In the woods, Knuckles is running to the training field. The training field has a layout similar to what one would see in a classic Sonic game. Knuckles passes the Start sign and dodges several obstacles. He grabs a log and blocks several arrows from shooting him with it. He runs across a tightrope and throws the log away. He then picks up a boulder, and speeds past a wooden Goal Plate, showing a drawing of him smiling while raising his fist. The KNUCKLES logo fades in as he runs to the edge of the mountain, where he begins punching the boulder.

"Yes, yes, YEAH!"

Knuckles destroys the rock with Chaos Energy, and the time freezes.

"I know what you're thinking, "What type of maniac wakes up at dawn to punch boulders?" I'll tell you who. My good pal, Knuckles the Echidna." Sonic narrated.

"Our House" by Madness begins playing as the scene rewinds to a recap of the second Sonic film.

"Well, it all began on the Mushroom Planet, where old Knuckles got tricked into helping the very evil and very filthy Doctor Mustache escape. He came to Earth in search of a magic emerald and picked a fight with my brother and I, which went very badly for Sonic, by the way." Gwen narrated.

The scene shows Sonic losing his fight with Knuckles at the Wachowskis' home.

"But for me, I managed to whoop his butt. He and I were childhood friends back then and then became enemies." she continued.

The scene shows Gwen and Knuckles fighting in the backyard in Wachowskis' home and Gwen managed to defeat him as she pointed her sword Knuckles' face, pinning him to the ground.

"Hey, wait a minute! This is the wrong footage! Why are we showing this?!" Sonic exclaimed.

The scene speeds to the fight in the Labyrinth.

♪ ♪ ♪ Our house... ♪

"Eventually, we punched out our differences and teamed up to defeat Robotnik's giant robot and recovered the Master Emerald, hence saving the universe. Hooray, and you're welcome!" he happily said.

Sonic, Gwen, Tails, and Knuckles are in the attic, in their bed doing their own thing like reading a manga, listening the music through the headphone while dancing, fixing something, doing crunches in the air, etc.

"And then, Knuckles, Tails, Sonic, and I became friends and roommates! And Knuckles and I became more than just friends and we're now a couple. Now, with all the hero stuff out of the way, Knuckles' only mission is to relax and enjoy Earth, which might be harder than it sounds." Gwen narrated.

Song ends, and the scene which froze before Sonic's narration resumes playing.

"Ha! A new record!" he cheered.

Knuckles then looks at the Wachowski's house, which is "under attack" as he sees figures walking in wearing masks.

"House Wachowski is under attack!"

Knuckles quickly runs to the house, then stops and buries himself under ground. He carefully comes from the ground, and then kidnaps the first worker, dragging him into the bushes. One of the workers notices something, and turns back to see nobody. He goes to resume working before he sees Knuckles, who is angrily looking at him. He shoots Knuckles with drill attachment out of fear, but Knuckles catches it in his gloves without even flinching.

"Pitiful."

Knuckles throws the attachment away, and runs towards the worker. The scene switches to a third worker who is busy, and in front of him the second worker is hanging upside down. Horrified, the third worker runs away. Knuckles then grabs a shovel, breaks it into two, and throws it to the third worker. As a result, the third worker is now attached to the house's wall with the shovel parts close to his sides, nearly stabbing him. Hearing the ruckus, Maddie and Gwen come out from house, and sees the third worker attached to the wall.

"Oh, my gosh!!" Gwen gasped.

"Whoa! What's going on?" Maddie exclaimed in shock.

"What kinda job is this, Mrs. Wachowski?!" Worker 3 exclaimed.

Maddie helps the third worker off of the wall, while the first worker is untying the second.

"Get it off me!" Worker 2 exclaimed.

Worker 3 goes up to Maddie's face, looking angry.

"Did you call us up to fix your house so you could... hunt us for sport?!"

"No, no, it's not like that!" Gwen shook her head.

"Are you part of this, too?!" Worker 3 glared, looking down at her.

"No, no, no, no, no. I could see why it might look like that. But one of our kids is a little--" Maddie defended Gwen.

"Your kid did this?" he asked in disbelief.

"He's a... really big kid, with a huge imagination. Thinks he's a warrior." Gwen nervously smiled.

