Those That Follow

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Why is Knuckles so afraid of ghosts? (Movie Verse)

Word Prompt – Atonement

year-of-the-echidna

(Warnings at the end)

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"Alight!" Sonic crowed happily, as he started the movie before anyone could see the title. It was finally his turn to pick, and he had plans. But just so he was out of the danger zone, he'd brought his bean bag chair. Something Tails had clearly picked up on, as it wasn't a normal habit of his, but he hadn't commented yet. Thus, allowing the hedgehog's scheme to continue uninterrupted. "You guys are gonna love this one. It's a classic."

They proceeded to sit back with their individual bowls of popcorn and drinks to watch an elderly lady collecting discarded books from a library, before taking them down to the maze-like basement for storage. Of course, the action started pretty soon after that, when a couple of books floated off the shelves on their own, to seemingly reorganize themselves.

"Sonic?" Tails whispered, instantly understanding what he was up to. But he quickly shushed the fox, as they both turned to watch Knuckles, for his reaction. Already he was tensed, however, he didn't quite understand what was happening yet and continued to watch the woman, as she made her way through the shelves, only to look back when a dozen or so tiny drawers opened on their own, allowing thousands of cards to fly into the air without any visible means to be doing so.

Immediately she began to scream and ran to the exit, only to continuously get herself lost in the endless shelves of books, until she finally rounded a corner and was attacked by a glowing, terrifying creature just off screen. Then the title appeared, and the theme song began to play.

'Ghostbusters'.

"Oh, come on, man." Sonic proclaimed, trying and failing to keep a straight face, when Knuckles stood up and walked out of the room. "We haven't even seen the ghost yet." He pointed out truthfully. However, it was pretty clear that he wasn't coming back, so he decided to just let his chuckles run free and relish his prank.

"Sonic, that wasn't very nice." Tails insisted, not at all finding it funny. "You know how he feels about that."

"Oh, give me a break. He's gotta get over it at some point." Sonic countered, waving his friend's concerned off like it was just an annoying bug and started the movie again. Only for Tails to get up and leave as well. "Hey. Come on. It was just a joke."

"If that's how you feel, then you can watch it alone." The fox seethed and exited the room in a huff. Leaving Sonic, as promised, alone on a night that the three of them were supposed to share.

And suddenly it wasn't so funny anymore.

Jumping up, he rushed after his friend, only to find that Tails had run into Maddie on his way to the attic. The hedgehog winced, knowing what was about to transpire. And he wasn't disappointed, as her gaze suddenly snapped to him, as he tried to sneak back into the living room.

"Sonic." Her voice was calm, but firm, thus, he found himself basically forced to obey and froze on the spot, despite his better judgement. With that he just sighed and turned to await his punishment. "Why would you do that?" She asked sternly.

"It –" He began, tugging at one of his gloves sheepishly. "It was just a joke." She folded her arms, never a good sign. "Oh, come on. It's ghosts." He insisted, though he knew he was just digging his own grave at that point.

"I seem to recall a certain blue hedgehog having an irrational fear of water." She pointed out and he quickly jumped to defend himself.

"It's not irrational. I could drown." He insisted truthfully. But she just continued to glare at him.

"In the bathtub?" She clarified and he was suddenly less certain.

"It could happen."

Maddie remined quiet for a moment, just watching him, until she finally spoke again, though her voice was just a little softer now. "The point is, you have a fear, a fear you cannot control. And no one makes fun of you for it."

He found himself looking at the floor, as he realized she was right. She always was. "I'm sorry." He said at last, but she wasn't convinced.

"I'm not the one you hurt, Sonic." Her specific choice of words made him cringe. He never wanted to hurt his friends. But then she knelt down to be at his level, and he felt a teaching moment coming on. "Have you ever bothered to ask him – why he's afraid?"

"He wouldn't talk about it anyway." Sonic said, at least 98% sure that he was right on that front. However, she just scowled at him again and he sighed, ready to face his fate and started walking to the attic. Only for her to reach out and stop him again.

"The reason for asking is not to actually get an answer." She explained, though, that hardly made any sense at all. "You ask because you care. Even if he never tells you. It's your job, as his friend, to be there – and listen."

