Chapter 4
At least it's easy to tell where the humans have been out in the jungle, thought Sonic as he raced down one of the pathways cleared by explorers in the jungle. Tails was following him from above, keeping an eye out for the dig site that Tom had mentioned to them before they had left the airport. As they reached a clearing in the dense foliage, Sonic came to a stop.
"What's wrong?" asked Tails, stopping above him as well.
"Just that we have a choice to make right now," said Sonic, pointing at the five different pathways that lead out of the clearing. "I get that they wanted to explore the jungle, but they could've at least left a sign or something telling people which way to go."
"Give me a second and I'll see if I can't see anything from the air," said Tails.
"Go for it, little bro," said Sonic. Tails then flew high up into the air, cupping his hand over his eyes as he gazed out over the tree line. Suddenly, his eyes lit up as he spotted smoke coming off in the direction of the path leading to the southwest.
"I see smoke coming from that way Sonic," called Tails down to the blue hedgehog, pointing in the direction to go.
"Alright, then that's where we're headed," said Sonic. He then took off again down the path leading to the southwest, Tails taking off after him. After two miles, Sonic came to a screeching halt when he reached the edge of a cliff. Looking down into the valley below, he spotted several digging machines and dozens of humans dressed in explorers gear working at the various sites. Near the biggest tent was a smoking pit where several dozen cuts of meat were being cooked over a large fire, revealing to them the source of the smoke Tails had seen.
"Guess we found them," said Tails as he landed next to Sonic.
"Guess so. Let's get down there and see if we can find that Chaos Emerald," said Sonic. He then leapt off the side of the cliff, landing next to a couple of humans that were walking along the edge of the valley walls, scaring them from his sudden arrival as Tails landed next to him.
"Who are you and why did you scare us like that?" asked one of them.
"Sorry about that. Didn't mean to scare you guys. My friend and I just came out here to take a look at his purple gem you guys found the other day," said Sonic. Both of the humans looked at one another, then back at the two mobians.
"You mean that weird gem that we can't study because all our machines we use on it keep breaking?" asked the second human. Sonic smiled at hearing this.
"They break whenever you bring them into contact with it, don't they?" asked Sonic.
"Why yes. That's exactly what happens. How did you know?" asked the first human.
"I'd say it's definitely a Chaos Emerald then, don't you?" asked Tails, looking over at Sonic.
"Sounds like it," said Sonic. He then looked back at the humans. "Can you guys show us this gem by any chance?"
"I'm not sure. We were about to send it off to the museum in Westopolis last I heard," said the second human.
"Well, it might still be here. The boss wanted it to leave with the evening shift, didn't he?" asked the first human.
"Oh that's right," said the second human. "Well, if it's still here, it would be in the main research tent."
"Which one is that?" asked Tails.
"Big one next to the large fire that's cooking our lunch," said the first human.
"Thanks," said Sonic as he and Tails turned and started off in the direction of the large tent. As they passed by the various sites, some of the humans were looking up from what they were doing to eye the mobians as they walked by.
"Sonic…They're staring at us," said Tails, uncomfortable that people were watching the two of them as closely as they were.
"Humans…You'd think they'd never seen a mobian before," said Sonic with a slight hint of annoyance to his voice as they reached the large tent. Pulling back one of the flaps of the entrance, Sonic poked his head into the tent. "Hello?" he called out. A few humans were milling about in the tent, though most ignored Sonic's call. However, one human girl looked up from the pottery piece she was examining. She had dark skin, long blonde hair, blue eyes, and was dressed in similar gear as the other humans outside.
"Oh hello," said the human. She got up from her seat and walked over to the two mobians. "We don't get many guests out here. My name's Carla Prestor, lead researcher for our dig site. It's a pleasure to meet you." Sonic smiled as he heard her introduce herself.
"Likewise. My name's Sonic and this is my best bud Tails," said Sonic, motioning to Tails.