"Always training, questing, as well as stalking, hunting, and occasionally terrorizing. You know how kids are at that age." Maddie added.

"You'll be hearing from our lawyers." Worker 3 warned Maddie.

"I am so sorry." Maddie apologized.

"Please, forgive us. We're so so sorry." Gwen frowned.

The workers load their gear into the truck.

"Let's pack up."

Maddie and Gwen sighs with exasperation before noticing some Doritos on the ground. Maddie picks a Dorito up and inspects it.

"What?" she questioned.

Gwen though sighs, looking unamused.

"Knuckles..." she muttered, knowing exactly who would eat those kinds of chips.

They notice the Doritos form a trail to a tree, where Knuckles is sitting under. He has a bag of Doritos and is eating several of them, laughing in victory. Maddie and Gwen walk towards him with their arms crossed.

"Victory is mine, and never has it tasted so sweet. One day, I hope to visit this cool ranch of Doritos and bask in all of its splendor."

Knuckles notices Maddie and Gwen and offers the bag.

"Chip?"

"No, thank you." Gwen glared.

"I'm good." Maddie said.

Knuckles continues to eat the Doritos. Maddie and Gwen continues to watch in disappointment as the workers leave. Sonic and Tails have been watching from the backyard.

"Oh, boy. Poor guys. That's the fourth crew this month, but I have to say, Knuckles is in incredible shape. Do you think he's more cardio or weight-focused? It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter. He looks fantastic." Sonic said.

"Do you think the house is gonna get fixed? Living room is getting pretty cold at night with that giant hole in the wall." Tails asked.

Maddie and Gwen approaches the two.

"Boys, we need to talk about our little red barbarian friend. I could use some backup." Maddie said.

"Knuckles is just having a little trouble adjusting to his new home. It wasn't easy for me and sis to understand this planet at first, either."

This made Gwen smile at her brother.

"When did you start getting so wise?" she asked.

"I read a lot of cereal boxes." Sonic proudly answered, making Gwen snicker.

"Figures."

He ignores her and continues.

"Also, I had a family that was patient enough to let me and sis figure things out, so we have to do the same with Knuckles. Let me talk to him when the time is right."

"Alright, Sonic." Maddie smiled, before lookin up at the roof. "But in the meantime, do you mind asking him to get our dog off the roof?"

"Wait, what?!" Gwen exclaimed.

They turned and looked up to see Knuckles in on the roof, holding a hockey stick and talking to Ozzie.

"Concentrate, wolf. An attack can come from anywhere at any time. You must have steely focus."

Ozzy just stares, panting.

"Steelier." Knuckles repeated.

Ozzy stops panting.

"Steelier... Steelier... Steelier!"

Ozzy still doesn't listen, smacking his lips.

"You know what? I think now is a good time for that talk." Sonic suggested, seeing where this is going.

Tails and Gwen nodded in agreement, looking aghasted.

"Yeah, I think so, too." Maddie agreed.

Sonic, Gwen, and Tails get on the roof with a ladder.

"C'mon, Ozzy!" Gwen called out to their dog, patting her thighs.

Tails makes kissing noises, getting the dog's attention.

"Yeah! Good boy." Tails encouraged him.

As Ozzy follows Gwen and Tails off the roof, Sonic goes up to Knuckles.

"Hey, big guy. Mind if I join ya? Man, this place is beautiful, huh?" Sonic said, looking at a view of Green Hills.

"No." Knuckles stated.

Sonic was surprised.

"What? Really? You don't think Green Hills is a beautiful place to live?"

"No." Knuckles repeated.

"Not even a little?" Sonic asked again.

A brief pause as Knuckles turned away before repeating.

"No."

"OK, OK, OK, OK, OK."

Sonic puts his hand on Knuckles's shoulder.

"Really look around and tell me you don't think this is--"

"No."

This made Sonic gave up as he lightly glares at the stubborn echidna.

"OK, fine, we'll circle back to this later. It's time we had a talk. You know, hedgehog to echidna."

They sit down on the roof.

"Listen, moving to a new world was tough for me and sis at first, too. But trust me, this planet is special. It's your home now."

Knuckles turns to Sonic.

"An echidna warrior has no home. I only remain on Earth because I made a vow to Gwen, you and the fox. One I intend to keep."

