I own no Sonic charries, ‘cept the evil villain. Duh.

“This thing better be full ‘a jewels…” grumbled an angry purple weasel by the name of Nack. Deep in an unknown jungle, the famous sniper and thief had placed a large, rusty and extremely old coffin on the ground. “It must be, it weighs a zillion pounds...” He said, rubbing his aching back. A while back he heard of an archaeological dig in some remote area, and that the diggers had found this coffin. Depending what was inside, it could have been worth millions upon millions of dollars. Once Nack heard, he set on his mind on getting it all for himself. And what Nack wants, Nack gets. Hence why the musty old thing was laying right before him. He took out a crowbar from under his hat and struggled to pry it open with it. “Dammit….c’mon…” he muttered, pressing harder each time. Finally, with a large CRACK, the lid snapped open, instantly spewing dust everywhere. It was enough to blind Nack, who was now coughing up a storm.” GEEZ, how old IS this hunk of junk?” He hacked.

“Hisssssssss…..”

Had Nack been able to see, he would have seen something moving in the coffin. Something big. Something with blood red eyes. Something with shiny claws. Sadly, he didn’t see it until it lunged at him.

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

A few weeks later…

Angel Island is a big place. Yet there is only one person there. That is Knuckles the echidna. Guardian of the Master Emerald. On the outside, many saw him as a grumpy soul who wanted nothing more than to be left alone. Hardly the case.

...Wild kisses flaring, he pinned the girl against the wall, her coos of enjoyment purging him further, wanting more and more..

It was raining. Knuckles sat before the large crystal, his mind reeling. Hours earlier, Sonic the hedgehog, Tails the fox, and Amy Rose the hedgehog had visited, to drop off a chaos emerald, believing he could take good care of it. Knuckles had accepted.

…Hands free to touch everywhere, he murmured her name over and over in her ear, “Amy Amy Amy...”

When they were out of distance enough to see, he had noticed Sonic had accidentally left a coat. Figuring it wouldn’t hurt to leave his emerald a minute or two, he ran off to find Sonic and return the item. He quickly found him.

…She wrapped her arms around his neck, legs rubbing up against his, their tongues wildly searching for each other in their mouths, she whispered “I love you...I love you…”

And he wasn’t alone. He hadn’t boarded Tails’s plane yet. He was preoccupied. He was kissing Amy. Who was kissing back. A huge moment of passion going between them. It didn’t last forever, but to Knuckles it did. Once they parted, Sonic was smirking, and Amy was blushing and giggling. Then they headed off.

…It didn’t take long for her to be carried unto the bed, still holding onto him and he nuzzled his face into hers as she stroked his spines…

Knuckles dropped the coat. And ran. It was all he could do. Run and run and run. He knew he wasn’t getting anywhere. He couldn’t go anywhere. He wasn’t allowed. And no matter how much he ran, he knew he could never escape the truth. Amy loved Sonic. Sonic loved Amy. And Knuckles would only have his fantasies.

...“I love you Knuckles..”

He was soaking wet. Lost in memories. He lay on his back into a puddle, looking at the Master Emerald.

“I hate you.” He thought. “Dam piece of jewelry.”

He looked to the sky, where the clouds continued their cries and their tears fell onto the land. He recalled 1st seeing Amy.

It was yet another time of collecting his emerald shards, and to save the world. On top and outside of the Egg carrier, Knuckles leaned against a wall, catching his breath. He heard voices. One was Eggman’s, sure enough. The others were Sonic, Tails, some kind of robot, and an unfamiliar female voice. Knuckles curiosity let him poke his head into the scene. Sonic was being his jackass self, fighting the robot while boasting and such. Tails was helping. The girl….was the most beautiful thing Knuckles had ever seen. He couldn’t help but stare at the hedgehog girl, who longingly looked at Sonic as he fought. She intervened the fight, claiming the robot had helped her. He heard Sonic call her Amy.

Amy…he thought he heard angels singing once he heard it. Amy, Amy, Amy.

After defeating Chaos and returning to his ‘home sweet home’, she refused to leave his mind. Endless fantasies of proclaiming his love for her and times being together were imagined, although time and time again he tried telling himself love was not an option. He lived only for the Master Emerald. And just because she saved a robots life, how did he know she was mean every other way?

