic but the less he saw of him or any other hedgehog for that matter, usually meant the safer the Master Emerald was so that was good enough for him.

"KNUCKLES!" A shrill voice shouted out.

Knuckles immediately jumped to his feet, prepared for combat with whatever might come his way.

He dropped the defense when he saw who it was, but was still on edge because of course, it was a hedgehog.

It wasn't Sonic that was flying towards him though. This hedgehog had snow white quills and glowing yellow eyes. Some of his quills were done up and around his head while a few were swooped back like most of them. All of him was covered by a mystical green aura.

"Silver?!"

"Thank goodness, you are here!"

Silver was frantic, nearly toppling over him when he touched down on the island.

"We've got trouble! Eggman-"

But Knuckles just glared at him. "How did you find my island, Silver?"

"Knuckles!"

"No. I'm serious, Silver. How did you find my island?"

Silver just shook his head and tried to continue. "Knuckles, please! I come with a dire warning from the future! It is imperative that-"

"How did you find Angel Island?"

"Knuckles, please."

"Angel Island's location is a constantly changing and heavily disguised so that it cannot simply be seen or spotted by the average being. So I ask you again, how did you find my island?"

Silver sighed. "I dunno, I popped out of a portal and ended up here."

Knuckles glared at him, but nodded slowly. "Alright… but just don't go showing up here unannounced ever again."

Silver gulped but shakily nodded his head.

Knuckles calmed down at that and said, "But what's this about trouble with Eggman?"

"Something terrible is happening in the future! History is unwinding and and turning the world into something broken. I don't know what or how, but something has changed here that's tearing this world apart."

"Well, as far as I know nothing's going on over here." Knuckles shrugged. "Of course, I've just been here with the Master Emerald."

"Is something happening on the surface?" Silver asked.

"I don't know. No one's called me about trouble and I don't exactly go checking up on things down there."

Silver sighed. "Then I might not be too late."

"That's where you're wrong."

Floating before them was Eggman, smiling his usual cheshire grin.

"Eggman!" They both shouted.

"The one and only."

"What are you doing here, Eggman?" Knuckles growled.

"Can't I come to pay you a visit, my dear friend?" Eggman mused. "After all, I feel you're all on your lonesome here, so I figured I'd drop in."

"And take the Master Emerald, right?" Knuckles scoffed. "Get out of here, I'm not playing games, Eggman."

"How rude. Turning away a guest like that, but I see you are preoccupied with your other friend."

Knuckles simply acknowledged Silver with a huff before rolling his eyes. "He was just leaving too."

"Knuckles!" Silver shouted.

Eggman just grinned even bigger. "Such a horrible host. No wonder no one comes to visit you!"

"And that's why you should get lost!"

Eggman just shook his head. "Very well. But what good would it be to leave without a parting gift?"

And with that, Eggman produced a purplish pink gem that shone brightly in the sunlight.

Knuckles and Silver had to cover their eyes at the very sight of it as the loud sound of distortion rang out around them.

When the light cleared, Eggman was still hovering before them.

"What did you do, Eggman?"

The doctor made a grand gesture towards the Master Emerald.

At first, nothing happened. They both stared at the radiant green jewel. But just as quickly, they felt a slight shudder in the chaos energies around the Master Emerald.

A pool of water slowly seeped out of the Master Emerald and gathered on top of it before rising and forming into a familiar humanoid shape with an odd pointed head, glowing green eyes and a brain that could be seen within the water.

Silver gaped at the sight, "What is that!?"

Eggman laughed. "You fool, that is Chaos! The God of Destruction!"

Knuckles growled. "How did you free Chaos from the Master Emerald?!"

"Oh ho ho, but that would spoil the surprise, now wouldn't it Knuckles?"

"Come Chaos!" He ushered the water beast forward, who quickly followed after him to the great island behind them.

Silver and Knuckles were quick to do a 180 and follow the two only to gasp at the sight that stood before them.

Angel Island wasn't there anymore. Or well, it was. But it also wasn't. Standing in the place what used to be a tropical jungle were now gigantic almost pyramidal temples that towered overhead. But the thing that truly got Knuckles to stop in his tracks were the echidna milling about the structure, all in tribal clothing.

"What happened to the island?!" Silver gaped.

Knuckles just stood there absolutely shocked at the sight. How… how did this happen?

Silver noticed the echidna's awestruck look and he snapped a finger in front of his face to get his attention. "KNUCKLES! KNUCKLES!"

It wasn't until Eggman and Chaos zoomed past some of the tribe and caused an uproar that he was able to regain his focus.

"Let's go get him!" Knuckles shouted.

And with that, the two raced off into the village.

Panic had ensued for the Echidna at the sight of the strange moustache man in a strange flying contraption and the water creature following after him. Spears were chucked at both Eggman and Chaos as they passed by. Eggman was easily able to ignore them, flying higher than they could reach. But Chaos didn't go unprovoked, sending streams of water into several echidna that not only soaked them, but sent them flying.

Knuckles and Silver didn't have much time to do anything about the echidna that the Chaos mercilessly attacked and continued on their trail, nothing was going to stop them.

It wasn't long until Eggman and Chaos stopped at the edge of the island.

It was a simple clearing to what would've been the entrance of the village with a simple arch way that had letters written along the top in ancient echidna and a path that didn't lead anywhere but open sky.

Eggman and Chaos looked out over the edge as Knuckles and Silver came to a stop. "End of the line, Eggman!" Knuckles declared.

"I couldn't agree more." Eggman grinned. "Chaos! End them now."

With that, the creature raised its head to glare at them. And with that, a stream of water rocketed towards the two of them.

Silver and Knuckles both dove out of the way of the attacks. Silver fired off a psychic knife that sliced the deity in half.

"I did it!" He cheered.

Knuckles just rolled his eyes at his excitement and charged him.

Chaos was able to reform, much to the hedgehog's chagrin.

Knuckles jumped up into the air and tried to punch Chaos, but he was ready, sending out another fist at the echidna that knocked him into a wall. Covered in water, he fell to the ground with a thud.

He tried to throw another fist at him, but Silver was quick to respond, covering him in his psychic energy and lifted him up in the air. He chucked the mutant at the doctor.

"HEY!" He shouted. To which Silver chuckled.

Chaos still reformed underneath the doctor and to Silver's shock, lunged towards Knuckles again who was just getting up.

Knuckles didn't have time to react, but SIlver did, throwing another psychic knife to meet him and slice him in half again.

He still reformed in front of Knuckles, who was ready and sent an uppercut into his chin. Chaos went flying as Knuckles grinned only for another fist to come flying at him again.

Silver was at it again with the psychic knife, cutting off the arm again.

Knuckles took that as an opening and charged into Chaos himself, Silver followed suit as well, covering himself in his energy and flying towards him.

Chaos looked between the two as they were ready to attack, knowing that this definitely wouldn't end well for him. So he did what anyone would've done in the situation…

He bailed.

Chaos slunk back into his water form and slithered to where Knuckles was standing before leaving the two to smack right into each other, dazed and confused.

When he reformed, he was quick to lash out at them with his limbs and encased them both in water, lifting them both in the air.

Silver and Knuckles struggled to breath. They each tried to grasp for breath, but to no avail.

At least for Knuckles.

Silver realized how quickly things were going south and covered himself in his waning energy before letting it out in a massive psychic burst.

The water immediately dissipated into nothing leaving Knuckles to fall to the ground and clumsily land in a crouch and for Silver to hover a few feet off the ground.

They both gasp for breath and glare at Chaos, only for him to come at them again, once again bringing his focus on Knuckles.

The Echidna weakly rose to his feet to try and stop Chaos but something surprised them both.

"STOP!" Someone called out.

All three combatants stopped and looked towards the source of the voice and Eggman and Knuckles were completely shocked at who they saw.

She was a young echidna with light orange quills like a peach decked out in similar tribal wear as a lot of the others, she wore a worried expression on her face as she looked between the god of destruction and his opponents.

Knuckles blurted out her name before anyone even had a chance to react further. "Tikal?!"

She looked confusedly at him but addressed her focus back on Chaos. "Please. They know not what they are doing, have mercy on them!"

Chaos stared at her and she looked at him with pleading eyes before he finally turned away from Knuckles and Eggman.

"What?! No! You answer to me!" Eggman shouted. "Finish them all!"

Chaos looked between them for a moment before he made his decision.

He trotted towards the edge of the island and hopped right off.

Eggman facepalmed. "Well… I have a God of Destruction to catch. Still, this first test has turned out to be a brilliant success! I won't even need the Master Emerald with this power!"

"Test?" Silver asked. "Just what are you up to, Eggman?"

Eggman just laughed. "But that would just spoil the surprise! Besides, you're from the future, why don't you figure it out?"

And with that, he went over the edge of Angel Island and left them all confused.