"Hey, I respect that. But we won. Robotnik's gone, and there's no new battle to fight. No new quests to embark on. Which means, for the first time, you can take a break from being a warrior. And Earth is the perfect place to do that. So, relax. Get comfortable. Make yourself at home here." Sonic explained.

This made Knuckles hum in thought.

"Hmm... Perhaps you are right, hedgehog. Allow me to meditate on your words of wisdom."

"Perfect! My work here is gone. I'm gonna do... fun things."

Sonic leaves the roof as Knuckles begins to meditate. As epic vocals begin chanting with hawk screeches, Knuckles meditates all the while as the day continues, all the way into night with the Milky Way galaxy directly behind him. Eventually, his eyes snap open with a new epiphany.

"Yes. I shall make myself at home." he declared.

Wachowski household, interior, day. It is early morning at Green Hills. Inside the Wachowskis' kitchen, Maddie finishes making breakfast.

"Right. Kids, breakfast is ready!" Maddie called out.

As she enters the dining room, she is greeted with the sight of Knuckles sitting in a throne of his own design at the head of the table, forged haphazardly from various pieces of sports equipment and bicycles.

"Good morning, Pretzel Woman." Knuckles greeted.

"Morning, Knuckles." Maddie nervously greeted back before clearing her throat. "Is that an Iron Throne at our breakfast table?"

Sonic, Gwen, and Tails enter the dining room. Sonic reaches for his breakfast from Maddie.

"Good morning--" Sonic greeted only to stop when he, Gwen, and Tails see Knuckles' makeshift throne, and Gwen and Tails gasp. "What is that?"

"It is merely the seat that designates my role as family champion. If you wish to claim it, you must simply defeat me in a ritual battle of trial by combat." Knuckles happily explained.

This made Tails sheepishly chuckle while Sonic and Gwen frown.

"What do you mean, "trial by combat"?" Tails asked.

"Come, fox. I will show you."

Knuckles gets off his throne, and an apprehensive Maddie follows her surrogate sons and a daughter. In the living room, Knuckles stands next to a gong.

"I heeded the hedgehog's advice and made myself at home!"

He's transformed the living room into a warrior fighting pit, standing on top of a makeshift skull with several makeshift spears and assorted weaponry on the walls of the room. Ozzy is also inside the living room, dressed in a Viking helmet. Gwen gasped in horror, witnessing the entire change of the living room.

"Wow. Love what you've done with the place, Knucks. It's very, um, Conan-chic." Sonic struggled to say as he touched one of the spears.

"Nope! This is not happening. We are not turning our living room into some kind of gladiator fighting pit." Maddie disagreed.

"Warrior fighting pit." Knuckles corrected her.

"Whatever! And wh--what is Ozzy doing here?"

An uncomfortable Ozzy whines. Gwen couldn't help but coo at the adorable sight as she takes a picture of the dog with her phone before she and Maddie comfort him.

"Ozzy has bravely volunteered for the first match by challenging his greatest enemy." Knuckles answered.

This made Maddie and Gwen look up at him with confusion.

"Enemy? What enemy?" Gwen asked.

Knuckles bangs the gong as a gate slowly opens, revealing Ozzy's "greatest enemy" is the Wachowskis' mailman in the bathroom. He's armed with a baseball bat covered in spikes and is just as uncomfortable about the fight as Ozzy is.

"IS THAT OUR MAILMAN?!" Maddie shouted in disbelief.

"KNUCKLES!" Gwen roared in anger, causing the echidna to flinch in fear.

"Please! I just wanna go home." Mailman pleaded, looking scared.

"I am so sorry." Maddie apologized to him before turning angrily to Knuckles. "That's it. Get down right now. You are grounded!"

Back to the dining room, Knuckles is sitting in the chair, confused.

"I have no idea what that means." he said.

"Well, I definitely do. It means no battling enemies." Sonic answered.

"No leaving your room on quests." Tails added.

Gwen just glares at Knuckles with disappointment.

"And most of all, no warrior-ing." Maddie concluded.

This made Knuckles upset.

"How dare you. In the name of Great Chief Pachacamac, I swear you will regret the day you--"

"Excuse me?!" Maddie exclaimed.

