Knuckles the Echidna (Dark Mobius)


 * This article is about the Knuckles from alternate future. For the Mobius Prime counterpart, see Knuckles the Echidna. For the Mobius: X Years Later counterpart, see Knuckles (MxYL).

Knuckles, once known as Enerjak and Dark Enerjak, is a possible future version of Knuckles the Echidna who originated from an alternate Zone. In his version of Mobius|, Knuckles was originally a Guardian who had become corrupted with Chaos Energy; becoming Enerjak. He eventually conquered the planet, while leaving only a few left free to oppose him, simply for the sake of fun. Enerjak used his powers to extract Cores from his victims, using them to create Prelates forced to serve him. Bored with controlling the world and no worthy challenges over the decades, Enerjak desired to conquer other realities, but found himself first having to face the time-traveler Silver the Hedgehog in a major showdown before he could move on to the multiverse.

Early Life
Knuckles' early history was most likely largely the same as his Mobius Prime counterpart's. The point at which things differed was during his time as Chaos Knuckles, during his attempt to reunify the Dark Legion with the citizens of Echidnaopolis. In this reality, Lara-Su was not there from an alternate future to try to save Knuckles. Regardless, Knuckles jumped in front of an attack on Dimitri, similar to his Prime counterpart; however, this version of Knuckles thought differently about the events that had taken place.

Descent of the Guardian
The meeting between Dimtri, the High Council of Echidnaopolis, and the Mitre went well, even though the assassination attempt still happened. Things resolved peacefully with the Dark Legion welcomed back into society, but Knuckles noted the talks just continued while he recovered on the floor. Instead of getting him medical aide, they used his "death" as a point of debate. Peace may have been made, but Knuckles thought that the wrong people were handling it. He believed that, as the Guardian, he was better suited to the task with his power and training, and change was required.

As time passed, Knuckles felt the peace brokered under Dimitri was a farce since there was still a divide between the former Legion and original citizens. It was at that point that he took over the Dark Legion and absolved the High Council in order to simplify the situation and unify the entire populace as one collective under him. As a sign of his sincerity to the old legionnaires that he wanted to bridge the gap, Knuckles even had his right eye replaced with a cybernetic implant. Despite this, Knuckles found himself wondering why others around him could not agree with his decisions and began to think about how whenever he did something right, everyone pointed out he was being foolish, dating back to his attack on Sonic and Tails when he thought that they were invading the island, him tapping into the powers that his father gave him, and the situation with the Legion and High Council.

Knuckles then began to think that Sonic was jealous of him for taking out their universe's version of Dr. Eggman easily when Sonic had been trying to for years, as well as Sonic just wishing that he was as powerful as Knuckles. He thought that it must have been something in the air, since the Brotherhood was getting uppity too. He had to put Spectre through a wall after the unification with the ex-legion, which he then reconsidered it as the ex-ex-Legion. The Dark Legion was his army at that point, and they were going to set things right across Mobius. If the Brotherhood and his friends didn't want to be part of the solution, then he would treat them like part of the problem.

Julie-Su was gone. Part of Knuckles wanted to say, "What's one more betrayal?" but her leaving hurt him a lot. He didn't understand it, since she was with him when he simplified things between the Dark Legion and everyone else as well as being with him on vaporizing Eggman. Even though she had her doubts, she supported him. He thought that maybe he was not around enough for her, but he was trying to make Mobius a better place. He had to fight everyone to get anything done. Even the Dark Legion was starting to get on his nerves. He felt that surely she understood that he was a busy Guardian. Then he thought that maybe it was because she was getting round across the middle, yet he thought she was beautiful, regardless of if she put on a few pounds. He figured that he would look for her later, since he had a resistance to quell.

Knuckles thought that he could rest and concentrate on strengthening his second-sight in his chambers, but Remington surprised him with a bomb. Knuckles; however, was powerful enough that the explosion didn't do anything to him. He then thought that he was officially on his own. Julie-Su ran off with his daughter, but he didn't know where to. He thought that his spies were pathetic, and the Chaotix had openly turned on him. The Dark Legion was starting to show signs of descent, and he was fighting most of his battles alone. He didn't see it as too much of a bad thing, though, as fighting entire armies single-handedly was about the only fun he had at that point. He had been thinking that the title, "Guardian," didn't really suit him anymore, as he saw it as too small in scope. According to him, he was not just protecting Angel Island anymore, but he was fixing the world. He thought that a man of his kind of power and vision needed a better title. Although "Enerjak" had some negative connotations, he deemed it fitting, guessing that he could fix that along with everything else, and he started to like the sound of "Enerjak the Hero."