"Nice to meet you ma'am," said Tails.
"So, now that pleasantries are out of the way, what brings you out to our research site?" asked Carla.
"We heard you guys found a purple gem the other day that fries anything electronic it comes into contact with," said Sonic.
"Oh that thing," said Carla, her voice heavy with annoyance. "Yeah, we found it a few days ago at site four, but we have no clue what it is or why it wrecked all the equipment we used on it."
"Is it still here?" asked Tails.
"Yes. We were about to send it with one of our other researchers back to Westopolis tonight to send to the museum that sponsored our dig, but honestly, I'm afraid to stick that thing on an airplane after what it did to our stuff," said Carla.
"Mind if we take a look at it?" asked Sonic.
"Sure. It's over on the far examining table in that briefcase," said Carla, leading the two mobians towards the back of the tent. "Why are you two so interested in it anyways?"
"We think it might be a Chaos Emerald," said Tails.
"A Chaos Emerald? Never heard of that before, but you two seem to know what you're talking about," said Carla as they arrived at the table. She then reached over and opened the briefcase, a soft purple glow emitting from the case as Sonic and Tails got a good look at what lay within. Sitting in a padded slot in the middle of the case was the violet Chaos Emerald. "Is this one of these emeralds?"
"Sure is," said Sonic, smiling from ear to ear at seeing the gem. "Can we have it?"
"This thing is part of our finds at this dig site. Even if it does trash electronics, it's still our biggest find out here and I'd be a fool to let it go," said Carla.
"We don't want to keep it for ourselves. Dr. Eggman is after all seven of these and if he gets them, then Emerald City will be destroyed," said Tails.
"I've heard of Dr. Eggman. Why is he down here on the southern continent wanting to attack the human cities? I thought he was wrapped up in his war on the northern continent," said Carla.
"He lost his power base up north. He wants to take over all of Mobius now and build himself an empire to rule the planet. And if he gets the Chaos Emeralds, there's a very good chance he will succeed," said Sonic.
"Oh my…If that's true, then sending this thing to Westopolis will only cause Dr. Eggman to attack that city to get it back from us," said Carla, realizing now just how dangerous keeping the emerald would be. "Well…It might cost us our sponsor and our dig site losing this thing, but I'd rather not have the destruction of a city and the possible enslavement of the planet looming over our heads." She then reached into the briefcase and took the Chaos Emerald from its housing. She then tossed it at Sonic, who snatched it out of the air. "Just promise me you'll stop Dr. Eggman from doing whatever it is he plans to do with that thing."
"Don't worry. Eggman won't get away with his plans if I have anything to say about it," said Sonic. The two mobians then turned to walk out of the tent.
"Wait a sec. I think I might know where another one of these emeralds is at," said Carla. This statement stopped both Sonic and Tails in their tracks, both of them turning back to face her.
"You do?" asked Tails.
"Well, I think so. It might just be a big diamond for all I know, but the casino in Emerald City was advertising a new game that they're unveiling tonight at eight o'clock. Some kind of virtual pinball game where if you could beat the house top score, you'd win this really big white gem," said Carla.
"What do you think Sonic?" asked Tails, looking over at the cerulean hedgehog.
"Sounds to me like it's at least worth checking out. Thanks for the tip, Carla," said Sonic. Carla just smiled.
"Anytime, friends," said Carla as Sonic and Tails left the tent, leaving Carla to go back to the pottery piece she had been examining before they had drawn her attention away from it. As they walked towards the edge of the dig site, Sonic glanced down at his watch.
"Well, we got about four hours till the casino opens that game. I say we take this emerald back to the airport for safe keepings for now, then head into the city to get something to eat and then check in with Drake and Comet, spend some time with them before we go to the casino," said Sonic.
"Sounds good to me," said Tails.
"Also, just so we don't make them worry, don't mention what's going on to either of them. I want them to enjoy their time here, not be worrying every moment of the day about what's going on," said Sonic.
