This is a rewrite of the Knuckles solo series, I've drawn 
these up as comics, too (but they originally starred Mighty, one of the 
Chaotix, in Knuckles' place!) Here it is, I call it "Ancient Evil 
Awakened."

Part one of three
(continued from Sonic #36): Knuckles stood at the entrance to the Grand 
Conservatory, deep in thought.  Here I am, he thought, in the Grand 
Conservatory.  I probably shouldn't even be here!  'Course, I wouldn't 
be, if I hadn't gotten the Chaotix captured...
Wonder how I let that happen?  Well, that doesn't matter anymore... the 
only thing that matters now is--
Knuckles came upon a door with a piece of paper stuck to it, which said: 
DO NOT OPEN THIS DOOR
"Oh, yeah?" Knuckles said, an evil grin upon his face.  "Sez who?"
He opened the door--and a ton of stuff fell outon top of him.  
"WAAAUUUUUGH!" he screamed, and fell to the floor.
"Ungh, the ancients guard their secrets well!" Knuckles said, rubbing his 
head.  "I wonder what else is here?"
He peered towards the back, and saw several hundred magic rings emitting 
cosmic energy.  "Wow!" Knuckles exclaimed.  He picked some up, and put 
them down again.  He wondered how they came to get there.
Then Knuckles walked away, not caring anymore about the rings.  "Who 
cares about those dumb rings, anyway?" Knuckles said to himself.  "I 
outta keep moving, so I can find the Chaotix..."
Knuckles was unaware that he'd made a terrible mistake opening the door. 
He heard Rumblings from somewhere in the distance, but ignored them and 
quickly proceeded down another corrider.  
"Now, where would Archimedes hide the Chaotix?" Knuckles said to himself. 
 "I wonder.." 
A blast of energy from a nearby concussive blaster interrupted his 
thoughts.  Knuckles jumped out of the way just in time.  
"Yikes!" Knuckles yelled, his voice echoing throughout the corrider.  "I 
could've been killed!  That's gotta hurt!"
Elseware....
the rumblings continued.  The eyes of Mount Fate almost appeared to glow 
in the moonlight.  From Mount Fate, a variety of sounds were heard...It 
was almost as if the mountain was breaking apart.
Back at the Grand Conservatory, Knuckles was still pondering over how to 
rescue the Chaotix...and himself, for that matter.  He came upon two 
doors.  
"Great," Knuckles exclaimed, "just great.  Which of these doors goes 
where I want to go?"
Knuckles eventually chose the second door, because, he said, "This isn't 
the first time I've messed up....so the second door it is then!  Let's 
GO!"
But just as Knuckles opened the door, he heard a KA-BOOM!  from somewhere 
outside.  "Whoa!" he shouted, and ducked under a nearby table.  "What the 
hell was that?!"
Still elseware...
A fire-ant observed Knuckles from a computer.  "Ahh," he said, "our guest 
has finally arrived.  Looks like he's finally learned his lesson."
Beside him at a table sat the Chaotix, stuffing their faces with food the 
fire-ant had prepared.  
"Gee, Archimedes," Mighty mumbled, munching on a hot dog, "you're a good 
cook.  What's your secret?"
"This!" ARchimedes cried, and fire shot from his mouth.  "Get the 
picture?"  
"Yeah, I guess so,"  Mighty answered, glancing down at his burnt hot dog.
"So, who's this other 'guest'?" Espio asked Archimedes.
"Why, Knuckles, of course," said Archimedes.  "He's finally coming to 
rescue you."
"What do you mean, rescue?" Vector spoke up.  "We're sure not being 
treated like prisoners."
"Okay, maybe 'rescue' was a poor choice of words," Archimedes decided, 
"but that's not the point.  Knuckles is here and he's learned his 
lesson."

Something was glowing from inside Mount Fate.  It was a dark figure, who 
emerged from the mountain and flew towards the Grand Conservatory.
Meanwhile, Knuckles was remembering all he'd been remebering for the past 
few months:
"Lemme think back," he said, "one more time, as to how all this happened!
"When i wasn't looking--as usual--Archimedes captured the Chaotix.  I'd 
been searching for them for months, but instead found Mount Fate.  I 
remembered all my father told me about it...like when our island was 
first uplifted into the sky!  Many years later, Edmund and Dimitri tried 
to return the island to Mobius.  However, Dimitri acted against the will 
of the scientific elite and absorbed the power of eleven of the twelve 
Chaos Emaralds.  He learned a lesson from that--the hard way!
