GeneX - Knuckles the Echidna
Chapter 13 - Return to Pumpkin Hill
Stage 9(Hero 5) - Pumpkin Hill

Note: Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters are (c) SEGA and 
Sonic Team. You knew that, right?
GeneX and related fanchars are (c) 2BIT (TheGreatGator), the author.

The story thus far:
After escaping from the Covenant of Despair's assault on Angel Island, Knuckles and Tails were shot down by Dr. Eggman, who kept the Tornado and SPOT in storage as an incentive for them to do a mission for him: retrieve the Chaos Gauntlets from a ruin near Blue Ridge Zone. After retrieving the gauntlets, Knuckles saw a vision of Tikal, and when he came to, Tails had sent the gauntlets back with SPOT, who had escaped Eggman. Tails and Knuckles then split up, Tails going to see if he could find info on the plans of Eggman and Despair, while Knuckles headed back to Eggman's base. Once there, Knuckles encountered Sonic, who had just escaped from Super Eggman Land! Sonic had heard that Knuckles was working for Eggman, and the misunderstanding soon escalated. Now, they were ready to fight!
Now, on to the next chapter!


They had tried talking. Neither one would listen to the other. Sonic was convinced that Knuckles had been tricked by Eggman once again. Knuckles was fed up with Sonic's high and mighty attitude. There was only one way to settle this. Knuckles charged at Sonic and hurled the first punch, which the hedgehog jumped clean over, coming at the echidna with a spin attack! This was old news to Knuckles, he shot his other fist upward into an uppercut, connecting with Sonic's attack and knocking him back! Sonic landed on his feet and immediately went into a spin dash, forcing Knuckles to jump and glide over him! However, Sonic had gotten more skilled at this. He hopped mid-dash, turning and speeding into Knuckles as he landed on the ground! "Ooof!! All right... No more games!" he grunted, running at Sonic as he popped out of his spin dash. He threw punch after punch at the hedgehog, which he swiftly evaded, but Knuckles had fought him several times. He knew he could trip him up. After punching left, right, left, right several times, he jumped and slammed both his fists where he knew Sonic would dodge to next, bashing him in the chest hard! "Whoa!" Sonic stumbled backward, and retaliated with a high speed punch in return, which got Knuckles right in the jaw and made him even madder. "Sure you wanna take me on in a fist fight? You asked for it!!" he yelled, starting to really unleash his fury on the hedgehog! Sonic was still fast enough to avoid a good bit of his punches, but he was still getting socked and bashed as Knuckles unleashed a flurry of fists on him! Sonic didn't just take it, though, he fought back with punches and kicks of his own, getting much more hits in, though they weren't as strong since he wasn't able to build up speed. Neither one would back down, but Knuckles finally struck Sonic with an uppercut, heaving him into the air and onto his back! "There...now are you through mocking me!?" he panted. However, Sonic stood up with a smug expression. "Lucky shot. Tell you what, tell me where Tails is and I'll call it even." he said. Knuckles started to lower his fists. He had to respect Sonic, that hedgehog sure wouldn't quit.

