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Saving a Rainbow.

Flaming Hot For Red.

They were popping up everywhere!

The black hedgehog known as Shadow screeched around a column of fire, narrowly avoiding getting his quills tourched. He ran on, dodging left and right as even more flames popped up from the cooled lava ruins.

Why, of all places, would a Chaos Emerald be here ,in the Inferno Temple? And more to the point, where's the overgrown egg that followed us here?

Once again, Dr Eggman was searching for all powerful Chaos Emeralds. The seven gems had unlimited power, in the right hands a miracle could take place. But in the wrong hands, Dr Eggman's hands, they could be used to destroy the world. Which was bad.

Earlier that day,Tails had intercepted a conversation between Eggman and his Robot Commander. The robot had said the troops had located the Red Chaos Emerald at the heart of the Inferno Temple. Sonic had wasted no time, the blue hedgehog had gathered them all up, Shadow included, and headed off to stop Eggman.

Only they found a welcoming party, waiting for them.

Shadow gritted his teeth and dived under a waterfall of lava, the robots that were following him weren't as lucky. They smelted into a pile of liquid metal. Shadow chuckled and went on his way. He didn't pay attention to where he was going ,and suddenly yelped as the ground gave way.

He fell, arms waving all over the place. The ground was coming up fast, all flaming and boiling, and hot... much too hot! He shut his eyes, and readied himself for impact...

Nothing happened.

Shadow looked up and blinked.

" Don't worry. I got ya , Shadow."

" Kn-Knuckles !?"

Knuckles nodded and pulled him into the tunnel he'd made. Shadow clapped him on the shoulder as thanks. Knuckles peered out of the hole and smiled slightly.

" There goes Sonic."

Shadow poked his head out. A blue blur shot down one side of the ruined Temple, quickly followed by a dozen Battle Droids. Sonic's laughter echoed around the walls of the Temple as he ran along the stone floor, avoiding the boobytraps left by the old tribe and Eggman. Behind Sonic and the Battle Droids, an orange fox in a blue mini- plane/ robot walker, fired at some incoming missiles.

" I see Tails managed to fix his Cyclone walker."

" Yep. He's a smart kid, when he puts his mind to it."

Shadow smiled and nodded.

" The others are back there," Knuckles jabbed a thumb towards the depts of the tunnel. " You ready to re-join them?"

He nodded again. Knuckles led the way back up the tunnel. They re-appeared next to a white bat dressed in a purple tank top, matching shorts and boots. Near her, a pink hegdehog wearing the same outfit, only in red. Amy looked through a pair of binoculars, watching the battle below. The white bat smiled at the two as they walked over.

" Sonic's gone O.T.T again."

" Always overkill. " Knuckles frowned, " One day he will get hurt."

There was an explosion and the other side of the Temple wall collasped. A huge metal, man- like robot stomped into the center of the room. Its eyes glowed red and it raised its arm.

Straight at them !

" DUCK!! "

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Sonic turned to the sound of rock and stone falling to the ground. He watched as the ledge the rest of the crew were standing on collapsed into a cloud of dust.

" Tails !"

"On it ! I'll go help the others, while you head into the Inner Sanctum of the Temple. Hurry Sonic, that big robot can only mean Eggman has decided to join us. It looks like he means business," The kid fox paled slightly. " He might be able to catch you this time."

Sonic snorted, " That Lard-Belly couldn't catch a cold, let alone me." His eyes twinkled in the fire light as he grinned. " See you later buddy!"

Tails nodded as Sonic disappeared down a side tunnel. The orange fox pulled a lever and the Cyclone transformed in the Cyclone Battle Walker. He grinned as he turned it towards the battle, and fired up his retro boosters.

" Come on Eggman, I'm ready for ya!"

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Sonic had dived into the side tunnel, not knowing it was a slide. As he slid down it, to the depts of the Temple, he yelped as the stone surface scraped his backside. He knelt at the end and rubbed his sore butt.

" OW !! Next time, use the stairs." He looked around and shrugged. " If there are any stairs."

He got up and started jogging down a passage way. He past crude carvings in the solid lava, as he looked more closely they were all of the same woman. A woman with large black wings, she was holding the Red Chaos Emerald and seemed to be pushing back some lava monsters. He shrugged and took off his gloves to wring the sweat out, he made a face as he put them back on.The gloves were all moist because of the heat.

" Ok, if I was a Chaos Emerald, where would I be?"

" On the big stone pedestal, in the middle of the room."

" AAaahh!" Sonic jumped about five feet in the air, he turned, a hand over his heart. He frowned ." Oh, geez Shadow!" He punched the black hedgehog playfully on the arm. " Scare me half to death!"

" Uh, sorry ?" He raised a brow as he smiled.

Sonic waved a hand, and continued towards the Inner Sanctum. Shadow jogged along side him. The black hedgehog looked more uncomfortable than he did. They walked down some stone steps and entered a grand room. Sonic whistled out loud at the giant stone statue, that held the Red Chaos Emerald.