Sonic realized just how heavy her words had been, as they really sank in, and he looked up into her eyes. "I – I've been really bad friend." He admitted, almost ready to cry. But Maddie gave him a supportive smile, her eyes filled with understanding.

"Then – it's time you make it right. And, thankfully, all you have to do is talk to him. It might mean more than you realize." She encouraged and stood up to give him a gentle pat on the head, before stepping aside and allowing him to head to the attic.

He was halfway up the stairs, when he realized he had a shadow and looked back to find Tails following him, though he didn't ask why, he could see it on his friend's face. His own guilt for not stepping up to stop the prank, when he realized his friend would be hurt and a simply desire to just make sure Knuckles was okay.

So, together they climbed the stairs and found their friend sitting on his bed, his back to them. Thankfully, Tails was the first one with enough courage to step forward, and walked over until the echidna could see that he was present.

"Are you okay?" He whispered and Knuckles smiled, though it didn't light his face at all.

"Yes." He answered and Tails took that as his cue to sit with him. Thus, forcing Sonic to swallow his pride and walk over as well. Though he didn't receive as warm a welcome.

He probably deserved that.

"Hey Knux." He said nervously, fiddling with the cuff of his glove once again. "I – I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that." He started, only for his friend to lift his head a little, like he was waiting for more. However, Sonic had run out of preorganized thoughts. "It really was just a joke." He insisted, only for Tails to glare at him sharply. "But – that isn't an excuse." He finally let his hands fall to his sides, as he admitted defeat. "A joke isn't a joke if it isn't funny. And – hurting my friends is never funny." He lifted his eyes to meet Knuckles and held the gaze, determined to make this right. "I really am sorry."

It was all he could really say. But thankfully, his friend's stern expression slowly softened, and he finally smiled again. This time actually looking like he was okay, instead of just saying it, despite the fact that he clearly wasn't.

However, Knuckles ended up being the one to look away first and sigh, as he stared at his hands in sudden frustration. "It is not that I don't understand. I do." He admitted quietly and Sonic carefully inched backward to sit in a chair, so they would all be on the same level. "It is not becoming of a warrior. It is – irrational."

There was that word again. "That doesn't make it invalid." Tails came to his rescue, but Knuckles didn't look convinced. Instead, he just clenched and unclenched his fists a few times. Seemingly lost in his own thoughts.

"Maybe – it would help if you talked about it." Sonic suggested, trying to take Maddie's words into account. "I mean – if you want to." He added uncertainly. Honestly, with only a few short years of experience under his belt, he could be forgiven for being kind of bad at this whole 'talking to people,' thing. But if nothing else, he and Knuckles could find a shared understanding of each other through the loneliness they had each experienced, as well as their desire to find companionship.

"I – I'm not exactly sure how to explain it." Knuckles admitted after a minute and went quite again. And, for a time, Sonic thought that he wasn't going to try and found himself struggling over whether to push or let it go.

Thankfully, their resident emotional compass was there to help the process along. "Maybe just start at the beginning." Tails suggested warmly and the echidna looked up at him for a moment, then back at his hands.

It was then that Sonic realized the real problem. Knuckles knew he needed to talk about it, he wasn't stupid, but his isolation had left him unable to do so. Now it had been so long that he just didn't know how to address it and, what's worse, he was ashamed. To a stubborn warrior like him, he knew how childish this fear must seem to others, but yet he couldn't fight it. And that shame made him want to close the bottle again, giving it even more pressure, which would only make the unavoidable explosion that much more devastating.

Trying to bridge the gap, Sonic just said the one thing he sometimes still needed to hear himself. "You're not alone." He said softly and finally, Knuckles looked up, a hint of rarely seen vulnerability in his eyes, then he took a deep breath and spoke.

"Do you recall the owl's temple on the mountain of snow?" That was unexpected, but Sonic still considered the question.

"You mean where we found the compass?" He asked and Knuckles nodded. "What about it?"

"The murals there. Did you see them?"

Sonic and Tails looked at each other, recalling the stone walls and their story of the creation of the Master Emerald. "Yeah." Tails answered after a moment, just as confused as Sonic at this point.