"My people couldn't bring themselves to deny society's achivements--so 
they preseved examples of their scientific heritage in this Grand 
Conservatory.  Then, to ensure history not repeat itself, they appointed 
a guardian to stand watch over the surviving Chaos Emarald.  The mantle 
was finally carried to me.
"The Grand Conservatory is where Archimedes took the Chaotix...but I 
don't think, I know.." Knuckles' sentence was cut short by the sound of 
the roof falling in on itself.  
"Uh-oh!" Knuckles cried.  "Th' whole place is coming down!  Gotta get 
outta here!"
Knuckles raced down the hallway, avoiding many large pieces of rock from 
the roof raining down.  Other smaller pieces hit his face, making him 
want to turn back, but he plodded on.
Knuckles ran till he thought his chest was going to burst, when he 
approached a doorway.  He ducked into it, avoiding the last boulders 
toppling down and sealing off the doorway.
"Wh-what happed back there?" Knuckles wondered, again rubbing his head, 
for now he had a splitting headache.  "It's like this place is too old 
for its own good!"
Archimedes and the Chaotix were still eating, and Archimedes was still 
observing Knuckles' performance.
"Hey, there's somebody coming this way," Archimedes said after some time, 
"but it's not Knuckles."
"Then who is it?" Mighty asked. 
"I'm not sure...his indentity is obscured by the shadows."
"That can't affect the taste of the food!" Mighty said, turning back to 
his fifth hot dog that day.
"Aren't you getting full, Mighty?" Charmy asked him.
"Not in this life!" Mighty answered, quickly gobbling down his hot dog.
After a few minutes Knuckles finally emerged in the doorway.  "Huh?" he 
said when he saw the Chaotix at the table.  "You guys..you're alright?"
"Sure we're alright!" Vector siad to him, chomping on a hamburger.  
"Want some food?" Mighty asked Knuckles, emerging from whereever he 
disappeared to.  "It's good!"
"So, you're Archimedes," Knuckles said when he saw the fire-ant.  "But 
you're a bug!  I don't believe it!  A bug was plauging me all this time!"
"I'm not just any bug!"  ARchimedes said.  "I'm a fire-ant!  It was 
fire-ants that saved your society, remember?"
"Good point," Knuckles replied, "but I still don't get it!"
"He can do lots of things, Knuckles," said Espio, "including feed us."
"I suppose you're right, Espio," Knuckles exclaimed.  "He has pulled a 
few cool tricks.  Like the time he was causing major trouble in the 
Sandopolis zone!
"What I don't understand is how you--WHOA!" Knuckles shouted when he saw 
Archimedes lifting up the table.
"How did he do that?" Mighty exclaimed, his eyes glued to the fire-ant 
lifting up the gigantic table.
"That's what all of us are wondering, Mighty," Knuckles said to the 
armadillo.
"Well, I'm up for dessert!" Charmy said, not caring about how strong an 
ant was.  "How's about the rest of you?"
"This is no time to be eating, Charmy!" Archimedes remarked when he saw 
something glowing coming down the hall.
"Archimedes is correct," said the glowing figure who appeared in the 
doorway, "especially since I am indestructable."
"Wha-?" Espio and Vector said in unison.
"Who said that?" Knuckles yelled, whirling around.
"Oh, you must know me," the figure said.  "You're related to me in some 
way--in every way.  All this time I've waited for someone to find power 
and free me from Mount Fate!
"And at last it's finally happened!  The cosmic energy from some magic 
rings radiated through Mount Fate, freeing me!  ENERJAK is no longer 
imprisoned!"
"Oh, man!" Knuckles said.  "This doesn't look good!"
"Nope, not good," Espio said, backing away.  "Not at all."
"Okay, no dessert." Charmy said to no one in paticular.
"Mount Fate?" Knuckles said, recognizing the name.  "So your Dimitri!  
But I don't understand!  This is all so confusing...
"Well, confusing or not, you won't be around for much longer, Mr. 
'Indestuctable'!"  Knuckles approached Enerjak, motioning for the Chaotix 
to follow. 
