Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-24074103-20131204160455/@comment-24067999-20131208044433

It's confirmed in the Archie Comics that Knuckles has a small link to the Chaos Force, but, like you sayid, it's weaker that Shadow's

As for the special effects, I've seen this numerous times in Mario spinoff games, like Waluigi swimming in the air or DK creating shock wave by slamming his hands on the ground.