A/N: 1/19/2017: Fixed an error with the Egg Fort. It's not the Egg Fort mk. II yet.

I Do NOT Own PPG, the Sonic franchise, or any song, what-so-ever

In a city, known as Oriental City, Knuckles the Echidna was riding on a boat, down the river that goes through the city.

Things were in pretty bad shape when we first entered this strange new world for what felt like however, and no matter how much we beat Eggman, we weren't any closer to reaching home. I was starting to lose hope. But all that changed about a month ago after we destroyed Eggman's base, when I first met Hawk.

I stumbled across an ancient temple of some kind. It was eerie and quiet. I had a feeling it must have, when I first climbed up those sets of stairs up towards the entrance to the temple. As I walked further down into the temple, I heard a voice. Someone had triggered a trap in this temple, and was about to be crushed by the walls. That is, until, I stepped in, and broken into the room. Just as it was about to close in, I destroyed this trap, and I broke us both out of the ruins. Once we were outside, the man thanked me for saving his life. He said his name was Hawk, and I didn't know it then, but he and I were after the same thing.

I've heard from Hawk again a few weeks later. Naturally, I was suspicious, and of course curious, so I decide to pay my new friend a visit. Of course, with the humans not used to seeing us here yet, they looked at me with confusion. But that didn't stop me from asking around.

"Hey, how do I get to Jack's place from here?" Knuckles said, as he walked up to a random pedestrian.

"Hey, I know you. You're that Sonic character, aren't you?" He said, mistaking him to Sonic, somehow…Naturally, Knuckles grew annoyed by that statement.

"Grr, you must be crazy! I don't look anything like Sonic! I'm Knuckles!"

"I didn't mean to offend you. We don't see many hedgehogs around here, especially the kind that walk and talk."

Later, Knuckles was standing in front of a dirty, and horrible looking bar. The place had Chinese letters on it, probably showing that this is Jack's place.

He led me through a half dozen dirty alleyways, right in front of Jack's place.

Knuckles then walked forward, and opened up the door to the bar. The entrance wasn't anything special. It didn't have those doors you would expect from a fast food restaurant. It was just an ordinary wooden door, which explains the quality of the place a lot. The people in there stared at Knuckles looking like they're angry that he even showed his face here. But as always, Knuckles doesn't seem affected by this. He is usually the brute type who doesn't get phased by intimidating faces like these. Especially the intimidating faces from humans.

Knuckles walk past the people that are in there, as they kept their eyes on him, as he walked up to the counter. The people looks like they're your typical alleyway gang, as well as two shady characters in there with black coats and hats, that are covering their faces.

"Hey, I'm looking for a guy named Hawk." Knuckles said, as the guy at the counter looks at him with a scared expression, looking like he knows something. Knuckles took note of that. "It's not polite to stare, y'know?"

"Uh, sorry! I don't see many folks like you around here." The person said, nervously.

"Doesn't matter. Have you seen Hawk, or haven't you?"

"N-Nope. Name doesn't seem familiar to me…Sorry…" The person said, nervously. Obviously, Knuckles knew something was up by the sound of his voice.

"You're lying." He said, sternly.

"Hey." The guys at the tables then got up, and walked up to Knuckles. "The man told ya he hasn't seen your friend. Now get lost, will ya?"

"I'm not going anywhere until I get answers." Knuckles said, as the guy behind the counter ducks, getting ready for a bar fight to get out of hand.

"Well then I suppose we'll show you the way out then."

"I think it's you that has to leave."

"Well, is that so?" The guy said, agitated by Knuckles. He then ran forward and tried punching Knuckles, but of course, Knuckles flipped the person over the counter by tripping him, and the conversation ended there. The other gang characters were getting themselves ready for a fight, until someone spoke up.

"I would not do that." Someone said. Someone was at the doorway, and he looked like a big brute. From the looks of it, this person was this gang's leader. He wore simplistic clothing, a white shirt and khakis, with some straps on it, probably to accommodate to his big size. "I have a feeling he's tougher than he looks."

"Mr. Li Yan." One of the people there shouted. The gang members then stepped to the side, as the man walks past them, and they bow.

"What is your business?" Li Yan said.

"A guy named Hawk said I can find him here. Do you know anybody like that?"

"You must be Knuckles. I have been expecting you. If you are looking for Hawk, you are looking for the right guy."

"Then lead me to him."

Li Yan then led Knuckles out of the bar, and was going to take him to see Hawk. The gang members watch as the two of them leaves, including the two shady people in the corner.

"Knuckles." One of them said.

"We must report this to Dr. Eggman and Mojo Jojo."

