One Minute Melee: Knuckles vs Cirno

WHERE ALL THE FIGHTS ARE SETTLED IN 60 SECONDS!!!

TWO FIGHTERS!!!

NO RESEARCH!!!

MELEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!

GO!!!

---

Gensokyo
Somewhere in some forest...

Knuckles could not believe his luck. As the unfortunate echidna ventured through some forest in search of the lost fragments of the Master Emerald (again), the Guardian of the presently grounded Angel Island reflected upon his day.

Angel Island, Master Emerald's Alter
Hours ago but not many...



The morning had been pleasant. Neither Rogue nor Eggman had come to the island alter to pester him, the world was at peace, and Angel Island stayed in the sky where it belonged. Knuckles' peace of mind however did not last as all of a sudden, his Island was no longer over the ocean but instead over some stretch of forest.

Curious, Knuckles left the alter to scope out where he was. Reaching Mushroom Hill Zone, the island protector was dismayed to see a familiar sight: his Master Emerald was being pilfered. Again.





But not by the usual suspects. As his precious gem was carried though the sky, Knuckles noticed that--- rather than a portly scientist in red or a batty femme fatale--- a blonde human riding a broom was to blame. He couldn't reach her in time on foot. But he didn't have to.


(le flashback)

Nearby was a familiar switch. One flip and a rising air current made itself felt--- with a running start and the bounce house-like help of some oversized fungi, Knuckles soared high, gliding to meet the would-be thief.

The gem pilferer spotted his approaching flight path however and drifted to the side.

"Woah!"
"Return the Master Emerald!"
"Oh. This gem? I'm just borrowing it ze!"
"Not if I can help it!"

The lone guardian took a few swipes at the girl but was easily evaded at each turn. Seeing no other choice, Knuckles regretfully took aim at the sacred emerald and punched toward it. The thieving witch rose to dodge and was surprised as the air around them exploded violently, breaking the "borrowed" gem into many shards that spread across both Angel Island and Gensokyo. Seeing no point to staying on the flying island, the enigmatic witch promtly flew off.

"Get back here!"

Once again, Angel Island fell but on dry land for once. It thankfully didn't take too long to gather all the shards on the island.

Gensokyo
Present time...



Which all brings Knuckles to his current situation; in unknown territory, his search continued. At the very least he found time to assemble to treasure hunting supplies to aid his hunt. It seemed that they would be needed soon; a large frozen lake came into the lone Echidna's view.

---

Gensokyo
Some frozen lake...



This was rather curious. Upon reaching the chilled lake, it only then occurred to Knuckles that it was late into Spring. Why was there a frozen lake right in front of him though? The lone echidna did not dwell on the matter however--- the Master Emerald needed to be reassembled and he sensed more lost shards within the unusually large and cold lake before him. Forward the brutish guardian marched.

---

How could traversing a frozen lake be such an issue? Ever since he walked into the mist surrounding the mysterious body of water, the bare fisted warrior had been hopeless lost while the lake itself had grown may time over. It was as if something or someone was giving him the runaround. Worse was that these same unseen forces likely also had the emerald shards he sought. Had he pulled down his sunglasses, Knuckles would've spotted them by now.

"Alright! Whoever's there, come out!," called out the gem-seeking guardian.

At that instant, the air cooled drastically. As the temperature dropped even more, the cold spoke out in response...

"When someone loses their way, there's fairies nearby," spoke out a rough but immature voice.

The mist in the direction of the voice then parted ways, revealing what appeared to be a small child; her hair was a pale aqua while her lively eyes were a darker shade. The mischievous fairy's youthful look was further complimented by a large blue--- almost green--- ribbon at the back of her head while the rest of her was adorned in a somewhat simple blue dress with a larger, nearly white, pink blouse worn underneath; her emsamble was completed by a small red ribbon tied at her blouse's collar. Despite her small size and apparent youth however, the fairy girl's visible excitement and icicle-like wings kept the last echidna on guard.



"Alright, kid. I'll bite. Is there something you want?," Knuckles questioned.

"I'm just here to play. And you're here too. So let's fight!," the fairy declared with simplicity.

"Not interested, kid. I'm looking for something and I don't have time for this," the treasure-hunting loner resolutely replied.

"Don't care! Better be ready!," the blue cryomancer shouted back with equal resolution. "I'm Cirno and I'm the strongest!"

"Bring it on then!," Knuckles growled, raising his gloved fists. The fight looked unavoidable and chances were that the fairy before him knew something about his emerald.



"Who do you think I am! Even crying babies freeze before me!" Cirno boasted as she crossed her arms with a cocky smirk--- she was 999% motivated to win! Under different circumstances, the opposing echidna would dwell on her wording more.



