Brothers of Chaos

Chapter 2

A year had passed since the fateful encounter with the hedgehog had occurred.

To this day, he didn't know exactly what in his mind had managed to keep his uninvited guest on Angel Island as long as he did. One one side, as the echidna begrudgingly admitted to himself, having an actual sentient companion available for him to talk to occasionally could only be a positive thing, perfect to keep that deep seated sense of loneliness quelled for the time being. On the other hand though, Sonic's personality... didn't exactly have the attributes necessary for companionship.

Knuckles had to give credit to the hedgehog when it was due, though. In the year that passed since he landed on the island, he had managed to rid himself of his somewhat juvenile way of speaking for the most part – which, to be honest, was quite fine by him. However, the echidna had quickly started to notice a recurring theme in his mannerisms – Sonic loved to keep moving.

Physically, this was quite obvious. It was what was on the mental scale of things that the echidna pondered on more often.

Sonic and Knuckles were basically polar opposites. Sonic loved to spend his time zooming across the island's main attractions; whether it be swinging across the jungle vines and zooming across the peculiarly shaped loop-de-loops of the green-lands, or examining the submerged ruins of the ancient Hydrocity, or going on the rides of the Carnival at night-time(How the hell a carnival of all things ended up emerging on Angel Island, Knuckles did not care to want to know), Sonic was always moving. Also, unlike Knuckles, he didn't seem to care much about education; that didn't stop him from forcing the hedgehog to sit down and dedicate a few hours a day to reading up on what the Hidden Palace had to offer, using his immense strength as a threat; he was not going to spend his valuable time talking to an uneducated hick.

Knuckles, meanwhile, was practically a stone wall, with both the personality and the physical strength to match. Unlike Sonic, he rarely, visited the sections of the island outside the altar, as well as the Hidden Palace. He didn't have the time to; he couldn't afford to wander off while the Emerald was in plain sight. Although the echidna would never say this to anyone, not even himself, he secretly envied Sonic's outlook on life, no cares in the world, while he was doomed to a potentially lifetime commitment.

That's not to say that the hedgehog's presence did not annoy him however. While most of the time Sonic kept well out of Knuckles' way due to being occupied with what the island had to offer, whenever he was near him, he would bother him to no possible end.

This was one of those days.

"Aw, c'mon, Knuxie! Let's go do something together, you and me!"

"I've told you a thousand times already, hedgehog. The name is not "Knuxie". It's Knuckles. And I've also told you this a thousand times already – no, I don't want to go anywhere with you."

Sonic's face turned into a pout, which made Knuckles' frown even deeper; He hated that face he made. It made him look so pathetic that he wanted nothing more than to to punch him in the face with his spiked gloves. The thought made him inwardly smirk.

"But I'm booooorreed! I've been through the Carnival Night place like, a million times now! I wanna play with you! You're big and strong!"

Knuckles then turned away from Sonic, beginning to walk back towards the altar. "Tough. Go play with the woodland creatures; they could use some entertainment."

"But all they do with their time is eat, poop and sleep! And they smell, too! I don't wanna play with them!"

Knuckles let out a deep sigh. "Then read. Reading invigorates the mind and stabilises it to its full potential. Take me for example."

"I've already read the books you told me to read!"

"Like I said before; tough. Now if you excuse me, I have an Emerald to guard." He was almost to the top of the stairs...

Sonic's face then twisted into an uncharacteristic scowl. Master Emerald this, Guardian of Angel Island that; that was all he ever cared about! All he wanted to do was to go off on adventure with Knuxie, and he just turned him away like that? What was wrong with this guy, anyway?

"Yeah well, who needs ya? I don't wanna keep you away from your girlfriend!"

Knuckles' eyes widened, before turning back to meet the hedgehog's eyes. "What... did you say?"

"Yeah, you heard me! If that stupid Emerald is so important to you, then why don't you marry it?"

The echidna's shock started to form to bubbling anger, as veins started to appear on his forehead and a guttural growl emerged from his maw.

No, no... Remember your teachings; do not let his taunts get the best of you – a Guardian should never let loose of any emotional restraints. Just wait for him to clam it-

"You Guardians must have been dumber than bricks if you think guarding a stone for the rest of your lives is worth a piece of crud!"

That did it.

"RAAAAUUUGGGGHHHHH!" Without warning, Knuckles blasted off the steps at the altar, moving with such spontaneity that even Sonic was thrown off a loop for a moment, only to recollect his bearings just in time to back flip out of the way to avoid a diving punch to the ground, leaving a small crater.

What the hedgehog didn't know was that what awaited him from behind was a large, sloped hill. After hitting his head on the ground, causing him to let out a moan, his body started to roll at an ever increasing frequency, until it started to take the form of a blue ball to the naked eye. After a few seconds, the blue ball ended up entering what looked like a stone ramp. Sonic shot up into the sky, and, through both his form and his sheer speed, managed to demolish a stone wall, which instantly caused him to lose his rolling form, causing him to ungracefully face plant into the ground.

