Sonic sits on top of Knuckles, straddling the red echidna below him in triumph. He smiles widely, almost playfully and asks,
"give up yet?"
With a sudden jolt of energy and a deep growl, Knuckles slips free of Sonic's grasp. He plants his feet on Sonic's chest and pushes him off, sending the hedgehog stumbling backwards.
Knuckles stands up in a rush, wobbling in a lightheaded daze before glaring intensely at Sonic. It's a staring match again, and with the tiniest hint of a smirk, Sonic lifts his gloved hand to his mouth to suppress a yawn.
Knuckles takes a large stride forward, but stops suddenly when the ground begins to rumble. The sound of crunching rock slices through the air and sends large waves of vibrations through the ground. Vibrations almost strong enough to knock them off their feet.
Sonic and Knuckles break eye contact, searching for the source of the noise.
It's Eggman.
The glass cover of his plane slides open and he sits there proudly, wearing a wide grin. Knuckles stands in utter shock before finally snapping,
"You said you needed the emerald to fix your plane!" Eggman's grin vanishes and he turns a deep red from embarrassment. He begins scratching the back of his neck wordlessly.
"Give it up Eggman," Sonic states simply, taking his place beside Knuckles, "he'll never hand it over to you."
Knuckles looks down at his closed fist and opens it slowly to reveal the glow of the emerald. He had kept a tight hold on it for the majority of the fight, and had forgotten it was in his hand.
By now, Tails and the others have rushed over to their side. But Knuckles barely notices as he remains in his own little world.
'He lied... but –'
"He'd never give it up, so back off," Tails says, "he's not going to believe your lies anymore."
'Was that Tails? He sounds different...' Knuckles thinks to himself.
In a curious gesture, Knuckles finally looks up from the mesmerizing glow of the emerald and lets the thoughts drift through his mind once again,
'why are they talking about me like I'm not standing right here?'
Eggman breaks the silence by letting out choked, maniacal laughter while clutching his large stomach, causing Amy to grunt in disgust.
"Why don't we ask little Knuckles what he wants?" Eggman suggests mockingly. At this, all heads turn towards Knuckles and he can feel the intense stares burn his body.
More specifically, he feels the sparkling green eyes of Sonic, which almost shine as bright as the emerald. Knuckles clutches the emerald tightly, as if desperate for any kind of support, and turns his head away from the others to mumble,
"I don't know." He squeezes his eyes closed in intense thought, and finds nothing but darkness in the confines of his numb mind. He opens his eyes once more and stares blankly at Sonic. Lost and confused.
He's not himself. This is getting bad and Knuckles doesn't know what he wants anymore, or what to believe. All he wants is Eggman gone.
Sonic, as if reading his mind, instantly rolls into a ball and with intense force, smashes into the engine of Eggman's plane. In the bright flash of blue and the loud booming of crunching metal, Knuckles curiously tilts his head, staring at the swift manoeuvres of Sonic. And he feels something that wasn't there before.
Through his numb body, he feels something.
Suddenly the plane spits out a cloud of dark gray smoke before accelerating backwards and disappearing into the mess of the mountains. As Knuckles stares off into the distance, his voice booms loudly, echoing over the rocky surroundings,
"Eggman said he wanted to live in peace!"
"He sure is tricky, isn't he?" Sonic replies. Knuckles glances out of the corner of his eye, then snarls,
"he lied, damn him!"
Amy rests her mallet on her shoulder before turning to Knuckles to say,
"I guess you want to thank Sonic for saving your life and apologize for believing all those lies Eggman told you." Knuckles frowns deeply and mumbles,
"Zip it."
"You're too proud." Amy sighs in defeat. She glances intently at the desolate surroundings, but finds nothing more of interest. "Better go find the other emeralds," she states simply, as if their encounter with Eggman meant nothing.
And in a way it did.
The group nods in response and begins walking back towards the ship. Everyone but Knuckles. Sonic looks back at Knuckles and asks,
"you coming, Knuckster?" Knuckles narrows his eyes.
"The name's Knuckles. And I do things my way." And with that, he walks away. He doesn't run, he walks.
In an instant Sonic could've caught him, but maybe it's better to just let him be. He'll find him again; they always seem to cross paths as if by some miracle.
Sonic shakes his head, as if shaking off his worries, and marches calmly into the ship. While Tails lets his hands dance gracefully over the controls, he glances over his shoulder and notices that Sonic's alone.
"Where's Knuckles?" Sonic shrugs his shoulders lazily.
"He wants to do things his way."
"And the emerald?" Tails questions curiously.
"Let him keep it, we'll run into each other again." Tails stares blankly before nodding in agreement.
There was something Sonic couldn't quite shake off. A feeling deep in his stomach that tells him something is wrong.
Was it the usual witty banter that he and Knuckles shared, or was there something more?
Did he see doubt and confusion when he looked deep into Knuckles's violet eyes?
Tails voice suddenly breaks him from his thoughts,
"we've found another emerald."
A/N: Thank you to all the reviews – even the not so pleasant ones. I've decided to continue this story, and make it Knuckles/Sonic, although it will be a difficult pairing to portray.
If anyone's wondering about the general plot, Sonic and the others are searching for the emeralds while Eggman does the same, but the main focus is the pairing. Also, Tails has a spaceship in the show, and that's what I'll be referring to when I say ship.
I just realized that I didn't have any swearing, oh well... That just means I can swear in later chapters!
As always, I dedicate the first chapter to the first reviewer of the story, so Tecky-Tessi this one's for you! :)