Opening the battle, the gloved guardian charged at his floating opposition, who responded in kind by drifting backwards and firing a few series of bright blue energy bullets--- her danmaku, each set formed into the shape of spearheads and followed by more danmaku in linear formations. Noticing how the energy bullets expanded out as they approached, Knuckles continued his charge, unhindered by the icy terrain as he bobbed and weaved between the gaps in the fairy's attack.

As the echidna drew close, Cirno exploded out with several large rings of bright blue danmanku alongside others that were colored grey. The moron did not anticipate her foe simply jumping over the swift energy projectiles. In his ascent, Knuckles stuck his fists out to initiate his signature glide; flying fast, the guardian planted his reinforced fists into the icy girl's forehead, dazing her as the impact pushed the two combatants apart. The echidna landed on his feet and slid back along the ice while the fairy skid along the ground before managing to levitate again.

Feeling a headache come on, the determined tomboy recovered quickly and readied her first spell card. This fight was gonna be fun!

Hail Sign - "Hailstorm" (Lunatic)

In retaliation to the previous hit, the fighting fairy placed one hand at her hip while the other was outstretched to her opponent. As her dress blew in an intensifying breeze, a ball of blue energy formed in her hand. The energy sphere exploded with more danmaku, this time shaped like cut diamonds as they were fired out in five rows.

While Cirno drifted back as she fired, Knuckles was having a far easier time dodging this attack. Or so he thought as a stray danmaku hit his blindspot. It was then he noticed that the ice fairy was actually firing her attack eight-ways; the remaining three lines of danmaku was being shot into the air before falling back down like snowflakes. These very energy bullets were now all around him! The echidna's situation called for the most appropriate response...

"Oh no!"


Springing back to feet, Knuckles was made to evade as he dodged around five lines of fire from the fairy while even more projectiles rained down from above, swaying in the wind. Not one to keep defensive, Knuckles dive-bombed the frozen water at his feet, making use of his Shovel Golves

Cirno was not pleased at losing sight of her opponent. Before she could express her annoyance however, the ground beneath her exploded and a flaming fist met her face! The ice fairy suddenly broke apart at the hit...


The lost guardian dusted himself off as the danmaku all dispersed before his eyes. Confident that he won, Knuckles looked to his downed opponent only to panic at her broken state!

"Did I overdo it?," Knuckles pondered as he ran over to the Cirno's broken form, saddened. He knelt down to get a better look.

"Hey! Over here! Our fight's not done!," a familiar female voice shouted from behind him. At this point, Knuckles' building grief gave way to confusion.

"Wha- How? Is this some kind of trick?," Knuckles stammered as he stood, still processing the situation.

"I'm not in a pranking mood! Fairies just can't die. We're forces of nature!," Cirno said, pounding her chest for emphasis. She remained enthused but her motivation was down to about 907% now.

"You wanna keep going? Even after...," the echidna inquired, motioning to the fairy carcass behind him.

"Who do you think I am!? I'm unstoppable!," Cirno affirmed with her usual confidence.

"You asked for it kid. They call me Knuckles for a reason!," the guardian declared, flexing to make his point.

The two fighters approached one another a short distance. Cirno floated forth, her arms crossed like before. Knuckles paced ahead, arms at his side before raising them to make his fists. It was time for Round Two! No breaks or interruptions this time!


Cold Sign - "Minus K"

At the border of annoyed and irritated, Cirno crossed her arms once more, circling close around Knuckles her flight, cleanly floating out his punching range. Crouching into herself a bit, the ice fairy suddenly raised her arms as several giant ice cube exploded around her, floating stationary. All aimed in the Echidna's general direction. Floating from place to place, Cirno repeated this process as her icy creations began to pelt the off-guard guardian.

Far from helpless however, the red echidna punched at the ice. Even as he punched away, ice daggers now rained down as the full assault now came from all sides, managing to still hit past his guard.


Cirno was pleased with this her progress now. Her offense was so strong and fast that steam was rising... wait... steam? When the icy nine-ball refocused on her opponent, she noticed that her fur-covered opponent was obscured by a thick veil of steam.

Floating closer to get a better look, the fairy found herself self the victim of having one of her own ice boulders thrown back into her face! Barely keeping her balance, the still floating fairy's dazed eyes widened as two fist-sized fireballs nicked her wings. As the hapless fairy was sent on a downward spiral by the red-hot one-two, Knuckles came running out and punched at Cirno, who once again died by means of sudden explosion to the face.

Not a second later, the boisterous ice fairy reformed at the spot where she exploded. Her motivation was at about 713% and she was very much annoyed.

The echidna survivalist lobbed ten fiery punches as he charged ahead. With a simple gesture, Cirno froze the flaming projectiles in place... at which point Knuckles promptly collided with them face-first. And suffered an icy explosion.


