Ch. 3- A Hedgehog's Gamble


Sonic the Hedgehog © Sega

Ace the Chao © Me


Before we continue, I'd just like to say that this chapter was co-written by me and one of my newest friends, Ego-Man25. He has an account on DA and here, too. Check out his stories when you get the chance!


Knuckles walked through the streets of Station Square, holding three of the Master Emerald shards. "I gotta find those emerald pieces..." Knuckles said. "But... why do I get the feeling that three more of them are in Casinopolis...?"

A familiar little ball of light suddenly floated by him.

"...Well, I guess there's that," the Red Rock answered himself.

He soon stopped in front of the Casinopolis Casino. "Geez..."

Casinopolis, the gambling central of Station Square. Also a very popular tourist attraction.

"...Well there's nothing wrong with the slots." Knuckles rationalized. "...Wait, what am I saying? I've never been here. What do I know about this place?"

He then looked up at the coin logo. "...Dammit, the lock systems just keep on getting more and more out there every year..." He then glanced at a building. "I'm going to get in there."

He then looked up at the coin logo. "...Dammit, the lock systems just keep on getting more and more out there every year..." He then glanced at a building. "I'm going to get in there."

That's when he scaled up the wall, jumping off the Chaos in Space billboard, and glided towards the sign.

BONK!

"Access Confirmed." An automated voice said. The two doors opened up.

With that, the red echidna entered. The doors soon closed behind him.

Cue Sonic and Tails entering the scene. "Well, here we are," Sonic said.

"According to my Miles Electric," Tails started, "there should be a Chaos Emerald inside."

"I've been looking at that thing a few times during our walk, and I've been getting MULTIPLE responses from it." Sonic brought up. "Does that mean anything?"

"Multiple responses?" asked Tails.

"Yeah, on that gadget there." Sonic pointed out.

Tails looked at the Miles Electric, and indeed saw three taller, and slightly greener emeralds on the screen. "Oh shoot, good eye Sonic." He turned the thing off. "I don't actually KNOW what that was, going on there. But, for the time being, we gotta focus on the Chaos Emeralds."

"Right," Sonic said. "That's priority number one, then." He then looked at the giant coin logo. "Hey Tails. Ever noticed how lock systems are getting weirder and weirder every day?"

"I have, actually," Tails answered.

"SO strange, huh?" Sonic asked.

"Makes you wonder who's the maniac who comes up with them." Tails said. "It could be you-know-who."

"Could be his way of trying to keep us out," Sonic concurred.

"Well he DID fund the majority of the casino's construction." Tails answered. "Side note: why do we let him help out with town funding?"

"Because logic." Sonic answered. "Now let's find a switch to step on!"

The Blue Blur then looked up to the sign, spotting a trail of rings. He then looked to Tails. "...Tails."

"Yeah Sonic?" Tails asked.

"...Why do I get the feeling that I'm missing an item I'd need in order to dash through those?" Sonic asked.

That's when he spotted a familiar little ball of light.

"That again?" he muttered.

"...We need to go through the sewers to get an item...?" Tails sweatdropped.

Sonic took in a deep breath, steeling his nerves...and his stomach.

*3 minutes later...*

"...Ugh... bleugh..." Sonic laid down in front of the Casinopolis, thoroughly grossed out. "...I went through crazy stuff before... but Light Speed Dash was NOT worth that effort..."

"Something we both agree on, bro...!" Tails gagged.

"...Ugh... They better have a shower inside..." Sonic said, spindash charging to go through the rings.

"I couldn't agree more!" Tails added as Sonic stood up.

"Okay," Sonic said. "Ready...GO!"

He dashed through the rings and hit the button.

BONK!

"Access Confirmed." That same automated voice said. The doors opened once again.

"...Showers, here we go." Sonic said.

But meanwhile, with Knuckles, he was staring up, gaping in awe at what he was seeing.

"...Woah... this place is... well this place is TALL!" Knuckles exclaimed.

A human employee walked over. "Welcome to Casinopolis, er..."

"Knuckles." Knuckles said.

"Right, Knuckles!" The employee said. "Is there anything the staff may do for you for your first time visit?"

"Yeah, I'm looking for the Master Emerald pieces," Knuckles answered.

"The...what?" asked the employee.

"Never mind, I'll find it myself," Knuckles replied as he looked around, only to see the giant golden Sonic statue in the middle of the room. "Jeez, everywhere I look, that hedgehog's face is plastered on everything!"

So as Knuckles began climbing up towards the ceiling, Sonic and Tails made their entrance. "...Still... queasy..." Sonic gagged.

The employee turned around. "Ah. Welcome to Casinopolis, Sonic the Hedgehog. I do hope the accommodations are to your liking."

"...Cool." Sonic replied. "Hey... are there any showers we can go to? Any at all?"

"They're that way," said the employee, pointing to the nearby bathroom stalls. "Please, take as much time as you need."

"Oh WE will!" Tails said full-heartedly.

As the two of them headed for the shower, Sonic mentioned, "...You know, it's weird coming into a casino like this one, only to see a giant golden statue of yourself. I was expecting that to look more like EGGMAN!"

"Don't you remember, Sonic?" Tails asked. "You saved this place last year, so they built that statue in your honor."

"...Oh yeah..." Sonic said, scratching his head. "I think I did SOMETHING like that..." He turned a shower on. "So this place was saved by me, and backed by Eggman... weird..." He then applied the soap. "...Feels GOOD..."

Tails did the same thing.

"Ahhh..." he sighed as he scrubbed at his scalp. "Much better...I wonder how Ace is doing."

***Short scene change***

At Sonic and Tails' abode, a whole flock of Chao are seen, bobbing their heads to techno music as Ace, wearing Sonic's headphones, scratched the records on Sonic's turntable.

***Back at Casinopolis***

"Good, probably." Sonic answered.

The two came out of the showers, and began drying themselves with towels, feeling refreshed as new. "Awright!" Tails said. "Feel like a new man!"

"Technically, we're not men," Sonic quipped. "We're a hedgehog and a fox."

"You know what I mean," Tails answered. "Since when are you technical, anyway?"

"Since I went through a sewer." Sonic answered... before realizing, "Oh God, I AM getting technical...! We gotta find us some pinball-esque level designs out in the lobby!"

"What will that...on second though, never mind," Tails started before he followed after Sonic.

Of course, Tails would receive his answer anyways when that employee came over to the two. "My apology for any inconveniences that may have required you two to take our showers first."

"Trust us, you guys are cool." Sonic said. "We're actually on the look-out for a Chaos Emerald!"

"...Follow me, you two." The employee walked ahead.

Sonic and Tails glanced at each other before they shrugged and followed after the employee...and not long after they disappeared, the Sonic statue had shattered into pieces.

"Behold... the jackpot prize." The employee pointed to the Chaos Emerald sitting atop the gold vault room they were at. "This is an anonymous donation, for the offchance that we would not be able to make enough money to provide a more by-the-books jackpot of overflowing chests of gold."

"...So we're gonna need to win rings, and then pay off the rings by standing on that switch over there?" Tails asked. "That... sounds painful... but about right."

"Well, what'd you expect from a casino, little bro?" Sonic asked.

"Well obviously, loads of bumpers, slot machines, and half-pipe ramps that you can crouch down on as you fall from such a great height to either get shot up higher, or run up walls vertically." Tails answered. "At the END of that zone, we'd be fighting one of the most frustrating bosses of that particular adventure."

"...On second thought, I can't blame you for not expecting that." Sonic conceded. "Holy cow, is this going to be different."

"Well, we gotta start somewhere," Tails replied.

So with THAT in mind, the two of them ran back to the lobby, noted the disappeared Sonic statue, and then ran to one of the teleports. "Well, after you." Tails said.

"Let's do this," Sonic said as he entered. He got warped to... a giant pinball table. "HOLY EMERALDS, TAILS! EVERYTHING FEELS WEIRD! I'M LIKE A BALL!"