The Unstoppable Force
After becoming corrupted by his own increasing power, he took on the title of Enerjak. With the Dark Legion and their capitol city of Nekronopolis under his command, his conquest spread to the rest of the world. He became so powerful that at one point, he was outnumbered by hundreds of G.U.N. warships and single-handedly sent their fleets to the bottom of the sea. It was known as Operation: Night Fire and was lead by that universe's version of Commander Abraham Tower, the chief executive of the Guardian Units of the Nations. The objective was a pre-emptive strike against the perceived threat of the individual known as "Enerjak." The aggressive moves by Enerjak and his forces, the Dark Legion, were likely to threaten the sovereignty of the United Federation's city-states within the next two years. The operation was to remove the threat of Enerjak, disrupt the Dark Legion's ability to wage war, and slow attempts by the Dark Legion to recover from its losses. It's forces consisted of G.U.N. Navy (all available ships, aircraft, and crew), G.U.N. Air Force (flying flagship G.U.N.A.F. Gilgamesh, 30 Osprey-class long range bombers, and 150 Hawk-class fighter jets), and their universe's version of Team Dark (all seven members were present). The Operation Synopsis was as follows: A G.U.N.N. rendezvous within firing range of Angel Island at 0500 hours, G.U.N.A.F. beginning assault on Angel Island's surface while Team Dark is inserted and moves to the Hidden Palace to secure the Master Emerald at the time of the attack at 0545 hours, the entirety of G.U.N.A.F. forces were destroyed at 0550 hours, the entirety of G.U.N.N. forces were destroyed at 0555 hours, Team Dark reported all resistance in Hidden Palace Zone had been neutralized at 0600 hours, and finally, Team Dark reported the Master Emerald was secured with that report being immediately followed-up with reports that they had engaged Enerjak at 0615 hours. That was the last communication with Team Dark.

A third of G.U.N.'s military was lost, their premier special operations unit was lost, and aggressive behavior was expected to increase. Commander Tower reported all of this to the President of the United Federation, and it was with great shame that he had to report it was an unmitigated disaster. At that juncture he recommended a political approach where in the United Federation publicly branded the attack as unsanctioned and to paint himself as a rogue agent while he took the role of the scapegoat and, hopefully, bore the brunt of Enerjak's retaliation rather than the rest of the nation. He finished his report with his sincerest apologies.

While all of this was going on, the Freedom Fighters, lead by Julie-Su and Lara-Su, were developing plans of their own. Sally Acorn was out looking for the Sword of Acorns and making alliances, but Sonic the Hedgehog had another plan, which he discussed in a letter to her to let her know what was going on. Although he did not trust Mammoth Mogul, he believed that he also wanted to stop Knuckles, and so they formed an alliance. Amy Rose and Miles "Tails" Prower already had leads on a couple of the Chaos Emeralds, and, with Mogul's help, they planned to get all seven together in a couple of weeks. They succeeded in obtaining the seven gems, and Sonic was able to become Super Sonic. In the end, Enerjak took the Chaos Emeralds so that his power would remain unrivaled, and he soundly crushed his opponents, including Super Sonic.

Eventually, Julie-Su had fallen during a raid, and Lara-Su began her search for the Sword of Acorns. Enerjak sank Downunda during his conquest because he either knew of the Sword of Acorns that was on the continent or the Freedom Fighters' plan to use it to drain his powers. He then used his powers to extract Cores from his victims, creating Prelate soldiers and used them to combat the Last Freedom Fighters. As time passed however, he desired new challenges to keep his interest, and began to send his Prelates to scout other realities and locate ones that would prove entertaining for him to conquer.

The Final Battle of Enerjak
When Prelate-V arrived in 3437 P.X.E., it was followed back by Silver the Hedgehog. Watching upon a jewel-shaped screen from his lair filled with husks of his former enemies, Enerjak observed Silver fighting for his life and seemed rather intrigued by the hedgehog's psychokinetic abilities as he finished extracting the core of his latest victim, Remington. Once the hedgehog met and joined up with the remaining resistance members, he became even more enthralled in Silver's unique abilities and his story of coming from the future. Ultimately, Enerjak grew bored of the Freedom Fighters from this zone, who he had been using to entertain himself until then, and he proceeded to finally attempt to rid himself of them once and for all.