"The Chaotix are back!" Mighty said, running alongside Knuckles.
"`Chaotix'?  Enerjak mused.  "I'm afraid not.  As much as I enjoy chaos, 
it is time to put a stop to you and your pathetic friends!"  Enerjak held 
out his hands and produced a giant fireball.
"YOW!" Knuckles cried.  "Everyone, run!"
"Gladly!" Vector exclaimed hurriedly.
"C'mon, let's move!" Knuckles shouted over the roar of the fireball.
"Tell us twice!" Espio also yelled.
"It's gaining on us!" Mighty cried, sweating from the heat and from 
running."
"Just keep moving!" Knuckles screamed.  "Step on it!"
Knuckles and the Chaotix were no Sonic the Hedgehogs.  The fireball 
quickly caught up to them, and hit them, sending them in all directions.
The Chaotix revived quickly, and suddenly got up and started to follow 
Enerjak.  
"Hey you guys!" Knuckles called to them, trying to get up.  "Come back!  
What are you DOING?!"
"It looks like they're in a trance!" Archimedes said, realizing Knuckles 
didn't quite get it.
Then the Chaotix were surrounded by some energy, and they started to blow 
away.
"Hey!" Knuckles cried.  "They're blowing away!  Hey, you guys!  They an't 
hear me!  What's going on?
"THAT'S THE LAST STRAW!" Knuckles yelled.  He started to charge Enerjak, 
but before he could reach him, both he and Archimedes were surrouned by a 
forcefield.  "HEY!" Knuckles cried as he bumped into the side of it.
"YOU!" Knuckles screamed at Enerjak.  "What have you done with my 
friends?"
"No harm, I assure you," Enerjak answered.  "Be patient.  I'll let you 
go, but not your friends.
"In the meantime," he contiued, "I'll give you fate!  I'll be seeing 
you!"
Knuckles and Archimedes flew through the air, and it felt as though they 
were being transported somewhere...
Knuckles hit solid ground, Archimedes quickly following him.  "Oof!" he 
cried out.  The sounds of Enerjak's laughter could be heard somewhere in 
the distance.

Part two of three
Knuckles awoke later, and found it was nighttime.  "Where are we?" he 
finally asked his travelling companion.
"It looks like the Forbidden Zone, almost..." Archimedes answered.  "It 
also looks like we'll be here for a while."
"Great," Knuckles said, getting up, "just great.  What do we do now?"
Here, a smoky pink mist covered everything.  Knuckles still wondered 
where they were.  
"Archimedes, are you sure we're in the Forbidden Zone?"
"No," Archimedes answered.  "I really don't know, guardian."
Just then a floating image of Enerjak appeared in front of them.  Then it 
spoke: "My dear echidna, you are about 100 years in the future.  Now 
there's nothing you can do to stop me, because I'm still in the present. 
However, there's some way to get out of this timewarp, see if you can 
find it.  Well, goodbye."
"Hey, wait!" Knuckles shouted.  "You can't just leave us here!" He ran 
towards the image, but it quickly disappeared and Knuckles ate asphalt.
"So, guardian, what do we do now?" Archimedes inquired.
"Why are you asking me, Archy?" Knuckles replied angrily.  "I don't 
know..."
Just then a low rumbling was heard.  Knuckles turned around to see what 
it was when a giant worm erupted from the ground. 
"Uh-oh," Knuckles said.  "What do we do now?"
The worm began to slither towards them.  "I think it's seen us," 
Archimedes said.
"Hey, Archimedes," Knuckles said, "I have an idea, and you're it."
The worm approached them.  Knuckles picked up Archimedes and said to him, 
"Ready?"
"Such as it is, yes."
"Okay, then, go for it!" Knuckles threw Archimedes towards the worm.  his 
aim was good.  Archimedes landed in its mouth, but the worm quickly found 
out this meal was much too hot.  It quickly spit Archimedes out, then 
fell down and did not get back up.
"Got 'im!" Archimedes said triumphantly.  "Now what?"
"Hmmm..." Knuckles said, deep in thought.  "Wait...I know!"
Knuckles went over to the worm and tore off one of the flaps of skin on 
its sides.  Then he said to Archimedes, "Let's eat."
After they had eaten, Knuckles said to Archimedes, "Have you ever heard 
of this 'Enerjak'? I mean, where did he come from?"