"You sure we shouldn't tell them?" asked Tails, unsure if that was the right thing to do.
"Yeah. It'll be alright. Let them have their fun," said Sonic.
"Alright. I won't tell them anything," said Tails.
As the sun sank into the horizon, Sonic and Tails walked along the sidewalk leading towards the casino. They had just finished up their time with Drake and Comet. Both of the chao had told them of all the fun they had been having with the other chao and their owners at the garden. Drake had been so preoccupied having fun that he actually hadn't gotten into any trouble since they had been dropped off. Comet had spent most of her time talking with every chao she could, listening to the stories they had to share about their time with their owners, Comet sharing her story whenever she was asked, to which most of the chao had been awestruck by the tale the violet chao had to share regarding her and Angel's time together.
"So a pinball game…Can't say I've ever played one of those before," said Sonic as they reached the entrance to the casino.
"I've heard about them. You use flippers to bounce a metal ball up ramps and off bumpers to score points without letting the ball fall into the hole at the bottom," said Tails.
"Sounds interesting to say the least," said Sonic as the two of them walked inside. The sounds of the slot machines and video poker were the first things to hit their ears, as was the bright lights of said machines the first thing their eyes took in.
"Wow…I don't think I've seen this many machines in one spot except in Robotropolis," said Tails.
"I think I'm in the same boat, big guy," said Sonic. He then waved at a male usher that was standing near the front counter. Seeing that he was being flagged down, the man walked over to the two of them.
"Hello, and welcome to Diamond Dust Casino. What can I do for the two of you this evening?" he asked politely.
"We're looking for the new pinball game you're supposed to be bring out tonight. The one that has the big gem as the prize," said Sonic.
"Ah yes. We're just about to unveil that new virtual pinball game in the east wing of the building. If you hurry, you should get there in time to see its grand opening," said the usher.
"Thanks," said Sonic as he and Tails started walking towards the area the usher had mentioned. As they entered the east wing of the building, they noticed a large machine sitting in the middle of the area with monitors situated all over the immediate area surrounding the machine. On one side of the machine, a giant monitor was resting in it with a display announcing that the new "Poker Virtual Pinball Game" was less than a minute away from being open for play. But it was the thing resting in a clear holding case at the top of the machine that drew Sonic's eyes. "Up there Tails," he said, pointing up at the case. Tails' gaze followed Sonic's to the holding case where resting inside it was a white gem that was softly glowing.
"The white Chaos Emerald!" exclaimed Tails.
"Sure enough. Let's see if we can't get it from these guys," said Sonic. The two of them walked up to where the velvet ropes separated them from the machine. Spotting a man with short black hair dressed in an expensive looking blue suit, Sonic called out to him. Noticing that he was being called at, the man walked over to the two mobians.
"Hello. I take it you two are interested in playing our Poker Virtual Pinball game?" he asked.
"Actually, we need that gem that's in the case," said Sonic.
"Well, you're welcome to try and win it. Of course, you'll have to beat the house's top score to win it," said the man with a smile.
"Look, long story short, Dr. Eggman's after that gem and he'll stop at nothing to get it. Me and my friend here are trying to keep him from getting that thing. Is there any way you'll give it to us so we can keep it out of his hands?" asked Sonic. Hearing this, the man's pleasant demeanor switched to one of annoyance.
"I absolutely won't give you this precious gem, even if what you say is true. We've been advertising this game and prize for the better part of a month. If you want it so badly, win it like everyone else has to," said the man in a huff before swiftly turning and walking away from them towards a stage set up near the machine.
"Well, that could've gone better," said Tails.
"Yeah…All that guy cares about is profiting off the emerald. Sad to say there are some humans like that," said Sonic.
