A/N: As an important note, while this does take place in the Sonic X universe, I am using the Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie/OVA-verse Knuckles for this because, frankly, he is the Knuckles I adore. In that version, he's openly kinder and more protective of Sonic than he is in the other versions, and I find myself gravitating toward that. Most likely, he will be the version of Knuckles I use for all (or pretty darn close to it) of my Sonic fanfics, just as a fair warning.

(Oh, and as I have been asked by a lovely reviewer, no, Knuckles is not wearing his cowboy hat or the sunglasses (the ones he wore in the movie, which is unfortunate because I loved them, too). When he and the others were transported to Earth by Chaos Control, he lost both in the impact with Earth-landing in water, forest, whatever. Which, for the record, does not make a happy Knuckles. lol.)

Also, hopefully you got this from the summary (but in case you didn't), this does play off the ongoing joke that Eggman easily fools the extremely gullible Knuckles into turning against Sonic throughout the games/anime series. However, I am tweaking it a bit, as you will see.

Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic the Hedgehog or anything associated. SEGA and anyone else affiliated does.

Breaking the Norm

The rest were fighting a barrage of Eggman's robots in downtown Station Square. When it was noticed that the mastermind behind the attack was absent, Knuckles had volunteered to go to Eggman's lab in order to sniff out the rat.

Yeah… Next time, someone should remind him that sometimes sniffing out the rat means getting caught in said rat's trap…

As the evil scientist stepped out of the shadows that the halls of his laboratory created, Knuckles backed up, though not out of fear. His quick eyes had seen it, the wretched smirk the man had tried to hide just before making his move, and the echidna's eyes narrowed. Fists raised already, he clenched them and braced himself, ready for a fight.

"Hello, Knuckles," Robotnik drawled. Knuckles merely gave a low growl and reaffirmed his fighting stance, taking in his surroundings for any threat of danger. So far, he sensed nothing, but he refused to let his guard down.

"What do you want, Eggman?" he asked slowly, suspiciously. After everything, there was no room for leniency. "I know you have something planned, so you'd better not try anything, or I swear—" The scientist interrupted him with a loud, obnoxious laugh. The echidna was startled at the uncharacteristic behavior, but he quickly regained his composure as his temper flared. "What's so funny?"

Robotnik made to wipe fake tears from his eyes. "My dear Knuckles, don't flatter yourself!" he scoffed, making as if to wave the gem-protector off. "I know better than to expect a worthwhile fight from the likes of you. No, Sonic will just rush in and win your battles for you." He folded his arms across his chest and stood straighter, a smug air about him. "He always does."

"What?" Knuckles cried, feeling a vein pop out of his head as he gritted his teeth. "He does not! I fight my own battles just fine!" Defending his pride came first, but coming close: "And Sonic helps me because he's my friend!"

"Oh, really?" the round man sneered, letting his white teeth show.

"Yes!" Knuckles was getting angrier by the second. "What is it to you, anyway?" he demanded.

Eggman's smirk reinforced itself tenfold, and Knuckles faltered almost unnoticeably. Suddenly, he didn't like where this was heading… There was something in the scientist's eyes… He checked the atmosphere again and hummed frustratedly, unconvinced even as he detected nothing for a second time.

Something was not right here…

"If Sonic values you so much," Robotnik pressed, "why didn't he come with you? Why wasn't he determined to make sure you were as safe as the others?"

Knuckles' response was immediate. Honestly, he had been expecting more of a challenge. "He's taking care of the mess your robot clowns are making downtown! As for the others, I care about them just as much as he does, which is why I didn't let him come with me! I couldn't let him leave them alone, just in case you had something else up your sleeve! And even when I told him I could handle everything by myself, he told me he'd be here if I needed him! How is any of that not caring?"

Really, he wanted to see what the man would come up with to keep his plan in motion. There was no way it would work, no matter what he did. Not now, anyway.

"That may be true," the scientist crooned silkily, not even bothering to answer the question; this caused Knuckles to smirk haughtily, despite the ominous shift in the air, "but there is something you should know about your friend, little echidna."

Another glint in the man's eyes, this one more sinister than the last; a slightly nervous twitch of fingers; a crinkle in the man's brow; and Knuckles knew the truth. He had become much better at reading Robotnik recently, a personal goal he'd set for himself. And while he had achieved his aim, he would have to save his feelings of triumph for later. There were more important issues to take care of right now.

"No matter what you say, Eggman," Knuckles growled dangerously, "I won't believe you. You can't lie to me anymore." Clenched fists curling tighter, a snarl escaped him as he continued, shouting, "Sonic is my best friend! I know him better than you ever could, Robotnik, and he would never betray me!" His next words just begged the man to do something stupid so he could knock him senseless. "And I won't be tricked into hurting him again!" His eyes narrowed as he took a step closer and pointed a threatening finger at the enemy, barking severely, "Do I make myself clear?"

By now, the large man had begun to sweat, his confident countenance having shattered as soon as his plan had begun to unravel. He couldn't even get to his all-important delivery now without threat to his life… Face red and hands stretched out in surrender, he backed up quickly. "Now, now, Knuckles, no need to be quite that defensive. I—I was only joking…"

"I bet you were," Knuckles huffed, arms folding over his chest even as he kept his guard up. "Now, are you going to call off your bots downtown," he drew himself up, clenching and unclenching his fists in a show of how eager he was to kick some Egg-butt if the man so much as hinted at foul play, "or do I have to make you?"