Go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go
Gotta go fast, gotta go fast,
Gotta go faster, faster, faster, faster, faster
Movin' at speed of sound (make tracks)
Quickest hedgehog around
Got ourselves a situation, stuck in a new location,
Without any explanation, no time for relaxation!
Don't, don't, don't, don't, don't blink, don't think,
Just go, go, go, go, g-g-g-g-go, go!
N-n-n-n-n-n-na
N-n-n-n-n-n-na
Sonic, he's on the run!
Sonic, he's number one!
Sonic, he's comin' next,
So watch out... For Sonic X!
Gotta go fast (Sonic!), gotta go fast (Sonic!),
Gotta go faster, faster, faster, faster, faster!
Go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go!
So... (Sonic) nic... (Sonic) X,
Gotta go faster!
Gotta go fast!
Gotta go faster, faster, faster, faster,
Sonic X!

EPISODE 17:
The Adventures of Knuckles and Hawk…& Buttercup

Li Yan leads Knuckles through an alleyway, and towards a door at the end of it. He opens it up, and leads the two of them inside. Inside, they walk down a flight of stairs that's lit up from green lights. The two of them then reached a door at the bottom of the stairs, and Li Yan opens it. However, Li Yan stands aside, letting Knuckles go in first. Of course, Knuckles grew suspicious of this act of kindness from Li Yan.

"Go ahead. You go first." He said.

"Heh heh. Fine." Li Yan said, chuckling. He then went into the door, and closed it, making Knuckles realize instantly that he played himself. The floor opened up beneath him, and Knuckles fell down it.

Knuckles was falling quite fast, however, he broke his momentum when he planted his knuckles to the sides of the small corridor. He was near the end of it, and looks down it. There seems to not be any sort of spikes or traps down there, so he's good to land down there. Knuckles landed onto the floor, letting the person in there know of his presence when he had his back turned towards him.

"If you want this cell, fine, but if you want this food, forget it!" The person in there said. He was wearing a green outfit, and he had a bell shaped hairstyle. This person was recognizable to Knuckles instantly. "If you want this food, you're gonna have to wait until tomorrow!"

"That's no way to treat a friend, is it?" Knuckles smirked, surprising the person. This person was what Knuckles was looking for, named Hawk.

"Knuckles! It's you! How'd you get in here?"

"Well, let's just say I decided to drop in."

At the Egg Fort, Decoe and Bocoe were reporting to Eggman and Mojo of whom they encountered.

"What was that nincompoop Echidna doing at a dump like that?" Mojo said.

"He said he was looking for a person named Hawk." Decoe said. "He said there's something that he has that he wants."

"Very interesting, is it not?"

"Yes." Eggman said. "Perhaps we should put our plan into action. It'll be loads of fun! Now let's see…" Eggman pressed a button on the dashboard, and a spinner on the dashboard started spinning. This was Eggman's second version of the selection machine, in which this time, the cards were preloaded into the machine. The machine stopped with a chime, and Eggman chuckles. "Excellent…"

Back with Knuckles and Hawk.

"And that was a Chaos Emerald that you saw?" Knuckles said, confirming Hawk's findings.

"It was a big purple stone, about this size." Hawk said, showing Knuckles the size of the stone he found with his hand. This was all on memory, so Hawk didn't know that this was an accurate size of the stone, but Knuckles knew that was it.

"It is a Chaos Emerald!" He said.

That's one more…If only we had them all…I can get back home again…Angel Island. I'm not sure how long it's been since I started living there…As far back as I can remember, I've been there, guarding the Master Emerald. I had gotten used to being alone like that, after so long…and even when things got tough, I knew in the end things would eventually be all right. And then, out of nowhere, Chaos Control came, and brought us all to this place…

"You mean the only reason you want to find those Chaos Emeralds is so you can go back home?" Hawk said.

"Best reason I can think of." Knuckles answered.

"So that's it! I thought you wanted that Emerald because you were in it for the money."

"It doesn't matter though. I assume that they took the Emerald when you were put in here?"

"Nope. In fact I have it tucked in a safe place. I knew that they were lookin for it, you see?"

"Where is it?"

"Ha ha ha! I hid it in a place no one would ever think about looking! It's-"

Suddenly, Knuckles covered Hawks mouth, and then silently pointed to something peculiar at the wall. Hawk at first didn't see what he was pointing at, however he then sees it. It was a tiny microphone chip that was implanted into their cell, recording every single word that they're saying. They're obviously listening into their conversation, trying to learn about the whereabouts of the Chaos Emerald Hawk has hidden.