Sonic dizzily got up, and inspected the bruises that were present on his body as the result of that exchange, as well as the large bump that had emerged on his head. Before he could do much else, however, he sidestepped with a start once he saw that Knuckles had somehow managed to catch up to him.

It was at this point that Sonic realised that maybe he may have upset Knuckles a bit too much. 'A bit' was maybe a bit of an under exaggeration; he'd never seen the echidna in such a fit of rage before. If he managed to catch up to him, he'd be in for quite a world of hurt... All he wanted to do was to play with him!

"Knuckles, Knuckles! Calm down, buddy! Sorry if I ticked you off, or whatever; just don't wail on me, OK?!"

Alas, at this point, Knuckles was just too far gone to be reasoned with so easily. With another roar of anger, he started using his fists to bring down the various coconut trees that littered the main grasslands of the Island.

Sonic gulped, sensing a shadow starting to emerge from behind him, and then out of pure instinct, jumped out of the way, managing to avoid being squashed into a pulp by the giant trees.

Seeing that Knuckles wasn't going to calm down, the sweating hedgehog started to frantically come up for ideas. If he didn't think up a plan quick, he was a goner! So he continued to think, until...

An imaginary light bulb appeared on Sonic's head. "That's it!" His trademark smile appeared on his face as he started to dash ahead of Knuckles, intending to leave the grasslands and head up to the highest part of the Island; the Master Emerald. It didn't take a genius to figure out that Knuckles was devoted to the thing. So, what better way to get him to calm down that to threaten him using it? It was totally foolproof! Sonic quickly turned behind him to see that Knuckles wasn't too far behind. Not bad...

It wasn't long before Sonic managed to get up the stairs to the altar, and jumped on top of the Master Emerald. It was simply the matter of waiting for Knuckles to take the bait. So sure of himself that his quickly formulated plan was going to work, that he didn't notice his body glowing a light shade of blue due to the Emerald's power.

Sonic's ears then perked up as they sensed the echidna's presence. His body quickly formed a battle-ready stance, his cocky smirk still present on his face.

"There you are, little red guy! If you don't calm down now, I'm gonna break your precious... precious..."

Whatever words had formed in his mind had faded as he saw Knuckles jump up, his body covered in a red light, and with his eyes lacking pupils. And worst of all... he had a fist formed for a hook.

Sonic never saw Knuckles' attack coming. Before he knew it, the spiked fist made its way into the blue hedgehog's face; his body was immediately launched several feet into the air, before making his way back on the ground, not too far away from the bottom steps of the Emerald altar.

Immediately after, Knuckles had managed to regain his composure, his eyes quickly regaining their pupils and the veins disappearing from his head. He still maintained a scowl, but it was directed more towards himself than towards Sonic.

Ugh, you moron! What did I tell you?! Don't let his taunts get to you! You're a Guardian, for Pete's sake. Now you've let your anger get the best of you and the hedgehog is probably critically injured a best. Damn it all! What would my forefathers say to me right now? Oh, they'd probably say a mouthful of cra-

"Dude! What. WAS. THAT?!"

Knuckles instantly turned around to see Sonic behind him. To his utter amazement, he appeared mostly fine from that exchange, besides a few scrapes. But it didn't make any sense. That punch just have at least beaten him down, maybe even killed him! There was just no way... unless... was this the Master Emerald's doing? He thought back to that book he read around a year ago, as well as when Sonic was unusually healed by the Master Emerald when he was critically injured.

"Two beams of light, one blue and one red, guided by Chaos...", he murmured to himself.

Sonic's head lightly cocked to the side. "Huh? Something on your mind, Knux?"

"Actually, hedgehog, there is? By all intents and purposes, that punch should have at least left you broken and bloody. The fact that you aren't... maybe its the Chaos Energy coming into effect... Hmm..."

After a few seconds of thinking, Knuckles instantly came into a conclusion. "Ah, I've got it. Sonic. How would you like me to teach you the ways of martial arts?"

Sonic's face instantly shot up. "Really? You think you can?"

The echidna nodded. "Positive. Think of it; it will most likely prove beneficial for the both of us. You will be able to defend yourself from any potential harm from intruders, and I myself will be able to improve my finesse, and to use your speed to my personal advantage – lord knows I need to be able to prepare against someone with speed of your calibre." He added that last bit of subtle buttkissing just for good measure.

Just as expected, the hedgehog fell for the bait, his eyes closing and that confounded smile appearing on his lips in a transparent showing of modesty. "Well... that is true... All right! I'll do it! Put 'er there, pal!" His hand quickly shot up.

The echidna's face signalled confusion at first, only to finally figure out what Sonic was doing; his hand met Sonic's, and in a single gesture, an alliance was born.

Of course, Knuckles had his own reason for training them both. For one, the displays of power presented by them both a few moments ago was still fresh in his mind. Was it connected to that story in the book in anyway? Was he, the last echidna in existence, really destined for such a role?

He just had to find out.

Second chapter was up sooner than I thought it would be; that could only be a plus, I guess xP. Here's hoping I can maintain this schedule for my future chapters.

Also, any feedback is greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading!