Author's Note: Hey guys welcome to chapter 2 of the gateway. YAY! *rolls eyes* Anywho thank you to the one person who reviewed and to all you who didn't please do, every review I receive will help me improve as an author. Also don't expect all my new chapters to be published so quickly, I just had some extra time so I finished this one quickly.

Well anyway, I hope you enjoy the second chapter and have a nice day.

Chapter 2: Light At The End Of The Tunnel

Unidentified Space, Date Unknown

Ferris looked out into the space surrounding him. Lights. Some big, some small, in all colours and shapes. In a sense he felt like he was floating but at the same time weighed down. He looked at the small screen on his wrist, No atmosphere, zero gravity, either it worked and I'm in some sort of infinite space, or Solaris had some trans-units bring me to the holo-chamber. That still wouldn't explain the lack of atmosphere though.

He looked around again, fascinated with the scene around him. But then... Ferris watched as one of the smaller lights, this one blue, began to move. Transfixed in this light moving towards him all he could do is stare.

The light was upon him in very little time, enveloping him in it's bright blue rays. Well this is different, He began to think.

Squinting, he managed to make out an image, an island. The island appeared to be covered in a dense jungle with several stone monuments jutting out above the tree line. Close to the centre of the island there was a large, barren mountain with yet another monument built into the side.

At first appearances this island looked like it could be a normal regular island on Earth that must have at one time been inhabited by ancient Mayans or Aztecs, but there was one discrepancy. While taking a look at the island's borders Ferris realized that this island was actually floating or, at least gave the appearance of floating, with the bright light in his eyes he couldn't be sure.

Wondering how much time had passed Ferris decided to check his wrist screen and was surprised to find that it still worked.

Pondering this conundrum seemed to be the only thing to do at the moment so for the next few minutes he closed his eyes and used his most effective body part: his brain.

In his pondering he came up with what he deemed to be a logical explanation: since the device he was using to measure time was man made and therefore not actually an accurate or perfect measurement his clock must continue counting at the pre-set pace and will not stop counting even if it's in a place where time doesn't exist.

Satisfied with his solution Ferris became somewhat relaxed. Quickly however he remembered his current location and became slightly worried. "Maybe I should try using the return device," he muttered to himself.

As he was muttering the light around him began to fade and quickly he was able to see the island in more detail. With this detail he confirmed his suspicions about the island floating in the air, seeing the island's bottom stick out beneath it. The bottom of the island gave it the appearance that it had at one time been part of the land below but some unseen force brought it up and kept it afloat.

As well the additional detail allowed him to see what appeared to be roughly humanoid figures gathering around one of the monuments, this one a pyramid-like structure, and examining it. What they were examining it for he had no idea.

While watching these figures something caught his eye, a glimmer of green at one of the smaller alters near the mountain. This altar was mostly blocked by trees but from what Ferris could see it was in worse shape than the pyramid one. This one gave the appearance that it was some place of worship with a flat circular top where in the centre, a large green gem sat.

The first thought that came to his mind was that perhaps the locals honoured this gem as some sort of god or deity. He wouldn't blame them if they did this gem was massive and if sold it would probably be worth somewhere in the tens of millions if not more.

Getting bored with staring at the gem Ferris began to notice that the island felt like it was getting closer. Slowly but at a reasonable pace he was able to see the island on a larger scale. At the rate he was going he figured he'd land on the island in a couple of minutes.

This could be a problem, he felt himself worry, of course for all I know this could just be some sort of mirage-like image.

As he got closer to the island he felt his speed continually increase to speeds he knew would kill him if he hit the ground. Considering his options he decided the best thing to do was to use his return device, he had the information he needed with his eye witness account and the data from the built in camera in his helmet he would at least win a get some research grants, he could even get the Nobel Prize in physics he wanted. But there was something, something inside of him that said that if he did this he was going to miss out on some sort of important discovery.

Looking at the ground he was speeding towards he realized his time to make a decision was short he had maybe thirty seconds before he hit the ground. Praying to God he was making the right decision he closed his eyes and made his choice.

Angel Island, Planet Mobius, September 28th, 2011

The guardian was not in a good mood, the archeologists had called him to help them for a simple translation job. Apparently they were too "busy" to get their computers and run the translation program and the lead archeologist Professor Roland had found it convenient to call Knuckles and waste his time. Knuckles had realized the second he heard the professors's voice on the phone he would be stuck in some useless task, but he had expected something a little more interesting. Although he could easily read ancient Echidna script it was still a waste of his time which he could be using for protecting the Master Emerald.

Now after completing his menial task the red Mobian was taking a quick detour to check on the Master Emerald before he headed home. Seeing the glittering gem always lifted his spirits a little. Tonight was no different. Walking up to the emerald he felt some his annoyance melt away, not completely, but enough to calm him down at least.

Not feeling the urge to leave yet the echidna sat down for meditation and reached out with his natural connection to the Master Emerald. In it he saw what he usually saw, the life on Mobius going about in it's natural circle, with plants, animals, humans, and mobians all resting in a semi-perfect harmony. The natural harmony of Mobius was never perfect there would always be people on the planet who wished to use people to their own ends, but at times the planet got close to perfection, this was one of those times. It had been since Robotnik was arrested and placed in a maximum security GUN prison cell.

Shortly into watching this the Emerald began to show him a vision. In his vision he saw Angel Island, in full colour and detail, above it a brightly shining blue star. For a moment the image stayed still and the guardian watched as something small and indiscernible in it's shape fell from the star and entered a full plummet for the floating island. Just as the figure was about to hit the island the vision stopped bringing Knuckles back to reality. Standing up Knuckles began to ponder the implications of this message from the emerald. Closing his eyes Knuckles pointed his face to the sky searching for answers the sky above might hold. Once his face was pointed up he opened his eyes, just in time to see a projectile falling from the sky headed right towards him.