CHAPTER SIX

"Okay, Knuckles, this is definitely NOT COOL!"

I spin away from him, around the shrine, wishing he wouldn't attack me over the Chaos Emerald, even if I do want it for a reason he doesn't agree with. What if it was him I had to save?

He aims a punch at me, and I duck under it at the last second. Because of this he thinks he got close and starts trying to hit me faster, he's throwing his fists all over the place like he's some kind of fighting octopus.

He thinks he's moving fast. To me, he's in slow motion, regular time at best.

I let him almost land one here, let him touch my shoulder there, the whole time giving ground and trying to make him feel like he's winning. I'm thinking really fast now, which usually happens when I get in a fight, since I have to lead Knuckles on, land hits of my own, and figure out how to get to the Chaos Emerald all at the same time. For some reason though I start thinking about what Tails said about multitasking not being effective. See, we had this big long argument about what I call 'the zone' (I know it's a lame name, shut up) and how I usually think of several things at once. He told me I'm not doing several things well, I'm—

—getting decked by Knuckles.

Getting punched in the face at 50 kilometres an hour is not a lot of fun. It's even less fun when it sends you flying through about six trees and into a stone wall.

I push myself up and finger the place he hit me. It still hurts, which means I'm gonna have headaches for the next three days.

Huh. I guess Tails was right about the multi-tasking thing.

Or maybe I was just trying to think of too many things at once.

Knuckles doesn't waste any time. In fact, by the time I'm done taking my hand off my face, his fist is heading straight for the part of my forehead it just came from. I manage to duck fast enough to get out of the way, but his body doesn't stop and he trips over me and into the rock. Now he's done that, it feels like I've been kicked in the ribs and I can't breathe, so I roll over real quick and hope I was fast enough for him not to fall on me.

Knuckles crashes into the wall, right fist taking a good chunk out of it, and he growls and turns around to face me again.

"Give it up, Sonic," he roars between clenched teeth, stepping towards me. "I won't let you have that Emerald!"

Okay, Sonic, think fast. Faster than you've ever thought before. Got to trick him. That's the best way... but how? I can't get inside the shrine. He's sealed it. He's coming so I've got to back up. Need to stand up first. Dizzy. Get him to open the shrine somehow. Take him out. Kick his arm out of the way. Wonder if Tails stayed with Eggman. Try to punch him in the throat. Damn sun is in my eye. Wow he sure took a piece out of that wall. Aw crap he hit me on the shoulder.

As I fall to the ground again I realize what I have to do. I turn the fall into a somersault and flip backwards through the air, whipping my left foot around at the last second to bring it crashing into the side of his head. He goes flying some distance away, his body dragging across the ground and tearing up great plumes of dirt and grass. I can smell the torn roots from where I'm standing, my weight a little more on my right leg because my left one is tingling from the impact.

This is Knuckles, though, and he's a bit thick-headed to begin with. He gets up right away and comes rushing at me like a locomotive, complete with loud noises and the feeling that I gotta get out of the way. I give my full attention to him now that I've come up with an idea, trading kicks and punches with him at incredible speed, both of us trying our damnedest to take the other out. I'm breathing harder than usual due to the blow he dealt to my ribs, which still hurt, and my vision is tunneling a bit every now and then. I've got to get this over with. I'm not at my best right now. I think that jerk gave me a concussion.

I need a breather so I back off and duck into the forest. I weave through the trees, missing each one by millimetres, so close I can feel my spines brushing against the bark. Dappled light streams down between the canopy above me, and I can't see where I'm going save for the view I allow to filter through my eyelashes. With the transition from light to shadow and back again being so fast, I'd blind myself if I left them open. As it is, the flashes are spiraling from my eyes to my head, and the pounding in my head intensifies.

After I can no longer hear his footfalls or his rasping breath behind me I stop, open my eyes and take stock of where I am. Trying to catch my breath without breathing too loud I take in the darkness around me. As a trickle of discomfort winds its way into my brain I realize I'm standing in one of the rivers that runs through here. My feet aren't wet, just cold. Uncle Chuck makes good shoes. But I step back and turn towards the direction I came from. I can just see the shadow of the shrine through the darker shadow of the trees. If I hurry I might be able to reach it before Knuckles stops looking for me. Hopefully I can slip in when he does.

I take another breath, deeper this time, and focus on where it's going, feel it flood my tired body with energy. Then I run towards the shrine.

He comes at me from the right, plowing into me like an avalanche only a few seconds after I've started, and I'm unprepared and I fall over. My left arm folds underneath me uncomfortably, the weight of Knuckles pressing it into my ribs, while my right arm comes up automatically to try and push him away before he gets the better of me. He bats it away and drives his knee into my abdomen. I gasp involuntarily and instinctively stab out with my fingers. They go into his nostrils and I don't think about where they are, just yank to the left as hard and as fast as I can. There's a nasty cracking noise and Knuckles screams. I drive my knee into his ribs and try not to scream myself. He's a lot more built than last time and I think I've bruised it. He flies backwards, clutching his nose, and I jump to my feet and throw myself at him. I try to punch him and counter his incoming fist just as he's snatching mine. For a minute we just stand there, struggling, glaring at each other, the glistening blood leaking out of his nose dropping onto the fallen leaves like some kinda perverse kind of rain.

"You're going to pay for that, you know." His teeth are bared, and with a snort he shoots a gob of the blood out of his nose.

Strength against strength, I'm not going to win. Without thinking about it, just going on pure instinct, I grab his wrist with my blocking hand and twist quickly, and hard, the friction breaking the skin there. He immediately snatches his arm back. My glove is black and more crimson droplets rise out of his flesh. His eyes are wide for a moment.

"Sonic… "

I don't think about it. I can't think about it. I drive my foot into his chest. It doesn't hurt this time. My shoe takes the brunt of the impact.

I drive him back, and back, and we're almost where we started, at the shrine. My arms are getting heavy now. I'm becoming exhausted. Why so soon? I've never fought him for this long before, and he's so much stronger than he used to be.

I almost have him right where I want him. I can do this. Arms are tired, use your legs. I aim a kick at him with my left foot, no particular spot in mind, I just want to hit him and hit him fast.

Excruciating pain shoots up my leg as iron fingers dig into my shin and twist, hard. Without meaning to I breathe in harshly, reacting to a pain I wish I hadn't acknowledged.
Suddenly my body is in the air, the world condensing into a confusing blur that I can't make out and I'm screaming because my knee is on fire. I can't injure it, not now, so I put all of my effort into pulling myself towards Knuckles, by bending that knee and bringing my other foot into his face. I'm falling to the ground and rolling away from him as he staggers back, wiping the dirt from my treads out of his eye.

If I strike fast—if I hit him now—