"There was one, a depiction of an ancient warrior that once used the Emerald to drive back an invading army." Knuckles explained and the other two winced a tad, recalling that rather distressing image. "That warrior – was my direct ancestor. Enerjak. In many ways, the power that flowed through him on that day – now flows through me."

"Oh." Sonic murmured, honestly unsure how to feel about that and was still confused as to what this had to do with anything. But again, Tails came to his rescue.

"So that's where your chaos powers came from?" He asked quietly and Knuckles nodded. "I always wondered." The kid admitted but held back from pushing the topic any further.

"What the murals did not show – was the aftermath of that battle." The echidna finally continued. "As its Guardian, Enerjak was able to do what many could not. Harness both halves of the Emerald's power at once."

"What do you mean?" Sonic found himself asking, despite knowing he should interrupt. But Knuckles explained anyway.

"Chaos comes in two very distinct forms. Negative and Positive. The Emerald acks as a kind of fail-safe. To prevent a single person from gaining too much power, only one form can be accessed at a time." He said simply. "When Robotnik used its power, he channeled only the negative. When you did so, it was the positive."

"Oh." Sonic murmured, having not actually realized that until just now, but he supposed it made sense.

"But – Enerjak was different?" Tails asked and Knuckles nodded, seemingly a little lost in his own thoughts for a moment, thus allowing the fox to ponder another question. "And – does that mean you could do that too?"

"Theoretically, yes." Knuckles stated, coming out of his thoughts again, though he did so with a kind of shiver. "Though I would very much never like to try." He admitted, and that more than anything made the other two nervous, for what came next. "In order to save our clan from complete annihilation, Enerjak called on its power. However, whether his cause was worthy or not – it did not save him." He took another breath to steady himself, before continuing. "When the owls – removed the Emerald from his possession, it was not done – properly – and he was driven to pure madness, as a result."

Sonic felt himself cringe inwardly, suddenly realizing why Knuckles never wanted to use the Emerald himself, despite arguably having the most right to do so. This also explained why the echidna had been so cautious when Sonic had taken on his golden god form. He had been afraid that the same thing had happened again – in fact, he had to wonder just how close he had been to that fate.

Suddenly feeling squeamish, he looked up to ask, despite not really wanting to know, only to find Knuckles eyes meeting his own, clearly thinking the same thing. However, the echidna's calm deminer helped him to relax again. He'd not only forced the Emerald out of Robotnik's body, but had basically put the thing back together again, a few minutes later. Surely, he could have handled a rampaging hedgehog, if he'd had to.

Eventually Knuckles turned away, clearly content that their silent conversation had had its desired effects. "In the beginning, Enerjak's insanity wasn't immediately noticeable." He continued after another minute. "He led our clan to reclaim the Emerald, but they did not realize his only goal was to restore his own power." He looked away, unusually calm considering the discussion. "It was his leadership that led my people to war with the owls. Even long after his death." Sonic found himself no longer wanting to talk about this particular topic, but didn't interrupt, as his friend moved on as well. "In the end, his insanity nearly drove my kind to extinction. He had to be stopped, and the only way to do so was to trap him in the chaos void."

"What's that?" Sonic interrupted anyway, before he could stop himself. But thankfully, Knuckles looked relieved to have a change of topic.

"Think of it like an invisible sheet over the universe. It is where all chaos energy comes from. At times, holes will form in this sheet and when the pure power of that void meets our world, a chaos emerald is formed. This is what Enerjak was trying to do. He wanted to create a hole and, with himself in place of an emerald – he'd become a god."

Both Sonic and Tails winced at that. They could only imagine the kind of destruction someone like that could cause if they reached godhood. Even Eggman's brief time with the emerald looked almost peaceful by comparison. And that was not a pleasant thought.

"He was stopped. However, he had his – followers." He explained further, and Sonic roiled his eyes. 'Yeah, that figured.' "When I was born, I showed immediate signs of chaos powers, beyond anything my clan had ever seen. They grew concerned that I was his reincarnation, and they feared the possibility of Enerjak's return. There were honest discussions of simply killing me, just to be safe."

"Say what?" Sonic proclaimed in horror and his friend finally looked up from the floor, as if shocked that this had gotten such a strong reaction. However, he recovered and smiled at the hedgehog.