"This place really isn't so bad." Knuckles said, casually. "This place can really be comfy, y'know? Didn't think I would get used to this place, but it's growing on me."

"Right, Right!" Hawk said, now playing along, as Knuckles goes up to the wall. "Come to think of it, this could be a lot worse, you know? Compared to other jail cells, this place could be first class, all the way! Uh, and I tell you something else, the food that they serve in here are pretty good. Baked beans are delicious, even though they are cold as ice, and a little dry, but you didn't hear it from me."

Li Yan was listening in to this conversation from another room, and turned the frequency up to try to not miss anything if they leak out information about the Chaos Emerald's whereabouts.

"I mean, I do have to admit, would it kill to change their menu once and a while? Baked Beans are good, sure, but I'd prefer some stemmed shrimp, dumplings, and leek buns. I mean they sound absolutely delicious to have on days like this, wouldn't you say? So inconsiderate."

Knuckles then brought his face towards the microphone, and took a breath.

"THE LEEK BUN!" He screamed into the microphone as loud as he can, and Li Yan at the other end got his eardrums stabbed repeatedly, as he falls back on his chair, and onto the ground, as his henchmen rushes in.

"What happened?" One of the two said, as they helped him up.

"Are you alright sir?" The other said.

"Play games with me, will they?" Li Yan grumbled, as walks out to face his prisoners.

He was ready to shout at them as they got to the cells, but to their surprise, the wall has been busted down, and Knuckles and Hawk have escaped.

It was nighttime when the two got out, and they rushed towards the street.

"Taxi!" Hawk signaled, and a taxi rode up to them…Sort of. This wasn't your average yellow cab taxi. This was a carriage of sorts. Essentially, this was a bicycle, with a carriage hooked onto it on its back. The driver had their hat covering their face, so they didn't know who this person looked like, which was a bit odd, and suspicious. Knuckles and Hawk then climbed into the seat. "Let's get going!"

The driver then took off, carrying the two towards their destination, as Hawk guides him. Meanwhile however, Rogue the Bat was spying on them, and wondered what they were up to. Curious, she continues to follow them.

"Turn right here." Hawk said, and the driver took a right, as Hawk told, with Rogue doing the same.

Soon, Hawk told the driver to stop, and him and Knuckles got off. He left them a tip, and they drove off, leaving the two of them in front of abandoned buildings with broken glass on them.

"We're here."

"This is the place?" Knuckles asked.

"Yup, this is the old downtown. Let's get going." The two then started walking again, as Knuckles looks above to the top of the buildings that surrounds them both, getting suspicious. Regardless, he followed Hawk. They got to an entrance to an underground Subway, which was where Hawk had hidden the emerald. The sounds of a ball bouncing then alerts Knuckles, and he looks behind them. No one was there when he looked. "What is it?"

"I thought I heard something." Knuckles said.

"Are we being followed?"

"We'll see…"

Knuckles and Hawk then begins to walk down the stairs towards the abandoned Subway system. Truth be told, he did hear something, and it was the sound of a kickball landing on a roof of a building. A green light flashed by, and got to the ball, and they picked it up.

"Whew! You got far, didn't you?" The girl in green, Buttercup, was there to pick up the kickball that apparently she kicked this far, from all the way in Station Square. From the corner of her eye, she sees Knuckles descending down the stairs to the abandoned subway system. "Huh? Was that Knuckles?" She then looks around her to see if her sisters followed her. It seemed that she was all by herself…"Seemed" like it. "Eh, they won't mind if I go check on Knuckles."

Buttercup then flew down towards the subway entrance, and flew down the stairs, as Rogue lands at the entrance, smirking. If one of the Powerpuff Girls is here, something must be up. However, something hits Rogue on the back of her head, and she was knocked out, by apparently, the same taxi driver from earlier.

Knuckles and Hawk were talking to each other more as they got down to the station.

"I found it at the place where my partners were trading." Hawk said. "My mouth nearly leapt out of my heart…No wait, I mean my heart nearly leapt out of my mouth!"

The two of them jumped down onto the railings, and started walking alongside that. This was safe, as this railway hasn't been active for years after this station was shut down.

"Look there." Hawk then pointed to a part of the track that has a mark on it. "It's here." Hawk then started lifting the board up, and started digging. All the while, Knuckles looks behind him, knowing something is up. He then growled, and brought his fist up, trying to see if that scared off their little spy. The person fell onto the ground, yelping in surprise.

"Ow! Hey! What's the big idea!?" They exclaimed. Knuckles then slowly walked up to the person, since he couldn't see well in the dark. When he did, he was able to see who it was. It was actually Buttercup, who followed the two of them down here, with her kickball. She was rubbing her forehead, groaning from the jumpscare Knuckles did, as he and Hawk looks at her awkwardly.