"You mind telling me what the heck just happened, Silver?"

"Me?!" Silver gaped. "I was gonna ask you, what was that water thing? And what's with the village? What is Eggman doing?"

Knuckles was about to answer only for Tikal to cut in. "That was Chaos, the God of the emeralds. He has been angered by our way of life and the harm that we have brought upon his people, the Chao. My father, the chief chose not to listen to me and now the poor creature has run off and with an outsider as well."

Knuckles was confused though. "What? No. Chaos The beef between him and your tribe was resolved years ago."

"I think you are confused. Our people have angered Chaos and now he has escaped and has come to wreak havoc on us all."

"And that all happened." Knuckles stated. "He slaughtered you all and years later- well bad stuff happened and we were able to work it out."

Tikal just still looked at him confusedly.

"Station Square doesn't ring a bell?"

Tikal shook her head to which Knuckles scratched his. "What is going on here?"

"We don't have time to worry about that, right now." Silver said. "Eggman still got away with that thing and we've got to catch up with him."

"I agree. If Eggman's got something that can do all of this, whatever it is then that means trouble. We need to round up the others and find him."

"So let's go."

"Wait!"

Both of them looked to Tikal.

"If Chaos is involved then allow me to accompany you. The poor creature is lost and confused and if this Eggman truly is as dangerous as you say then I fear we might bring on the God's wrath."

"You will do no such thing!"

Knuckles rolled his eyes, but turned to see another echidna, this one maroon in color. He was decked out in far more extravagant tribal gear than the rest and had a staff in his hands pointed dangerously at all three of them but something told Silver that Knuckles and Tikal were far more safe than he was.

Chief Pachacamac stood before them and he was not at all pleased with them.

"You both wish to leave the village with an outsider? No. If Chaos has been summoned then it is none of our concern. Allow him to find peace on his own and punish the human for entering our land."

"Uh… I hate to break it to 'ya but Chaos was the one who left with Eggman. Let us go."

"Watch your tone, young one." He snapped back. "In fact, what are you doing without your tribal attire, to show such disrespect for our kind and for your chief? You have no place to be giving orders."

"Hey, I don't take answers from you!"

Pachacamac scoffed. "Then you truly are lost. I have no time for a child who shows such disrespect."

Knuckles was about to retort, but he was stopped by Silver. "Please, sir. We mean you no harm. We apologize for trespassing on your land, but we have a major problem on our hands. That man is causing trouble for our world and we have to stop them. Let us leave the island."

"You are an outsider and a bad influence on my daughter and this lost one. Leave now. They will stay."

"Father!"

"There's no arguing with him, let's just get out of here." Knuckles said.

They all turned to leave but the chief was quick to grab Tikal, not letting her move.

"Tikal!" They both cried out. They tried to go after her but guard appeared in front of them. Monsters of Echidna stood before them.

"Go! Tikal called out. "Take care of Chaos, please help him!"

Knuckles and Silver looked at each other and nodded. "We promise!"

And with that, they ran off the edge of the island. Out on another adventure to stop Eggman and eventually form the resistance.

~Sonic Forces~

"You never mentioned Tikal or Chaos!" Sonic yelled.

Knuckles shrugged. "You never asked."

Sonic raised an eyeridge at him but decided it wasn't worth it. "Okay… that still doesn't explain why your base moved here. What happened to us operating out of Sunset Heights?"

"I was getting to that before you rudely interrupted me!"

Sonic rolled his eyes as Knuckles put a hand to his chin in thought.

"Now where was I…"

He snapped his fingers.

"Oh yeah! So Silver and I gathered up all our friends to join up in what would become the resistance while Eggman started changing the world. He wasn't a serious threat, but then that day six months ago came... "

~Sonic Forces~

Sunset Heights was in absolute panic and Knuckles wasn't having fun dealing with it.

The place was under attack by Eggman's forces, which sure, was nothing new. But what they didn't expect was for the sheer numbers to appear right at their front doorstep.

With so much of a concentration here, Knuckles figured that Eggman found them. But still, with all the chaos going on in the city, he did what he did best and beat them all to scrap metal.

So with that, he dove down into a pack of Eggpawns, sending parts flying at the sheer force of the knuckles that he sent

Knuckles couldn't help but smirk at the sight of the robots falling apart in front of him. But he wasn't done yet, a laser rushed passed him and hit a wall.

Knuckles growled at that only to turn and see a pack of robots opening fire on him.