Approaching the hideout of the Freedom Fighters, which he apparently already knew of, he used his Chaos based powers to lift up the building. Once the Freedom fighters emerged, Enerjak used his powers again to stop and hold them in place, but they broke free after Silver overcame these powers and landed everyone to safety. Deciding to humor his opponents' bravado, Enerjak then summoned the cores of several Chaotix members to create Prelates and give the rebels a "fair fight." He also summoned Prelate-JS using the core of Jani-Ca's mother which he had been saving for a "special occasion," inciting the fury of the rebels' leader. During the battle, a large piece of rubble was tossed at Enerjak, which he easily broke apart with a single punch; however, it was a distraction with Silver waiting behind the rubble to trap Enerjak in mid-air using his own psychokinetic powers. Enerjak instead broke free of the hedgehog's hold and knocked him to the ground with ease, telling Silver that he had arrived just in time to witness his final victory over the Freedom Fighters.

Enerjak soon revealed to Silver why he sent his Prelate to Silver's time. His comment of whether or not Silver's world would have more "fun" beings like him only enraged the young hedgehog, causing him to rip up the top of the tower he stood upon; Enerjak easily recovered and smashed through the rubble. He then casually watched as the Freedom Fighters systematically destroyed the Prelates and Silver grabbed the resulting Cores, wondering why Jani-Ca still resisted him. He eventually applauded the rebels for their entertaining show of "such violence and drama." In response to Silver's taunt, Enerjak charged straight through the team, taking back his Prelates' Cores, and began adding the Freedom Fighters' to his collection one-by-one after Silver was smashed into the pavement and incapacitated. With only Lara-Su left, he taunted her about how she had become such a strong woman and how she had attempted to go back in time to save him once. During this, Silver broke loose from his confines, and attempted to strike the demi-god with a massive concrete fist; delighted at the promise of a terrific battle, Enerjak smashed through the fist and charged at Silver, thanking his young challenger for "giving this world the flashy ending it deserves."

Charging at each other, Silver, in a rage, threw large pieces of rubble at Enerjak, who easily disintegrated them. Asking if it was his turn now, Enerjak resumed his charge at Silver, who then used his powers to throw him through the face of his statue and off of Angel Island. Remarking that he was rather fond of the statue, Enerjak said that throwing him was nothing compared to him hitting Silver with the island, which he then did, much to Silver's shock. Enerjak then proceeded to summon an army of Prelates, which nearly overwhelmed Silver had it not been for Jani-Ca coming to his rescue. With Jani-Ca fighting the Prelates, Silver turned his attention back to Enerjak. Enerjak would then be trapped by Silver in a psychokinetic bubble and be dragged across the entire island by him before Silver would throw him at the island itself. Though Silver assumed that he had killed him, Enerjak would unexpectedly reappear behind him and remark how "rude" it was of Silver to scuff his helmet. Enerjak would then throw Silver against the pavement and mock him for not being powerful or skilled enough to stand against him. As Enerjak was about to strike the final blow, Silver, recalling a number things he was told by Mammoth Mogul and Edmund, realized that he could not match Enerjak in power and instead began using his psychokinesis to redirect Enerjak's chaos energy blasts back him. Enraged, Enerjak would keep attacking Silver blast after blast, which Silver would keep on deflecting whilst remarking that Enerjak could still fix a lot of the damage he had caused. Enerjak, however, remarked that the only mistake he had made was not having crushed Silver sooner, and began charging at him. However, Jani-Ca suddenly jumped in front of Silver, stun Enerjak with the Sword of Acorns' magic, and recite a variant of Tikal's Prayer to drain his power in a flash of light. As the light faded, Enerjak was reduced to a withered, old man and Jani-Ca, unexpectedly, had become the next Enerjak. Knuckles would attempt to convince Jani-Ca to give him back a little of his power, claiming that she had taken too much, supposedly so that he could get back on his feet and help her rebuild. However, Jani-Ca did not fall for his deception and destroyed the sword so that he would never be able to regain his powers. As Silver started departing, Jani-Ca gave him her word as Guardian that she would use her powers to restore her world, remaining hopeful that she could restore Knuckles as well, to which Silver wished her good luck before disappearing in a flash of light.

Mentoring Jani-Ca
Now as Enerjak, Jani-Ca began to think about how to repair the damage to Mobius and decided to first restore the cores to their owners. Knuckles, now a withered man, traveled to his former abode along with his daughter, the Citadel of Darkness where the prelates came from. She felt it was still too soon to forgive him or regard him as her father again, but she brought him with her as her only source of insight. Knuckles gave her guidance and instructed her to sit. She hesitated at first, but then she sat down and extended her will resulting in the ceiling vanishing with the entire height of the spire. Every victim who had fallen to Enerjak was revealed to her.

