Of all the Mobians I've known over the years, few have changed as much as Knuckles the Echidna.

When Sonic and I first met Knuckles, he was the gruff and moody guardian of Angel Island. Not particularly bright or sociable, he was a hard Mobian to work with or even like. However, after an "alliance of convenience" against one of Eggman's many invasions, we saw a softer side to Knuckles that he had buried after years of isolation. He'd never admit to it, but the "new" Knuckles we deal with today has kind of always been there. Really, he's a kind hearted soul who hates injustice just as much as Sonic, and as he met more Mobians and hung around us more, he went from rough loner to goofy gym bro.

Of course, no one can change completely. And unfortunately, the one thing Knuckles has held onto was his temper.

Now, I'm not trying to make it sound like he flies off the handle over minor things. The silver lining to this is that it takes quite a bit to set him off; more than it ever has, really. And sometimes it pays to have him angry. Channeling his righteous fury at enemies is a pretty common tactic when we're surrounded- get him mad, point him in the direction of the enemy crowd, and watch as he berserks his way through now helpless baddies. But damn, when he gets angry…well, it's a sure bet something's breaking, and if you don't stay out of the way, it'll be you.

I've seen Knuckles fully demolish abandoned houses when he's in a mood. It's terrifying.

These days, when Knuckles gets really angry, he tends to go off the grid. He heads towards areas with no other Mobians (or as few as he can find), and starts breaking things. He's strong enough to leave trails of broken rocks, trees snapped like twigs, and craters in walls or the ground. Once he's done with his (let's be honest) tantrum, he goes to his hideaway and sulks behind a closed door. Normally, he cools off after a few hours, grumpy but no longer a threat. For him to be this for a whole day is unusual. Whatever Shadow did to piss him off must've been something else.

Let's hope we can actually talk him down without getting ground into dust…

Knuckles has his own apartment in Station Square, but his hideout is older than his lease. A couple of years into our regular adventures, GUN had had enough of Eggman trying to nab the Master Emerald from its grumpy guardian, so Angel Island was placed under the organization's jurisdiction. It basically became a floating fortress, and while Knuckles was allowed to live there, he refused out of protest and carved out a hutch for himself in the nearby ruins. It's basically a bunker near enough to keep an eye on GUN's movements while in an area where they'd need to deploy specialized equipment to flush him out.

GUN launched multiple raids on the hideaway, but each time, their machines got torn to pieces. They actually hired him after the fifth or so failure. He's now one of several high-profile Mobians that work alongside Sonic for heroics in an "official" capacity. It's a bit ironic that the org that hated the echidna for being irresponsible is now signing his paychecks and utilizing him as a top agent. Even though this is the case, he still keeps the hideout in use whenever he needs a break from city life, or when he needs to cool off.

Given the recent wreckage we found on the way there, it's obvious he's using it for the latter purpose.

Sonic and I arrived outside the hideout as the sun was setting. We would have gotten there earlier if not for, well, me. Admittedly, I'm a bit out of shape, not really having worked on my stamina in months. Sonic slowed his pace to help me keep up, but even then, he had to stop a couple of times. That, combined with the secluded location of the bunker, meant that we got there later than we agreed.

"Sorry," I wheezed to Sonic as we were getting close. "Chaos, I feel like my legs are going to fall off."

Sonic laughed. "You need to exercise more, dude. Want me to pay for a gym pass?"

"Are you kidding? I'd be eaten alive."

"I dunno, might do you some good. And girls like guys with some meat on their bones so-"

"Sonic…"

"I mean, you're already pretty tall. If you add some tone to those noodle arms, maybe-"

"Sonic."

He puts his hands up, laughing again. "It's a joke, man! I can't force you to work out if you don't want to." He looks up to the nearby hillside, his expression shifting from comical to serious in a near instant. "We're here." I follow his gaze to find the beaten alcove where Knuckles made his little hidey-hole. By the entryway were two figures- one with wings, obviously Rouge, and the lithe figure of a female echidna.

"Is that Tikal?" I wonder aloud. "What's she doing here?" Tikal had been part of the gang for a while now, being let loose when the literal Chaos himself was set free by- who else?- Eggman. She had been sealed in there with him (it?), and from what she told us, she was some sort of priestess of the ancient tribes that once inhabited these hills. Needless to say, there was a lot of culture shock for her, one that Knuckles and Sonic helped her navigate. For the longest time, she lived in the countryside by herself, finding the city deeply alien and uncomforting. She's only recently moved into Knuckles's apartment, and even then she didn't like leaving that often.

"My guess is that she's worried about Knuckles too," Sonic theorized. "Come on, let's not keep them waiting. Want me to carry you?"

"We can just walk from here, can't we?"