"Buttercup?" Knuckles said.

"Nice way of greeting a friend who hasn't seen you in a month, huh?" Buttercup huffed, and stood up, brushing herself off. "What are you doing here?"

"I was going to ask you the same thing."

"Well, me and my sisters were playing ball, until I kicked it all the way over here at the next continent. Pretty impressive, am I right?"

"Hey, you're one of those Powerpuff Girls, aren't you?" Hawk said, recognizing Buttercup from the news reports.

"Yeah." Buttercup then stares at this situation awkwardly, mistaking this for something else. "Uh…Knuckles, I hope you're not doing what I think you're doing."

"Well, you're thinking wrong." Knuckles said.

"Got it!" Hawk then shows a small brown bag to the two of them, and turns it upside down. The Purple Chaos Emerald comes out of the bag, shining brightly.

"Ah! A Chaos Emerald!" Buttercup exclaimed. "Where did you get that!?"

"I found it for my buddy, Knuckles."

"Nice going, Knuckles!"

"Thanks." Knuckles said, smirking.

"It's all yours. And thanks for getting me out, Knuckles." Hawk said, about to hand the Chaos Emerald to the two heroes.

Suddenly, they heard evil laughing, and in front of them, they saw the two villains, Eggman and Mojo, were in their flying machines, setting their sights on the Chaos Emerald.

"Well, we certainly didn't expect to find you here alongside these fools, Buttercup." Mojo laughed.

"Eggman and Mojo!" Buttercup yelled.

"Now, please be a good girl, and hand us that Chaos Emerald."

"Not a chance!" Buttercup shouted, putting her kickball down.

"If you want this Chaos Emerald, you're going to have to fight it out of us!" Knuckles yelled. The two jumped onto the platform, and ran towards the two villains, raising their fists, ready to punch the two of them. When they were going to hit them, they were surprised to see that their fists went through them, as the villains laughed.

"Well, there's something to laugh about." Eggman laughed.

"Help me!" Hawk exclaimed. The same cabbie from earlier had Hawk's arm by a nunchuck.

"Ah! The Emerald!" Buttercup yelled.

"You!" Knuckles shouted.

"Sometimes she's a driver, sometimes she's a guard, and sometimes she's a sexy dancer…and partial housemaid, business woman, bank teller, baker, cook, part time zoo worker, and maybe sandwich maker at Subways; but all the time, she is a servant to us!" Mojo shouted. "Say hello to E-91, Kunoichi!" The driver took off the clothing, and revealed that she was a purple E series robot, made by Eggman and Mojo. Just as the name suggests, this robot was formed as a Kunoichi, also known as a female ninja. It has a humanoid form, and has a purple outfit, along with a pink visor to see.

"A ninja?" Buttercup said. "…And hey! Why does she have my hairstyle?" Buttercup paid more attention to the hairstyle of this robot. The head part of the robot has the back formed to be a sort of purple hairstyle that matches that of Buttercup's.

"So sorry, but we were basing this robot partially off of you, Buttercup." Eggman said, as Kunoichi pulls back more on Hawk's arm, trying to make him let go of the Chaos Emerald. "Sorry for the plagiarism."

"Grr! Hey Egghead! Mojo! Where are you!?" Buttercup yelled. "Come down here so we can fight!"

The Egg Fort was flying above Oriental City, waiting on E-91 to bring back the Chaos Emerald.

"We've wasted enough time with these brats. Soon we'll have our hands on that Purple Chaos Emerald right there and- *COUGH*" Mojo stopped himself from rambling on again, and annoying everyone. "Ahem. Excuse me. Kunoichi, bring back that Chaos Emerald right back to us now!"

Kunoichi then made Hawk flick back his arm, letting go of the Chaos Emerald, and it was going to get into the hands of E-91.

"Not today you are!" Buttercup exclaimed. She then fired her eye beams towards the robot, and knocked her back, letting the Chaos Emerald fall onto the train tracks. The robot then got up, and jumped onto the platform to face the heroes.

"Let's throw in more weight behind things, shall we?" Eggman said. Suddenly, the tip of the Kunoichi's nunchucks turned into that of a wrecking ball, and the robot span it around her, and threw it towards Buttercup and Knuckles, to which they jumped out of the way effortlessly. They were about to get hit again by the wrecking ball that E-91 threw at them again, but still, they effortlessly dodged it, letting it hit the ceiling, and started to crumble it a bit, letting loose some rubble. The two landed, and got out of harm's way. The rubble then crumbled onto the kickball, crushing it.

