StH: TM - TF
Chapter Four: Enter Knuckles
Metal Robotnik pointed his gun at Tails. "Now you're the only one left to take care of."
Tails, while undoubtedly helpless, was still strong in spirit. "There's no way you could've gotten rid of Sonic that easily with those missiles!"
A small spark of light shone in the distance. Tails caught this out of the corner of his eye and smiled. "I told you!"
"Not so fast, Metal Robotnik!" Sonic cried. He was riding on the missile, and had curved it's path so it would fly directly into Metal Robotnik. Sonic gracefully leapt off the rocket and landed, watching the flying bomb crash into his nemesis.
Sonic was blown back by the explosion. He kept his eyes shut, until he felt cold, wet needles hitting his back.
Rain.
It had started to rain.
Pretty hard, too.
The smoke began to clear.
Sonic stood upright and opened his eyes, ready to strike again when he discovered he couldn't move. When he was blown back, he had landed in a piece of the goo. He struggled, trying his best to free himself.
Tails watched in horror as the piece of land that Sonic was standing on was beginning to fall apart. "Sonic, look!"
Sonic looked down to see the ocean water wash up over the tips of his shoes. "This is bad!"
And to make things worse, a pulsating humming sound emerged from the fading smoke. It was coming from Metal Robotnik, who was still alive. He stepped hard against the ground, sending shockwaves that caused Sonic's land to sink even deeper. "Ohh..." he groaned.
"You might have the fastest feet in the world," Metal Robotnik buzzed, "But now, you're just a normal hedgehog! I'll make sure you never make it to Robotropolis!!" He stomped on the ground again.
Tails struggled against his trap. "Sonic! I can save you!"
But the sad truth was, young Tails could not. The goo had a good hold on him, as it did on Sonic, and Metal Robotnik was well aware of this. He aimed his gun at the blue hedgehog and prepared to fire. Little did he know that there was some underground activity occurring, and a red streak shot out of the cement base of the dock and right into Metal Robotnik's cannon. The force of the impact was enough to knock the giant robot over. The red streak, satisfied with his work, flew over to assist Tails by pulling the goo away.
"Knuckles!" The young kitsune cried in happiness.
"Hurry and save Sonic!" was his reply. Tails nodded and jumped up, ready for action, but could not get his tails to function, and so he fell to the ground, landing flat on his face. He looked behind him and saw that his tails were partially glued together. "This is bad... with my tails stuck together, I can't fly!"
He had to do something. But what? Tails looked over at Knuckles, who was repeatedly bashing against Metal Robotnik, causing him to fall apart. "That's it!" Tails gasped. He dashed forward and grabbed a rectangle-shaped piece of sheet metal and used it as a body board, twirling his tails the best he could. "Sonic!" he called, "I'm coming!"
Metal Robotnik looked down. "How did you escape?" He saw another red flash. "Huh?"
Knuckles glid towards Metal Robotnik with as much speed as he could. At the last second, he flipped his body around and delivered a hard kick to the side of Metal Robotnik's face. "HYAH!"
By this time, Sonic's land had fallen deeper, to where his face barely reached over the surface. Tails had arrived and gripped tightly to his left hand, pulling with all his might. "C'mon, Sonic, I know you can do it!"
Sonic wriggled his legs under the water, trying to free his feet from the gooey mess.
Meanwhile, Knuckles was busy in his fight against Metal Robotnik. He ran around in circles, trying to stay two steps ahead of the goo firepower. It was working, until the very last shot.
"Now I'M stuck!" he complained.
Metal Robotnik cocked his gun's barrel, but nothing came out. "Huh? Out of bullets... you are lucky, aren't you? But NOT. LUCKY. ENOUGH!!" he swung his hand down and swooped up Knuckles, gripping him tightly. Knuckles groaned and squirmed, trying to escape.
Tails kept pulling. With all he had, he would not let Sonic die!
Then something surged through Sonic. He suddenly felt this amazing energy, and it gave him the strength to respond to Tails' efforts. He flew out of the water, high into the air. During his hangtime, he surveyed his red ally in the hands of the enemy, and decided to alleviate the problem by cutting right through the wrist of the hand that held Knuckles captive.