"We can, but given that we're late-"

"Right, right," I take a deep breath, hoping to ease the pain in my legs. "I'll power through."

"Atta boy. See ya in a few." Before I could even get into a starting stance, Sonic had zipped from my side all the way to the cliffs. It's weird- I've been working, so to speak, with Sonic for a decade, and I'm still impressed by just how well he's mastered his superspeed. I inhale again and bolt forward, reaching the others in about four seconds. Not good, but given how out-of-shape and low on energy I am, I'd say I earned at least a participation trophy.

"You're late." Figures that the first thing I hear is Rouge complaining; I did keep her waiting, and she was the one who asked this favor.

Sonic shrugs. "We're here, aren't we?"

"You should've been here a while ago. I expected this from the beanpole, but you, Blue? You're quicker than that?"

"Rouge, stop," Tikal pleads. "They're still here to help. We should be grateful for that." She turns to us and gives a polite smile. "Thank you for coming. As Knuckles's closest friends, I'm sure you can help him out of his… current mood." So that's why she's here. Tikal has always been close to Knuckles, even referring to him as an honorary cousin. Seeing him in distress must be hard for her.

Sonic smiles back. "Happy to help. Even if I have to knock Knuckles into a better mood, I'm not leaving 'till the job is done."

"I appreciate the promise, thought I hope the 'knocking' is a last resort."

"Of course. Are we ready?" The prompt is met with a chorus of nods. "Alright, let's get started." Sonic decides to go first, knocking on the rocky doorway. "Knux? I know you're steamed, bro, but we're here to help! Can't go around pounding the Ruins, so let's talk, 'k?"

We give Knuckles a few seconds to open the door. No answer.

"Let me try," I offer. "Knuckles? I'm here with Tikal and Rouge! We're all worried about you! Come out when you're ready to talk!" We wait another few seconds, only to be met with more stubborn silence. I shake my head. "Damn. I thought a softer approach would coax him."

Tikal nods. "Not a bad idea. I think a gentle touch going forward would-"

"What is this, amateur hour?" Rouge interrupted. "My turn- KNUCKLES, GET YOUR ASS OUT HERE, OR I'M BLASTING THIS CRAGGY PIECE OF SHIT OPEN MYSELF!"

"FOR CHAOS'S SAKE, CAN'T YOU GUYS WAIT FOR A MUCK FOTHERING MINUTE?!" a voice booms back. I can feel my bones shake from the sheer volume, and with the looks on Sonic's and Tikal's faces, I wasn't the only one. After a moment, the door is thrown upon, as the red echidna literally slides the massive slab out the way. He's seen better days, giving the absolute death glare he's giving us. His eyes are fixed on Rouge, like he's trying to drill a hole in the middle of her forehead. "I was coming," he explains crossly.

"Well, say something next time," Rouge huffs.

Knuckles growls. "Don't have anything to say to you, anyway."

"Then how about some friends from work?" Sonic chimes in. "And maybe your favorite cousin?"

The echidna's expression softens a tad when he finally notices us. "Tikal? Sonic? Tails, too?"

"We're worried about you, Knuckles," Tikal confesses. "I haven't seen you since last night. I hope you're not giving into your anger; it's unhealthy."

"We're here to help," I add. "Whatever it takes to make you feel better, we'll do it."

"May we come in?"

He stares at us, a bit of ire still smoldering behind his eyes. "So we got three good cops and one really, really bad one. If you're really interested in helping, you'd piss off, or get Shadow here for the beating he actually deserves."

"Knuckles, please-"

"Don't you start! You heard what he called you, how can you defend him?"

"Hey!" barks Rouge. "You may still be mad about what he said, but that doesn't give you a free pass to tear shit up and worry us!"

Knuckles glowers at her. "Why do you care? Do you own these Ruins?"

"You're acting like a child!"

"You've already said that! Multiple times!"

"Because it's still true!"

"Please, stop!" Tikal pleads again. The bat and her boyfriend get involved in the world's scariest staring contest before they both huff and turn away. "Knuckles, we need to talk. I know what Shadow did last night was unacceptable, but so was what you did. Saying what you said, laying hands on another Mobian- it's all wrong."

"Bah," spat Knuckles.

"You know, I'm starting to agree with Rouge here," Sonic sighed.

This was going nowhere fast, and something needed to be done, lest the starting match start anew. I decided to take a crack at it. "Knuckles, why don't you tell Sonic and I what happened? We're a little fuzzy on the details, so maybe if we knew more-"

Sonic caught on quickly. "Right, there are two sides to every story! Maybe if we knew yours, we could draw up some next steps."

"That doesn't involve punching Shadow. That's off the table."

The hulking echidna stalls, then turns around. His face still contains quite a bit of anger, but he's clearly listening. "You want to listen?"