"Quick Hawk!" Knuckles shouted. "Grab the Emerald and run!"

Hawk then stumbled onto his feet, and started to run towards the Emerald, when Kunoichi threw the wrecking ball towards him, cutting him off. The wall that Kunoichi hits crumbles, and collapses onto the Chaos Emerald, burying it. Hawk yells in shock, and attempts to lift the rubble off of the Emerald.

"Let's go!" Buttercup yelled, as they jumped down towards him.

"Knuckles, Buttercup, the Emerald is buried!" Hawk yelled.

"Huh?"

The three then notice another attack coming towards them, and they got out of the way, just in time.

Meanwhile, topside, Rogue wakes up from being knocked out from Kunoichi.

"Oohh…Sneaking up on a girl…" She mumbled. "That's no way to treat a lady…" She then noticed the dust coming up from the fight below. "I don't know what that is, but it can't be any good…What the…?" Rogue then notices the Egg Fort flying above her, expecting to get a Chaos Emerald from E-91. "I think that's my cue to get the heck outta here." Rogue then proceeds to fly out of there to not get involved with this situation.

E-91 meanwhile continues to destroy the walls and support beams of the place intentionally, bringing the station crumbling down on top of the heroes.

"She's going to bury us!" Buttercup yelled.

"We need to get out!" Knuckles exclaimed.

"But how can we!?" Hawk exclaimed. The rubble was crumbling down upon them, showing an opening towards the surface. Knuckles grabbed Hawk, and him and Buttercup then began to hop on the rubble that's falling towards them. Doing so, they were able to get towards the surface, and they were able to escape from E-91 for this night.

Because the support beams were destroyed, it caused a chain reaction, in which the road that's sitting above the subway system started to cave into the railway system, completely taking out an intersection of Oriental City. As this was happening, the Egg Fort then started flying out of there, not going to draw more attention to them.

The morning sun rises, and everyone was taking refuge in Hawk's hideout. It was a pretty shaggy old place, considering it's a hideout for a smuggler. There was covered objects along side the wall, and there was dusty china alongside the cabinet. The boxes also were looking pretty dusty, and had Chinese text on them. The TV in there was turned onto the news channel, reporting on the collapse that happened last night.

[Around the area where the old abandoned underground subway was at, it mysteriously crashed as of last night, taking out a street in Oriental City. Some information shows that Eggman's Egg Fort was seen there. Government officials have launched a full investigation to what have caused the crash.]

"Guess there's nothing that we can do now." Hawk said. "At least until the heat dies down a little bit."

"Rgh, we had that thing in the palm of my hand…" Knuckles grumbled, mad that he lost the Chaos Emerald to E-91, along with Buttercup.

"We had that thing, and then that stupid robot had to come along and stop us…" Buttercup grumbled, looking at a punching bag. In anger she smacked the punching bag as hard as she can. "Dang it!"

Unintentionally, she broke a support beam on the ceiling, and that had the whole shelf on the wall crumbling onto her.

"Hey, knock it off Buttercup!" Hawk exclaimed. "That won't do us any good!"

Buttercup groaned, as she got up from the mess that fell onto her.

"Rgh…I know, but it really agitates me that we lost something simple as that!" Buttercup said. "We had that thing, and Eggman and Mojo showed up. It makes me cheesed off that something like that happened…" Something in a brown bag then fell, and bounced off of her head, and landed in front of Knuckles. Whatever was in it spilled in front of Knuckles, and he was surprised at what was in there. These were digging claws that you would find in the toy shelf in the kid's section of the store. But these claws weren't ordinary claws. These claws have sharp, and pointy knuckles that will be able to allow the user to dig through the toughest material in the ground, including cement.

"Ah! This is…" Knuckles started, amazed, picking the claws up. "The Shovel Claws! How did they get here?"

"What, you mean those things?" Hawk said. "I dug them out of that old temple. You know, where you saved me?"

The treasures that Hawk had gotten from the temple earlier that had the trap were the Shovel Claws. They were sitting in a round blue room in the temple, in which Hawk had picked them up, and proceeded to leave with them, and that's where he got caught in the trap, and that's when Knuckles came in to save him.

"Hm. Alright guys, let's get digging." Knuckles said, smirking.

The three had gotten back to where the street had collapsed, and Knuckles and Buttercup jumped down into an opening in the rubble.

"Be careful you two." Hawk said.

The two had landed, and Knuckles put on the Shovel Claws, which fits on him perfectly.

"Can you dig with your bare hands?" Knuckles asked Buttercup.