The right hand of Metal Robotnik fell the the ground and released Knuckles, who hopped to his feet, unharmed. Sonic came up beside him. "Thanks pal, I owe you one," he said to the echidna.
Knuckles grinned. "I think we're even."
Metal Robotnik saw that he was outnumbered. He opened his jets packs, creating a gusting wind that fell upon our heroes. "Eh heh, it's no matter." He started to rise into the air.
"Trying to tun away?" Sonic yelled into the wind. "I won't letcha', Metal Robotnik!"
"Don't worry," he called as he flew away, "We will meet again soon."
Sonic grimaced. He did not want to have to fight Metal Robotnik again, since he would probably be at full power again if he let him get away. Luckily, Knuckles had an idea. He motioned to Tails, who was picking the last bit of goo off his tails. "Sonic, grab ahold." The echidna gripped Sonic's arm and flew him into the sky, where with a strong hand, Knuckles swung the hedgehog towards Metal Robotnik. "There!"
Sonic dove into a Triple Spin, cutting right through the robot and emerging out on the other side. Tails, following Knuckles' lead, grabbed Sonic's hand, and flung him back, where he repeated the same attack. Then Knuckles flung him back to Tails.
That proved to be more than Metal Robotnik could handle. The smoking robot lost control and crashed into the middle of the sea.
Knuckles flew up to where Sonic and Tails were and did a special handshake with Sonic. "My man... cool!" Sonic said.
"Yeah," Knuckles agreed.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Off in the distance, Metal Robotnik splashed into the center of the lake, landing stomach-side up. The edge of the rounded appendage creaked, and opened like a door. Sara and Robotnik poked their heads out, blinking in surprise.
Robotnik hopped out, his clothes torn at the leg and near the belt, glaring and raising a fist towards the sky. "Sonic better enjoy his victory now, because once he gets to Robotropolis, he'll have to fight something FAR more evil than Metal Robotnik!" He threatened.
Sara growled and grabbed a pipe from inside the robot's wreckage, jumping out and smacking Robotnik hard over the head with it. "What do you mean, 'worse than Metal Robotnik'? Are you talking about yourself? You better keep you hands off my Sonic or I'll never forgive you!!"
Robotnik could not say anything in reply; his head hurt too much.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
By now, the rain had stopped, and the trio had made their way safely up to higher ground, which was the top of a building where Knuckles had left his sack of goods. Sonic and Tails stood with their backs to the West, facing their echidna friend.
"Thanks for saving us there, Knuckles!" Sonic said.
Knuckles shrugged. "Yeah, that's one more job I won't get paid for. But I've known you for a while, so I'll just put in on your tab, and you can pay me back later on."
Tails smiled. "So are you going back to treasure hunting now?"
"Of course!" Knuckles replied without missing a beat. "Finding treasure is my absolute favorite pastime!" He let out a chuckle to show his happiness. "Ha!"
The clouds in the West dispersed, letting through the bright, rich rays of the setting sun. Knuckles held his hand over his face to block the glare. Sonic and Tails craned their necks around to see the red-gold orb sinking below the mountains in the distance.
"The sun's already setting..." Tails said with slight worry. "We're starting to run out of time!"
Knuckles reached into his bag and pulled out a pair of black sunglasses and put them on. He peered into the distance. "What's that? Look at it."
As the sun was fading, small white dots were emerging into view as they shone on the side of the mountain. An image began to form from the lights, one that easily resembled Dr. Robotnik's face.
"That must be Robotropolis!" Tails exclaimed.
"Scaaary." Replied his blue ally.
Just then the ground shook again, giving enough of a warning to Sonic and Tails that the generator situation was beginning to get worse. "I hope you see you again soon, Knuckles!" Sonic managed to speak before he zipped away.
"See ya'!" Knuckles called to Sonic's fading figure, tapping his nose with his finger.
Tails hopped in the air, whirling his tails. "We'll see you later Knuckles. Bye!" He followed in Sonic's wake.
Knuckles ripped off his glasses with one hand, closing them with a *click*. "Hmm..."