"Yep. And I won't say a word until you're done. I promise."

"Same here," Sonic agrees. "No snark, no judgey comments."

"You're both too nice," Rouge sighs. "But if this is what it takes, I'll keep my mouth shut until after he's done."

Tikal steps forward. "How about it, Knuckles? Will you let us help you?"

Knuckles pondered our offer, eyes fixed on the ground. Finally, he let out a huge, exasperated breath. "Fine." He steps out of the alcove, and slides the rock slab back into place. "But this doesn't do jack or shit, you owe me."

"Sure," I nod. "So, start at the beginning. And take your time; if you start getting worked up, we're here for you."

Both sides kept their end of the bargain. Knuckles told his side of the story, stopping when his temper started rising again, though a good deal of that is owed to Tikal and her "magic shoulder touch." As he talked, we listened, though Rouge needed some prodding from me to keep quiet. He told a tale of a night of fun cut short by Shadow picking a fight with some foul-mouthed thug, about how Rouge had taken him outside for a talking-to, which escalated to a three-way battle of words when Knuckles stepped in, and how when Tikal tried to play peacemaker, Shadow dragged her in. Finally, there was the punch, which he recounted without joy or remorse.

When he stopped talking, I tried to rationalize everything he said. No one except Tikal came out of the story a "good guy." Knuckles admitted that he and Rouge said some foul things back to Shadow when he insulted them, and I don't think that regardless of what he said to Tikal, a sucker punch was necessary. There was one throw-away line that bothered me, though.

Sonic hit on it first. "Let's back up for a second. You said Shadow knocked a guy's teeth loose because of something he said, right?"

Knuckles furrowed his brow. "Yeah, so?"

"Did Shadow mention what was said, exactly?" I probed.

"Doesn't matter, it won't magically make what he said to Tikal or Rouge okay."

"True," Rouge conceded, "but I don't think Foxy is going to change his mind if he knows."

Knuckles ticked. "Apparently, the skunk said something about Rouge having bad taste in men." He paused, his disgust compounding. "He also said Tikal would be a 'freak in the sheets,' and that she might be the 'type to sleep with family.'"

"Holy shit," Sonic gasped. I was dumbfounded too. It took me a while to even fully register how thoroughly disgusting those comments were, or how rotten a soul you'd have to be to look at Tikal and think that. While I was still reeling, Sonic interjected. "I'm surprised Shadow didn't tear his damn throat out."

"You on his side?" the red echidna snarled. Tikal tapped him on the shoulder again, and Knuckles sighed, crossing his arms.

"No, I heard what he said about the rest too. Shadow's in the wrong here." Sonic paused. "Still…" I can tell by how he trailed off he was probably thinking what I was thinking. Aside from Tikal, there were no moral paragons here. Even if Shadow committed the lion's share of the dickery last night, Knuckles escalated the situation too.

"Don't start this, Sonic."

"Then let me," I offer. "Sure, Shadow was a major asshole last night. What he said to you all was abominable. But-"

Knuckles threw up his hands in frustration. "Oh, come on-"

"Let the fox finish, Knuckles," Rouge warns. And with that, Knuckles crosses his arms again, muttering something under his breath.

I continue. "But you and Rouge aren't exactly innocent either. You both had chances to back off, and you didn't. Now, maybe that's because of the buzz, when someone starts chatting shit, you don't have to take the bait. You could've just kicked him out of the group and went back on your way."

"Bullshit," Knuckles scowled. He turned to Rouge. "You hear this shit?"

"I do," Rouge said, "and I agree with him. I wouldn't be here if I didn't."

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Knuckles, I'm hurt by what Shadow said, too, but I didn't exactly conduct myself with grace either. It takes two Mobians to fight. Or three, in our case. I plan on apologizing, and if you want things to be right, you will do so too."

Knuckles blinked twice, then gritted his razor-sharp teeth. "So that's it? You're letting him off the hook?"

Rouge huffed. "Who said I would? I kicked him out of the apartment, didn't I?"

"That's not good enough!" The outburst was so intense, even Tikal backed off. Seeing his friends back away seemed to actually get through to him though, as he went from angry to crestfallen in a few seconds. Progress. Now that he's open, I need to shoot my shot, or this'll go on all night, and the longer Knuckles remains bitter, the worse I feel.

"What's making you the most angry?" I ask. Knuckles looks up, a bit confused about the statement. "Usually, when there's a roadblock like this, it's because you're stuck on something. What could that be? Based on the timeline you laid out, you didn't get physical until Shadow insulted Tikal. Is that it?"

Sonic blinked, then nodded. "That makes sense. Is that it, Knux?"