"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the grand opening of the Nights Virtual Pinball game!" said the man in the suit as he addressed the crowd of people gathered to see the unveiling of the game. "The latest in virtual gaming technology is now yours to try and master as you shoot for our ultimate prize, the white gem resting in the case at the top of the machine! But, to claim this magnificent prize, you must first beat the house top score." People began whispering amongst themselves, all wondering what that score would be.
"The game is simple," continued the man. "Scattered across the pinball map are virtual cards that will collected as the ball travels over them. Every time you collect five cards, they will form a poker hand that will then determine how many points they are worth. The better your hand, the more points you score. Of course, you can score points by doing actions that you'd perform in any pinball game. And now to unveil the house score you must beat!" Everyone's attention turned to the monitor as the man held out his arm towards it. The screen suddenly switched from its promotional display to scoreboard. All of the scores were blank except for the one at the top, which read five trillion points. At seeing this, most of the people started talking about how much of a scam the game was and began to disperse, at which the man looked nervously uncomfortable as he realized not many people were going to take the bait to play.
"So…Five trillion, eh?" asked Sonic. He then looked over at the man in the suit. "How much to play?" The man smiled as he walked back over to the two mobians.
"Well, since there isn't as much interest to try this game out as I thought there'd be for people, I'll let you try it for free, just to get the ball rolling and get some people interested in trying it out," said the man. Sonic grinned at hearing this.
"Okay. I'll give it a go," said Sonic as he walked with the man to the front of the machine. A virtual helmet sat on the controls of the machine, which Sonic placed over his head. A few seconds ticked by before the screen on the helmet lit up, displaying the pinball map for him to see. On the monitors above, the pinball map was also being displayed for people that wanted to watch. Sonic put his hands on the flipper controls, then pressed the button that launched the ball into the map. However, it was very quick to see that Sonic wasn't very good at the game as the first ball fell out of play within the first twenty seconds, with only two virtual cards being picked up within that time. The next two balls weren't much better, with the blue hedgehog only managing to get eight more cards before his final ball was lost. Taking off the helmet, Sonic just closed his eyes and shook his head. A few people had stopped to watch the game play out on the monitors, but their interest had faded instantly after seeing how badly Sonic played the game.
"Well, guess that's a no go for me," said Sonic.
"Let me give it a try Sonic," said Tails. Sonic looked back up at the man, who still looked nervous at the fact that no new interest had been shown to the game.
"How about it letting my friend give it a shot?" asked Sonic. The man sighed, then nodded.
"One free try for him too since you couldn't even last long enough to get anyone interested in it. But that's the last time. I'm gonna have to start charging you after that," said the man.
"Okay Tails. You're up. Make it count," said Sonic as he walked past Tails as the young fox walked in front of the machine. Placing the helmet on his head, Tails waited a few seconds till the virtual screen lit up for him. Pressing the button to launch the ball, Tails watched with total focus as the ball flew around the pinball map, passing through cards as he kept the ball in play much better than Sonic had. As seconds turned into minutes, more and more people were stopping to watch the monitors as Tails' score started to climb. After nearly ten minutes of not losing the ball once, and several poker hands worth of cards later, he had hit the one trillion mark. By this point, the man in the suit was looking even more nervous. Not because interest in the game was lacking at this point, but rather due to the fact that the two tailed fox was crushing the game on his first try.
As Tails hit the twenty minute mark, he finally lost his first ball. But people were now chatting heavily amongst themselves as they watched, each one wondering if the young mobian would win the game on the first night it was open. Already, his score was sitting at two and a half trillion and he had only lost one of his three balls. As Tails launched his second ball, Sonic watched the monitor with a grin plastered over his face, his own belief held in suspense as he watched his best friend tear the game apart like he had played it for years. Another twenty minutes ticked by, Tails' score rising higher and higher with each passing second. Finally, he lost his second ball as it fell out of play. His score now rested at four and a half trillion.
