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An utter of frustration was auditable to those around him as, Knuckles the Echidna, struggled to move his chess piece to resume his ongoing match.

Mind games certainly weren't his cup of tea and Knuckles didn't appreciate the stressful situation he was forced into. He would be damned if he lost, so the man played this game as if his life depended on it.

Knuckles’ arms folded against his chest, and he gritted his teeth, attention glued to the board. Sweat was streaking down the side of his forehead and his brows twitched as his mind thought of the endless possibilities. The echidna's hands held a tight fist, and he was too wrapped up in his thinking to even hear his opponent's suggestion.

Sonic The Hedgehog sat across from him. His posture was more relaxed, leaning his weight on his right hand. The hedgehog's left palm lifted and spoke, worried, not because Knuckles could win but because the red fool might strain himself, "Why don't you move your King?" His index finger extended to point at Knuckles' piece.

Sonic's impatience got the better of him once he realized Knuckles was almost a lost cause and in his world. The blue hedgehog rose from the ground quickly with his hands on his hips. He spoke, "Well, call me when you make your move. I'm gonna go for a run." Chess was neither of their strong suits. Sonic raised his hands in the air and lifted his leg to prepare himself for a quick run along the Blue Typhoon just to keep himself busy with something since he could never sit down for long.

With a gush of wind, Sonic was outside of the large vessel running, leaving a blue blur behind him. It wasn't every day you could run in a starship in the middle of the galaxy, while he wanted to get his blood pumping, he couldn't ignore the beauty around him. The galaxy spun in the ever-long time of the divine, observing the motions of lifeforms upon planets that had entirely different notions of time and reality. Given the circumstances, Sonic made the most out of it. Especially with the team having to go with Cosmo into outer space to stop the Metarex, it would be mentally draining for anyone if their life was constantly at risk. So, a run was nice, and it gave his red friend time.

Like a light bulb went off, Knuckles gasped in shock as he finally decided what to do. His hand reached for his knight and moved it over his rival's piece and happily announced his victory. "That's a check- HUH?" The echidna now finally noticing the absence of Sonic caused him to panic and look around with his arms raised beside him. "Where'd Sonic go?" He asked himself. Knuckles suddenly stood up and let out an exaggerated huff. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the blue streak traveling along the spacecraft and quickly picked up the board to go outside so Sonic could see.

"Hey, Sonic!" Knuckles carefully held the board with both arms and called out to his friend, "it's your move!" As Sonic ignored Knuckles, he grew furious. "You're not giving up are ya!?" His left hand gripped the board as he raised a fist in the air.

Sonic turned his head to Knuckles, bracing himself to stop himself and defend his pride from a demur. However, the gravity in space is nothing and with stopping, Sonic launched himself forward off the spaceship entirely. The blue hog's panicked cries were loud as he flung his arms and legs in a swimming motion attempting to be grounded again.

The echidna cried out Sonic's name. Only for his friend to fly farther and farther into the dark abyss, spinning in a fast circle. Knuckles watched, "That's just great! Sonic can't get back, so somebody has to go after him!"

"This is humiliating," Sonic muttered to himself, his body still spinning with no luck of stopping, "now I have to get rescued and worry my friends." At this point the hedgehog was starting to get lightheaded, he groaned knowing this was going to continue for a while.
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"Say what?" Amy Rose asked, confirming what she heard, concerned for the safety of her friend, "Sonic can't get back to the ship?" The two stood inside of the Blue Typhoon.

Knuckles went to her for help, unsure what to do. His fist raised in front of him as he spoke, "And he's getting farther away from us every second!"

Amy waved her arms in a panic at Knuckles' words. Both of them blew the situation out of proportion. She held the same position as Knuckles with a determined look, "We have to go rescue him now!"

Now the two shared the same tone, practically screaming in each other's faces. "I know! But how would we get to him!?" He asked, staring directly at Amy. The pink girl lowered her fist, keeping one against her cheek. "Think of something fast before he's out of reach!" Knuckles spoke again.

Amy suddenly announced, "I got an idea!" She said turning to her side and rushing off, "but first we need to find a rope!" Knuckles followed behind her.
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Now outside of the space shuttle, Knuckles stood ready to take off. On his back was a jet-pack-like machine that Tails the Fox, their friend, made. The jet-pack straps were secured tightly. At the top of the pack were these two yellow, metal balls. "Hang in there, Sonic! I'm coming!" His hands were tightly pressed against his chest, clenching onto the yellow rope that Amy mentioned, with his left. He brought an extra jet pack with him, for his blue friend, that he carried with both hands. Knuckles pushed off with his legs, the blue jet helping him go forward.
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Sonic finally was able to stop spinning. Now he was just hovering in space, unable to tell where he was. It was quiet, not a single sound anywhere, everything was still. If he had to stay out here any longer, the hog might as well go crazy now. His eyes looked beyond him, seeing a familiar red blob. Sonic sighed in relief; a small smile plastered on his face.

Knuckles hovered closer, with his arms out forward with the extra pack as he saw his friend. He slowed down, Sonic gently grabbing onto Knuckles' arms to catch him. "I thought I was going to run out of rope..." Knuckles spoke softly.