He knew one day, months later. It was in August, he thought. But sometimes telling time was hard on the Angel Island, since every day seemed like the one before it. This day was very different, however.

“Knuckles!” he heard a cheery voice call out. Knuckles 1st thought he was imagining things, for there was no way it could be the beautiful voice of the girl he saw all that time ago. But it was. The hedgehog girl was walking up to the shrine, a smile on her face. “Konnichiwa! (Hello!)” She sang, walking up to him.

“W-what are you doing here?” he had asked.

“My friend Tails got me here…Sonic told me you live by yourself, so I thought it’d be nice if you had a home-made meal for once.” She offered a lunchbox for him. Knuckles blinked, taking it, and looked into the maidens’ eyes. He felt like he was falling in love all over again. “I hope you like it. I made it all by myself.”

Knuckles looked down to the box, and took out a yummy-looking rice ball. Indeed it was delicious. Amy smiled at his satisfaction.

“…It’s good.” Knuckles said quietly, nervous around the female.

“Great!” She said. “Well, I can’t stay long...it was really nice meeting you! Bye!” She ran off, waving. Knuckles gazed at her until she was out of eyesight.

A raindrop hit his eye, the sting bringing him back to the present. He sat up.

“Dammit…this isn’t fair.” He thought. That kiss between the hedgehogs had ripped his heart into millions of pieces. And there was nothing he could do about it. His duty meant no friends, and no love. No dates, no weddings, no one. No life. He hugged his knees. At least no one could see him cry.

“It hurts, doesn’t it...”

He perked his head up.

“The crushing pain of being alone…the thought of never having a lover…”

“Who’s there?’ said Knuckles, standing up, ready to fight.

“A friend...” the voice was female with a venomous tweak to it, yet soft as silk. “Someone who can help ease your pain…”

Knuckles looked around. He didn’t see anyone.

“Take my hand, and you can have everything you want…”

At that instant everything went black. All Knuckles could see was himself.

“Take my hand…” the voice repeated. A claw appeared from nowhere, seemingly attached to nothing.

Knuckles looked at it.

“Everything you want can be yours…a life, power, your love…”

He hesitated.

“Everything…”

Slowly, he took it. The claw held onto his hand fiercely. He then felt a huge, searing pain in his neck and he screamed bloody murder.

In Echidnaoplois, in her home sweet home, Lara-le just dropped a plate. Standing there in silence, she didn’t even pick up the pieces.

“Knuckles…?” she said to no one. She just had the worst feeling about her son…

It was day. Knuckles opened his eyes, everything in a blur. He was lying under the shade of a tree, the shrine of the Master Emerald just before him. Water dripped from the leaves above him, and the smell of the air told him it would rain again that night. That night was a total mess in his head. He was lying on his stomach, and weakly took off one of gloves, so he could feel his neck. Two holes, and some blood. He licked his teeth. Fangs. Somehow, it felt normal. He stood up, and tried walking out of the shade. Once the sunlight touched his skin, it felt like a wave of fire had scorched him, and he quickly went back to the shadow, hissing.

“No…not yet.” He heard himself think. “Rest for now…”he laid down, and tried to sleep. He didn’t care what would happen to his emerald as he slept. He had one thing on his mind. Plans for that night. He slept with an evil smirk across his lips.

Night had fallen in Station Square. Amy Rose was in her apartment room, sitting on her bed and watching TV. She sighed deeply, watching her hero run across the screen.

“And so Sonic the hedgehog, beloved hero of Mobuis, saved the dam from breaking. We thank you, Sonic!” said the newscaster on the TV.

“Oh Sonikuu..” Amy said dreamily, fluttering her eyelashes to the TV. She was awash in feelings of love for the arrogant blue one. She had felt she was floating on air ever since that kiss on Angel Island. She was flirting with him, as usual, and she couldn’t believe that Sonic had kissed her! She went into high-pitched giggles, lying on her bed. Something irked her, though. After the kiss, and as they were leaving, she thought she heard someone running. Turning her head back a bit, all she saw was a rush of red. She figured it was Knuckles, but couldn’t understand why he was running, or why he left his post at the Master Emerald. She didn’t think of Knuckles that much, really. Sonic had told her that he was a jerk that didn’t like anyone or anything. She was a bit afraid giving him that lunch that day so long ago, but to her, Knuckles seemed a lot nicer than Sonic had said. He was kinda good-looking, too. But never as good-looking as her Sonic, of course.