Chapter Four: Enter Knuckles
Metal Robotnik pointed his gun at Tails. "Now you're the only one left to take care of."
Tails, while undoubtedly helpless, was still strong in spirit. "There's no way you could've gotten rid of Sonic that easily with those missiles!"
A small spark of light shone in the distance. Tails caught this out of the corner of his eye and smiled. "I told you!"
"Not so fast, Metal Robotnik!" Sonic cried. He was riding on the missile, and had curved it's path so it would fly directly into Metal Robotnik. Sonic gracefully leapt off the rocket and landed, watching the flying bomb crash into his nemesis.
Sonic was blown back by the explosion. He kept his eyes shut, until he felt cold, wet needles hitting his back.
Rain.
It had started to rain.
Pretty hard, too.
The smoke began to clear.
Sonic stood upright and opened his eyes, ready to strike again when he discovered he couldn't move. When he was blown back, he had landed in a piece of the goo. He struggled, trying his best to free himself.
Tails watched in horror as the piece of land that Sonic was standing on was beginning to fall apart. "Sonic, look!"
Sonic looked down to see the ocean water wash up over the tips of his shoes. "This is bad!"
And to make things worse, a pulsating humming sound emerged from the fading smoke. It was coming from Metal Robotnik, who was still alive. He stepped hard against the ground, sending shockwaves that caused Sonic's land to sink even deeper. "Ohh..." he groaned.
"You might have the fastest feet in the world," Metal Robotnik buzzed, "But now, you're just a normal hedgehog! I'll make sure you never make it to Robotropolis!!" He stomped on the ground again.
Tails struggled against his trap. "Sonic! I can save you!"
But the sad truth was, young Tails could not. The goo had a good hold on him, as it did on Sonic, and Metal Robotnik was well aware of this. He aimed his gun at the blue hedgehog and prepared to fire. Little did he know that there was some underground activity occurring, and a red streak shot out of the cement base of the dock and right into Metal Robotnik's cannon. The force of the impact was enough to knock the giant robot over. The red streak, satisfied with his work, flew over to assist Tails by pulling the goo away.
"Knuckles!" The young kitsune cried in happiness.
"Hurry and save Sonic!" was his reply. Tails nodded and jumped up, ready for action, but could not get his tails to function, and so he fell to the ground, landing flat on his face. He looked behind him and saw that his tails were partially glued together. "This is bad... with my tails stuck together, I can't fly!"
He had to do something. But what? Tails looked over at Knuckles, who was repeatedly bashing against Metal Robotnik, causing him to fall apart. "That's it!" Tails gasped. He dashed forward and grabbed a rectangle-shaped piece of sheet metal and used it as a body board, twirling his tails the best he could. "Sonic!" he called, "I'm coming!"
Metal Robotnik looked down. "How did you escape?" He saw another red flash. "Huh?"
Knuckles glid towards Metal Robotnik with as much speed as he could. At the last second, he flipped his body around and delivered a hard kick to the side of Metal Robotnik's face. "HYAH!"
By this time, Sonic's land had fallen deeper, to where his face barely reached over the surface. Tails had arrived and gripped tightly to his left hand, pulling with all his might. "C'mon, Sonic, I know you can do it!"
Sonic wriggled his legs under the water, trying to free his feet from the gooey mess.
Meanwhile, Knuckles was busy in his fight against Metal Robotnik. He ran around in circles, trying to stay two steps ahead of the goo firepower. It was working, until the very last shot.
"Now I'M stuck!" he complained.
Metal Robotnik cocked his gun's barrel, but nothing came out. "Huh? Out of bullets... you are lucky, aren't you? But NOT. LUCKY. ENOUGH!!" he swung his hand down and swooped up Knuckles, gripping him tightly. Knuckles groaned and squirmed, trying to escape.
Tails kept pulling. With all he had, he would not let Sonic die!
Then something surged through Sonic. He suddenly felt this amazing energy, and it gave him the strength to respond to Tails' efforts. He flew out of the water, high into the air. During his hangtime, he surveyed his red ally in the hands of the enemy, and decided to alleviate the problem by cutting right through the wrist of the hand that held Knuckles captive.