The scientist wilted, and from his pocket he withdrew a small rectangular device with a large red button protruding from its center. Tossing it to Knuckles, who caught and stared at it before gazing up at him curiously, he said, "Push this button, and the attacks will stop." When the echidna eyed him suspiciously, he shook his head and waved his hands in front of his person. "I don't believe in such useless things as mind games, Knuckles. If you want to help them, just press the button."

Knuckles may have gotten better at trickery when it concerned Sonic, but not when it concerned himself.

As the next moment proved.

("Really," Sonic would tease later, "after knowing Eggman for so long, you'd think you'd know better than to trust anything he says.")

The second Knuckles pressed the button, the red echidna cried out in pain as one of Eggman's robots emerged from the shadows directly behind—either his perception skills were getting rusty or the machine had materialized out of thin air—and a pair of cold, mechanical arms tightly took hold of him around the neck. The device fell from Knuckles' hand, and Robotnik cackled triumphantly.

"What have you done?" Knuckles charged, though admittedly the warning wasn't as strong as he'd meant it to be, considering the blasted robot was slowly choking the air from his lungs. No matter how hard he tried to escape, the metal warrior's grip only seemed to fortify, and he finally had to stop resisting as black spots blinded him.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" the scientist egged, giving himself wiggling moose-ears with his hands and spitting raspberries into the echidna's face.

Knuckles bit his lip, resting on borderline impatience. Knowing Eggman, he'd feel so accomplished with whatever he'd done that he'd reveal everything in a moment's time. (Inwardly, he sighed. Oh, of course, now he retained his hard-earned Eggman knowledge…)

And he was right.

"Well, if you simply must know," Robotnik spoke mock-humbly, adjusting his glasses smartly as he did so, "the button you pushed has indeed ended my robots' takeover of your precious city," he held up his index finger and prattled on in that annoyingly superior manner, "but it also jump-started my other robot, the one currently putting you in a chokehold."

"And what does that have to do with Sonic?" Knuckles urged edgily, though he already had a sinking feeling that he knew the answer. And Chaos alive, he prayed he was wrong.

"What do you think it means, you pitiful mole?" Knuckles growled; he was not a mole, and he hated it when people called him that… "You're going to act as my bait, Knuckles, the very thing that leads Sonic into my tra—"

Just then, there was a loud explosion, then an electrical sputter as soon as the sound faded, and the next thing Knuckles knew he was on the floor, still caught in the now legless robot's death grip. In another moment, he was free and standing, and he looked to his left as a cool, familiar voice piped up.

"So, Robotnik, still think you can trip me up with a diversion of your lame-brain pieces of scrap metal and hot air?"

"S—Sonic, what are you doing here?" Knuckles stuttered in shock, violet eyes wide and mouth dry. Protectiveness overtook him almost instantly. "Didn't you hear what Eggman said? He set a trap for you! Let me handle this!"

Sonic shook his blue-quilled head, eyes never leaving Robotnik's even as his words were directed at his friend. "Sorry, Knuckles, but no can do. I'm not leaving." Finally half-turning his head toward the echidna, he winked. "After all, I think it's high-time we showed Mr. Rotten Egg here a few things about setting effective traps."

With that one gesture, Knuckles knew the hedgehog had already found and destroyed whatever threat the scientist had panned out for him, and Knuckles glared at the Doctor with new resolve, settling into his fighting stance once again.

A smirk settled as Robotnik took two slow steps backward before high-tailing it down the hallway as fast as his lardy body would go, Sonic and Knuckles giving him a head start for the fun of it. The two chuckled quietly.

This would be fun…

"How did you know, Sonic?" Knuckles asked afterward, once they were well away from the defeated, tantrum-raising Robotnik and his laboratory.

Knowing exactly what he meant, the hedgehog just shrugged and lifted his head to look up at the stars. "I dunno. We were fighting Eggman's robots when they suddenly shut down, and it was almost like something went off in here." He pointed to his heart, eyebrows knitting pensively. "I just knew something was wrong, so I rushed off to the lab." He looked over at Knuckles and grinned mischievously. "The trap ended up being a bunch laser-shooting robots and missiles. You know, the usual. And boy, did I turn them into tin cans!" he gloated, laying a gloved hand on his bicep.

Knuckles just scoffed, though a slight smile played on his face. "Yeah, yeah…" Glancing over at the blue speedster suddenly, his expression softened. "Thanks for the save, Sonic. I'm serious."

Sonic's own visage warmed, and he moved closer to Knuckles in order to mess with his dreadlocks, an action he knew his older friend hated. "Ah, no problem, buddy."

With that, he impishly bopped Knuckles upside the head with his fist, and the echidna rubbed the offending sore with one hand, growling, "Hey! What was that for?"

Sonic only laughed gleefully, running a few steps ahead. "Come on, Knuckles, I'll race you back home!"

He sped off as Knuckles chased after him, yelling meaningless insults and empty threats the whole way.

After all,

Sonic was his best friend.

So what kind of friend would Knuckles be if he didn't trust Sonic with all he was?

A/N: This is my first Sonic fic I've written, so please tell me how I did! I really want to know if everyone's in character... With a new fandom, I always worry about that. lol.

Also, I've noticed (at least for me) that the saving feature when I upload isn't working properly (not saving the changes I make), so if you see anything that looks funny, please tell me! Thanks!

Anyway, thanks for reading!