Chapter 1-Arrival of the Twilit Mobian

Knuckles closed his eyes as he sat on the shrine of the Master Emerald, calmly basking in the warm sun while he protected the great jewel as he was destined to as Guardian. The sky was clear and the winds calm around Angel Island which also gave a sense of peace to the Echidna. That is until his eyes snapped open to a dark sensation that triggered his sixth sense.

*What was that?* he asked himself in fear and suspicion as he found himself suddenly running through the jungle towards the northwest edge of the island that usually faced the mainland. *Why do I feel something terrible all of a sudden?*

He stopped dead on his tracks as he gazed out to see some sort of dark cloud surrounding Station Square and the Mystic ruins, giving off an eerie aura that made his skin crawl and his blood freeze. *W-What is that thing? What's going on here? I got to go-huh?*

His thoughts stopped as he felt his sixth sense AGAIN, only this time it was coming from the shrine. *An intruder!*

With his violet eyes blazing he ran back to the shrine, only to find a dark portal disappearing and a figure in armor standing in front of the steps. The figure had the unmistakable shape of a hedgehog and his armor made him look very intimidating what with it being black and a very dark blue, complete with spikes and a cape that was a slightly lighter shade of dark blue. His size made him to look about the same age as the Guardian himself, possibly a year or two younger and for some reason he carried an aura similar to the mysterious clouds but without the dark eeriness.

Thinking this stranger would go for the Master Emerald, Knuckles ended up getting a small surprise as he actually IGNORED it and walked around to the back of the shrine! Quietly following out of curiosity, he looked behind to see the figure gone and whipped around to the sound of someone clearing their throat, coming face to face with the intruder seeing dark emerald eyes shining through the helmet that held more curiosity than hostility and struck him to be similar to Sonic's eyes if not for the slightly darker shade. They stared at each other for a moment until the figure broke the silence and spoke with an unfamiliar accent in his oddly familiar and casual voice.

"Are you the protector of this shrine?"

It took Knuckles a few seconds to find his own voice back to growl an answer. "I sure am. My name is Knuckles; I am the last of my clan and sole Guardian of the Master Emerald as well as this island! Who are you and what do you want?"

The figure never flinched but did a slight respectful bow as he spoke again while straightening himself. "Brave Guardian, I meant no harm to your island or Emerald for I am just here to help protect this area from the clouds of Twilight that already have covered the mainland, for it is my duty as an Elite Twilit Warrior as this world is my home."

Suddenly flattered at the polite respect this mystery warrior had for him, Knuckles found himself clamed down at the look of duty in those Emerald eyes, but he still didn't fully trust him. "And just HOW are you going to do that?"

Chuckling softly in amusement, he held up his left hand towards the shrine wall and activated a dark aura as well as a mysterious golden light through his gauntlet. "Like so."

Suddenly a hidden door swung up at the power, revealing a passageway that not even the GUARDIAN knew about. Knux peered inside and saw that there was still a light at the end of the staircase that led deep inside as well as the sound of water. Looking at the hedgehog with a look of pure confusion to see an impish gleam of laughter in his eyes as the warrior went inside, with Knuckles following and suddenly gasping in awe at the sight of a hidden spring under the shrine! There were a few oddly marked boulders around the pool and he could feel a bright power coming from the water.

"How did-?" he started but couldn't really find the words.

"I just felt it," the figure answered calmly as he looked at the water. "I'm sorry to have kept you waiting, Sacred Light Spirit."

Suddenly the area began to glow starting from the boulders, then to the spring as a drop of water leaped out like something fell into it and a ball of light rose from the water, causing Knuckles to fall back in wonder as the cave lit up with this light and what seemed to be an ancient Echidna maiden appeared and sat on top of the ball.

She had a look of contentment at the sight of her visitors as she spoke with a gentle heavenly voice. "I am Angelique, the Light Spirit that rests in this very floating island. You have no need to apologize young warrior for I can wait eternally for your protection."

"Thank you Angelique," he replied as he formed a ball of dark power in his hands and let it float into the glowing sphere, creating a barrier around the spring that he and Knuckles can pass through. "There, that should keep the dark ones out so you and this island will be safe from the Twilight."

"I thank you for it," she replied then suddenly giggled which caused the warrior to turn around and do a failed attempt of holding his laughter back at the sight of the now dumfounded Knuckles.

"How did-?" he started but still couldn't find the words through his shock. "And then-? And who is-? Oh this is WAY too confusing!"

"All will be explained Guardian," she replied back before she and the light faded and the spring was restored to its calmness. "I also thank you and your family for your years of protection, Knuckles."

They soon left the cave to the sunlight outside and while the hedgehog closed the door, Knuckles was still trying to digest what just happened in the cave. But all he was giving himself was a headache as he also noticed his new ally walk towards the northwest edge so he followed quickly, in hopes to ask him more about it.

"I can see you're still confused," the warrior stated as he looked out to the Clouds of Twilight. "I shall explain. If I never gave Angelique that protection, then this island will fall prey to the Twilight you see out there. It happens when dark creatures takes the Spirit's light and allow the Twilight to fall. Now that I managed to fulfill part of my task, I need to get to the mainland now and remove that Twilight."

"Then let me come and give you a hand," Knuckles offered but only to meet his ally's eyes that were filled with anger as the hedgehog whipped his head towards him.

"That would be a choice of a fool! If I allow you in there then you would take on a spirit-like form and fall prey to the creatures, like the Shadow Beasts!"

He soon calmed himself. "No I already have someone in mind. It's best you stay here and make sure my protection stays strong."

Knuckles was taken aback at the sudden outburst but he soon got it through his head that joining along with this guy would mean writing his death wish. "Alright I'll stay…hm?"

He soon noticed a small figure flying towards him and recognized the twin tails of Tails, who was flying towards the island…with dragon-like bird monsters at his heels! The young fox flew overhead which gave him the chance to get rid of the pests until they suddenly dropped dead one by one. He looked beside him and saw his ally was armed with a bow that was never there before, and then disappeared as quickly as it came!

"K-knuckles…" Tails' voice sounded behind them and they turned around to see the frightened fox. "A-are they gone?"

"Yeah thanks to…er…"

"Ah!" the hedgehog exclaimed in embarrassment. "I guess I forgot to introduce myself in all this excitement, haven't I? You may simply call me Dusk."

"W-well thanks…but you have to help Sonic! When those strange clouds appeared he got caught in them as more of those monsters attacked! I got lucky because I flew away but he-"

Dusk soon quieted him down by gently placing a finger on his mouth and softly hushing him. "It's all right Tails. I have powers of Twilight myself as well as weapon's experience so I'll be able to save him."

"In fact," he added as he stood up with an odd glint in his eye that struck them as somewhat distant, "he and I have a connection."

"What kind of connection?"

He only chuckled as he snapped his fingers to make another portal. "A special kind from a long time ago."

He soon became like fragments and disappeared within the portal before it closed, leaving only a pair of very confused friends behind that thought only one thing as they noticed another portal opening close to the Twilight.

*Does Dusk and Sonic know each other?*

Author's Notes: I just realized I seem to start off a lot of my first chapters with Knuckles. Oh well.

Yes I know this is kinda confusing but this chapter is mostly in Knux's POV so that's why I NEVER said Dusk's name until close to the end!

Well as you can see Twilight has appeared on Mobius and Knux gets more surprises than he needs with Dusk's arrival. Plus Sonic's stuck in the Twilight? And how in the heck did he know Tails' name already?

Talk about suspense! And I'm starting to get good at that for THIS story!

Enjoy and review!

All characters and concepts are (c) their respectful owners