Tails... was just floating there, and he sighed. "...Calm down, Sonic. Just think pinball zones."

"Right...think pinball zones..." Sonic muttered to himself. After bumping into several bumpers to get rings, plus getting launched off of the flippers... Sonic soon adjusted. "Alright, I got this."

"I got controls!" Tails called from a control room.

"NOW LET'S AIM FOR THE HIGH SCORE!" Sonic said.

"Got it!" Tails exclaimed.

So while Sonic and Tails were doing traditional pinball, Knuckles was busy gliding around the... admittedly quite elaborate ceiling, going from what appeared to be a pirate ship, to what appeared to be a castle. "Who's the nutjob that DESIGNED this place...?" He thought, coming up to a robot.

He easily smashed it with a single punch. Out came a piece of the Master Emerald, which he picked up. "...Well, my crazy hunch turned out to be RIGHT on the mark!"

He then held up another piece.

"Who'd have thought that other piece was in that statue?" he asked.

That one employee... having SOMEHOW made his way up to the ceiling, replied, "Oh, this piece? Well the gold Sonic statue was just recently crafted and delivered."

"...You are VERY good at your job." Knuckles noted in bewilderment. "But yeah, these are what I meant by pieces of the Master Emerald. Any ideas on where the last piece is would be appreciated."

"Sorry, sir," the employee shrugged.

At that, Knuckles sighed... and chuckled a bit. "...Nah, it's fine. Keep up the good work, and you might get a promotion." With that, he glided over to the pirate ship. "One more Emerald piece to collect."

That's when he spotted a moving lion statue. "...It's probably there." Knuckles said.

He then glided over and sat on the lion's nose. "...Inside the lion's maw..." Knuckles quickly realized. "I got it."

He then jumped down and tried to force the lion's mouth open. He failed. "...Ugh, this is difficult..."

The lion's mouth opened at that moment automatically, revealing the last Emerald Piece of Casinopolis.

"Oh!" he exclaimed as he tried to grab it, only for the lion's mouth to shut with his arm still inside. "OW!" He also lost his rings. "...Augh..."

Then, the lion's paws slammed down before it opened its mouth again, releasing a booming roar... followed by an automated voice: "Players 1 and 2 have not passed the 100 ring mark in Sonic Pinball. Would Players 1 and 2 please make their way through the Dilapidated Way sewer system?"

Knuckles snagged the Master Emerald Piece. "I got it!" He then thought, "...Still, eugh... sucks to be whoever THOSE two are..."

***Scene change***

"HOW DID WE END UP BACK DOWN HERE?!" Sonic questioned.

Tails looked at all the rings and ring containers that were ahead of them. "...And why are there so many RINGS down here...?"

"...This is my life now." Sonic realized. "Gambling led me over to the sewers again." He turned to the fourth wall. "Remember kids: don't gamble carelessly. Otherwise, you'll be in the sewers... just like me...!"

"And that's no good," Tails added.

Having gotten the PSA out the of the way, Sonic began running ahead. "Well as long as we're in the sewers AGAIN, we might as well just race to the bathroom entrance, collecting as many rings as possible."

Tails sneered before he whirled his namesakes and began to speed off.

Though Tails zoomed ahead the first slope due to his natural propelled flight, Sonic charged up his Light Speed dash, dashing through the rings to zoom pass Tails (getting several ring containers along the way).

They then got to the first updraft room of The Dilapidated Way. It was here that they also caught several more rings. Which was amazing, given how STRONG the drafts were carrying them, flipping them over. Unfortunately, it didn't help their queasiness.

So naturally they took the first exit they could, which contained a ventilation system full of ring containers. Then they hurriedly climbed up a ladder.

Tails SOMEHOW managed to get up there first. "...SWEET MERCIFUL CHAOS, THAT WAS AWFUL...!"

Sonic pushed his way passed him.

"SHOWER!" he cried. And the shower blessed him with the rains of cleanliness.

"Ahhhh...thank the heavens...!" the blue hedgehog whispered.

