Many generations passed since the Floating Island escaped the grip of gravity, and the echidnas learned to adapt. Then two brothers, Edmund and Dimitri, the great-great grandsons of the scientist couple who once made the island float, came up with a plan to re-unite it with the mainland. Since just removing the emeralds would cause the island to drop like a stone, they invented a device they called the "Chaos Syphon", which should slowly drain the emerald's energy and ensure a soft landing. But the scientific elite denied the plan, considering it too risky.
Disgruntled, Dimitri left the Hall of Learing, intending to execute the
plan on his own, even without the approval of the other scientists. But
in his hurry he increased the absorption rate of the Syphon too quickly,
and in a giant explosion all but one emerald were destroyed. Their
released energy was absorbed by Dimitri, turning him into a being
with limitless power, a living Chaos Emerald. "Power enough to lay
worlds to waste, or re-fashion them in my own image", as he states.
And he created a massive dark tower to herald the fall of Echidna
Civilization. The walls of this fortress he strengthened with a fraction
of his own limitless power, making it withstand all attacks. This was
shown in Sonic issue #35, "A Sense Of History", part 2).
Dimitri took the chair members of the Scientist Council prisoner, intending
to enslave the whole echidna civilization, and then the planet. But just
as he reveled in triumph the tower around him started to crumble, because
fire ants had eaten through its foundations. Dimitri was so shocked that
mere ants were able to best his limitless powers that he didn't manage to
get out in time, and was buried under the ruins of his own dark tower,
whose remains were from then on known as "Mount Fate".
Since it was their sophisticated technology that enabled Dimitri to release
the power of the Chaos Emeralds, the echidnas came to the conclusion that
putting trust in nothing but science would sooner or later lead to the
downfall of their civilization. So they renounced technology and tried
to find a different way of living.
But since they couldn't deny their scientific achievements completely, they
gathered samples and buried them in a vast underground city called the
"Great Conservatory", beneath the shadow of Mount Fate, to preserve
them for future generations. And to ensure that history wouldn't repeat
itself, they appointed a guardian to stand watch over the surviving Chaos
Emerald. Edmund was chosen to be the first guardian, a task which was
then passed from generation to generation, through all his children,
and finally to Knuckles. This was shown in Sonic issue #36,
"A Sense Of History", part 3).
Many echidnas were not happy with the decision to give up technology, since
this would simplify their society and force them to get used to a lower
standard of living. Dimitri's son Menniker pretended to
comply, but secretly used the advanced technology his father left him to
found the Dark Legion, an organization bound to once again make the
echidna civilization the most advanced on the planet.
Edmund's son Steppenwolf found out about one of the secret
conventions of the Legion and tried to investigate, but he was spotted
and hunted down. His father managed to rescue him, but was shot by a
member of the Legion. After this incident, a fire-ant named
Christopheles brought Steppenwolf to Haven, a secret
base of operation, where he trained him to be the next guardian.
Apparently the fire-ants had a very advanced civilization too, but chose
to keep this secret from the echidnas and assist them 'from behind the
scenes'. As their name implies, they are able to breathe fire, and can
also communicate telepathically.
Having learned how to control the Chaos Emerald's energies with his mind,
Steppenwolf returned to Echidnapolis and defeated the Dark Legion by
opening a dimensional portal and sending them through it.
All this was shown in flashbacks in "Knuckles - The Dark Legion", issues #1 - #3.
This was shown in Sonic issue #13. Although Sonic and Knuckles had to fight side by side again several times in the future, Knuckles always kept wary when dealing with Sonic, never trusting him fully, until they finally became friends in Sonic issue #53.
Long before his first confrontation with Sonic, Knuckles has met
Sally, when her father took her with him to the Floating
Island for a visit. But that was before Robotnik took over control, and
both were at a very young age. This was shown in a flashback in Sonic
issue #44.
Contents List
While the two tried to get back, Enerjak used his powers to build a dark,
corrupt reflection of the former Echidnapolis on the ruins where the
city once stood: Nekronopolis. But Knuckles found the city and
managed to sneak in, and with the combined efforts of Archimedes' fire-ant
friends and Knuckles' father (who secretly lent a hand) Enerjak was banned
from the planet and sent into space. Knuckles accepted Archimedes as his
ally and 'mentor'. All this was shown in the Knuckles mini-series #1 - #3.
After the huge success, Knuckles was given his own ongoing comic.
In Echidnaopolis Knuckles gets to meet his mother, who apparently left his
father when he was still a kid, because she was 'unable to cope with
guardian traditions'.
Knuckles finds out that many years ago there was a war between Dingo City
and Echidnaopolis, and guardian Hawking had to send both
cities into alternate dimensions to protect them from the radioactivity
caused by a nuclear strike initiated by the dingoes. For this purpose he
invented the Hyper Zone Projector. But now that the projector's
energy is wearing off, both cities are on a 'collision course' into the
dimension from which they originated, literally 'merging into one another'
for short periods of time, allowing its inhabitants to travel between the
two.
The warlike dingoes take this opportunity to once again attack the echidnas.
Hawking, who is still alive after all those years, manages to re-integrate
Echidnaopolis into its original dimension by using Guardian Technology,
while Knuckles and Julie-Su try to convince the dingo leader,
General Stryker, to stop all hostile activities.
Dingo City doesn't survive, but all the dingoes are brought over to Echidnaopolis in time. Julie-Su and Knuckles become semi-friends.
In Knuckles #7, a new villain in town named Mammoth Mogul uses the power of a Chaos Emerald to return Enerjak to the Floating Island. Enerjak becomes leader of the Dark Legion, captures the Chaotix, and finally Knuckles.
More story summarizes coming soon...