Sonic Boom Tales

By: Phoenix Ride

Episode 1: Dark Knuckles

Knuckles groaned as he rubbed his shoulder, tired from the events that had happened earlier that day. Today had definitely not been one of his prouder moments. During Eggman's assault with his new deadly machine, he managed to get stomped on by a giant foot, and yelled at by Amy Rose.

Amy Rose always had to be there to direct the fight, especially when Knuckles was around to help Sonic and Tails succeed, believing the echidna to be to dim to understand strategy. Oh, how Knuckles secretly hated her.

Things only got worse when the rock-cyborg attacked. Knuckles thought it was a pretty reasonable question how a creature made of rock could also be a cyborg, but when Amy tried to explain it in simple terms, it still didn't make a whole lot of sense.

Finally, the Rose had a plan, and Sonic and Tails immediately sprinted off to carry on their portion of the work. Amy led Knuckles away from battle, making the echidna frustrated because he really wanted to fight.

"What are we doing out here?" Knuckles had asked.

"We're setting up an ambush!" yelled Amy " Try and actually think for a change!"

The sharp words from that insult stung Knuckles to the core, but the hurt was immediately replaced by intense anger, and it continued to fester even as the sun set beyond the rise.

After Tail's house was restored to its primary condition, Knuckles wiped off his brow, and heading for the door so he could go home, when the faint whispers of voices suddenly caught his sensitive ears.

Leaning over near a door a crack, Knuckles peered his eyes into the living room where Sonic, Amy, and Tails sat, straightening up a few things that been moved during the home's brief moment as a hat.

"Looks good as new" said Sonic proudly, looking at his twin-tailed friend " We'll be able to sleep here tonight."

"I hope so" said Tails " Boy, talk about a rough day."

"Yeah" said Sonic, leaning back on the couch " I wonder what Egghead will cook up next time. A scorpion? A Kill-Bot?"

"Well, whatever it is" said Tails " we can handle it, right Amy?"

"Yeah" said Amy " as long as a certain 'kidna keeps pulling his weight."

"Mad at Knuckles again?" Sonic guessed curiously " I don't get it, what's between you two?"

"He's just not that bright when it comes to strategy" said Amy, aggressively " I mean, he's almost as dumb as Sticks. All day today I had to yell at him for my plans to get across. He's just not capable of thinking on his own."

Knuckles silently gasped at the comment, and narrowed his eyes, turning around and deciding to stalk out the back door. Better to leave quietly then step through Amy's ego.

"Aren't you being a little harsh?" asked Sonic "Sure, Knuckles may not be the sharpest tool in the box, but he's the strength on our team. Without his power, who knows what jams we would be in."

"Wow Sonic" said Tails " I never heard you praise someone this highly before."

"Well don't let it spread around" said Sonic " Knuckles is a good teammate, the last thing we need to do is crush his soul."

Little did Sonic know, that at this moment, Knuckles soul was crushed. Crushed to the point of aggravation where nothing but evil thoughts twisted and turned in his head. With every vision, Knuckles watched Amy Rose suffer greatly for every mean word she had ever said. Burned, shredded, slashed, it didn't matter as long as she felt pain.

Did Sonic and Tails believe that he was as dumb as Sticks too? That he was a burden to have around whenever Eggman launched an assault?

Stopping in the middle of the forest, Knuckles looked down as he thought about all the past battles he had with his team. Whenever a robot attacked, it was usually Tails or Sonic that brought it down. Dr. Eggman never really created complex designs because his robot sidekicks usually skipped a few chapters in the building plans.

Knuckles only lent in his power when needed when faced off with tougher models that Sonic, Tails, and even Amy couldn't crack.

"Bet they'll have a tougher time against the strong robots without me there," thought Knuckles to himself, and then lifted his head up suddenly, getting an idea.

At last, revenge would be had, and Amy would be put in her place! First thing tomorrow morning, he would go out and seek some help.

The next morning, inside Eggman's island fortress, the Doctor yawned awake from his bed, and ordered Orbot and Cubot to get their chores done right away. Cubot immediately sped to the kitchen to make his master breakfast, while Orbot floated over to the kitchen table to retrieve the newspaper he had been reading for Eggman.

Once the paper was in Eggman's hands, the doorbell rang much vigorously.

"Uh" Eggman groaned " insurance salesman. Orbot, go answer and make them go away. Cubot, hurry up or the eggs will ruin!"

While the yellow robot rushed out of the kitchen with a cart of food, Orbot went over to the door to politely turn their guest away, but when he opened it to do so, he quickly backed away with surprise and fear.