But that was no problem for him. He jumped into the air and dove into the ground below. Digging into the pavement and popping out right underneath the head of the robots, breaking it apart.

The others were alarmed when the parts of their leader went flying towards them and tried to return fire on Knuckles. But he was quick on his feet, running into them and punching them through their stomachs, ending in their desturction.

Knuckles smirked and got on the coms again. "Alright, I think I've cleared Park Avenue, is everyone else okay?"

Espio was the first to chime in. "Twilight Boulevard is safe as well."

"Eggman's comin' in hot this time!" Vector added. "Nothin' like we've ever seen."

"But nothing for the Chaotix!" Charmy chirped.

"Sunset Heights University is clear too." Gadget chirped. "Didn't think I'd be saving my school again."

"Beta Squad is okay." Fierro added.

"I've got things on the Red Gate Bridge." Silver confirmed. "Eggman's forces have managed to rip holes in the bridge but otherwise… We're okay."

Others gave their affirmatives as well that they got the situation under control.

Silver then added, "And Sonic came by from Green Hill a bit ago. He was moving so fast, nearly blew me off my feet. I don't know where he was going."

"He went to Tails' location." Amy confirmed. "Things are going okay in HQ, but I haven't heard anything from them since."

Knuckles frowned. "It's not like Tails not to report. Tails? Come in, can you hear us?"

They received no answer.

Knuckles frown grew even bigger at that. "Amy, do you have Tails' location?"

"I do he's just a bit south of your own position, but-"

Suddenly there was a loud boom on Amy's end.

"AMY?!" Everyone called.

"I need anyone here now!"

"What's going on?" Knuckles asked.

"Shadow is attacking the resistance is base!"

"I'm on my way!"

Knuckles didn't waste time, he barrelled through the town, knocking out more robots than he could possibly imagine.

So Knuckles ran and beat his way through the forces, but it seemed that things would get worse as the radio chatter from the resistance came in.

"Confirmed sighting of Eggman!" A random fighter shouted. "He's making a mad dash out of the city and I don't know why?"

"Eggman himself is on the scene?" Knuckles asked. "We haven't seen him make an appearance since the battle at Green Hill!"

"He's here now and he looked pretty happy about something, I don't know what!"

"Confirmed sighting of Chaos!" Corvin cried out on the other end. "Beta Squad requesting back- jfghssdfkjsf" He cut off at the sound of rushing water.

"Confirmed sighting of Metal Sonic!" Espio shouted. "Team Chaotix engaging, may require assistance!"

"I don't know who this is?" Silver asked. "But he's some big red Zeti and is leading a fleet on the Red Gate Bridge now."

"Zavok?!" Knuckles gasped.

"Well whoever he is, he's a tough customer. Anyone near the bridge, come to me, I need some help over here!"

On other ends, some didn't even get the chance to speak, only the sound of distortion rang out on their ends and horrible twisted laughter from a voice no one had ever heard before.

Everything was going south for the resistance. All these threats just deciding to appear now when they looked to be winning the fight for Sunset Heights. Knuckles didn't like any of this. Where was Tails? Where was Sonic? Why did all these threats come together now? What was that horrible sound that they kept hearing on the coms? How could everything turn south so quickly?

He didn't know. But that wasn't his problem right now. He had to get to Resistance HQ and take care of Shadow before it was too late?

Why was Shadow attacking them, shouldn't he be with GUN? What the heck was happening?

But after fighting his way through the town, he managed to make it to the edge of the town where the base was.

There, Knuckles gasped at the sight of Amy, tightly clutching her hammer in front of the half destroyed building that was the resistance base. In front of her, was Shadow, who glared her down, Chaos Emerald in hand.

Amy went swinging though. As soon as Shadow was upon her, he got the full force of her hammer to his gut. Knocking him in Knuckles direction.

His eyes widened at that, but he knew what he had to do and prepared a jab that sent him into a nearby wall with a grunt.

"You okay, Amy?" Knuckles asked.

Amy nodded. "Yeah, but the base isn't. I'm glad you're here though. I don't know how long I was gonna hold Shadow alone."

"And what makes you think you can with help?"

They both turned in the direction of the voice to see none other than Shadow smirking at them.

Both of them, stood battle ready, Knuckles with his fists up and Amy clutching her hammer.

Shadow pulled out his Chaos Emerald and with a command, he disappeared in a flash of light.

Both Amy and Knuckles got even more on guard at that only for Shadow to appear between them. He sent a roundhouse to Amy first, knocking her away. Knuckles was quick to jump at him but he fired a Chaos Spear to keep him away.