Suddenly, a loud thud was heard as Sonic was struck from behind! "What!?" he stammered, dropping to his knees! Spiny the porcupine was standing behind him, grinning devilishly. "Good work, Knuckles! You've softened him up for capture nicely!" he said. "You!?" Knuckles gasped. Spiny dragged Sonic to his feet as Metal Eggman stepped over to him. "Hey!! Lemme go!" Sonic shouted. "Oho ho ho ho! I'm afraid you won't be going anywhere for some time!" Metal Eggman laughed, smacking Sonic in the chest with his hand, which electrocuted him! "Yaaaaaaaahhh!!!" Sonic screamed as Spiny dropped him to the floor! "Hey! Knock it off!" Knuckles shouted. Just then, the real Dr. Eggman appeared at the door and ran over beside Metal Eggman. "Well done, Knuckles! I may just consider you for a promotion!" he grinned. Metal Eggman nodded. "Yes! I will certainly consider you for a promotion!" he mimicked. "Cut it out! I'm the real Dr. Eggman, you dopey doppelganger!" the doctor snapped grouchily. Knuckles was in no mood for this. "Enough! Both of you Eggmen, let Sonic go right now!" he said threateningly. "Let him go? But he'll trash my lovely Eggtopia! And strangely, my insurance doesn't cover acts of hedgehog!" Eggman said. "Besides, I'm so looking forward to torturing this pathetic waste of quills!" Spiny said, kicking Sonic while he was down. "Not so fast, Spiny. I may still have need of him." Eggman said, "Tell you what, Knuckles. You could get into a hopeless fight with me here, and get yourself locked up with Sonic...or you can do me one more favor, and I promise I'll let Sonic go..." he offered. Sonic looked over at Knuckles. "Never mind me, Knuckles! I'll be okay. Just promise me you'll help Tails take down the Covenant of Despair!" he panted. "Shut your yap, hedgehog!" Spiny growled, slapping him. "Don't do that! I'm trying to negotiate!" Metal Eggman growled. "Both of you keep it down!" Eggman yelled. Knuckles rolled his eyes. "What do you want, Eggman?" he sighed. Eggman clapped his hands, and Char flew into the room. "Yes, doc?" he asked. "Knuckles, I want you to let Char take you to Pumpkin Hill. There, you'll find one of my robots. She'll brief you on your mission." he said. Knuckles nodded. "Harm one quill on Sonic's head, and I'll rip off your moustache!" he warned. "Not the moustache!!" Metal Eggman yelped. "Really... I'll be fine, Knuckles..." Sonic panted, passing out. Eggman looked at him nervously. "Errr... Don't worry about him. I'm a doctor, after all." he said. "That's what worries me the most..." Knuckles grumbled as he left with Char. Eggman turned to Spiny once Knuckles was gone. "Lock him up in the special cell..." Outside, Char led Knuckles to a hot air balloon that Eggman had rented for occasions such as this. "Eggman, free Sonic? Yeah, right. I'll have to mount a rescue when his guard is down, though. Guess I'll check out this mission just to see what Eggman's planning..." he thought as the balloon took off.


Elsewhere, on a bridge overlooking the highways of Central City, Col. Gunner was standing with his Spy, observing the President and the Commander. The Covenant of Despair had launched an attack on a portion of the city, and GUN's forces were busy putting a stop to the uprising. The Commander sighed as he observed the battle that was more or less over. "It was bold of the Covenant... To attack Central City." he murmured. The President nodded. "Yes, the battle seems to be going well... Too well..." he said, turning to walk away. "Mr. President?" the Commander said questioningly. "It seems you don't need me to oversee this battle. Give those dogs no quarter. I don't want to see them in my city again." the President muttered before he left. "Uh... As you say, Mr. President..." the Commander replied. He then turned toward Gunner. "I like how the president's thinking now... I almost wish I'd voted for him." the old Colonel smirked. "Colonel... Something isn't right with the president." the Commander whispered. Gunner shrugged. "You think so? Maybe he just learned a lesson after the Black Arms attacked our planet." he said bluntly. "No... This change happened too suddenly..." the Commander muttered, "I'm going to oversee the remainder of this battle. Colonel Gunner, I have an important assignment for you." he said. "You don't say? Does it involve shooting Despair freaks?" Gunner asked hopefully. "I'll see to that. I want you to keep an eye on the president." the Commander said. "You mean... protect him?" Gunner stammered. "Not exactly... I want you to watch his activities. I have a feeling there is more to his recent attitude than meets the eye." the Commander explained. Gunner's eyes darted around. "Sounds... treasonous..." he murmured. "GUN belongs to no nation, Gunner. Our duty is the safety of all nations and their people!" the Commander insisted. "Oh, you needn't worry about me, sir. If there is a secret the president is keeping, I'll find it." Gunner smirked. "I'm counting on you, colonel." the Commander nodded before heading on his way.