" Whoa... check out the chick. She looks familar, don't you think Shadow ?"

" Indeed. Maybe what the Doctor was going on about is true. Maybe certain Chaos Emeralds are for certain people. We need Rouge down here at once."

" No need, boys. The bat's on the job!"

" Huh?"

A trapdoor opened above them and Rouge dropped down. She gracefully landed and bowed at them.

" Ta-da !" She winked at them. " Miss me ?"

" Be careful, Rouge. The markings on the carvings suggest that something terrible will happen, if the Chaos Emerald trips any of the red lines."

Sonic and Rouge both looked around, they shrugged.

" What red lines?"

Shadow grabbed a handful of dust, he blew it over the floor of the chamber. As the dust settled, numerous red lines appeared over it. Rouge was safe, but only just, her right wing was inches away from a red line.

" Ooohhh, this complicates things a bit. But no biggie, I can do it."

Rouge crouched and flew into the air, she swooped and dived , over and under the red lines. She landed on the arm of the statue and carefully picked up the Chaos Emerald. She grinned at the two hedgehogs, they gave her the thumbs up.

And then, it happened.

The huge robot monster that had attacked the rest of the group, crashed into the room. The shockwave caused Rouge to loose her footing, she drop the Chaos Emerald. The three friends could only watch as it fell to the ground, it span on its point. It span near a red line and stopped, the friends breathed a sigh of relief. The robot stomped forward, the impact moved the Emerald nearer the line, its side caught it and then alarms started ringing!

The carvings around them , came to life!

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The others waited at the secret entrance. Knuckles kept peering into the hole, he finally spotted some flashing lights and ducked out of the way. Just in time too, Rouge shot out of the hole, clutching the Chaos Emerald.

Before any of them could congratulate her, five lava monsters lumbered out of the cave. Amy screamed and hid behind the Cyclone, Tails looked on with interest, Knuckles got ready to fight, but Rouge held back his arm. She held the Emerald infront of the monsters, the monsters gasped and bowed down low.

" Go back to where you came. I'm in control here, beat it!"

The monsters nodded, and melted into the ground, heading back into the Inferno Temple. The others gaped at her.

" The carvings, they showed me." She explained. " This Emerald was meant for me. I get to control the lava, pretty hot , huh? " She bent over double, hands on knees. Clearly winded. "That...was..t-too..close.."

Amy poked her head out from under the Cyclone, as Knuckles put the first of seven Chaos Emeralds in the cooling compartment Tails had built into the walker. Amy scanned the black hole and paled.

" Ah, Rouge? Where are Sonic and Shadow?"

There was a muffled explosion, and a large hovercraft shot out of the Temple in a cloud of smoke and dust.

Rouge just pointed upwards.

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" ARGH! Get off me, you fuzzy furball ! ARGHH!"

" Whoaahh! "

Sonic held onto the wing of the hovercraft with all his might. Eggman was falling out the otherside, his arms waving in the air as he steadied himself. Sonic chanced a look behind and saw Shadow holding on at the back. He raised his brows in a mute question.

You alright ?

Shadow nodded and pulled out a dirty, rolled up peice of paper from his back pocket. He grinned at Sonic as he waved it and pointed it towards the huge backside of Eggman. Sonic grinned too.

" Lets end this !"

Sonic jumped into the driving seat and pushed numerous buttons, being very careful not to get squashed, as Eggman tried to compose himself. He hit a nice, big round one, and the hovercraft started humming very deeply. Eggman looked at him as he sat back down, his face going a great shade of purple.

" What have you done, you blue pipsqueak?! "

" How the heck should I know ? Your flying thingy ! Bye-bye! "

Sonic and Shadow jumped clear, and landed on a sand bank. They high-fived as Eggman span out of control into the distance.

" I HATE THOSE HEDGEHOGS!!"

"Coolness!" Sonic chuckled , as Eggman crashed head first into his waiting Battleship. " We rock!"

Shadow pulled out the paper he took, he was quiet as he studied it.

" This looks like a map to all the other Chaos Emeralds. Eggman must have found them by their energy signatures." He frowned. " Hm, it looks like he's also been doing some research. Some of the Emeralds are connected to trials, dangerous ones."

" Great. Lets head back to the others, back to Mystic Ruins. Tails and Amy can track down the nearest Emerald, while Knuckles and Rouge figure out the score with these trials. Me and you can pig -out, 'cause seriously.. I'm hungry!"

Shadow nodded as he re-folded the parchment.

" Sounds like a plan. We have to get the rest of the Chaos Emeralds first. Before Eggman does."

Sonic nodded in agreement as they headed back to the others. There were six more Emeralds to find, and with the map it should be a piece of cake. One thing was crystal clear.No matter what, Eggman had to be stopped, again.

First chapt done

More coming soon!