"Uh Doc" stuttered Orbot nervously " you may want to see who it is."

Noticing the tone in his robot's voice, Eggman slightly turned away from the banana he was about to eat, and gasped in shock when he noticed a familiar, red figure standing in the doorway.

"Hey Doc" said Knuckles with his arms crossed, and wicked smile on his lips " want to team up?"

"Team up?" Eggman asked surprised " You? Why would one Sonic's friends want to help me?"

"For my own reasons" said Knuckles smugly " with your brains and my power we'll be an unstoppable force. Don't you agree?"

Still stunned by the offer, Eggman brought Orbot and Cubot instantly to his side so that they could discuss the terms. They pretty much all agreed that having Knuckles might would help them all greatly in their plans for world conquest, and having a spy inside the heroes network was always a good tool to own.

"Alright Knuckles" said Eggman, approaching the still echidna " we have a deal. The first thing we do is take care of Sonic and his friends."

With that said, the two opposing sides shook hands, and an evil pact was formed.

Later that morning, Sonic and the gang were over at Tails house to help finish the last of the repairs. Although doing their best to guarantee the house would remain in one piece after they had stopped the rock-cyborg, there were a still a few minor pieces to be fixed. Luckily for Sonic and the others, only a few final touches remained.

Speeding to and from with lumber in hand, Sonic ran around the construction site with Amy yelling commands. Everyone had showed to help out with this project, but while working, Sonic couldn't help but notice the absence of one particular person who had not shown up yet to help.

"Where is he?" thought Sonic to himself " It's not like Knux to be late."

A small feeling of dread couldn't help but creep through Sonic's fur as the minutes passed. What if Knuckles decided not to show up at all?

After Amy had left last night, Sonic and Tails went to see how Knuckles was doing and greet him a goodbye, only to find the back door lying ajar the moment they stepped into the hall. Knuckles had already departed, keeping well out of sight from his friends.

"Do you think he could have heard us?" Tails asked Sonic, and the blue hedgehog didn't have a clue how to respond, and just looked at the door, fearing the worst.

Fading out from his flash-back, Sonic ran over to get another set of lumber when a thundering shock sent him rolling on the ground.

"Hahahaha!" laughed the cruel voice of Eggman, sitting at the controls of his new machine that somehow looked like a cobra on steroids. "Today Sonic, you will die!"

"Yeah yeah" said Sonic calmly, waving his hand "You say that so much it gets old. Try some new material Egghead."

"It's Eggman!" the genius cried "Cobra-Bot, destroy them!"

With that said, Eggman attacked, and Sonic and the gang got ready to counter. Today's robot was a little tougher model than they had to deal with in the past. No open weak points except for the cockpit on the hood. To make things worse, Cobra-Bot could breathe fire, and the heroes had to twist and dodge just to avoid the burning flames.

Amy racked her brain hard to come up with a strategy, but failed, and gasped as Sonic's attack was sent bouncing off the cobra's hull.

"I need to think of something" thought Amy desperately, after an attack with her hammer failed " but what?"

"Looks like you could use a hand," said a familiar voice from behind her.

Quickly turning around, Amy immediately breathed out a sigh of both anger and relief to see the muscular build of Knuckles right when they needed it most.

"About time you showed up!" said Amy, pointing towards Eggman's machine " We need to punch a weak spot in that thing so Sonic and the others can have a chance."

Knuckles eyes narrowed at the demand, but Amy was to worried at the moment to notice the rage boiling beneath.

"And just what's the plan?" he asked softly.

"I just told you!" said Amy, turning around to point at the Cobra-Bot "Punch…it."

Amy's voice swooned as she suddenly felt a large force slam her to the ground, eyelids flickering in and out of consciousness.

"What…just happened?" Amy thought to herself, as darkness came to her eyes.

Towering above her, the smug form of Knuckles stood, cradling a fist in his palm, glad on what he had achieved. Soon, his revenge would be complete.

Back on the battle field, Sonic and Tails were getting extremely tired on dodging the flames, and Sticks boomerang was no longer useful since it got burned to a crisp. They were running out of options fast, what more could be done? Suddenly, Tails was struck by a brilliant idea.

"Sonic, I got a plan," said the fox, and quickly whispered it into the hedgehog's ear.

Nodding that he understood, Sonic immediately ran up towards the Cobra-Bot, and started teasing Eggman to no end. Angry at the insults being thrown at him, Eggman directed Cobra-Bot to chase after Sonic, not noticing Tails sneak up on him from behind.

Landing on top of the hood where Eggman couldn't see, the twin-tailed fox immediately set to work on unscrewing a small plate of metal so he could reach the wires inside. Once a plate was off, Tails dove his hands in and started messing with Cobra-Bot's mechanics.