"Knuckles, don't you dare!!" Gwen shouted, knowing what he's going to say that he will regret.

"You will regret--" Knuckles continued.

"Uh!" Maddie made a noise.

"I mean it!!" Gwen warned.

"The day you--" Knuckles continued his sentence.

"Uh!"

Sonic zoomed over to Knuckles' side and whispered to him.

"Knuckles, word of advice: Do not mess with Maddie and Gwen when they're this mad." he warned, gesturing to Gwen and Maddie crossing their arms angrily.

Knuckles stares at them for a moment before calming down.

"Very well, Pretzel Woman. I will accept my grounding... with honor." he said, placing his fist on his chest.

He then leaves to the attic as Maddie checks her watch.

"Great. I'm gonna be late for work." Maddie sighed.

"Uh, Maddie? We may have another issue."

Tails is holding a piece of an engine from Knuckles's throne.

"It looks like Knuckles built part of his throne out of... our car."

"Our car... oh, gosh. OK, um, Tom is out of town..." Maddie snapped her fingers. "Maybe Wade will pick me up. OK."

She calls Wade, but she only gets his voicemail.

"Hey, this is Wade! I can't answer the phone right now. I'm training for the biggest tournament of my adult life. Wish me luck! After the beep. Beep!"

Gwen sighs.

"I have a motorcycle." she said.

Maddie turns to Gwen in surprise.

"You have a motorcycle? How'd you manage to afford that?" she asked.

"I made money by playing music when me and Sonic were hiding."

"I see..."

"Come on. I'll take you to work. Just point me a direction. And you'll be needing this." Gwen said, handing her another helmet.

"Okay... It's better than nothing." Maddie said, putting on her helmet and grabbing her stuff for work.

Gwen and Maddie hopped onto the motorcycle before Gwen started the engine and drove off with Maddie clinging onto her back as Sonic and Tails watched them go.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After dropping Maddie to work, Gwen came back home with a bag of grapes and started heading upstairs to the attic to check on Knuckles. She stops and finds him lying down on the ground underneath the sunlight from the rooftop window, letting out a deep sigh.

"Hey, Knux." she greeted. "I got you some grapes."

Knuckles glances at her for a moment before turning away to look back up the window, making her frown. Just then, Sonic swings his tire swing over Knuckles and greets him.

"Hey buddy. How's it goin'?"

"Leave me be, hedgehog." Knuckles said. "I took your advice. And now, I lay banished on the floor of shame, with nothing to do but plot my revenge. Against you."

Sonic then flipped over and landed on his red beat-up bean bag chair.

"Whoa-ho-ho-ho! Lighten up, big guy." he said. "Being grounded isn't that bad. Me and sis lived in a cave for seven years."

"It's true." Gwen added, sitting down on her bed.

"You can survive a few days in an attic. Look at all these great options you have. Like..." he continued before zooming over and coming back with piles of comics. "...comic books!"

Sonic then zoomed over to the DJ instruments and played the music "Belly Dancer" by Imanbek & BYOR.

"Music!"

Sonic speed away again and came back wearing a VR headset with VR controllers. He takes it off and places the headset on Knuckles' head.

"Video games! They have come a long way since the '90s."

"Ah! Where have you sent me?!" Knuckles yelped, holding up his fists.

This sight made Gwen giggle.

"And viral dance videos!"

Sonic brings out a stand that holds the phone as he starts dancing with the music playing "Sweet Little Bumblbee" before stopping.

"See what I mean? Use this time to relax. You'll be out there warrior-ing before you know it. Okay, good talk." Sonic said before jumping off from the attic room.

Knuckles removes the headset and drops it with a sigh.

"The hedgehog could not possibly understand." he said, looking down sadly.

Gwen walks over to him and places a hand on his shoulder, making him look at her.

"You're not the only one who have problems. I also have a problem with this new power from my ruby necklace that I found and don't know what to do."

Hearing that made him smile a bit at her for comforting him, but he's still down. He stands up and looks back up the rooftop window.

"O wise Echidna Elders. I seek your guidance in my hour of need. Please, send me a sign." he pleaded.

He waited for an answer only to find nothing. Slumping down, Knuckles turned around to walk away when a golden mist flies down on the bean bag chair and reveals an elder Echidna reading a newspaper. Gwen was shocked to see him as Knuckles stopped to hear his voice.