There were knocks at the door.

“Who is it?” she asked, looking to the door.

“It’s me. Knuckles.”

Amy blinked. What was he doing here?? “Um...come in.” she said. She turned around to slide off her bed, and heard her door opening. She felt Knuckles looking at her, and it was creating the biggest chill up her spine she had ever felt. She looked to him. He was dripping wet, from the rain. His eyes looked different. Almost…like a demon. She tried shaking the thought out of her head.

“So what are you doing here?”

“I have something to tell you.”

Amy cocked her head. “Something to tell me?” she thought. “Why me? And he left his post…it MUST be important!” She put her head straight. “Shouldn’t you be telling this kind of thing to Sonic?” she asked.

“This isn’t about Sonic.” He said, walking towards her. Amy gulped, getting a bad feeling all around. She backed up into a wall. He got right in front of her. “This is just about you and me.”

“Y-you and me…?” she squeaked, now frightened. Knuckles grabbed her arms, and looked her right in the eyes.

“I love you.”

Amy might have said “You WHAT?” or “HUH?”, but her mouth was unable to speak anything as Knuckles planted his lips onto hers. Amy tried moving away, but he wouldn’t let her, tasting every part of her mouth, tongue searching inside. She finally moved her head enough so that their lips parted, and she panted for breath. She looked at him in fear, as Knuckles looked back in lust. Amy whimpered, her arms hurting from Knuckles's tight grip on them. He glared his cold, hard eyes into her eyes, and she felt her spine turn to ice once more.
"I'm...flattered, Knuckles, really.." She managed to say. "But I can't be disloyal to my heart...I love Sonic."
"NO YOU DON'T!” Knuckles nearly roared, and made Amy's eyes widen more. " It's just a stupid fan girl crush…I truly love you!"
"Knuckles, how can you say that! I DO love Sonic, with all my heart!"
Knuckles snarled. His grip got tighter, and Amy whimpered again. Knuckles felt anger growing in him, frustration, eyeing the beautiful woman who refused to be his.
Then he saw her neck.
He licked his fangs.
"Kn-Knuckles??"
He was getting hungry. And not just for love.

‘Knuckles, please.” Amy begged, looking away. “You’re hurting-“ She stopped. She was looking at her large vanity mirror placed nearby. It reflected Amy against the wall. But it did not show Knuckles. “That’s…That’s impossible!” she thought.

“Amy. Look at me.”
Amy did the one thing she shouldn’t have. She looked. And once looking into his eyes, she couldn’t look away. Not out of love. She REALLY couldn’t. She tried to, but her body refused to obey her mind’s orders. “WHATS GOING ON?” she screamed in her mind, unable to make her mouth move. The gaze continued, and Amy felt herself slowly slipping away. Her vision was leaving, and she felt cold, so very cold. Soon she saw nothing but black.

“You love me, and only me.” Said Knuckles. “You HATE Sonic.”

Amy’s eyelids were closed halfway, her pupils glazed over. “I love you, and only you.” She repeated, in an emotionless tone. “I hate Sonic.”

Knuckles smirked. He titled his head, rubbing her neck with his gloved hand. He then pierced her neck with his fangs. She didn’t scream. She didn’t resist. She couldn’t. All she could do was let him lap up all the blood he wanted.

“You’re all mine now...” he hissed.

“Yes...she is all ours…”he heard himself repeat in his mind, only in a darker tone, more evil.

“Sonic?”

Tails looked up to his best friend. They were walking in the rain-under umbrellas of course-on a sidewalk, and Sonic had suddenly stopped walking.

“Sonic?” he asked again.

Sonic blinked. Then shook his head.

“You ok?”

“Yeah. I’m fine. It was nuttin.” he said, and continued to walk. He didn’t tell Tails he thought he had felt someone screaming. “You don’t feel screams.” He thought. “I must be getting a cold.”

Next Chapter-The Blood War begins