Feeling catharsis, the ice fairy's motivation was up to 717%. Time to pin the annoyance down!

Frost Sign - "Frost Column"

At that very second, the frozen lake engulfed Knuckles' legs, leaving him stationary as large and jagged columns of ice rose up around him.

Frozen Sign - Freeze Atmosphere

As the last echidna struggled to move his frosted over legs, his impromptu prison then filled with snowy particles. From his bound legs to his weighted upper body, Knuckles the Echidna was completely snowed over and unable to move.

-Little Iceberg-
Lifting her hands, Cirno formed a large ice cube and chucked it at the echidna, breaching his cold containment and collapsing all the accumulated ice on top of him.

-Icicle Bomb-
Pushed to the ground by her last attack, Cirno extends her hands to the echidna buried under literal tons of ice and snow. A massive and rigid ice block shoots out and hits its mark! The sounds from a bunch of ice breaking even more ice (and hopefully nothing more...) always pleased the fairy. She wanted to hear that sound a lot more.

Ice Cube - Great Crusher

Further motivated, Cirno formed an iceberg overhead that dwarfed the small mountain of frosty wonder that piled over her opponent. With startling strength and efficiency, the ice fairy lobbed the monumental ice pike ahead. The ground beneath however indicated that something was going wrong.

As the iceberg soared, Knuckles busted out of his frosty confinement. But not like before; curled up and tearing up the lake beneath him, the spin-dashing guardian tore ahead as the iceberg flew overhead harmlessly--- Cirno herself was wide-open! The large mass of ice and the rolling echidna each tore right through their respective targets.

The impacts rippled across the frozen lake, turning the once smooth ice jagged and harsh. Cirno, as before, reformed as the icy terrain tore it apart.


Motivation at 643%, Cirno made a direct charge at Knuckles, who was re-working his footing. Firing a trio of large blue lasers, the fairy fighter foiled her feisty foe's feeble attempts to evade for one simple reason: three shots are always better than one! With that, the peeved Cirno had frozen Knuckles in a block of ice.

Cold Body - Super Ice Kick

Taking to the skies, Cirno dived upon her frozen opponent. Coated in a bright blue aura and spinning like a drill, the fearsome cryomancer hit Knuckles head-on and looked awesome doing it. Going to such lengths to look awesome always made her dizzy however.

Knuckles, while dazed, jumped to his feet once more. Shaking his head to refocus, the red bruiser leaped forth and scored two more punches. Both the punches themselves and the explosions they spawned claimed Cirno's life without fail. She was not amused once she came back...


This time, no more nice strongest fairy! She was putting in her full 550% now!

Freeze Sign - Prefect Freeze (composite)

Determined now more than ever before... except for fighting Sunny and her friends... and that other time with Marisa... and her hunt for the Daidarabotchi..., Cirno jumped from jagged ice protrusion to jagged ice protrusion, letting danmaku of all colors in the rainbow explode out as she moved. As Knuckles made to dodge though, he found himself getting boxed in as the multi-colored spheres froze in place each time he drew close.

With both combatants boxed in by the frozen danmaku, the knuckle-headed opponents approached one another to settle their fight up close. Knuckles went in first with a one-two combo only for Cirno to jump away from the first fist and catch the other one in its swing with both hands, barely keeping it in place

-Midsummer Snowman-
Knuckles' entire arm was coated in ice! Cirno then marched forward as if she were rolling a log, the partially-curled echidna being painfully pushed through the frozen lake's roughed up surface.


-Ice Charge-
The ice fairy then kicked her opponent and ran after then, coating herself in a few clear layers of ice. With a full-on body slam, the ice-coated Cirno sent Knuckles flying into a wall of her now pale blue danmaku. Frozen or not, the layer of energy bullets exploded against Knuckles' back and sent him flying towards Cirno once more.

After a quick but surprisingly savage onslaught of punches across the gut and kicks to the face, the ragdolled guardian was set-up for the fiendish fairy's big finish.

Freeze Sign - Prefect Freeze (continued)

Resuming her ultimate spell card, Cirno caught the falling Knuckles with a rapid-fire barrage of several dozen icicle blades, each hitting fast enough to shatter on impact. Cirno approached as her shots kept Knuckles suspended while the temperature around her dropped drastically. The battered gem-finder was frozen instantly once more.

Folding her arms more, Cirno allowed the frozen danmaku to move once more. From within the ice, Knuckles' steady pain relief gave way to panic as the explosive energy spheres closed in upon him. The ensuing series of explosions not only hurt... a lot..., they also rocketed him back to the fairy responsible...

'Oh no!'


It was time for the big finish and Cirno was happy to give a full 666% into it! With a smirk, she bent down and blew a kiss...


-Frozen Technique!-
Shooting a strong mist from her two hands, she forced the downed guardian to his feet and froze him one last time...