Eggman gasped in alarm as his snake suddenly stopped in its tracks, and fell towards the ground with a big heap. Once down, Sonic sped around and put some sand through the hole Tails had created, making the huge machine begin to short circuit and spark.

Knowing that his robot was bound to explode, Eggman immediately ejected in his cockpit and sent it to flight mode. He made out mere seconds before Cobra-Bot exploded and burst into flames.

"No!" Eggman cried " My beautiful invention!"

"Face it Eggman" said Sonic with a smile " you're going to need something more than a machine in order to beat us."

"Hahahaha!" laughed Eggman, shocking the heroes with his mirth " I got even something better than that, a sidekick! Isn't that right Knuckles?"

Following Eggman's outstretched arm, Sonic gasped in amazement when he spotted a familiar figure standing up on the ridge, an unconscious Amy cradled under his arms. His violet stare told everyone that what Eggman said was real.

"Knuckles! No way!" shouted Sonic.

"Why would he join Eggman's team?" asked Tails.

"Sonic" said Knuckles, his voice cold and harsh " if you want to save her, we'll be waiting at Eggman's fortress. Don't be late."

With that said, Knuckles hopped inside of Eggman's hovercraft with his prisoner as the genius drove by, leaving his friends behind to stare and stand. Sonic ground his fists with guilt as the anger rose. His friend, was now his enemy.

Later that evening, in Eggman's dungeon, a woozy Amy Rose slowly lifted up herself from the floor, holding a hand pressed to the right side of her head. The shockwaves of the punch she had received earlier still rang out cool and clear, as did the memory of who had caused her to collapse.

"You're up," said Knuckles, grinning a few feet in front of Amy, safe from her fury because of the cell bars.

"Knuckles!" shouted Amy in rage " Out of all of the things you've done this is the dumbest! Why are you working for Eggman?!"

"Maybe I'm actually thinking for a change" said Knuckles, replaying Amy's insult " You never appreciated me on the team. Dumb as Sticks wasn't it?"

All of Amy's anger instantly dissolved into shock.

"You heard that?" she asked, her voice soft and torn.

Knuckles said nothing to her, and just turned angrily away and left. He had to be prepared when Sonic arrived.

Amy sank down of her knees, tears of guilt streaming down, as she gazed around the now empty room. Sonic's voice came back to her like a bad memory.

"Well don't let it spread around. Knuckles is a good teammate. The last thing we need to do is crush his soul."

"Crush his soul?" Amy thought in an instant "That's what I did didn't I? I've turned Knuckles away from our team."

"Hahahaha!" laughed Eggman joyfully in his lab "That was one of my finest victories yet! The look on Sonic's face when he realized his friend had betrayed him was gold! Pure gold!"

"Yes, brilliant Doctor" clapped Orbot "Sonic will be putty in your hands."

"That he will" said Eggman gladly, then turned to face his yellow, cube-shaped robot " Cubot, is everything ready for Sonic's arrival?"

"Yes sir" said Cubot " but I believe…,"

Before the robot could finish, the alarms started to go off, and the sounds of gunfire could be heard blasting outside.

"Why didn't you tell me he was coming early?" Eggman growled, seeing zip by one of the outside monitors " Blast you Sonic! So soon?"

"Troubles Doc?" asked Knuckles, walking into the room.

"Ah Knuckles" said Eggman, immediately losing his panic " Perfect time to arrive. It seems our guests are getting a bit restless, go and give them a big welcome won't you?"

"Whatever you say Doc" grinned Knuckles slyly " Whatever you say."

Meanwhile, pounding his way through Eggman's fortress, Sonic was dashing around, running with steam. Burning through the hedgehog's mind was the unbelievable image of the last few hours. To have a friend side with the enemy was about the lowest things could get.

"No doubt he must have heard our talk with Amy" thought Sonic as he ran " but to go all this way for revenge? Knuckles, what were you thinking man?"

The 'why' didn't matter as much right now as the situation. Amy was in danger, Knuckles was on the dark side, and they had to take him down.

"Alright Sonic" came in Tail's voice from the hedgehog's ear mike " security's down, you should be all clear."

"Thanks pal" Sonic responded " see you inside."

With that said, Sonic darted past the last few lines of defenses and darted into the fortress, where Knuckles and Eggman waited patiently to bring his end.

The inside of the fortress was not as impressive as the out, at least in Sonic's terms. Tails may have found a reason to geek out at a thing or two, but all Sonic understood about technology was that it was useful and you bash it to bits.

