PoC: PenFullofChaos819 claims no ownership of any material, characters or references to in-game locations, licensed and copyright-protected by Sega. Done…done…DONE! Good now, Silver, upload this document to FFN, if you please.

Silver: Right um…about that. I know you're busy with school and all that, but…

PoC: *Groans* Look…just take that Chinese-fanned head of yours, and upload the dang file already.

Silver: *Sighs* Nobody loves my do the way I do… Ahem, ok I'm on it! Metal, it's time.

Metal: Zzz…-Thank you for choosing our local FeedEggx branch for all your copy and pasting needs. This is Sandra, how may I help you?

PoC: …Sandra?

Silver: Hi Sandra, this is Silver. I need another D-class script uploaded and posted on FFN. Account: PenFullofChaos819, Password: *******.

PoC: Duh…D-CLASS?

Metal: One moment please… All finished, Mr. Silver. Now you are aware of the limitation fee we here at Eggman Enterprises place on any bottom-tier fiction?

Silver: Ah, yes ma'am, I am. Thanks for all your help. *Click* Uh…heh-heh…

PoC: …you sir are about to become *revs up meat-grinder* "GROUNDHOG"!

*Twenty-seven minutes later*

Metal: Hmm…I swore I just met the most honest computer girl. Meh, I guess it was all in my head.

-l-

Reach me

-l-

"Y-You, you…! You clumsy jerk! You broke my 013-series chaos convertor!"

"Clumsy? Nah kid, I busted that thing up on purpose! And I'll do worse if I ever catch you on my turf again!"

A bright and cheery day this would be for most denizens on South Island, save for a crimson-cheeked echidna and an oil-stained fox. With the pair engaged in a full-on shouting match, many picnicking and relaxing neighbors wisely chose to distance themselves from the cross duo. Truly said, if these two had been your average loudmouths, then perhaps one of the more burly types may have attempted to give them some generous coercion. However, all locals far and wide knew these two as heroes; heroes that had fought mightily to prevent the tyrannical reign of the mad scientist, Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik, from coming to pass. As such, most held a deep respect, even slight fear, of both would-be combatants, which warranted them staying out of the way.

Of course, like all times prior, nothing dangerous or overly violent ever came of such arguments. In fact, the results of their little disagreements were always the same: The large red one would stomp off with a huff, while the young fox would huddle up on the ground in tears. Life around them would then slowly slip back into the norm, masking whatever insignificant damage had been done.

L

*On the outskirts of South Island*

L

Far away from this serene setting of vacationers, the echidna could be seen on his usual stubborn path back home. It wasn't often that he left his rather angelic "house in the sky", and so he was always a bit out of sorts whenever he visited the surface. Unfortunately, due to his miserable aura and aggressive demeanor, some children had come to know him as "God's meanest messenger" or "the big red bully". Elder mobians had even forgotten his proper name, also referring to him by increasingly derogatory titles. The echidna at least pretended to pay these tiny verbal jabs no mind, blowing them off as harmless ignorance.

Yet…afterwards, he always felt a tad more sunken each time he returned to his floating abode.

Yet this sadness…was not always a side-effect of his social ineptitude. Indeed, he could clearly do just fine without others. Self-sufficiency was the name of his survival game, and he was always in top-notch condition to prove it. Yes, also being a guardian had a way of complicating matters, but the Master Emerald was, a good portion of the time, kept completely safe by his vigilant hand. All his accomplishments, unseen or unnoticed by others or not, should have purged any doubt the warrior might've had in himself.

Unfortunately, his hidden depression never faded so easily. For though he could do all these things for himself, by himself, there was one thing he still secretly hated: His own foul temper. This temper was what made him so irreverent, so irresponsible and so quick to cause irreversible damage. It also...is what left him so lonely. He could recall, but couldn't count, all the times that Sonic and others had come just to visit or tease him, only to be met with his unbridled wrath shortly thereafter. Now, it had come to a point where no one would come by; not even Rouge, under her silly pretext of stealing the Master Emerald, had graced him with her presence for some time.