The right hand of Metal Robotnik fell the the ground and released Knuckles, who hopped to his feet, unharmed. Sonic came up beside him. "Thanks pal, I owe you one," he said to the echidna.
Knuckles grinned. "I think we're even."
Metal Robotnik saw that he was outnumbered. He opened his jets packs, creating a gusting wind that fell upon our heroes. "Eh heh, it's no matter." He started to rise into the air.
"Trying to tun away?" Sonic yelled into the wind. "I won't letcha', Metal Robotnik!"
"Don't worry," he called as he flew away, "We will meet again soon."
Sonic grimaced. He did not want to have to fight Metal Robotnik again, since he would probably be at full power again if he let him get away. Luckily, Knuckles had an idea. He motioned to Tails, who was picking the last bit of goo off his tails. "Sonic, grab ahold." The echidna gripped Sonic's arm and flew him into the sky, where with a strong hand, Knuckles swung the hedgehog towards Metal Robotnik. "There!"
Sonic dove into a Triple Spin, cutting right through the robot and emerging out on the other side. Tails, following Knuckles' lead, grabbed Sonic's hand, and flung him back, where he repeated the same attack. Then Knuckles flung him back to Tails.
That proved to be more than Metal Robotnik could handle. The smoking robot lost control and crashed into the middle of the sea.
Knuckles flew up to where Sonic and Tails were and did a special handshake with Sonic. "My man... cool!" Sonic said.
"Yeah," Knuckles agreed.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Off in the distance, Metal Robotnik splashed into the center of the lake, landing stomach-side up. The edge of the rounded appendage creaked, and opened like a door. Sara and Robotnik poked their heads out, blinking in surprise.
Robotnik hopped out, his clothes torn at the leg and near the belt, glaring and raising a fist towards the sky. "Sonic better enjoy his victory now, because once he gets to Robotropolis, he'll have to fight something FAR more evil than Metal Robotnik!" He threatened.
Sara growled and grabbed a pipe from inside the robot's wreckage, jumping out and smacking Robotnik hard over the head with it. "What do you mean, 'worse than Metal Robotnik'? Are you talking about yourself? You better keep you hands off my Sonic or I'll never forgive you!!"
Robotnik could not say anything in reply; his head hurt too much.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
By now, the rain had stopped, and the trio had made their way safely up to higher ground, which was the top of a building where Knuckles had left his sack of goods. Sonic and Tails stood with their backs to the West, facing their echidna friend.
"Thanks for saving us there, Knuckles!" Sonic said.
Knuckles shrugged. "Yeah, that's one more job I won't get paid for. But I've known you for a while, so I'll just put in on your tab, and you can pay me back later on."
Tails smiled. "So are you going back to treasure hunting now?"
"Of course!" Knuckles replied without missing a beat. "Finding treasure is my absolute favorite pastime!" He let out a chuckle to show his happiness. "Ha!"
The clouds in the West dispersed, letting through the bright, rich rays of the setting sun. Knuckles held his hand over his face to block the glare. Sonic and Tails craned their necks around to see the red-gold orb sinking below the mountains in the distance.
"The sun's already setting..." Tails said with slight worry. "We're starting to run out of time!"
Knuckles reached into his bag and pulled out a pair of black sunglasses and put them on. He peered into the distance. "What's that? Look at it."
As the sun was fading, small white dots were emerging into view as they shone on the side of the mountain. An image began to form from the lights, one that easily resembled Dr. Robotnik's face.
"That must be Robotropolis!" Tails exclaimed.
"Scaaary." Replied his blue ally.
Just then the ground shook again, giving enough of a warning to Sonic and Tails that the generator situation was beginning to get worse. "I hope you see you again soon, Knuckles!" Sonic managed to speak before he zipped away.
"See ya'!" Knuckles called to Sonic's fading figure, tapping his nose with his finger.
Tails hopped in the air, whirling his tails. "We'll see you later Knuckles. Bye!" He followed in Sonic's wake.
Knuckles ripped off his glasses with one hand, closing them with a *click*. "Hmm..."