The balloon carrying Knuckles and Char soon found its way to the haunting canyons of Pumpkin Hill. Landing on an expansive cliffside decorated with brightly lit jack-o-lanterns, they found SPOT standing with an orange and pink robot that Knuckles recognized from when he first awoke at Eggtopia. "Greetings, Knuckles. I am E-4X, code named Firma." the robot said in a feminine voice. Char chuckled awkwardly. "Firma looks too much like Terra, so she freaks me out." he said. Knuckles nodded in silent agreement. "Okay, Firma, why am I here?" he asked. "Your treasure hunting expertise is required to locate the Chaos Emeralds in the area." Firma explained. Knuckles scratched his head. "Is that all? I guess Eggman's too lazy to do it himself." he figured. "A small robot developed by the inferior scientist, Tails, has been brought here to assist your search." Firma added, prompting SPOT to growl. "Inferior scientist? Requesting permission to attack Eggman's robot!" the text on his monitor read. Just then, Knuckles heard some familiar bat wings, and groaned as Rouge landed beside him. "Well, isn't this interesting? Are you taking in stray robots, Knuckles?" she joked. Knuckles rolled his eyes. "You AGAIN? Now what do you want, bat girl?" he groaned. "Agent Rouge! Your presence is not desired. Return whence you came, or be annihilated!" Firma added. Rouge glared at the robot. "Well, THAT'S rude!" she said. "Heh, I could use that robot on Angel Island!" Knuckles chuckled. "I guess you don't want my help!" Rouge shrugged. "Why would I want YOUR help?" Knuckles asked. "The Covenant of Despair is looking for something here. I thought MAYBE we had a common enemy." she replied. "Warning. Failure to comply with Dr. Eggman's command could be hazardous to Sonic's health. Bring the Chaos Emeralds to me once found." Firma ordered. Knuckles sighed. "Yeah, yeah. Thanks for telling Rouge about the emeralds, bot!" Knuckles groaned as he, SPOT and Rouge started on their way. They stopped after a short while when they heard someone crying. Looking behind a creepy pile of skulls, they found Cream and Cheese, who were shivering and scared. "What in the world are you doing here!?" Rouge wondered. Cream glanced up at them and hugged Knuckles, sobbing. "Mr. Knuckles! Miss Rouge! I'm so glad to see you both!" she cried. "Uh... Please stop crying on me..." Knuckles mumbled. "A big battle broke out while I was in Central City looking for Tails. He's gone missing you know. So I ran from the danger, but then I got lost, and now there are ghosts and scary guys in black suits around!" she babbled, trying to dry her tears. "All right... Come with us. We'll look after ya." Knuckles said. "Hey, it's SPOT! He'll lead us to Tails later!" Cream smiled, petting the robo-puppy. Knuckles sighed. "You know, I 'went missing' this morning, too!" he grumbled. "It wasn't hard for anyone to find you. You're loud." Rouge remarked, walking off with the others. "Hey... wait for me!!" Knuckles shouted.