"Knuckles, just as I'm sure your father told you all about your people's 
past, so did my father," the fire-ant answered.
"My father told me about our people's past--and the secret relantionship 
we had with your ancestors.  But you probably wouldn't know about that, 
so I'll tell you.
"The flight path of a white comet was along the route to our island!  
Your distant relatives did have a plan to save their beloved city.  They 
dug up the countryside and gathered Chaos Emaralds.
"My people watched the echidnas--that's how we found out about this 
threat--and how we could help.  We watched the Emaralds being buried 
under the ground, and knew the power alone would'nt uplift Echidnapolis 
out of harm's way, so we helped it along.
"If my people hadn't done what they did, there would be no Floating 
Isalnd, nor would you exist, guardian.  We had to keep our relastionship 
with your anscestors a secret, because in theory, we are natural enemies!
"This wasn't thie first time my ancestors had saved echidna society.  
Generations later, edmund and Dimitri thought they couls return they 
island to Mobius.  Their petition was denied by the council elders, but 
Dimitri didn't care.  He wanted to try out the Chaos Syphon he and his 
brother had designed, but that proved to be a fatal mistake!
"Instead of draining the Emaralds' power until the island was rejoined 
with the land, the Chaos Syphon drained the power of eleven of the twelve 
Chaos Emaralds until they howled within Dimitri.
"He erupted a dark tower from the earth and held the council elders 
captive in it.  He thought the walls could withstand any attack, but this 
was not the case.  My ancestors ate into the tower's foundation, 
collapsing it in on Dimitri.  We hoped this would get rid of him.
"Since then, we've always held a secret, symbiotic relationship with your 
people.  We had to.  your race could never have gotten along without us!
"That's why i was testing you, to carry on the relatioship and to make 
sure you're up to being guardian of this island.  Then 
Dimitri--Enerjak--resurfaced and captured us.  Now we're stranded here, 
in the future, and we have to find a way to get back home."
"Right," Knuckles said.  "There's no telling what Enerjak could be up to 
now.  We've gotta get back to the present and stop him before it's too 
late!"
Back in the present...
Enerjak flew aginst the rising sun.  He stopped and flew down to where 
four dark figures stood.  They were the Chaotix, and Enerjak handed his 
septor to them.  They nodded, and aimed it at the ground beneath their 
feet.
Meanwhile...
Knuckles and Archimedes were searching for a way to get back home, when 
Archimedes remarked, "I'm hungry." 
"We just ate," Knuckles said, annoyed.  "How can you still be hungry?"
"Well, I am," Archimedes said.  Then he had an idea.  He had been riding 
on Knuckles' hand the entire walk, so he crawled up to Knuckles' arm, and 
bit down on it as hard as he could.
"YYEOOWCH!" Knuckles screamed.  "OWW, you monster!  Look what you did!  
I'm bleeding!  I'm not carrying you anymore!"
"Needs a little salt," Archimedes said after he'd been dropped.
They came to a large hill.  "Wanna go up and see what there is up there?"
Knuckles asked. 
"Sure."
They climbed the hill, and when they reached the top, a Chaos Emarald 
appeared in front of them.
"Of course!" Knuckles exclaimed.  "You can travek through time with the 
Emaralds, so..."
"Go for it, guardian," Archimedes said, motioning for Knuckles to reach 
out and grab it.  Knuckles did, and instantly he and Archimedes 
disappeared.
They found themselves in the desert.  "Oh, no," Knuckles groaned.  "Not 
again."
"Hang on, guardian," Archimedes said, "I think I see something up ahead."
They walked for about two minutes, when they reached a tall structure, 
just sitting there in the middle of the desert.
"This better be good," Knuckles said as he and Archimedes went into it.
After walking through it for a while (and tripping several booby traps) 
they came upon Enerjak at last.
"So," he said, "you made it back.  Good, we missed you."
"What do you mean, `we'? Knuckles said, and turned around to face the 
Chaotix.
"Hi, guys," Knuckles exclaimed.  "howzit going?"
They didn't answer.  They simply moved towards him, then, one at a time, 
went forward and walloped him.

Part three of three
Enerjak disappeared, leaving Knuckles and Archimedes to face the Chaotix 
alone. 