With them separated, Shadow took to follow after Knuckles. Knuckles was quick to throw his hands up to block the roundhouse that Shadow sent. It worked and he tried to throw a punch at him only for Shadow to warp out of the way.

Knuckles ran forward, knowing Shadow was likely to appear behind him and he was right, Shadow appeared there and swung at nothing but air to where he looked at the fleeing Echidna trying to rendezvous with Amy.

In response, he fired off a Chaos Spear that struck him in the back. With a cry, Knuckles fell flat on his face.

"Knuckles!" Amy shouted.

She glared at Shadow and leapt up into the air, her Piko-piko hammer at the ready and come down on him.

Shadow was once again able to teleport out of the way, but that seemed not to matter to him having appeared a little too close to Amy who was wildly swinging in all directions.

He was caught in the back and went flying again, but managed to right himself in the air and managed to land in a skidding crouch.

He looked up at Amy who was helping Knuckles to his feet.

Knuckles glared at Shadow though and had one word for him. "Why?"

Shadow was taken aback but shook his head. "It's not that easy to explain, Knuckles."

"Like, Gaia it isn't!" Knuckles snapped. "You come in here with your new pal Eggman and destroy the city? It means you've either lost your memory again or you're crazy!"

Shadow laughed. "If only you knew."

"Shadow, please! You don't have to do this, let us help you."

"I'm not done yet." Shadow stated. "Now get out of the way before it's too late."

"What?!" Both of them shouted.

Shadow just turned away from them and started towards the resistance base. Once he was right in front of it he brought out the Chaos Emerald again. "Chaos…"

Knuckles and Amy scrambled to their feet, quick to find shelter knowing exactly what he would do.

"BLAST!"

They dove out of the way as the entire base was washed in a wave of red, rippling Chaos Energy.

~Sonic Forces~

"After that, we rounded up anybody who was left after the big attack on Sunset. We lost that battle and Eggman aired what happened to you on TV for everyone to see. It wasn't pretty."

Sonic frowned. "You guys couldn't get into contact with Tails? Did you ever find him?"

Knuckles just shook his head. "I'm sorry, Sonic. Tails has been MIA ever since."

"Oh." Sonic frowned.

The air grew silent at that. No one knew what exactly to say.

Sonic didn't like that so he spoke up.

"So what happened after that? The base was destroyed but how'd you guys get Pachacamac to let you stay?"

"We had nowhere else to go. We arrived on Angel Island and he initially turned us away. But Tikal intervened and allowed to stay so long as we kept to one temple and if Tikal was not to get involved."

With that, the ship landed and they were on the island.

They all exited the ship only for Sonic to immediately be tackled into a bearhug by Amy.

"SONIC!"

Normally, the blue blur would've hightailed it out of there in a heartbeat, but for once he didn't mind Amy. After all of those months, he missed her and couldn't help but smile.

"Hey, Amy."

"I MISSED YOU SO MUCH! THEY SAID YOU WERE GONE AND I KNEW THAT MY SONIC WOULD NEVER BACK DOWN!"

She was crying and crying hard.

The others couldn't help but stare to which Knuckles ordered them all to leave so that it was just the three of them along with Rouge and Silver.

Sonic gave him a silent thank you while he continued to pat Amy on the back, assuring her that he was really there and that he was glad that she was able to stay strong for him.

When she finally calmed down enough, Knuckles clamped a hand on his shoulder.

"It's good to have you back, Sonic. But get some rest, because tomorrow we're gonna put you back to work."

And we clock in at nearly 5,000 words at 2AM. I'm much more happy with my word count than I am my lack of a sleep schedule, but eh well… what are you gonna do?

I was editing this and was gonna give it to you last night, but sleep beat me at around 3AM so here we are now. And ironically, my playlist started playing the Adventure 2 version of Unknown From M.E. as I finished editing this. So I guess it's fate that I finish this now.

I hope you all liked Episode Knuckles. If this were the actual game, then imagine Angel Island as level one, boss fight with Chaos and then the panic at Sunset Heights to finish off. I hope it answered a lot of your questions and all. I'll be having different episodes for characters I find necessary and yes, Episode Shadow is a thing but you won't be seeing it for a very long time. But yeah. I hope you all like Episode Knuckles.
The next set of chapters is fun and is actually the thing that made me write this fic in the first place rather than just leaving it as a bunch of ideas in my head. So, get ready.
R&R