Surveying all of the sad and frightened looking figures preserved by the magic that had robbed them of their cores, Jani-Ca stopped on one man in particular. Knowing him only through his legendary evil, she asked Knuckles if it was Dr. Eggman, as she thought he had been vaporized. Knuckles confirmed it was Eggman, explaining he was not in complete control of his power then, and it took a great deal of experimentation to restore him since the doctor was the first person he stole a core from. Knuckles told her that the bodies were all preserved as far as he knew, but he never restored a core to someone. She found herself not knowing where to begin or even how.

After Knuckles asked her, Jani-Ca confirmed that she planned to restore all the cores to their original bodies, but to herself she murmured that she would if she could figure out how. He warned her that it was a dangerous prospect, as he did not start collecting cores until he had mastered the power of Enerjak. If she were to do it wrong, the results would be unknown. She could destroy the body, the core, or both. A wan smile crossed his face. He told her that he could coach her in how to use the power; however, something so complex needed to be taught by example. As he mentioned sharing her powers with him, she silenced him with a baleful glare, and he shrunk back into the tattered remains of his robes and armor. Unbeknownst to him (unless, as the former Enerjak, he expected it), Jani-Ca felt a dark whisper in the back of her mind telling her to squash Knuckles and take the cores for herself, but she had grown up in the misery that kind of thinking had produced. She would not perpetuate it. She had to restore the cores and heal the world quickly before that whisper grew any louder.

Knuckles asked her who she would try to restore first. She did not know, and then he suggested her mother, only to add that she would not start with her because she would not want to risk botching it and losing her forever. She seethed, but he was right. She reluctantly nodded. He then suggested choosing Dr. Eggman, Finitevus, or any of the other villains who plagued the world before he conquered it, claiming that they would not be missed. She told him that she did not want any more sacrifices and that she was not losing anyone else to this nightmare he created. He told her that she would have to risk something eventually as it would be a waste of immortality to just float there and stare at the walls. She turned to one man in particular, Remington. She had come to realize she never really knew him. As a child, she hated him on the principle that he fought with her mother. As she grew up, she had been confused by his heroism. In the end she came to understand he had given everything to try to protect everyone. She said that he would probably volunteer for this if he knew it could save the world. She hoped she was right, and she hoped he could forgive her if she was wrong. She summoned up a core and offered it to the body, telling him to please wake up.

Powers and Abilities
A virtual living Chaos Emerald, Knuckles, as his Enerjak-persona, is nigh-omnipotent. A master of the Chaos force, he can rip skyscrapers from their foundations with ease. He likely has all of the powers of the Enerjaks in Mobius Prime, only he wields them with much more experience and knowledge. He uses his power to forcefully remove the life force of his victims in the form of Cores, using them to create Prelate soldiers forced to serve him. His physical prowess allows him to break through concrete easily. He's also nearly invulnerable, shrugging nearly every attack thrown at him by Silver, even dragging around the entire planet and slamming him into Angel Island. The only thing that appears able to hurt Knuckles is Silver redirecting his attacks at him.

Personality and Traits
Driving mad with power, Enerjak is rather secure in his hold over the world, believing that he is truly unstoppable. He seems to address former companions fondly, though this may also be a show of sadism and cruelty. He regards what little resistance he meets as little more than occasional annoyance or entertainment. He's especially intrigued by Silver the Hedgehog's psychokinetic ability.

Julie-Su
Julie-Su and Knuckles were once a couple, but she left him during his psychological descent while she was pregnant.

Payback Fox
At some point in the past, Payback Fox and Enerjack might have been a couple. It is possible that Payback was trying to play both sides or was trying to get close to the enemy.

Trivia

 * While not stated directly, it's all but confirmed that this Enerjak is an alternate version of Knuckles. Silver almost stated this directly, remembering that Knuckles is the father of an alternate version of Jani-Ca. This also ties in with the information Julie-Su revealed in Archie Sonic the Hedgehog Issue 109.
 * Another hint that confirms this Enerjak is Knuckles is that his right eye is cybernetic, just like another future version of Knuckles.
 * Yet another hint is when Enerjak, in his rant, mockingly questioned Jani-Ca how she went in time to save him.
 * Enerjak's reasoning for not destroying the Freedom Fighters sooner, was because their efforts "amused" him; Eggman gave the exact same reason to Sonic during the Destruction of Knothole.
 * The full story of Knuckles's transformation was intended to be revealed in the story Mobius: 20 Years Later, but it was revealed in Archie Sonic Universe Issue 26 that the chaos absorption led to his transformation into Enerjak.