One ball left. I can do this, thought Tails as he launched the final ball onto the map. His face twisted into one of pure concentration as he sent the ball bouncing around the map, collecting all the cards he could. As his score hit the 4.9 trillion mark and his last set of cards vanished from the collection pool, the crowd that had gathered to watch Tails was immense. Everyone watched with baited breath as the ball passed over a ten of spades. Then the ball passed over a queen of spades. The murmurs grew in intensity. The ball then passed over an ace of spades. Tails could feel sweat beading on his forehead as he guided the ball right into the next card, a jack of spades. Now the crowd's mutterings had reached a fevered pitch as the realization hit that if Tails could pick up a king of spades, he'd get a royal flush which would put him over the house score.
"Come on Tails…" whispered Sonic to himself as he watched the ball bounce around the pinball map, barely missing other cards before it finally hit the king of spades right before the ball finally fell out of play. But the damage had been done as the machine displayed the final card of Tails' last hand, his score shooting up to five trillion, one hundred billion from the royal flush poker hand he had assembled. Sirens started going off and bright lights started flashing rapidly all over the machine.
"I did it!" shouted Tails as he ripped the helmet off his head, throwing a fist up triumphantly.
"That you did, big guy!" hollered Sonic over the noise of the sirens. He then turned to the man in the suit, who had fallen to his knees in disbelief. "I believe he just won that gem, right?"
"He did…" said the man in total disbelief. Gathering himself as best he could, he walked up to Tails and extend his hand to the young fox. "Congratulations, young man. You've bested a score that the game's developers said couldn't be won for months. How'd you do it anyways?"
"Beginner's luck, I guess," was all Tails could say. The man gave a small laugh at hearing that.
"'Beginner's luck', indeed. If you'll give us a few minutes, we'll fetch your prize for you," said the man.
"I'll get it," said Tails, twirling his double tails behind him as he flew up and snatched the case from its resting place. He then flew back down next to the man. The man smiled as he reached into his pocket and withdrew a small key. He then unlocked the holding case and took the Chaos Emerald out, then handed it to Tails, who happily accepted the gem. The crowd that had gathered applauded loudly for the young fox. Suddenly, a loud crash sounded from the other end of the building and the ground shook slightly as if something had jolted it. An usher came running through the crowd a few moments later.
"Boss! That mobian that answered our fighting promotion's caused a big problem!" shouted the usher. The man in the suit's eyes lit up as the realization of what the usher was referring to hit him.
"Sorry to leave with such little notice, but there's another matter I have to attend to," said the man before he took off after the usher.
"Well, I say we go back to the hotel room for a good night's sleep. Two emeralds in one day is enough. We can look for the others tomorrow," said Sonic. Tails gave a small yawn.
"Yeah. Doesn't look like it would, but playing that game drained me pretty good," said Tails as the two started heading for the exit.
"I'll bet. I don't think I've seen you concentrate on something that hard before," said Sonic as they exited the building. Suddenly a familiar loud humming noise caught both of their ears, but before they had time to see where it was coming from, Eggman's hovercraft smashed into the two of them, knocking them both to the pavement and causing Tails to lose his grip on the Chaos Emerald.
"Oh no, the emerald!" shouted Sonic as both he and Tails flipped to their feet and started running towards it.
"Oh no you don't!" shouted Eggman as his craft flew right on top of the Chaos Emerald, then shot a blast of gas into the two mobians' faces.
"Aw geeze," cried Sonic as he breathed in the gas, Tails also unable to stop himself from doing the same thing.
"Be thankful I'm too afraid of breathing in poisonous gas by doing this, but this sleeping gas should still keep you out of my hair for the rest of the evening," said Eggman as he activated the hovercraft's tractor beam, the Chaos Emerald being whisked up into the craft. Eggman then gave a fit of laughter as he flew off into the night, leaving the two friends lying on the sidewalk.
"Egg…man…" whispered Sonic before the gas finally made him succumb to sleep.