"No. But I can use my powers." Buttercup replied. She then shot out her laser eyes towards the ground, as Knuckles started digging, and they were making quick progress together. They were able to dig down deep into another opening between the rubble in just a few seconds.

"Now, where could that emerald be…"

"Well, those things shines like a sun whenever me and my sisters use our X-Ray vision on them, so I guess that's worth a shot." Buttercup then turned on her X-Ray vision, and the energy that was radiating off of the Chaos Emerald instantly blinded her. "Erk! Yep! It's close by." She said, covering her eyes. She then turned off her X-Ray vision, and pointed to the direction to where it shone the brightest. They started digging more in the direction that Buttercup had been blinded by the energy of the Chaos Emerald, and Knuckles had hit something hard, with a clang, and the two stopped digging. Knuckles raised one claw up, and revealed that he had dug up the Chaos Emerald. "Alright!"

The two then climbed up towards the surface again, and out of the wreck of the subway. When they took a look around, they saw that Hawk was nowhere to be found. He wasn't around them, nor was anyone else.

"Huh? Hey Hawk! Where'dja go!" Buttercup called out.

They heard the laugh of an annoying robot approaching them, and saw that Bokkun was flying towards them, with another TV in his hand.

"Message from Dr. Eggman and Mojo Jojo." Bokkun said. The TV turned on, and the villains' mugs were on there, and they just got straight to the point.

"If you want to save this man, just come to the building site in Oriental City." Mojo said. "Look anywhere else, and you'll find that he won't be there! Look in the food courts, and he won't be there either! Your friend-" As Mojo was rambling on again, Eggman sighed, and pushed him to the side so he could talk.

"Ugh, just meet us at the building site in Oriental City." Eggman sighed, as Knuckles and Buttercup growled at them.

"Ahem, now after this message, there will be Karate!" Mojo said, in the background.

"I've been practicing on my Japanese language and Karate!" Bokkun exclaimed, with having flames on his eyes, and behind him, for some reason. "ヘックキックへのストレート！" Bokkun yelled, which roughly translates to "Straight to Heck Kick!" He then dashed forward, and ran into Buttercup, and started attacking. "Hiyah! Ha ha! I'm getting you now, aren't I? Oh you must be so scared and helpless right now! Ha!"

Though in reality, while Bokkun was stuck in his fantasies, Buttercup was pushing Bokkun back by his head, as he continues to flail and swing at her, with neither of these actions actually hitting her.

"Yeaahh…Come back when your dojo has less losers training you." Buttercup said, sweatdropping.

Ignoring all of this, Knuckles thinks back to the situation that they have on hand. Two villains had kidnapped Hawk, and the only way to get him back is to give the Chaos Emerald. They had just gotten the Chaos Emerald back, and now they risk losing it again. Knuckles really wants to get back to his home world to continue protecting the Master Emerald, however, he couldn't let an innocent rot at the hands of the villains, could he…?

Nightfall had come again in Oriental City, and everything was quiet at the construction site to where the villains had promised to exchange Hawk for the purple Chaos Emerald. He was stuck, dangling above the city on the top of the tall construction site, by a rope connected to a steel bar above him, with Kunoichi watching him, and the entrance, as they wait for the heroes to come. They heard footsteps approaching, and out of the shadows, they saw Knuckles and Buttercup, with the brown bag with the Chaos Emerald in it.

"Knuckles! Buttercup!" Hawk exclaimed.

The holograms of Eggman and Mojo appeared before the heroes again.

"Did you bring our Chaos Emerald?" Mojo said.

Knuckles dug into the bag, and showed the Chaos Emerald to everyone.

"Throw it to Kunoichi, and you'll have your friend back." Eggman said, as the holograms disappeared. Knuckles put the Chaos Emerald back into the bag, and threw it to Kunoichi, high up into the air.

Suddenly, a card comes out of nowhere, and knocks the bag back, making it fall down towards the ground. The card was a Thank You card, and it had been thrown by Rogue the Bat, who was eavesdropping on the whole conversation. She then proceeds to go after the emerald, and flies down the construction site, as Kunoichi jumps off the site as well, pulling out a kite to which she was attached. This is actually a traveling technique, used by ninjas. They attach kites to them, and they let wind currents guide them, and help them fly. Taking this opportunity, Knuckles jumped up, and untied Hawk from the rope, and they jumped down from the site to go after the Chaos Emerald.

Rogue had gotten to it first, and starts to fly away with it, with Kunoichi following closely from behind. The two were flying over a bustling marketplace, where there was awnings covering each of the markets that were selling foods and other products.

"Give me that Chaos Emerald!" Kunoichi shouted.