"He must have control of their minds," Knuckles said, backing into the 
wall.  Mighty kayoed him, knocking him to his feet.
"If you think you're getting by us," Mighty said, his eyes glowing green, 
"you're crazy."
"Exactly," Charmy shouted, diving at Knuckles.  He hit Knuckles in the 
head, giving the echidna another splitting headache.
Knuckles got on his feet again, but was quickly knocked back down by two 
angry reptiles.
"Oof," Knuckles muttered, "that hurt."
"You might as well surrender now, while you still can," Espio said to 
him.
"Yeah," Vector said. "Don't try anything foolish, echidna, just come 
along quietly, and we won't have to fight you."
"Surrender? That would be a pretty damn stupid thing to do," Knuckles 
mused.
"Oh, yeah?" Mighty growled, "Well, if you don't, it's gonna hurt a whole 
lot more!" He punched Knuckles in the face about twenty times, then Espio 
kicked Archimedes out of the way and started helping Mighty punch 
Knuckles.
Knuckles was far from beat.  He helped Archimedes to his feet, picked up 
Mighty, and threw him into the opposite wall, knocking him out.
the Chaotix were also far from beat.  Charmy dive-bombed Knuckles again, 
and Vector grabbed him and delivered a ferocius right cross to Knuckles, 
finally knocking him unconcious.
Enerjak came back from wherever he disappeared to.  He used his septor to 
surround Knuckles and Archimedes with energy, and flew himself, Knuckles, 
and Archimedes to a room deep in the tower.  The Chaotix followed.
Enerjak stood in front of the echidna and the fire-ant, wondering what 
horrible thing he could do with them.
"Let's talk, echidna," he said finally, "about how you've failed to 
protect your island.  Now that I have you and your pathetic friends, 
there's not a thing you can do to stop me from taking over this Floating 
Island."
"There isn't?" Knuckles asked, suddenly hoping he could talk his way out 
of this situation.  "So I can't stop you, huh?  Have I stopped this 
Floating Island from being taken over the past few times I've messed up?"
"If you're mocking me, echidna, I'll destroy you right away!" Enerjak 
shouted, releasing Knuckles and Archimedes from the energy he had them 
trapped in.
They fell to the floor, grumbling `oof' before getting up, then Knuckles 
charged straight at Enerjak.  
Unfortunatly, he was not fast enough.  Enerjak shot him with a blast of 
energy from his septor.  Knuckles once again fell, but didn't stay down 
for long.  He jabbed Enerjak in the face so hard, it sent him reeling 
away and crashing through the wall.
Enerjak flew back through the hole he made and took Knuckles by surprise, 
knocking him in the back.
"Give up?" Enerjak said to Knuckles.  
"Never!" Knuckles screamed, ramming into Enerjak.
"You can't defeat me," Enerjak yelled.  "Haven't you figured it out yet? 
I'm going to the Chaos Chamber, guardian.  I'll steal the remaining chaos 
Emarald, and use its energies to give myself unlimited amounts of 
energy!"
"You can't do that!" Knuckles replied angrily.  "The island needs it to 
stay aloft!  If you take it, the island'll fall!"
"Ah, but that's the idea," Enerjak answered.  "This island is mine, 
echidna.  I'm taking its Emarald, and there's not a thing you can do to 
stop me!"
"Oh, there isn't, is there?" Knuckles shouted, charging Enerjak.  This 
time Enerjak was not quite fast enough.  He fell to the floor, dropping 
his septor.  
"I'm getting pretty sick of that septor," Archimedes said, and spit fire 
at the septor, melting it.
"NOOOO!" Enerjak cried.  "That septor held the key to my power!  And now 
it's...."
He vanished, and so did the tower.  Knuckles and Archimedes found the 
Chaotix lying on the ground not far away.
"Mighty...Espio...Vector...Charmy...you're alright?" Knuckles asked.
"Sure we're alright, but Knuckles, how'd we get here?" Mighty asked.
"It's a long story," Knuckles answered.  "I'll tell you later."
"Knuckles, you did it!" Espio exclaimed.  "You defeated Enerjak, and you 
rescued us!"
"Yeah, thanks, dude," Vector said.
"Don't thank me," Knuckles said, "thank Archimedes."
"But howdja do it?" Charmy inquired.
"Well," Knuckles said, "lemme start at the very beginning...."
THE END