Knuckles sat in his corner of the boxing ring that the casino had set up for the fights with the Master Emerald shard as the prize. His face was set in stone, his eyes closed as he showed no emotion to anyone that was watching him. At the far end of the ring, a muscle bound human wearing boxing gloves and shorts sat as well, his friends giving him words of encouragement.
"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to Diamond Dust Casino's prize fight, pitting one mobian against anyone who dares to challenge him! The winner receives this beautiful gemstone as the grand prize!" said the ring announcer, holding up a rather large shard of the Master Emerald. "In this corner, weighing in at two hundred and fifty five pounds of pure muscle is our first challenger, Robert Galdhand!" said the announcer, gesturing towards the human in the ring. He then motioned towards Knuckles. "And in this corner, clocking in at a mere eighty five pounds, is our mobian fighter, Knuckles!" The crowd then began cheering loudly as the two got up from their seats and moved to the center of the ring.
"I want to be sure one more time before we start this thing up that all I have to do is make my challengers quit to win that shard, right?" asked Knuckles, looking up at the announcer.
"That is correct," said the announcer. The human in the ring laughed loudly at hearing Knuckles question.
"Ha! You won't even last the first round with me, pipsqueak," said Robert, bashing his fists together. Knuckles looked back up at the human, a smile on his face.
"Oh, I can win this without even touching you," said Knuckles.
"That's a good one, little mobian. How could you make me quit without even touching me?" asked Robert.
"Like this," said Knuckles. He then jumped straight up into the air, nearly crashing into the ceiling that was fifty feet above them. As he began to fall back towards the ground, he pulled his right fist back behind his head and went into a nosedive. Right before he hit the ground, he thrust his right fist forward, slamming it into the mat and causing the whole middle of the fighting ring to crash inward as the ring gave way to the power of Knuckles' punch. Both the announcer and challenger grabbed onto the ropes on the edge of the ring to keep themselves from falling into the middle of the now trashed fighting ring. Knuckles then leapt out of the hole in the middle of the ring and landed on the ring pole opposite of where the challenger was at. "So…Still want to go a round with me?" he asked.
"N-No way! Only a crazy person would want to mess with someone like you if you can do something like that! I'm outta here!" cried Robert, clamoring over the ropes and taking off towards the locker room. Knuckles smiled and then faced the other people who had been in line to take a shot at him.
"Anyone else want to give me a try?" asked Knuckles. The other humans at the ringside all started to disperse, most of them talking about how rigged the fight was if a mobian that was strong as Knuckles was the one to beat. Seeing that no one else wanted to take him on, Knuckles hopped off the pole and walked over to where the announcer was climbing out of the destroyed ring. "I believe I'll take my prize now."
"What on Earth happened to the ring!?" shouted the man in the suit that had given Tails the white Chaos Emerald.
"Our mobian challenger did that," said the announcer.
"Hey. I could've just as easily beaten the tar out of everyone, but I didn't want anyone to get injured by me," said Knuckles.
"That would've been their choice to fight you! That was the whole point of the match!" cried the man in the suit.
"Well, what's done it done. I want that shard right now," said Knuckles, folding his arms over his chest.
"Well, boss? Do we give it to him even though he ruined the event?" asked the announcer. The man in the suit took in a deep breath, then let out a long sigh.
"Give it to him. Technically, he did make them all quit," he said to the announcer, who took off to fetch the Master Emerald shard. The man then looked down at Knuckles. "But you're not allowed to enter this building again after pulling that stunt. Not only did we lose our virtual pinball prize tonight, but you caused our only other event to be a complete failure as well."
"Not my problem. Next time don't use us mobians as gimmicks for your little events," said Knuckles as the announcer returned with the Master Emerald shard. Knuckles took the shard from the announcer, then walked back over to the ring where the large sack of shards he had collected during the day sat. Placing the newly acquired shard into the bag, he then lugged it over his shoulder and started for the exit. But before he had taken even ten steps, a ball of pink light flew down in front of his face, startling the echidna and stopping his forward movement. "What in the world is…?" he started to say before the ball of light flew right into his face, blinding him with a flash of white light. When the light faded, Knuckles was gone.