Pausing in a room leading towards the jail cells, Sonic took notice that everything was suddenly dark. A large circle of glowing orange floor-lights is all that lit up the room, and near the edge of some of these lights, illuminated by their glow, a dark figure stood, catching Sonic in his violet gaze.

"Out of the way Knuckles" said Sonic " I know you're mad, but you can't just join up with the bad guys and take Amy away."

"Sorry Sonic" said Knuckles, crouching into a fighting position " this is the way it has to be."

And with no other words to be said, the two former friends charged.

Meanwhile, sitting bored in her jail cell, and her Piko Piko Hammer way out of reach, a glum Amy Rose sat brooding, wondering if she would ever be saved.

Suddenly, the sharp twang of a ceiling tile crashed in as it smashed against the floor. Jumping up at the noise, Amy peered out of her cage bars, smiling as she saw the familiar twin-tailed form of her friend Tails drop into the room.

"Tails!" Amy called out in excitement to the fox.

"Amy!" responded Tails, rushing to her cage " Hold on for a sec, I'll get you out."

"Grab my hammer!" said Amy before Tails could tinker with the lock.

Nodding that he understood, Tails ran over to grab the Piko Hammer, and swung it with all his might against the cage bars. The result of the force was instant, and the metal bent and shattered, allowing Amy to step out free.

"Thanks Tails" said Amy, retrieving her hammer, then asked "Where's Sonic?"

"Looking for you" said Tails " and for Knuckles. I just don't understand why Knuckles would turn to the bad side."

"I think I do" said Amy " and it's time I make it right. Come on Tails, let's go find them. Sonic may be in trouble."

Sonic was in trouble, but not in the way Amy originally thought. It was his speed versus Knuckles power, and though both sides were now slightly damaged, both opponents refused to give in either inch.

"Just like old times" Sonic thought to himself, dodging another punch " back when Knuckles and I were old enemies instead of rivals."

He remembered those days so clearly now.

Before the Sonic team was really formed, Knuckles was a drifter who had arrived in town, looking for an adventure and maybe some new friends. Sonic didn't really recall where Knuckles said he came from at the time. His ears were so full of Amy chatting about an exciting new discovery, that he could barely catch every word.

Surprisingly, Knuckles wasn't as big then as he was right now. Back then, he was just slightly taller than both Sonic and Tails, his hands were huge, and his arms were thin. You would have never had guessed there was a powerhouse hidden behind that svelte-like feature.

Volunteering to help in the quest, Knuckles joined Amy's expedition, and slowly everyone began to accept him as a big help to the team. His strength came in handy during many difficult situations, and Sonic felt as if a friendly bond was being formed.

However, when they finally found the treasure they were looking for, that's when things went bad. Knuckles revealed that this was the place where he had lived for many years, and that it was his job to prevent the treasure from falling into evil's hands.

He had only left the cave briefly because he was curious to explore, but when he saw Amy Rose planned to use the map she made in order to find the Chaos Crystals, he had to stop them at any cost. All those accidents that had happened to them on their way here were Knuckles doing, and now, with the help of the power Chaos Crystal, he was going to finish the job.

Absorbing the power of the Chaos Crystal into his body, Knuckles physique transformed into his more modern-day version, muscle-like self. His strong arms pounded together, and Sonic braced himself for a fight.

During battle, Knuckles held nothing back against Sonic's speed, keeping the hedgehog firm on his toes. It took a lot of hard work on Sonic's part to finally bring Knuckles down, but eventually, the blue hedgehog was successful, and Knuckles kneeled down in defeat.

"This is not possible" Knuckles breathed, highly disappointed in himself " I have failed. My mission…was to stop you?"

"Mission?" asked Sonic, confused "What are you talking about?"

And that's when the real enemy revealed himself, changing Knuckles views on how noble Sonic and his friends really were. Since that exciting first adventure, they all became really good friends.

"Would it be so hard to get that back?" thought Sonic, drifting out from his flash-back as he dodged another punch.

"Hmm" said Eggman, looking down at the two opponents fighting from a hidden window " I could just wait until they finish destroying each other, but I do hate suspense. Orbot, do it now!"

"Roger," said Orbot, and pulled a switch.

Instantly, there was a change in the room Sonic and Knuckles had been fighting in. The orange beams that flowed from floor and ceiling lights, now connected to form a deadly, laser bar cage. This observation came to Knuckles a little to late, as he slammed Sonic with a sharp uppercut, propelling the poor hedgehog into one of the newly formed beams.

Knuckles gaze widened in horror, as he saw Sonic get painfully electrocuted right before his eyes. He had not expected Eggman to a play a trick like this, and angrily ground his fists together, as Sonic struggled, and then blacked out on the floor.