Tails took a shower not long after. "...So is this a victory for me?"

"Honestly Tails, HAVE that victory." Sonic answered full heartedly. "Let's just pay this place our rings and take the Chaos Emerald, before going on our merry way."

"I only ask because of what happened in Windy Valley," Tails said.

"...Sorry about that." Sonic said. "That was wrong of me, and I shoulda been straightforward to just pick up that emerald."

"...Thank you for that." Tails sighed in relief. "Next time, though, don't go easy on me, alright?"

"I just wanted you to have something to feel good about," Sonic answered.

"Felt empty." Tails answered, scrubbing around his ears. "Did I mention these showers are amazing?"

"Yeah, I can kinda see that now..." Sonic rubbed his head. "We good now?"

Tails exited the show, and dried off with a towel, before smiling. "Yeah, we're good."

"Sweet," Sonic smiled back.

"Now let's get the hell out of Casinopolis." Tails said, dragging Sonic along through the lobby.

As they did, they unwittingly passed by Knuckles, who was busy trying to find the exit. And they went straight to the vault. "Come to papa." Sonic said

That's when two claws reached down, grabbed the hedgehog, and violently shook him, causing him to lose all his hard-earned rings. Somehow, the rings turned into Sonic tokens that all filled up the vault quite nicely, thus allowing the two to jump up to the Chaos Emerald quite easily.

"Got it!" Tails exclaimed as he grabbed it.

"Awesome, we got another Chaos Emerald!" Sonic said.

"We're beating Eggman by a long shot!" Tails added.

"Yeah!" Sonic agreed. "I mean there's no POSSIBLE way that he could be waiting outside, waiting to ambush us with sleep gas, only to steal our Chaos Emeralds! None!"

"...Right," Tails said. "Anyway, let's get going."

So by some miracle (along with helpful assistance from that one employee), Sonic and Tails managed to find their way out of Casinopolis. However, the moment they stepped outside, they were blindsided.

"BOOM, SHAKALAKA!" Robotnik hammed. "NOW EAT SLEEP GAS!" A purple gas was emitted from the back of the Egg Mobile, spraying Sonic and Tails as they were racing to grab the Chaos Emerald they dropped: the blue one.

However, they were soon knocked. "Nighty night, Tails..." Sonic got conked out.

Tails followed suit right afterwards. "Oh man..."

Back in the casino, Knuckles was holding six, count them, six pieces of the Master Emerald. "Alright, so far so good." Knuckles said. "It's still gonna take me a while, but... I feel like I'm making progress."

But then, that familiar ball of light came fluttering around him until it surrounded him in a blinding flash. "Gwah!" He cried out.

When he opened his eyes, he found himself in what looked like the Mystic Ruins...just not so...well, ruins-ish.

"...Woah... this is kinda trippy..." He muttered.

He then proceeded to look around; Going around the pyramid, seeing all the different echidnas running along, he soon came upon an exit. There, he saw two echidnas.

"Wait...echidnas...?" he whispered.

"Father! Please don't!" The younger, peach colored echidna said.

"Tikal, the 7 Chaos Emeralds are essential to our survival!" the older, brown-furred echidna holding a staff answered. "It is for the good of all our people."

The peach colored echidna named Tikal asked, "How can I make you understand? Attacking other countries, killing and stealing... can't be the right path to peace. No one has the right to take their holy ground." She then said, "I beg you father!"

"Hey!" Knuckles cried, but then the flash of light blinded him again. When he came to, he was outside Casinopolis. "...Woah... that was nuts..."

That's when he realized he was outside, and that's also when he spotted Sonic and Tails, lying on the ground.

"What's wrong with those two?" he asked.

"Ohohohohoho..." A certain scientist cackled, riding along around them.

"...He CANNOT be up to good." Knuckles decided, and with that, he followed Robotnik.

The evil scientist entered an elevator...and that's when Knuckles spotted something in the doctor's hand. It had an... emerald-like shine to it. "...That's a Master Emerald! Dr. Eggman! Back here now!"