And so his mood darkened, becoming more and more openly hostile to even those he had once called friend. Today was a prime example, for when Tails, one of his oldest acquaintances, had the audacity to fly too close to the echidna's isle; the force of his flyby had the unforgivable effect of tilting the Master Emerald a full three inches off alignment. Not to mention that, in the recent past, the fox had taking a liking to passing over repeatedly. Most times, his sudden appearances merely caused a scare, while other times the fox actually scuffed the oversized gem with his careless maneuvers. Naturally, this led to a number of heated debates between the two, with the echidna rarely letting the fox get a word in edgewise. As such, he never knew why these incidents had occurred, but only demanded that they stop. Ultimately, this is what led him to make the rash choice to destroy the fox's latest creation entirely.

"That'll teach that twerp to mess with me." The echidna spat cruelly, wearing a look of irate annoyance "Maybe now I'll get some real peace and quiet around here." Such were his selfish words, but his face fell at this last statement. Things only grew steadily worse for the guardian's day, as the skies over his island were now shrouded by numerous thunderclouds.

Showing his fangs at the rotten luck he had, the echidna merely took his rightful seat on the archaic steps leading up to his emerald's altar. Noticing that the enlarged stone was somewhat crooked, he sat up again to tilt the emerald back to its original position, just as the ground underfoot had started to become runny and slippery. With his day already ending poorly, it was safe to say that an accidental tumble into his own sacred rock wasn't at all necessary. Nevertheless, the echidna did indeed lose his footing, knocking the emerald into the hard stone that girdled it. Lifting the gem up hastily, Knuckles noticed a fine crack form on its surface. To his greater dismay, he saw few shards roll off the solid monument and into a patch of muddy soil.

Distressed and angry beyond all reason, the echidna let out a frustrated shout, attempting then to punch the hardened surface beneath him. His rash act turned out to be a mistake, for he again lost his balance and slipped backwards; smacking his head on the series jagged steps below.

Though somehow still partially conscious, the soaked guardian chose to give in to sleep; hoping that this terrible day would finally pass.

L

*Sometime later*

L

It can be said that there are several ways to understand the term "rude awakening". Factual though this was the echidna would have, at the time, stated that he got the worst demonstration of the saying. For while many across the globe are often wakened by way of alarm clocks or rooster crowing, precious few can say it was due to the blast of a noisy jet engine. Of course, not many lived on a floating island either, so the guardian had grown rather uncomfortably accustomed to hearing the occasional jumbo airliner or air-show fighter jet passing by.

That said, he had never anticipated one ever trying to…well LAND ON HIM.

No way could his violet eyes mistake the sight of a plane's wing, especially not when it was mere inches from his long snout. Additional fright mounted when a gust from the plane's engine, propeller, or spinning doohickey decided to take the grumpy echidna air-surfing. With enough wind caught in his, in his own words, stylin' dreads, the crimson mobian was able to reduce his fall to a mere face plant. At least the short showers had stopped, so the fall wasn't as soggy as it could've been.

Regardless, having semi-soft soil shoved in one's face was bad enough, but now he could hear an annoying voice calling his name, while spouting some other, unintelligible gibberish "Knuckles! Arm you no play? Chuckles, ham! You concave?"

Slow-witted as he was, it now occurred to him that the speaker was someone he knew, and that the plane in question was likely the Tornado. And judging by the voice itself, the person was probably that carefree klutz with blue quills and breakneck speed: Sonic. As foul a day as he'd been having, the last thing Knuckles needed tacked on was a gratingly cheery invitation to come hang out. First things first, he was going to give that home-wrecking hedgehog a bloody lip for catching him at such a poor time. That ought to brighten the blighter's mood. True to his plan, the echidna vaulted up the familiar red place; ready to deliver the hedgehog a friendly fist-bump…right on his thick skull.

Interestingly though, much like the rest of his off-kilter day, the echidna was in for a surprise when someone let out a shout…and smacked him square in the nose.

With an ungraceful tumble off the wing, Knuckles once again landed in the dirt. This time, however, he felt a bit snapped out of his temper tantrum. Never before had Sonic clobbered him preemptively. Heck, even Rouge would almost always say something before attacking him outright. So…unless it was Amy who was, frighteningly, working towards earning her pilot's license, he was at a loss. It's not like it could've been…

"Knuckles! A-Are you okay?" That voice he had heard oh so much earlier asked him, much more innocent sounding than before. Naturally, he should've known Tails was the one behind the wheel. And, though they had had that big falling out earlier, it didn't really surprise Knuckles that the kit was so quick to check on him. Tails had always been a really good kid like that.

