Knuckles and M.E.

Chapter 2

Time had passed, and the afternoon changed to morning. Knuckles, who had his fur as a blanket, had slept next to the Emerald; as he did every night. He had woken up early that morning, due to feeling a slight earthquake like rumble. Though, it couldn't be an actual earthquake; Angel Island wasn't anywhere near the ground for it. It made Knuckles wonder, maybe something crash landed? Maybe a crater from space fell onto the island?
Not really knowing what or who caused the rumble, he didn't think it was a good idea to leave the altar to find out what DID make the sound; not wanting to risk the Emerald being left alone like that.
Knuckles forced himself up, and stretched with a soft yawn; almost falling over in the process. Whether it was a good idea or not, he felt it was best to go look for the commotion that had caused the rumble. If it were to be a threat it would be better to take care of it now, instead of waiting for it to become a disaster. Before setting off though, he turned to the green, glowing gem. Sighing, he walked over to the Master Emerald and wrapped his arms around it, smiling in the process. "I'll be back... I promise!"

With that out of the way, Knuckles walked down the stairs and began his usual security search around the island. He'd done this so many times in the past with no results, he half-expected there to be nothing this time as well. Once he walked about a mile or two, Knuckles stopped to get some water from a nearby pond. As he dunked his hand in the water and sipped whatever water he had got, he noticed something out of the corner of his eye; smoke. It wasn't far away, but it meant something on the island had caught on fire. Either that or whatever crashed had caught on fire; either way Knuckles knew it was a danger. So, after finishing his little sip of water, he started heading towards the rising cloud of smoke.
Knuckles had made his way through the branches and twigs of the trees to the rising smoke. He kept in mind to be cautious not to startle anything away; it was a good method any guardian should know. Not much time had passed for the Echidna to make his way to the smoke. When he had, he ducked down and crept closer to the smoke. His fur had got caught by a few twigs and prickly bushes, but he continued to go on; not letting anything stop him. When he finally got to where smoke had been, he spotted a strange figure, who went inside a large, strange machine that was behind him; one that of course, Knuckles never being in contact with the outside world, would have never seen before. The machine had been burnt and crushed, and it was clear that the smoke had come from the strange machine.

Not really knowing if he should go out and figure out what the strange thing was, or to leave and hope it'll go away, Knuckles decided to just sit, lay low in the bushes, and watch to see what happens; maybe the strange person would come out. As if on cue, the person came out again, holding a small and strange device. The person was round, very round at that, and had a rather intriguing large mustache; larger than most mustaches you would see. His clothes were mostly red and black, and his shoes were black as well.
As the person did whatever they were doing, Knuckles studied them; trying to decide if the person was safe to approach or not. Though, when the person's device made a beeping sound, they seemed to look directly at Knuckles even though he was hidden, and began to walk towards the red Echidna.
Knuckles rushed over to a thick tree, and climbed up to one of the high branches, sitting at an angle the figure wouldn't be able see him at. He watched as the round man had made his way to the very spot he had been at previously. Narrowing his eyes, Knuckles leaned closer to get a better look at the round person, keeping quiet so that he wouldn't scare the man off.
The round dude had stood in the same spot for a bit, looking at his small device the entire time. Once it beeped again, the man faced the exact spot Knuckles was in now, and started to head to the tree. "Dang it, how can he find me?..Must be that thing in his hand.." He kept his voice low as he talked to himself, and tried to figure out what to do next.

Unfortunately, the man reached him before Knuckles could come up with a different plan, and he looked directly up at the guardian's face. "You're a hard Echidna to track down."
Not really knowing how to reply with that, he just gave the strange man a glare, not really happy that he was discovered.
"Now now, don't be like that. I simply just want to talk."
"About what, exactly?" Knuckles folded his arms, refusing to come down from his spot on the tree.
"As you being the guardian of this place, I assume you're very committed to keeping this island safe, correct?"
"Right...What do you want?"
"I've come to warn you about something. Something that is possibly a threat to you and Angel Island."

Knuckles lifted an eyebrow, and finally hopped down from his branch; now standing in front of the stranger. "And that is?.."
"A blue rat-I mean, Hedgehog, and his two-tailed fox friend."
"...That doesn't seem much of a threat."
"This is no normal hedgehog and fox. These two were the ones who destroyed my ship." He pointed at the big crushed machine in the background. "I was simply trying to get away from them when they did it."
"But why would they destroy your ship?.."
"Because that's what they do. I need your help. It'll take some time for me to fix my ship, seeing how damaged it is. But I fear that those 2 deranged twerps will come and just make it worse."
"...And that's my problem why?.."
"I also fear that they may take your Master Emerald as well."
That, is what made Knuckles' less rational side come on. Knowing that someone was coming to try and take his beloved Emerald..

He looked above the man's mustache into his eyes. "Not on my watch!!!!!"
"Good.." The man smiled. "If my calculations are correct, those two trouble makers will be here within the hour."
Knuckles nodded, and crossed his arms. "I never did get your name..."
The man raised an eyebrow. "Ah, right. You may call me Dr. Eggman."

Knuckles had began to walk away, and looked back at Eggman. "I've got my eye on you.... Eggman...." He faced forward and started making plans to set up traps for the unwanted guests.
After letting Knuckles walk away quite a bit, Eggman smiled, his mustache going up. His grin slowly turned into an evil one, as he began to walk back to his broken ship.

Once Knuckles made his way back to the Master Emerald altar, he walked up the stairs; rubbing his hand across the Emerald once he got to it. "Don't worry...No one's gonna take you..." He turned back around, and headed off again to make traps that'd surely stop those dreadful two people.

~~~

And there ya go. Second chapter done. ^u^ Hope you liked it.