The elevator closed before the echidna could reach the evil doctor. "...Great. Now I have to play the waiting game." Knuckles sighed.

DING! The door opened.

Knuckles stepped in. "Well that was quick," he said.

The doors closed.

Inside, elevator music played. He couldn't help but hum a little.

Soon, the doors opened up. And there was Robotnik in plain sight.

"Alright Eggman! Let go of that Master Emerald piece right now!" Knuckles yelled as he was running towards the doctor.

Robotnik turned around. "Wait, Master Emerald...?" He caught onto that fact. "Oh, you think I'm involved with the Master Emerald AGAIN? Bwahahahaha!" He laughed, and then he stopped. "No, I'm looking after DIFFERENT emeralds." He beheld the silver emerald in his hand. "Get a load of this!"

That's when a familiar blob of blue goo slithered up beside the doctor, and then took the form of Chaos 1.

"Wait, that's-!" Knuckles was caught off guard. "That's the thing that was on my island when it FELL! And when the Master Emerald shattered!"

That was when Robotnik tossed his Chaos Emerald towards Chaos 1. "Change, Chaos!"

Chaos 1 absorbed the Chaos Emerald, transforming in a flash of light, and soon after it dissipated, he had become Chaos 2, a bone-like structure in his other arm.

Knuckles remained unfazed, however. "Well, a change in appearance isn't going to faze me. He broke my Master Emerald, so I'm gonna take him out."

And thus, the battle began.

BOSS: CHAOS 2

The first thing Chaos 2 did was morph into a ball that was bouncing, in hopes to crush Knuckles. "Nice try!" the echidna shouted as he glided away from him.

When Chaos 2 reverted to its top-heavy bipedal form, Knuckles redirected the glide right INTO him, causing damage!

"How do you like that?!" the echidna grinned.

Chaos 2 apparently did not like that much, for he morphed back into his bouncing mode. Thus began the process of dodging him once again. Knuckles glided out his way, attempting to hit him once more, but this time, Chaos 2 morphed back to his bipedal form and tried to stretch his arms at him, attempting to grab him.

"Woah!" Knuckles swerved midair, before swerving again for the second hit!

Chaos 2 dispersed the moment the echidna's fists connected with his brain.

"GAH!" Dr. Robotnik growled. "...Okay, so you beat him THIS time."

"What are you up to, this time, Eggman?" Knuckles asked.

"You would very much LIKE to know that, wouldn't you Knuckles?" Dr. Robotnik replied.

"Why are you siding with that...whatever-it-is?!" Knuckles questioned. "I want answers and I want 'em now!"

"Chaos." Robotnik corrected. "And I'm just working on getting the CHAOS Emeralds right now! I'm not going to say my plans are different. However, someone else IS going off the status quote..."

"Someone else?" asked Knuckles. "Someone like who?"

"Oh, you know," Robotnik answered. "A certain blue hedgehog and his vulpine pal."

"...But that guy is just fine." Knuckles said.

"Well, about that..." Robotnik trailed off. "Did you know that he's collecting the Master Emerald pieces as well?"

"...Say what?" Knuckles growled.

"Oh yeah, he's totally doing that for real." Robotnik lied.

"...Still, even if he WAS, I doubt he'd be doing it without a good reason." Knuckles said.

"Sure, whatever." Robotnik said. "Still, he and Tails went through TWO SEWERS so far to do so! Clearly, that isn't healthy, but if you insist..." He started walking ahead.

"W-Wait!" Knuckled ran ahead.

Robotnik smirked at this.

Knuckles stood there in the middle of the dining room. "...Why would Sonic be going after the Master Emeralds...? Why would he go through two sewers...?" He shook his head. "...If nothing else, I gotta see for myself what's up with him..." He then saw that one Casinopolis employee at a table, enjoying a meal. "...Were you watching this fight the entire time, without LEAVING?!"

"Yeah." The employee answered. "Two jobs. So are you gonna go to Mystic Ruins or what?"

Knuckles sighed. "...Might as well."

To Be Continued...


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