Sonic's hands trailed down to Knuckles' own, both holding the jetpack and their eyes locked. "Thanks, buddy..." Admittedly, he was a little embarrassed, unable to believe Knuckles went through all this trouble just to bring them both back to safety.

Knuckles stayed put, there was a moment of uncertainty before the echidna sighed with his thoughts. "I know, you probably did this on purpose," The eldest titled his head, his locks following with his animated movements. "You knew I'd win, huh!" His snout proudly rose in the air, as he laughed with his eyes closed showing off his cocky attitude.

Sonic snickered. Knuckles’ eyes darted back at his rival's. "Oh yeah?" The hedgehog raised an eyebrow, testing the other. "I'd congratulate you," he paused, "if it were true." Sonic shrugged with a smirk and gently took the jetpack from Knuckles, slipping from the other's company.

The echidna's fury grew, and his smug smile turned into a grumpy frown. "It's true! I set it up and everything that you would think you'd won, then realized I checkmated you!" Knuckles explained his master plan, wanting to rub his victory in the other's face as much as possible. Unfortunately, the opportunity was stripped away from him.

"I almost feel bad, it took you like an hour to make a move." Sonic hovered above the echidna, his head looking down so they could keep eye contact. His legs stretched outward and so did his arms, the jetpack now on his back finally feeling safe.

Knuckles reached up and pulled down on the metal rod of Sonic's pack. Sonic now upside down their snouts barely inches apart, Knuckles whispered upset, "Then let's go back so I can prove it to you." His brow twitched.

Sonic smiled, a small sigh passing through his lips as he reached out to hold Knuckles' head, his fingers twirling around the echidna's hair. "Why the rush?" He kept his voice low too, "we have time to ourselves, no?"

Knuckles' body tensed with his shoulders raising, his cheeks flushed at Sonic's sudden gesture. He didn't appreciate this kind of teasing, it made him feel weak and if it wasn't for the no gravity his legs would've gone out. "Amy... Amy's worried about you... You shouldn't keep her waiting." His amethyst eyes broke eye contact, Knuckles wanted nothing more than to melt into the other's touch.

Sonic stopped his twirling for a second, his smile almost broke into a frown. Sonic took a moment before responding, "I'm not thinking of her right now." He didn't want Knuckles' attention to be on anyone else but him and he couldn't understand why. He gently pushed his palm against Knuckles' cheek, wanting his attention. "It's just us, Knux.." Sonic's voice got lower like he was testing his words.

Knuckles looked back at the man in front of him, his grip loosened. The red echidna's expression was skeptical. Amy's and Sonic's relationship confused Knuckles not because of how they acted but because of the tight sensation that grew in his chest every time they were together. Knuckles was jealous but would never say or do anything about it. Sonic decided to push his luck. "I wouldn't want to be here with anyone else, now." He admitted, shyly.

Knuckles' eyes widened and the two shared another moment of silence, getting lost in each other's eyes. No stars could ever compete with Sonic's eyes, Knuckles could spend hours admiring them. "Come down here." Knuckles said suddenly, helping them reach the same height and position. The red man tied the rope around his waist, both hands-free.

Even closer than before, Knuckles pulled Sonic into a tight embrace, his hands just below the machinery on the blue one's back. The tension formed before vanishing. Sonic's hands hovered over the red echidna before returning the hug. "Knux?" Sonic wasn't sure what to do, this was new and the two never had such an intimate relationship, but he wouldn't dare ruin it.

Knuckles moved the two quickly, not giving Sonic time to react as their hands were locked and they moved along the stars. The bright light from the jetpack helped Knuckles guide them. "Don't you dare tell anyone about this?" Knuckles said to the younger. Sonic watched the echidna with curious eyes, seeing his friend's face flushed with red.

Sonic moved to press their bodies together again, holding him tightly. "I think I'm going to keep this memory for myself." The hedgehog flew in the other's arms. The two couldn't help but laugh, after all, this was new. None of them expected their guards to be let down so easily around each other. This was bliss.

The area around them was endless. They could go anywhere together. Together. That's all they wanted, was to be together. Releasing each other slowly, Sonic bopped Knuckles' nose and beamed with delight as he flew away making the other chase him.

Knuckles followed behind, the two circled each other, never leaving each other's company. Their movement synchronized and it was like the two were dancing. Sonic was speechless with joy, and he knew Knuckles felt the same way, the surge of excitement caused them to get lost in the moment. Without realizing it they were in each other's arms again, their foreheads touching with shared smiles. This type of satisfaction had their hearts racing, they were just two teenagers falling in love.

"Never knew you were the romantic type," hummed Sonic.

Knuckles shushed him with a playful laugh and closed his eyes. "You're one to talk," he spoke eventually.

"Maybe it's because it's you, Knuckles." Never once did Sonic take time to slow down, he always had something to do and somewhere to be but right now it was just the moment he worried about. The man in his arms took all his attention and together they forgot about all the pressing issues threatening them.

Knuckles sighed, pleased with the answer he received. He placed a small kiss on the hedgehog's head, not even realizing what he did. Sonic was as red as the echidna fur, he didn't say anything though, and just buried his face into Knuckles' chest. He wished they didn't have to ever go back, he wished they could stay there forever.
Sonic wished that Knuckles could stay by his side and never leave again.