"My father vehemently opposed this decision, of course. And his brother, the chief, backed him." He explained calmly, only to slowly look back at the ground. "There were those that did not agree, and – there were those with – other agendas.

The room went quiet, as Knuckles stopped talking and Sonic and Tails looked at one another again, before the hedgehog leaned forward. "Knucks, are you okay?" He asked worriedly, which seemed to pull him out of the memory a bit.

"If you don't want to talk about it – you don't have to." Tails insisted, but the echidna shook his head, clearly determined to get the rest off his chest. As he soon closed his eyes and took another breath, then continued.

"There was a man, a secret worshiper of Enerjak." He said, pausing for another second, then shook himself out of it again. "To this day – I cannot remember following him. I just – woke up and I had no idea where I was. He wouldn't talk to me, he was too busy preforming his ritual and I couldn't escape, I could barely stand. The energies in the cave were so – corrupt they made me sick. Then I began to – see things. People. People I soon realized were not actually alive."

Knuckles sighed loudly and leaned back on his hands to look at the sky through the circular window in the ceiling. Like he needed the reassurance that he wasn't back in that cave. "Then I saw him. Enerjak." He whispered, seemingly speaking more to himself than them. "I'd heard stories of him, of course. But nothing could prepare me for what I saw. He was – cold. Terrifying. And, somehow, I knew he was there to kill me."

When he went quiet again, clearly stuck in the memory, Tails reached over to gently touch his shoulder, and he jumped. Prompting Sonic to stand up and sit on his other side, so, he'd have even more contact to prove that he wasn't alone. But neither of them spoke, there wasn't really a need.

"In a way. I was right." He finally spoke again. "It was explained to me later, that the ritual had opened – a hole in my soul. A door, if you will. If the process had been allowed to continue, Enerjak would have forced me out of my own body, to trade places with him. I would have been trapped forever in the chaos void, as he had been. But my father had noticed my absence. They tracked the man to the cave and stopped him, just in time."

Sonic felt like he could suddenly breathe again, but the tension hadn't quite subsided. "The ritual was stopped, but – the door remained." Knuckles went on, slowly lifting a hand to touch his chest, like he could actually feel it there. "I've been susceptible to spirits since that day. I still see them everywhere I go. And, though I have had – some positive experiences. My old Chief has often come to me in my times of need." He clutched his chest fur just a little tighter, as he stared back at the floor. "They can – sense the door and if they feel so inclined, they will try to – enter."

Tails and Sonic winced again, as that certainly did not sound pleasant. "But – they can't – take over – can they?" Tails asked worriedly and thankfully their friend looked up to smile at him reassuringly and shook his head. Leaving them both to breathe a sigh of relief.

"That being said." Knuckles continued quietly, and the sudden fear in his voice made the room's temperature drop by a couple degrees. "He – still lingers, at the edges of my sight. He waits for the moment that the final pieces of the interrupted ritual are set back into motion. If that should ever happen –" He froze, the words getting stuck in his throat, but they didn't need him to finish. Sonic and Tails were already completely distressed, trying to imagine one of the people they cared about the most being hunted by a literal god.

"Gees." Sonic complained, rubbing at his quills, suddenly immensely irritated with himself. "Now I feel like a total jerk." He looked up to meet his friend's gaze and found himself practically begging for forgiveness. "Knux, I – I'm so sorry. I – I –"

Before he could completely break down, Knuckles reached over to lay his hand on the hedgehog's shoulder. "I forgive you." He said simply and Sonic felt like a planet had just been lifted off his chest. "Besides." He spoke up again, his smile returning, though it looked much more genuine than it had before. "If he should return – I will not face him alone."

Sonic perked up at that, and smiled as well, before they were interrupted by Tails suddenly throwing his arms around the echidna's waste. "No – you won't." He whispered, his voice cracking as tears welled up in his eyes and his hold got just a little tighter, causing Knuckles to gently place a hand on his head, clearly unsure what to do. He wasn't exactly accustomed to this kind of emotional show of affection.

But he'd just have to get used to it, cause Sonic quickly threw his arms around him too. "Never again." He promised and together, the two practically crushed their older brother. Until he finally had no choice but to give in and gently rested his arms around them both and brought them in closer.

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The End

(Warnings: Child abuse, kidnapping, ritual, trauma)