"Are you crazy? Why would I give this to you?" Rogue said, as she pulled out a gun from behind her, and shot the kite that Kunoichi was riding on, shooting it down. However, Kunoichi threw throwing stars at the bag, and effectively sliced it open, making the Chaos Emerald fall from there. "Nice shot." The Chaos Emerald was falling down towards the ground, as the other heroes had just gotten to the marketplace.

"Over there!" Knuckles shouted, and Buttercup took to the skies, and was going towards the Emerald. Just as she was going to get the Emerald, Kunoichi had gotten a sort of, flying squirrel cape, and started gliding again, and the two were about to get their hands on the Chaos Emerald. Buttercup's hand was just about to grab the Emerald, but she missed, and incidentally knocked the Emerald the other way. Distracted, she crashed onto an awning, and, wrecked a shop, as citizens run away from the struggle. Knuckles jumped forward, and was going to catch the Emerald, but Kunoichi knocked Knuckles to the side, and made him crash into another shop.

The Chaos Emerald landed at Hawk's feet, and he picked it up, as a crowd started to form around them all. Kunoichi then set her sights onto him, and was flying his way, as Hawk turned around, and started running in the opposite direction. Kunoichi threw a nunchuck forward, and was going to latch onto Hawk again, however, Buttercup, lifting herself from the wreck she just caused, threw a plate at the chain, causing the nunchuck to be deflected back towards Kunoichi, which knocked her back towards tables, and the people sitting at those tables ran away, as she crashed into it.

As this was all happening, Rogue flies over the marketplace, and starts to reconsider the Chaos Emerald.

"Uh…I think I'll come back when things have settled down a bit…" She said, and she then swooped out of there.

Hawk continues to run, taking turns at a bunch of alleyways, until he screeched to a halt, because he almost ran into a wall. He was in a dead end. Thinking he lost the robot, the robot's shadow emerged right onto the wall, and Hawk turned to see if she was there, which to his surprise, she wasn't. Confused, a hand popped out of the shadow on the wall, and snatched the Chaos Emerald, which shocked Hawk. Kunoichi actually somehow disguised herself as the shadow on the wall, and walked away from it.

"Thank you for the Emerald." She said. She then starts to run out of there, but was halted by the two heroes.

"Where do you think you're going?" Buttercup said, crossarmed.

"Give us back the Chaos Emerald." Knuckles said. Kunoichi then places the Emerald inside of her suit, not looking like she'll give it back to them.

"C'mon. It's two against one. You don't stand a chance."

The two then ran forward, and started attacking Kunoichi, as she dodges the attacks. Knuckles ran on the walls, dodging shurikens, and was about to punch E-91, however, she expected him to do that, and dodged the attack, and countered, knocking Knuckles behind her, very brutally.

"Knuckles!" Hawk shouted.

Though, Buttercup dashed forward, and quickly kicked her across the face, knocking her down. She then smirked, and was going to get the Emerald back from Kunoichi, however, the robot pointed her hand towards the girl, and caught her off guard with an electronet, which starts electrocuting her, as she screams in pain.

"You let your guard down." Kunoichi said. "Now you're done!"

Knuckles recovered, and saw that Buttercup was in trouble.

"Knuckles! ACK! Help me!" She shouted in pain.

With the Master Emerald in his mind, he starts to think that it's in danger, just like Buttercup is. They both were in danger, and he wasn't going to take this lying down. He rushes forward, and was going to attack Kunoichi in anger; however, she kicked him back, back onto the ground again.

"You stand no chance now." Kunoichi said, as the girl she was electrocuting fell onto her knees, about to pass out from pain. She was trying her hardest to get out of the net, however, it was too painful, and she can't get out. All hopes for the Chaos Emerald seemed lost, until a flash of pink and blue light rushes in, and knocks Kunoichi down, which also got Buttercup free of the net. She was panting in pain, with burnt marks all over her.

"Buttercup, are you okay?" She looked up, and saw that her other sisters, Blossom and Bubbles had rushed in and saved her.

"Huh...Blossom?" She groaned, as Bubbles was tending her.

"Don't worry, I'll take over." Blossom said, facing Kunoichi, who stood up. Quickly, Kunoichi brought her hand forward again, and shot out the electronet again, however, Blossom caught all the strands, and started absorbing the energy.

"What? She's absorbing the electricity!" Kunoichi said, in surprise, as Blossom smirks and giggles. She then brought her other hand forward, and started shooting the electricity back towards E-91, trying to overload her, however, she too was absorbing the energy.

