Sonic The Hedgehog: Dark-Bright

[ UNIVERSE CENTRE ARC ] Chapter 80: Thievery

As Sonic sprinted to another district, the scene cut to the echidna, Knuckles. He strolled through a completely different district, adjusting his belt and tightening the massive axe at his side. After walking around for a bit, he noticed a bench and decided to take a seat. With a sigh, he relaxed on the bench until a hooded man nearby greeted him, ''Hello, mister.''

Knuckles turned his head towards the man. ''Ah... hi...? I'm surprised people like you would greet me at a moment like this.''

''Ah... that's just a formal way of me saying it. I always like to greet strangers like you, echidna. Besides, you're one of a kind.''

He smiled. ''I see. Guess... you look like a good person after all.''

''Well... that might be it. I just... want to say, is this your first time in this town? You look like an outsider.''

''I am. See me as nothing but a traveler,'' Knuckles said, realizing it's best to stay low-profile on his task.

''Quite understandable. I mean... judging by your get-up, you surely look like a traveler by all means. Hey... if you want to know more about the town, there's a museum nearby.''

''A... museum...?'' the echidna questioned.

''Yes, a place filled with the whole history of this town, Damaris.''

''Well, it may be fun to know about the whole history. I'm interested,'' Knuckles agreed, and they moved toward the entrance. Before entering, the hooded man stopped and looked at Knuckles. ''Ah, right... I suddenly remembered that I should tell you my name now. I call myself Oxford, just... a fellow citizen who lives in this town, nothing else.''

''Pretty interesting name. Well... I should tell you my name too. The name's Knuckles. I'd be glad if you could be my tourist guide on knowing much about Damaris.''

''Well... with that in mind, we should go inside, Knuckles.'' As Oxford agreed with the idea, they entered the entrance, and the soldier pointed out that all weapons should be placed in a designated area. Knuckles followed the rule, leaving him with bare hands. They entered the inside.

As they entered, they noticed a large painting in the main gallery depicting an army of white-robed men fighting an opposing force, the man covered in black with markings. As they began to discuss further, a sudden alarm was triggered, and Knuckles was shocked. ''What's... going...?''

Oxford immediately switched to a serious mood. ''It... must be them again...!''

''Whatever... it is, I'll... check it out...!'' Knuckles headed to the trouble and noticed a bandit group stealing weaponry and jewelry from the museum. The echidna spotted a random bandit stealing his weapon, enraging him. ''Rats...! They have taken my weapon too...!''

Then Oxford patted his shoulder. ''Whatever... it is, you don't need to meddle with them. Don't think they're just some foolery bandits.''

''I... don't care...! It's not even the weapon I forged with me. It was someone else's. That means... I won't let anyone take it for free, not on my watch...!'' Knuckles declared. He chased after the bandit who stole the Soul-Axe.

Oxford sighed. ''Uuh... this isn't... good. This youngling doesn't even understand the potent dangers of this bandit group.'' Although he seemed worried about Knuckles, he followed where the echidna ran.

After a few minutes of chase, Knuckles tackled the bandit, but the enemy struggled and rolled up, giving a scary look. ''Whatcha'... trying to get me for, huh...?!''

''Just... give that axe back...!'' Knuckles pointed his fist at the bandit, a sign of aggression.

''Oh... so it was yours... Well, guess what... it wasn't for me either. It's just... for the boss. Now... guess you're still going to pull up with that stubbornness, guess... I'll use that axe to silence you off...!'' The bandit took the axe and prepared to fight.

''I... guess you forgot one thing... I still fight well, even without the axe.''

''Oh... yeah...? Then what about if I slice you off, just in one slice...?!'' The bandit tried to slice the echidna, but Knuckles was too fast. He appeared right behind and delivered a ground punch, damaging the floor. He then took the axe back, looking at the remaining group. ''Guess... what? You better tell your boss he won't get this toy today.''

''He... hurt our beloved friend, get him...!'' The rest of the bandit group headed towards Knuckles, while half of them continued their theft. The whole group started to pick a fight with Knuckles.

Then a blue hedgehog jumped out of nowhere - Sonic. Smiling, he looked at the red echidna. ''Oh, hey...! Since when did you end up in this dire situation...?''

''It... was nothing, just... foolish bandits trying to take my goods.''

''Well... for me, I've beaten one bandit for messing with the wrong side of one of the town's folk. I guess we're surely going to ruin their reputation.'' Sonic cracked his fingers, deciding to fight alongside Knuckles.

''He's... got company, but don't let that blind us...!'' The bandits weren't feared by them, and they continued to fight. The outcome was clear - both of the duo took care of them, and the bandits ran away, leaving the two friends reunited. Knuckles spoke.

''I'm surprised that you jumped out of nowhere. Did... you get the information?''

Sonic shrugged. ''Some... of it, but it's still unclear what we're supposed to do now. I found a new fella that might tell us, but... we need to regroup with everybody.''

''I... guess it's good that you found a valuable source. Well... let's get going.''

''Wait...!'' The same man, Oxford, walked close to them. ''I can't believe you had a company, Knuckles.''

''Oh, yes. I had this group with me, accompanying me on our journey.''

''Ah... that's so wonderful of you. Well... I guess you won't be returning to the museum?''

''Not really. Besides... I have some unfinished business. Well... I guess that's where we depart.''

''If... you say so, I'd hope... we will meet again. Have faith in you, echidna. Farewell.'' Then Oxford waved, saying goodbye, and left, leaving the two young people grouped together.

''Who is this man, Knuckles...?'' Sonic questioned.

''A... fellow person I met while I explored the city. He looked like a good person. He even showed me the whole history of this town, well... until you know what happened...''

''Ah... guess, it's wonderful that even in Universe Centre, there are people like him. Well... except for those bandits. Let's get going, my friend.'' He smiled.

''Yeah, let's just find our friends. Just be glad that they aren't going to have the same problems with the bandits as we did.''

''Hahaha... yeah, right...'' he chuckled a bit.

And then the two headed to another district, hopefully finding the rest of their group.

-chapter end-