"Eggman!" shouted Knuckles in rage "This wasn't part of the deal!"

"Plans change my friend" answered Eggman through a mike " The deal was that you would help me destroy Sonic. I just thought you could use a little hand."

With that said, a small robot suddenly slipped through the laser bar grid, transforming into a slightly larger size once it was in the cage. Knuckles gasped as he was facing a robot version of himself, eyes glowing yellow, and plated with armor.

"I thought you'd might like this little doodad" complimented Eggman " It was inspired by you. I call him…Metal Knuckles."

"Great" thought Knuckles to himself "there's a Metal Sonic, and now there's a metal me. I really screwed up this time."

"Now Metal Knuckles" called Eggman " Destroy Sonic!"

Metal Knuckles immediately charged to carry out his master's demand, while the real Knuckles ground his fists, churning with anger and guilt. This whole revenge plan had gone way to far. It was time to stop it…NOW!

Without any thought for his own safety, Knuckles stepped right in front of the injured Sonic, and stopped the robot Knuckles assault.

"Traitor!" yelled Eggman through the microphone " Metal Knuckles, forget Sonic! Destroy your counterpart!"

And with that said, Knuckles and Metal Knuckles faced off.

"He should be this way," said Tails, leading Amy through the halls.

Sonic had failed to report in twenty minutes ago, and both friends had a horrible feeling in their gut that something had went wrong. Tracking the signal on Sonic's communicator, Tails led Amy on a chase through many corridors until they finally reached the dark room where Sonic and Knuckles were. The sight that met their eyes was bizarre.

Trapped inside a laser-like cage, an unconscious Sonic lay passed out on the floor, while two Knuckles faced each other in a brutal battle to survive.

"Sonic!" cried out Amy in concern.

"Knuckles!" shouted Tails.

"Guys!" shouted Knuckles, turning slightly away from his fight " Bring this barrier down! Sonic's hurt bad!"

"On it!" said Tails, immediately heading towards Eggman and the controls. Even though the hidden window Eggman was watching through was shielded by darkness, the light from the lasers illuminated the edge.

"No!" shouted Eggman in distress "Robots, stop them!"

An army of robots suddenly appeared, and Amy immediately went to war with her Piko Piko Hammer, unleashing all of her rage from being cruelly locked up. Tails made it to the control room with seconds to spare, while Knuckles endurance started to tire against Metal Knuckles swings.

Still fatigued from his fight with Sonic, Knuckles didn't know how much longer he could last, until Amy shouted out a command.

"The cage Knuckles!" yelled Amy " Use the cage!"

"Use the cage?" Knuckles thought to himself, and then it hit him "Right!"

Ducking under another punch thrown by Metal, Knuckles sweeped out the robot's legs, grabbed the arm that threw the punch, and then tossed Metal Knuckles against the laser grid cage. The robot screamed and exploded on impact, just before the bars descended back into the floor.

"Let's get out here," said Knuckles, scooping up the injured Sonic on his shoulders, as Amy and Tails came down from their respective quests.

Nodding in agreement, the two friends joined Knuckles on a hectic escape through Eggman's fortress, while in the control room, the genius moaned and groaned, his plan having failed once again.

A few hours later, groaning in pain, Sonic found his eyes waking back to the living world, in the confines of Tails house, bandages wrapping his sides. The faces of his friends stood above him, looking seriously relieved.

"Glad you're awake pal," said Knuckles, smiling.

"You seem to be healing just fine," said Tails.

"You sure about that?" said Sonic, struggling to sit up " How'd we get back here? What happened at the fortress?"

"Eggman lost, again" said Tails " but we did manage to get something out of the deal."

With that said, Sonic looked at Knuckles, a smile forming on his face.

"Knuckles" grinned Sonic " so you decided to come back after all."

"Yeah, well" said Knuckles " I'm sorry about that. It was stupid for me to team up with Eggman just because I was mad at Rose."

"Don't worry Knuckles" said Sonic " we all have regrets. But it's time to put that behind us, right Amy?"

Amy sighed, knowing instantly what Sonic wanted her do. Turning to face Knuckles, the pink hedgehog swallowed up her ego, and politely bowed.

"Knuckles, I'm sorry" said Amy " It was mean for me to insult you like that, and say all those ugly things. We can really use you back on the team. So, can you forgive me?"

Knuckles just grinned.

"Yeah" said Knuckles, gladly " I guess I can."

At the tone of forgiveness, Sonic sighed in content, relieved that the rift formed between their team had finally been healed. The friends were friends again, and the future looked bright.