Author's note: Whoo, four-day weekend. Plenty of time to do nothing. Here's some of it.
Segment 3: Echidna Not
Chapter 2: Meet Knuckles
(Leo)
The trail Amy pointed out was rather beautiful. Examining the ground, I found that the trail was lined with round, smooth stones. On either side, tall green grass bordered the trail. It was almost enough to make us forget the Black Emeralds.
"Don't you think it's a peaceful afternoon?" Kim asked me.
"Yes," I replied, kind of caught up in the moment, "very peaceful. I'd hate for those demons to wreck this place."
Around then, we reached a sign in the road that looked like it had been erected a few months ago. It said:
"This is the place," I figured. "Come on, Kim. Let's look around."
Echidna Fields was a somewhat ruinous place, the kind of place you'd expect to be closed off as a tourist attraction. Yet somehow, the ruins were untouched, with practically no sign of visitors.
I was practically in awe about the place. "Just look at this place, Kim. So many ruins. This place must have history dating back a hundred years."
"Two hundred years," Kim argued.
"Maybe it's three hundred," I topped.
We went back and forth a while until a loud voice interrupted us. "Would you two shut up!"
Kim and I both looked to see who'd spoken. A strong, mean-looking echidna figure stood with his arms folded. Looking close at him, I noticed that he was wearing mittens, or something looking much like them, and his knuckles were spiked.
There was no question about it: this was the Knuckles character that Amy had mentioned. He even had the defining feature: a chalk-white crescent mark on his chest.
"You two have a good reason for coming here, I hope," Knuckles mentioned, "because if you don't, I'll punch your heads off!"
Kim seemed scared, but I stood my ground. "We do have a good reason. We are looking for demon settlements, and we heard there was one here in Echidna Fields."
"Demons?" Knuckles repeated. "Oh, sure, I know what you're talking about. Let me talk to you a little."
Knuckles approached a large green gem that bore a resemblance to a giant Chaos Emerald. This was no doubt the Master Emerald. It resonated with mystical energy.
"The demons you speak of are powerful in numbers," Knuckles began, "but single them out and take them on one by one, and they fall pretty quickly. That's how I cleared out a few demons when they came here last night."
Not wishing to stop there, Knuckles continued. "If you go into one of those demon settlements, though, chances are you might not come out. The 'settlements' are actually dark versions of this world, constructed to parallel it."
"The entrances to the demon settlements are in the form of crystal balls. Touching one is enough to enter. I saw one elsewhere in these fields. But you two are so weak-looking, you wouldn't stand a chance if you went in there."
Hearing this, Kim lost her temper. "Weak-looking? Wouldn't stand a chance? You couldn't judge good fighting skill if you were a referee at a boxing match!" (How can a girl be so scared, and immediately be so angry?)
That was sufficient for Knuckles to get worked up enough to throw a strong punch right at us. Kim and I dodged in opposite directions, and Knuckles' fist went right between us.
Knuckles is his own worst enemy, it seems, and the force of his own punch caused him to lose his balance and fall forward. When I saw him land right on top of our common tail, I signaled for Kim to mirror my actions.
Getting down on my hands and knees, I took my end of our common tail in one hand, positioned it correctly, and on the count of three, Kim and I both slung Knuckles up into the air.
Wham! Knuckles collided with a tree standing not far away. He was even madder now. Instead of attacking again, though, he began to burrow into the ground.
"Huh?" I heard Kim say aloud, and I had to agree. Knuckles' intentions became apparent, however, when he suddenly popped up under us and nailed Kim with an uppercut, throwing her- and me!- several feet into the air.
As a follow-up, Knuckles prepared to uppercut Kim again, but I pulled her out of the way, and the echidna connected with empty air. When we landed, Kim slung me forward to kick Knuckles in the chest, which I did perfectly.
"All right, so maybe you're a good pair of fighters after all," Knuckles admitted. "I yield. You'll probably stand a chance against those demons. The settlement entrance is…"
Yes, yes, this is turning out just like the last segment, but there'll be a twist in the next chapter. I promise!