But where there was Tails, there was always that snarky blue blur too.

Fairly sure that Sonic had been the one to clock him down, Knuckles chose to dismissively accept the kit's concern in his own, face-saving way "Yeah, yeah, what do you think? Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a hedgehog to smash." Trying to not acknowledge the kit was failure, as the guardian found himself headed off by the fox-boy. Sighing to himself, Knuckles searched his head for a "polite" way to tell Tails to get out of his way while bracing for a demeaning lecture. Yeah he got the message: Tails doesn't believe anything should be solved with violence. This sadly didn't matter to Knuckles as he was still sure about getting Sonic back for his sneak attack.

Nevertheless, Tails stood his ground and said "Knuckles, wait. Just hear me out, okay?"

Seeing as how he ordinarily ignored the kid every time a fight started, and that Sonic hadn't come out to verbally antagonize him yet, Knuckles gestured for him to finish. In reply, he saw the fox let out a short sigh of relief before saying "Knuckles… Look, I wanted to say I'm sorry. I didn't realize my flying by or visiting was such a bother. You just…well you seemed kinda bored and alone, so I mean… I'm not really good company, I know, but I just wanted to make sure you were alright. You know 'cause…um…uh…sh-shoot… You…you know what I mean….right?"

Idiotically enough, Knuckles didn't know what he meant. He vaguely understood the concept of feeling responsible for something, or someone, but what Tails was talking about…nah it didn't sound familiar. He'd been alone for a long time, so loneliness was rather second-nature to him. True, like today, it dragged him down a tad from time to time, but that was his job, his fate, and there was nothing anyone could do about it.

Even so, the kit appeared to feel responsible for…something. The reason provided made little sense, until he heard Tails say "Come on, Knuckles, don't give me that look. We're friends, right?"

Taking a fumbling step back, the muscular echidna felt a sort of blow from that question. He took it square in the chest, like so many punches and kicks before, but this one really rocked his frame. Last he checked, the fox-boy hadn't moved an inch and no offensive posture had been taken; but he was damn sure something had struck him, and hard. Words couldn't do that…could they?

"Knuckles, I know I've been a pain lately, but…I just… It's just 'cause I care about you. You're…a bro of mine too, just like Sonic."

He faltered again, this time more substantially. Just words, that's all they were. Just a bunch of empty, useless words! They had no effect, no impact. He had no clue what the brat was talking about, but he'd had enough. Sticks and stones he could bear, but this kid's words were cutting well past his bones. Thus, unwilling to listen, the red mobian made his move; he stepped right up to the kit, fist clenched and ready to grapple. If this twerp didn't feel like giving him some peace, then he'd toss the boy out with all his emotional mumbo-jumbo, just like the rest of the trash. All it took was one small throw, with a threat included to keep the meddling nerd away forever.

Taking hold of his shoulder with a gritty snap, the deed was halfway done. Now the scare factor: A hard glare of anti-social anger to send Tails flying for the horizon. He'd see fear plastered on his pasty face…

…

…any second now.

…

…hmm, odd. No matter how he glared the kid didn't waver. Ugh, and those eyes; blue and innocent, but resolved and sharp as nails. In fact, Knuckles couldn't hold up his end of their short staring contest. Looking away, the echidna tried to work up his willpower again. It wasn't easy, for the process left his guard wide open and his grip weak. Right as he almost gained enough 'courage' to take his sentimental foe down, another anomaly came sapped his strength away again.

A small, but spirit-crushing…embrace.

"I'm sorry." The fox boy repeated with his surprisingly tough, one-armed clamp around the echidna's broad neck. Granted, the act was quick, not a second of uncomfortable lingering. Moreover, it didn't feel like a spontaneous act of childishness. It was definitely intentional, and executed with no ounce of reluctance.

What should he do…? Get angry perhaps, but why? Why, well…duh! Tails had done something VERY out-of-bounds…hadn't he? Guys don't…express brotherhood like that anymore, not since the time of his tribe, and even then it was a rarity. So…he should be pissed, be nasty, be vile, be abrasive, be…

Be…happy?