"Are you kidding me? The Mets lost again?"

"Ah! Assassin!!" Knuckles yelled, holding up a rubber chicken only for it to deflate.

"Relax, Knuckles. It's me." he said, moving the newspaper down revealing a white mustache echidna.

Knuckles was shocked and walked over to him while Gwen was speechless.

"Chief Pachacamac?" he gasped.

Pachacamac gets up and rolls his newspaper.

"It's good to see you, my boy. Now, put down the rubber chicken and give your old chief a—"

Before the two could hug, Pachacamac fazes through Knuckles and falls through the floor. Knuckles and Gwen look down at the ground as screaming Pachacamac could be heard as he crash into things and making loud banging. They even hear Ozzy barking. Pachacamac flies back up to them from the floor he fell through.

"Oh, right. I'm a ghost..." he said in a spooky voice before turning and yelping to see Gwen. "Ah! The apprentice of Longclaw!"

"Uh... Hi..." Gwen awkwardly waved.

"Don't worry about her. She's my... mate. We're not enemies anymore." Knuckles said, blushing at the word "mate".

"Oh!" Pachacamac said, surprised to hear that they're together.

"Thank goodness you're here. I have completed my quest and found the Master Emerald. But with my work complete, what becomes of me?" Knuckles asked.

"Knuckles! Your quest is not complete. It's only begun!" Pachacamac said.

"Wait, really?" Gwen asked.

"Oh, yes! You are the last of the Echidnas!" he continued, pointing at Knuckles' chest with his rolled up newspaper. "And so, the legacy of our people is in your hands."

Knuckles places his fist against his chest and bows to him.

"Guide me, O Great Chief."

"Well... you could you know, reproduce to bring back the Echidnas." Pachacamac suggested.

"Really? How?" Knuckles asked.

Glancing at Gwen for a moment, he whispered something into Knuckles' ear. Gwen watches as Knuckles listens until his face turns red and he backs away from Pachacamac.

"Uh... N-N... L-Let's not talk about that. W-We're not ready for that."

"You sure?"

"Yes. Is there something else besides that?" Knuckles asked, trying not to glance at Gwen much to her confusion.

"Alright. I want you to train an apprentice in the ways of the Echidnas! Teach him our customs. Show him our traditions. And soon, our tribe will grow once again." Pachacamac explained.

"But where will I find such a student?" Knuckles asked.

"Right here."

Pachacamac unrolls the newspaper to reveal a picture of Wade with a number 1 blue ribbon on him covered with food stains from hot pockets in front of him reading "LOCAL MAN WINS HOT POCKET EATING CONTEST". Knuckles and Gwen look into it and were surprised.

"Wade Whipple??" they both said in unison.

"I know this man. He's no great warrior." Knuckles said.

"Neither were you when we first met. He may not look like much, but he's special." Pachacamac said, placing a fist on his chest where his heart is. "In here. He seeks to compete in a Tournament of Champions in a mystical place called..."

He wrapped his arm around Knuckles and moved his hand around dramatically.

"Reno, Nevada."

Hearing that made Knuckles interested.

"Tournament of Champions. There is much glory to be found in such a contest!"

Pachacamac starts floating in the air towards the rooftop window.

"Train him as a warrior! The fate of the Echidna is in your— Oh!"

He was cut off by hitting his back against the window. Seeing that made Knuckles and Gwen wince as Pachacamac attempts to get the window to open by bumping.

"Stupid window. How does this ghost stuff even work?"

He then managed to flip the window open.

"Ah! There we go!"

Pachacamac then stick through the opened window, getting stuck a bit before finally flying away.

"Our fate is in your hands!"

"I won't let you down." Knuckles promised.

"Hold up, Knuckles. You're still grounded, remember?" Gwen stated, crossing her arms.

"Gwen, this is my destiny. This is the quest I've been waiting for. Please, let me take this chance."

Seeing him unwavering with faith, she sighs. She walks over to her bed and takes out her backpack.

"Well, if you're going then I'm going with you. Someone has to make sure you don't get yourself in trouble."

This made Knuckles smile and hug her.

"Thank you, Gwen."