"This is going to go on forever." Knuckles groaned, trying to seek another way to beat Kunoichi. Hawk then glances over to the side of him, and sees that there is a box full of water, along with a bucket, and then gets an idea. Filling up the bucket with water, he then splashes it onto Kunoichi, and then short-circuits her, rendering her stunned.

"Now we got her!" Blossom yelled, tossing the strands aside, and dashes forward, and punches Kunoichi back. Bubbles then dashed forward as well, and knocked Kunoichi back again. Finally, Buttercup, recovering slightly from the electrocution, delivered a painful looking haymaker that made Kunoichi drop the Chaos Emerald she was holding in her suit, making it drop to Hawk's feet. Knuckles then ran forward, and knocked Kunoichi up into the air, and she was never seen again. "That was a bit overkill, wouldn't you say you two?"

"Where's the fun in that?" Buttercup said, as she and Knuckles high-fived each other. Hawk then walks up to them, holding the purple Chaos Emerald, showing that they got it back.

"Here" He said, smiling. "It's all yours."

Knuckles smiled, and gladly took the Emerald, shaking Hawk's hand in the process.

The next morning, Knuckles was standing on a boat that was ready to leave, with the girls floating above it, as they'll be traveling home on their own, with Hawk saying his goodbyes to them.

"So, where are you guys going from here?" He asked.

"Well, we're getting this girl back home." Blossom said, nudging Buttercup, as she has bandages wrapped around her head, and body, as she was still recovering from the electrocution from last night. "Thanks for finding a Chaos Emerald for us."

"Now we have 5 Chaos Emeralds." Bubbles said.

"Yep. Two more and we'll be headed back home." Blossom said.

"Well…Will you be back?" Hawk said. "I mean, we're friends, and all that, and well, I'm gonna miss you." Hawk sniffed, and wiped some tears from his eyes.

"Don't worry Hawk." Buttercup said. "We'll come back to see ya from time to time." Knuckles's boat then starts to take off, as he stares back to Hawk, and then smirked.

"See ya around, Buddy!" He said, showing Hawk a thumbs up.

"So long, my friends!" Hawk waved, as all of them were leaving.

As the girls were about to leave Oriental City's view…

"Hey Buttercup, I forgot to ask, but where's our kickball?" Bubbles asked.

"Oh, that?" She said, as Bubbles nodded. She then smirked. "Well, I'll show you."

She lead the girls back to the wreckage of the subway station that got destroyed the night Buttercup got there.

"In there!?" Bubbles shouted.

"Yup. Get to it, girls." Buttercup said, walking to the curb, and sitting down on it. "I'll be sitting here, waiting until you dug that thing up. If it's even inflated."

"Buttercup, we need an extra pair of eyes to dig this whole place up!" Blossom shouted.

"I'm injured, ya see?"

"It doesn't take much out of your limbs to shoot out lasers out of your eyes!"

"Well what about taking me home!? I thought you were gonna do that!"

"Guys, stop fighting, please!" Bubbles shouted, as she always hates it when Buttercup and Blossom fights.

Knuckles continues his voyage over the sea, on the small boat he was riding on. He then glances over to the purple Chaos Emerald he had on hand. The girls let Knuckles keep the Emerald, as he was the one who got it first, other than Hawk. He then sees something radiating from inside the Emerald. Energy started expanding from it, and started filling the area up with blinding light, which took him by surprise.

After the light died down, Knuckles was standing in a grassy area.

"Where am I?" He said, looking around him. He then looked behind him, and to his surprise, he saw an altar. A giant green Chaos Emerald was sitting on the altar, and he instantly recognizes it. This is the altar of the Master Emerald, which means he was back on Angel Island, somehow. But this couldn't be home. Something was wrong. He then heard a voice that looked like it was coming from the Master Emerald.

The servers are the seven Chaos…

The voice said. It sounded like a soft girl's voice.

"Servers…Seven Chaos…?" Knuckles repeated. "What do you mean?"

The Master Emerald then shined a bright green light, which filled the place up again with blinding light. As soon as the light died down, Knuckles found himself on the boat again, which was still surrounded by sea. He then glances down to the Chaos Emerald he holds in his hand.

"The servers are the seven Chaos…" He repeated. "…What could that mean…?"

Go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go
Gotta go faster, faster, faster-faster-faster
Movin' at speed of sound (make tracks)
Quickest hedgehog around
Got ourselves a situation, stuck in a new location,
Sonic, he's on the run!
Sonic, he's comin' next, so watch out...
For Sonic X!
So- (Sonic) nic- (Sonic) X- (Gotta go faster!)
Gotta go fast!
Gotta go faster, faster, faster-faster
Sonic X!

TO BE CONTINUED