For some reason, nothing else made sense. The fox kid had come way out of his way, risking a beating and humiliation, right after a bad fight no less, all to make things up with him. Who else…would've bothered? Not even Sonic had ever done something like that for him, as a joke or otherwise. Which of these so-called friends ever reached out, getting past his simple-mindedness and grouchiness? Rouge maybe…but not in the same way. This kid didn't ask him for a smile, for gems, or…anything. He didn't expect anything in return.

"Knuckles, I just…I just want my brother back. So…are we cool again?"

It seemed like eons later, but that line made Knuckles, very, very slowly, crack a fanged smile. Tails he…sounded so much like Sonic right then, but kinder and more straightforward. Suddenly it occurred to him that Tails had grown up a good deal since they'd first met. He was almost sorry he hadn't noticed sooner.

But then…time could be made up for, and so, with that thought in mind, the echidna said "Yeah kid…we're cool." Releasing the kit's shoulder, he took his mitt and ruffled the fox's head, much to the boy's mock displeasure. This simple, oft repeated act by close companions was all too unexpected from the red and yellow duo. Certainly, neither one was fully at ease. Yet their nervousness was, for the first time, shared openly and mutually.

Still, for one with Knuckles' rather bombastic nature, it wasn't long before the close brotherly moment was interrupted by the stubborn echidna's shout "Ah…hey, WAIT A MINUTE! Where's that sucker-punching bush pig that cracked me one on the sneezer?" Knuckles demanded, receiving a fairly mystified stare from the vulpine. And so, ready to avenge his bruised, nostril-full of ego, the echidna guardian went about shouting many explicative-filled challenges to every nearby nook and cranny.

Empty-handed in his search, the frustrated tribesman returned with a scowl sour enough to curdle milk. His disgust was, however, diffused quickly when he saw a shocked, very pale looking Tails with his right hand over his mouth. When curtly asked what the matter was, the fox shook his head rapidly, seeming more fearful by the minute.

Finally, after taking his stubborn tone down a notch, Knuckles at last got the shaky vulpine to say "Uh…heh-heh…Knuckles? Are looking for Sonic because he hit you?" With a slow nod, the echidna caused the rest of the color to drain from Tails' face as the fox admitted with a gulp "Eh-heh…eheheh…w-well uh…you see…Sonic was…never here. Um, you kind of…just jumped up on the plane and startled me so…uh…um…yeah, I sort of…was the one that…hit you."

It took a minute for that broken sentence of stammers and stutters to sink in, but when it did, Knuckles eyes went wide, a little wider than Tails thought possible. Braced for some possible payback, the fox flinched several times…until his ears caught a truly…interesting sound. Turning his head back, there stood Knuckles, emitting numerous booms of thunderous laughter. The noise persisted until the echidna's side ached and tears flowed. Apparently, the idea of mistaking the kit's fist for Sonic's had smashed the guardian into a state beyond giddiness.

When the quaking chuckles subsided, the red-head clapped Miles' shoulder, and commented "You've got one hell of an arm, kid. Good to know those tune-ups did something for that geeky bod of yours!"

Affronted slightly by that rather diminishing comment, Tails hastily retorted "Well at least my central nervous system hasn't stagnated under the solar rays of decadence you seem content to soak up all hours of the day! But I'd calculate that such vast saturation of radiant energy has yet addled that stony mineral deposit you call a brain!"

Though not using overly complex terms, Knuckles remained nonetheless offended at the boy's sudden urge to speak over his head. All this soon, as per the usual, erupted in an aggressive two-way tongue-lashing, until both decided to resort to more physical measures; with the echidna volunteering some "professional" P.E. courses.

Nevertheless, both the fox and the echidna retained a small, friendly glint in each other's eyes' even as they continued to quarrel. And neither one ever forgot the treasured bond that they shared…as brothers of the original trio.

-l-

The End

-l-

Sappy? Unoriginal? Heartwarming like after-supper indigestion? If so, I can't force you to comment (nor do I care for flamers). This was done during my busy hours, so consider this fic to be one of my less fine works (not that any of my stories can be considered 'fine' by any means). But eh, if you found something even remotely enjoyable in this, feel free to leave a review. Anyways, this fic was requested by author Infamousplot as a late birthday gift. HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY, INFAMOUS!

Until next time!