With SPOT's sensors working on sniffing out the Chaos Emeralds, the group followed, ever on the alert. Like Cream said, there were various animals in black Despair uniforms around, but they were busy searching for something, too, and were easy to avoid in their distracted state. "They must be after the Chaos Emeralds..." Knuckles murmured. Rouge shrugged. "Unless there's somehow something else of value here. Which I doubt." she said. They started to near a crypt in front of an old graveyard, and Cream started to shiver, holding Cheese tightly. "This is where I saw the ghosts..." she stammered. Knuckles rolled his eyes. "Don't be silly. There's no ghosts here. They're probably all out making pumpkin soup or something." he said, trying to calm her down. However, several cloaked spirits suddenly appeared from the crypt! They were losohsts, and they were carrying lanterns lit with blue ghost fire! Knuckles and Rouge prepared to jump into action, but SPOT beat them to it by firing lasers at the Lost Ones, making them drop their lanterns and, since they were without weapons, flee in panic! The shattered lanterns erupted in ghost fire, which spread to the walls of the crypt, forcing Knuckles, Rouge and Cream to back away. "Let's find another way around, huh, SPOT?" Knuckles suggested. "Emerald detected!" SPOT suddenly said, beeping. As his alarm went off, Lospecter emerged from the crypt, turning the purple Chaos Emerald around in his hand. "Hey, buddies! Ready for Lospecter's Quiz Mania!?" he grinned, "Answer my question right, or get ready to say good night!" Rouge frowned. "Hey! Hand over that emerald, or YOU'LL be saying good night!" she threatened. "Tell you what, win my quiz and I throw in the emerald." he shrugged. "Oooh! I love the quiz!" Cream smiled, "...but why do you look different?" she wondered, recalling Lospecter's original form. "I ask the questions here! Now... There's a buncha rails nearby this place. What do folks call that area?" Lospecter asked. Knuckles scratched his head. "I don't remember any rails... Were they to do with the train?" he muttered. Rouge smirked. "Ha! I remember when Shadow was chasing you through there! It was Sky Rail!" she said. Lospecter chuckled and tossed her the Chaos Emerald. "Nuts, looks like you win this round... Stay tuned!" he shouted, the ghostly flames bursting around him, and then disappearing as he did! "...Give me that!" Knuckles growled, snatching the emerald from Rouge's hand! "Hey! Thief!" she snapped. "And here I thought you were helping me." Knuckles smirked, walking off as Rouge smacked her forehead.

They started to pass through the graveyard, since SPOT's sensors were picking up a faint signal in that direction. As they crept around the maze of tombstones, they soon noticed several Covenant of Despair members gathered around a large memorial statue, kicking and throwing rocks at someone behind it! "Th-those bullies!" Cream stammered angrily, while Knuckles stomped over to them. "Hey, you creeps! Cut that out!!" he shouted. The Despair agents, led by Patch the fox and including a bat, a dog, and a mean looking boar, turned to them and growled. "Well, why don't we have fun with you kids instead? Hee hee!!" Patch grinned. "Get 'em, Cheese!!" Cream shouted, surprising the uniformed animals as the small Chao rocketed into them one by one, smacking them all in the heads and making Patch drop his knives! "They're nuts! Snoorrr... I don't like this spooky plaaaace!!" the boar shouted, being the first to run away, the others quickly following him! "You're all cowards! Hee hee!! I'm teeeelling!!" Patch cackled as he followed them. Knuckles stared in disbelief, but they quickly shrugged it off and went to check on whoever was cowering behind the statue. They gasped in dismay as they found Alpha! "Punchy! You saved me!" the crazy robot cheered. "Oh, for cryin' out...!!" Knuckles groaned. "You really are a robot person today, Knuckie." Rouge smirked. "I left Eggtopia to follow Knuckles. Can you find him for me?" Alpha said. "You're nuts! Get lost, bot breath!" Knuckles growled. "Done." Alpha replied. Frustrated, Knuckles started to walk away, and tripped over a buried hand! "Whaaaa!! Zombie!!" he shouted. "Hey, th-that hand is moving!" Cream yelped. "G-get me outta here..." they heard a muffled voice shout. After a little digging, they found Crash the Rhino, who shook the dirt out of his yellow bowler, grumbling to himself. "Bury me alive will they? I hope Zipp shoots them all!" he grunted. "Who did this to you?" Cream asked. "Hm? Oh, I'm Crash. My so-called allies did that. Mr. Patch thought it was a riot." he said. Knuckles nodded. "Well, you can play with Eggman's robot here. I'm busy. I gotta find Chaos Emeralds before the Covenant of Despair." he said. Crash glanced at him. "It's not the emeralds they're after... Something else." he informed them. Rouge sighed. "Well good. If we can trust the word of one of them. Now let's get going!" she said. "Can I come and play, too?" Alpha asked. "NO!!" Knuckles and Rouge shouted at once, running off. "Hey, wait for us...and SPOT!" Cream cried, chasing them.

