A Shooting Star ~Kirby and Sonic crossover~

Chapter 15: A Tired Hero

Disclaimer:
Do not fear, Yokai is here! Just a warning, mild swearing up ahead.

Knuckles the Echidna was relaxing ontop of the Master Emerald, his eyes closed as he slept through the day without a care in the world.

Or so some would think.

He opened both of his eyes to reveal a concerned, furrowed gaze. Yesterday, a pink puffball had interrupted his midnight stroll, standing unbelievably close to the Master Emerald, staring at it with wonder. At this, Knuckles' hackles rose, his lips peeling open into a furious snarl. But instead of being alarmed or scared, this thing just looked... confused.

And only confused.

As if it had never heard of the Master Emerald. As if it didn't know about it powering Angel Island. As if it didn't know about Knuckles, the powerful guardian of the Master Emerald.

The echinda had proved to be one of the strongest, if not, the strongest mobian to ever live. It was no joke if one got him angry. That happened to be one of the reasons why Angel Island was an almost deserted island, with the exception of a few critters and himself.

So, Knuckles was left pondering about the situation as he lay there, on his emerald. What should he do now? Should he just let it pass, to just forget about the pink puff that he had encountered yesterday? Or should he tell Sonic, and risked being mocked at? Both weren't great options, and Knuckles groaned, the bright, blue sky and the sharp gleams of the sun doing absolutely nothing to calm the anxious echidna.

Ugh... Fuck it all.

Knuckles bit his lip, then looked down at his wrist.

At first, Knuckles had been soft towards the puffball, taking it lightly because of it's cute appearance. He couldn't imagine that such a tiny marshmallow could defeat him, nor take the Master Emerald!

However, judging by how fast it had reacted by Knuckles' blows, and the well aimed kick to the back of his head...

He knew he couldn't take it too lightly.

Sure, Knuckles and Sonic would sometimes brawl, with different days having different outcomes.

Usually it was a contest of who was stronger. However, it was also a sense of training for the two mobians.

For Sonic, it trained him to become physically stronger, along with better aimed blows and timing. For Knuckles, it trained him to become faster and more agile, along with quick decision making.

Which also meant that Knuckles wasn't too slow himself.

However, the puffball had exceeded in Knuckles' every expectations (which, in return, hadn't been very high). He hadn't thought that such a small being could inflict so much damage to him (Knuckles rubbed his muzzle, which was slightly bruised from being smacked onto the ground, while the back of his head still throbbed in pain. It wasn't much, but Knuckles was very durable, so even the slightest bit of damage on him was a lot to other mobians. He didn't even think that Sonic had an attack that could injure him [with the exception of the spindash]), or that such a short being could've been as fast as it had been.

Knuckles broke the comfortable silence with a sigh of defeat. Tapping the wrist communicator's screen, Knuckles reached out to Sonic.

"Hey. Sonic, you there?"

His call was immediately answered.

"Heya, Knux. What's up?"

Knuckles' violet eyes softened. Sonic was his very first friend, since Knuckles was raised alone on the island after his parents had died, just like the blue streak (or so he was told). Never abandoning his post on Angel Island, Knuckles never had time to socialize, until Eggman had came up to him, saying that a certain blue hedgehog and yellow fox was coming to Angel Island to steal the great Master Emerald.