There was an unsettling silence hanging over the group as Knuckles mustered a response. He sniffed. "I don't mind him making fun of me that much. I'm used to it; he's a dick. Making fun of Rouge is worse, but she's good at letting it go. But Tikal," he looked in her direction, "she almost cried, man. She wants nothing but the best for us, and he just…spat on her. It's peak asshole."

"Okay, but what's going to be perma-mad going to solve?"

There was another moment of quiet contemplation. "I don't know. But I don't want to apologize. He hasn't earned it."

"No offense," Rouge said, "but that's also asshole behavior."

He grunted.

Tikal, after spending so much time not saying anything, finally spoke up. "Knuckles, sometimes the path to forgiveness can only be opened by ourselves. We cannot control the actions of others, only our own. I haven't fully forgiven Shadow for the things he has said, but it does me no good to hold onto that hate. I cannot force him to apologize or atone, but I can still move on."

He looks at his cousin. "Tikal?"

"Please do not mistake kindness for weakness. That is a common mistake of our kind. It is not weak to move on when we have done all we can."

"Knuckles," I step in, "even if Shadow remains a stubborn bastard, if you apologize to him, you wouldn't have 'lost.' It reflects a lot worse on Shadow for refusing to budge than you letting go. Make sense?"

"Sitting in the hills with your thumb up your ass isn't going to fix anything," Sonic adds. "Even if you have to take the first steps, things can only get better when you step up."

"If it helps," Rouge said, "I'm not going to think any less of you if you apologize and Shadow doesn't. But I will think less of you if you keep pouting. So, how about it? Ready to return to civilization?"

Each new line of advice lifts a bit of weight from Knuckles's shoulders. With every piece of encouragement and advice, I see traces of shame and leftover anger dissipate. By the time we're done, there's no slack or tenseness in his body. He looks, for the first time all day, normal, composed. "Alright, you guys won. I don't think I can forgive Shadow yet, but I will say sorry."

Tikal sighed, weary but happy. "Thank the gods."

Knuckles stretched and rolled his shoulders. "Nah, I'm thanking you guys. I don't think I'd be able to pull it together without y'all."

"It's nice to have you back, Knuckles," Sonic said. "Though next time, call us before you break the hills in half, okay?"

"That's not going to happen," Rouge smirked. "Knuckie is as bullheaded as they come."

Knuckles scoffed. "Come on, I'm apologizing, aren't I?"

"And I really do appreciate you being the bigger man here. I'm just telling it how it is. Now come on, let's get you two home."

Knuckles began walking away from the hideaway. "Don't have to tell me twice. An actual mattress would work wonders on my back."

Rouge spread her wings and began taking flight. "Is that so? I'd be happy to give it a rub."

Tikal began blushing furiously, trying her best to catch up "C-can this wait?"

Rogue laughed. "It's a joke, honey. I promise, no fooling with your cousin until after we get home."

"That's not comforting!"

I laugh along. It really does feel nice to have a friend back; I didn't realize how miserable Knuckles actually was until I got here, but now that it's over, it feels like the gang's back together. It makes me nostalgic in a small sense, but really, it just makes me like I did good. I haven't felt this way in a while.

My reminiscing is cut short by a hand on my shoulder. "Since when were you the relationship expert?" Sonic grins.

"Huh?"

"I think you know more about talking to Mobians than you let on, dude."

"I-I wouldn't say that. You guys did most of the work-"

"Not really. You got the ball rolling, and without your lead, none of us would've gotten through to him. How'd you do it?"

I think, and for the first time in a while, I have no answer. "I don't know. I just kinda winged it and said what was on my mind."

"Heh, guess I finally rubbed off on you, huh? Well, sometimes just putting your best thought forward is all you can do. No sense overthinking when just the heart will do. Welp, I gotta get home. Want anything special for dinner?"

"Uh, I…no, I don't have a preference. I'll meet you there?"

"Yessir. See you later, Tails!" After one final salute, he sped off, disappearing over the horizon in a few seconds. Meanwhile, I'm just…standing there. Sonic may not have intended to impart some sort of wisdom on me, but what he said is really giving my brain a workout. Am I overthinking this whole crush thing? What if the path of least resistance is just…telling her? There's no guarantee she'll return my feelings, but like Tikal said, we can't control others' behavior, just our own. Even then, it feels like something's missing. It can't be that simple; something in my head demands there be some sort of x-factor, a missing variable. There has to be.

I have a long trip home, and a lot to think about. Hopefully at some point along the way I solve for x.

A/N: I'm really hoping this is as long as these chapters get. I may have bitten off more than I can chew with this setup, but oh well, live and learn. We're actually nearing the end of our tale; hopefully I can get it into two more "regular" chapters and maybe a fun bonus epilogue. Stay tuned!