After some exploring, they found their way to a field full of pumpkins. A few had eerie smiles carved into them, but otherwise this pumpkin patch seemed harmless enough. The red Chaos Emerald was nestled comfortably on top of a large pumpkin, and Knuckles smiled, finally appearing to have some luck. However, Rouge stopped him before he could proceed into the field. "Don't you think this is too easy?" she asked, slipping her old Treasure Scope over her eye. "What do you mean? You're bats!" Knuckles growled. However, looking at the area through the Treasure Scope, Rouge could see plenty of danger that the others could not. "I'm warning you... That pumpkin patch is haunted." she said. Cream backed away a step. "Maybe we should come back in the morning, then." she suggested. Knuckles scoffed. "Bah, it's never morning around here! And how bad could it be?" he said, taking a few steps forward, only to have a ghost jump out at him from seemingly nowhere! "Whaaaaaaa!!" Knuckles yelled, jumping back as the ghost vanished. Rouge was smirking at him, but Knuckles simply crossed his arms. "It surprised me, is all!" he said. "I can see them. Why don't you let me go in?" Rouge suggested. "No way!" Knuckles grunted, only to be socked by a spirit as he took another couple steps! "SPOT, can you see them?" Cream asked. "Emerald detected." was SPOT's only response. "Aw, but Knuckles needs help..." she whimpered. Rouge rolled her eyes and called out to him. "Duck to the left!" she shouted. Knuckles glanced around, and saw a ghost zooming in high from the right! He stumbled a bit, but avoided it. "Augh! Now you gotta jump!" Rouge yelled. Knuckles leapt up as a pair of ghosts tried to grab at his legs! He hurried towards the emerald, following Rouge's directions until he grabbed it! Suddenly, the ghosts materialized so that all could see them, and they looked furious! "Ummm... I guess now would be a good time to run..." Knuckles gulped. They all screamed and started running like crazy, pursued by the ghosts until they were well away from the pumpkin patch!

"Emerald detected!" SPOT beeped. There was still another emerald somewhere around Pumpkin Hill. "Weird. How'd so many emeralds wind up here?" Knuckles muttered. Rouge shrugged. "They can wind up anywhere. What's the puppy say, kid?" she asked Cream. She pointed to another mountain that made up the Pumpkin Hill range, Ghost Train Mountain. "Looks like some air travel is in order." Knuckles said. They started towards the ledge nearest their destination, when Patch suddenly appeared in front of them! "Hee hee... Look, the tourists are still touring! Fun's over, pals! Well... for you, anyway." he said as a gang of Despair's bat troops flapped down behind him! Rouge batted her eyes at them. "Now, you boys wouldn't wanna create trouble for a harmless little lady like me, would ya?" she asked playfully. The bats chuckled, charging electric sparks from their hands! "You ain't harmless...but ya will be when we're through shocking ya!" one of them snickered. "Stay back, Cream..." Knuckles warned. Suddenly, several lasers were fired at the bats, singeing their wings! "Turkey jerks! Alpha makes you quack!" The crazed robot swooped down and forced the bewildered bats to the ground, where they heard some low rumbling as someone else approached. "Outta the way, echidna! I've got a score to settle!" Knuckles jumped aside as Crash charged by, his horn poised to do some damage to anyone he might run into! The bats tumbled one by one as Crash charged, and then he turned and kicked up some dirt as he glared at Patch. "Hee hee... Hey, derby-boy! Some...joke earlier...huh?" Patch stammered, looking around for an escape route. As Crash chased him off towards the graveyard, Knuckles waved to them. "Thanks for that! ...I think." he said, glad he wasn't trampled in the process. The bats still climbed to their feet, but Alpha was keeping them busy now. "You don't zap me! I zap you! Then we'll go out for garlic stakes!" the robot shouted. "Is that some kinda vampire bat crack!? We're not vampires!!" one of the bats yelled. "That's one person's opinion. Bye, guys!" Rouge teased as she, Knuckles, Cream and SPOT took to the sky, flying towards Ghost Train Mountain, though Knuckles had to glide. Once they found that final Chaos Emerald, Knuckles could begin to think about finding a way to free Sonic from Eggman's clutches!

To be continued...