A cool breeze greeted Knuckles as he opened his eyes, which were just now readjusting from being blasted with that bright light. But as his eyes cleared, his jaw dropped in astonishment. Gone was the casino and its colorful lights and sounds. Instead, he was now standing on the top of a spire sitting atop a large, pyramid shaped temple situated in the middle of a vast jungle. And it was no longer night, but rather the middle of the day.
"What in the world…Where the heck am I at?" asked Knuckles to himself as he gazed out over the land, seeing that there were huts scattered all over the place. Oh, you've gotta be kidding me! his mind shouted to him as he realized he was no longer holding the sack with the Master Emerald shards in it. He then looked down at the ground, wondering if the sack had fallen off the spire he was standing on. It was then he saw that the mobians that were scurrying about below him were none other than echidnas. What looked to be hundreds of them were going about their daily duties. "This isn't our species last village, that's for sure. There are way too many echidnas. Plus, I know there's no temple like this one right in the middle of the village." Leaping off the spire, he glided over the bustling echidnas below him before landing on top of one of the huts.
"Hey! Can anyone tell me where I'm at?" called Knuckles to a couple of echidnas that were walking past the hut. But they completely ignored him, continuing to walk in the direction they were going without so much as looking back at him. "Well, that was rude…" he said to himself before leaping down off the hut. He began to wander about the huts, noticing that despite himself being an outsider to this place, none of the other echidnas were paying any attention to him. It was almost as if they couldn't even see him. But as he rounded the corner of another hut, he spotted a pair of echidnas arguing with each other.
One was an orange furred echidna girl that looked to be in her mid-teens. She wore a white tube top, a white skirt with green diamond patterns with a smaller red diamond in the middle of the green patterns, a pair of sandals, and each of her dreadlocks sported white cloth bands on them. The other was an older, dark red furred male echidna. He wore a red and orange checkered skirt with dark green feathers flowing off the bottom, bands on his wrists with the same feathers on them, and a necklace that also had the same kind of feathers. In his right hand was a ceremonial spear.
"Father, you can't do this!" cried the young girl.
"Tikal, you have to understand. The seven emeralds are the last hope of saving our tribe. The war will end with our destruction if we don't take them now," said the older echidna.
"But stealing and killing just to win the war can't be the right path to peace. No one has the right to take their holy ground and what rightfully belongs to them," said the girl. But the older echidna ignored her and began to walk away from the argument. "Father, I beg you! Please don't do it!"
"What war are they talking about?" asked Knuckles to himself. Suddenly, a bright light burst forth from the girl, causing Knuckles to shield his eyes from the blast.
As the light died down and Knuckles' eyes readjusted again, he realized it was night again.
"Now where am I?" he asked aloud. It was then he realized he was standing outside of the Emerald's Glow hotel, the sack with the Master Emerald shards once again strung over his shoulder. Okay…What was that all about? Where was that place? And who were those echidnas? he thought to himself. He then caught something out of the corner of his eye he never expected to see. Dr. Eggman was walking into the front door of the establishment.
"Eggman! What's he doing here?" asked Knuckles to himself. As the doctor entered the building, Knuckles noticed at the last second that he was holding a softly glowing object in his right hand. Oh no! I'll bet that's a shard of the Master Emerald! thought Knuckles. Without a second thought, he ran over to the hotel's entrance and walked in just in time to see Eggman getting on an elevator near the far left side of the grand entranceway. Knuckles ran over to the elevator, watching to see which floor the thing would stop at. The indicator light finally stopped on the second to the top floor, labeled as the fine dining restaurant according the floor guide next to the elevator. "I doubt he's stopping by for dinner," said Knuckles to himself as he pressed the 'up' arrow on the elevator.