Sonic felt as though he had pins and needles all over. The drugs he was given were definitely doing their job. Tails climbed into the pilot seat, and started the engine of the Tornado. Sonic was able to ride on the wing, so the lack of seats wasn't a problem. Sonic rode on the left wing and Knuckles on the right, both working hard to keep their balance. It was only a short fly which took a mere thirty seconds to get the trio up to the floating island near by. Any other day they would have taken a ten minute walk up the mountain and across the bridge, but there was no time for a stroll today.
When the plane landed, Sonic stumbled off the wing and fell to the floor face first; his hands saved his face from injury. Tails ran over to him while Knuckles stood at a distance looking grim. "Sonic, are you hurting again?" Tails asked sounding panicked. Sonic shook his head.
"J-just lost my balance as I was getting off, I'm fine," Sonic brushed himself off as Tails helped him up. The hedgehog looked to his right to see the Master Emerald shrine about fifty yards away. This made him feel uneasy, as if he was about to stand before a judge. What if he was told that this couldn't be cured, and he would die? After all he'd fought for and everything he'd survived this couldn't be the end.
Knuckles walked forward, leading Sonic and Tails to the shrine. Sonic looked at Tails for support, the two brothers walked side by side behind the echidna until they stood before the master emerald. Knuckles stood right by it and summoned Tikal with a chant. Sonic grew closer to Tails; he hadn't felt this nervous in a long time, so the hero found it hard to cope. There was a blinding flash and Tikal appeared beside the large gem.
"I sense that something isn't right…" she said sounding troubled then looked to Sonic.
"H-hey there…" Sonic tried to be his causal self, but found it hard to at such a severe time.
"Tikal, he's been infected with the negative chaos energy," Knuckles explained. Sonic cringed at the word 'infected', it made the situation seem more grave. Tikal frowned at what she'd been told, as if there was no hope. Sonic's eyes widened and he looked at her with worry.
"How long has his body been exposed to the negative chaos?" she asked.
"About five hours," Tails answered.
"Then you still have a chance to neutralise it. You need to use the positive energy from the seven chaos emeralds to do so, then bring them back here."
"As I thought. How long does Sonic have left to collect the emeralds?" Knuckles asked. "A week?"
"Hmm…" Tikal pondered and walked over to Sonic, he put her hand on his chest and closed her eyes. She stepped away in shock immediately. "You've been using the power excessively, haven't you?" Sonic nodded. "You mustn't use it again! Any more and you'll body will be devoured by it. At this rate, you'll only have about two days left."
Sonic began to shake, even at his speed, if he didn't know where the emerald were, that wouldn't be enough time to collect all of them.
"We'll have to split up. Me and Tails will search for the emeralds in the Tornado and Sonic will search for them on foot," Knuckles said. "We're trusting him not to use the powers out of our observation."
Tikal nodded. "I wish I could help, but I must stay here with Chaos. I hope you succeed in your quest, Sonic. After all you've done for this world, you don't deserve to die like this," she said sincerely. "You need to leave now for you to have any hope of getting the emeralds in time. I'll see you again in two days… or not at all."
With those words said, she was absorbed back into the master emerald. Tikal's last words hit Sonic right in the chest; she was right. He either came back with the emeralds in two days, or he would die and she wouldn't see him again. Tails looked at his big brother worriedly; Sonic was always fearless, but today he looked terrified. The fox wrapped his arms around the hedgehog for a brotherly hug; the two of them stayed in the tight lock for a full minute.
"We need to start looking for those emeralds now. Sonic, are you able to run?" Knuckles asked seriously. Sonic pulled away and turned to Knuckles looking slightly flustered.
"Yeah, sure. But I need to do something first," he said seriously. Knuckles was about to question, but heard a loud rumble from the hedgehog's stomach. "I'm going to have… what could possibly be… my last meal."
"You do that Sonic, but Tails and I are going to get a head start," Knuckles said and they walked back to the Tornado. Sonic followed for a last goodbye.
"Bye Tails… Knuckles. I'll see you back here in a day or two," Sonic said and swallowed, unable to bring himself to say the 'not at all' part Tikal had mentioned. The engine started up.
"No procrastinating." If he was able to, Knuckles would have pointed a finger.
"We'll keep in contact with this," Tails said and used a soft underarm throw to pass a small device to Sonic. It was a strap on wrist communicator. The hedgehog strapped it on and held it up to his ear. "Testing, do you read me?" Sonic heard Tail's voice from the fox himself and the device.
"Yup… I can hear ya'." Sonic replied while holding down a small button on the side.
"They work, and were built for long ranges so there shouldn't be any problems with it," Tails said. "Oh, it's also shatter proof, water proof and heat proof. I know the difficulties you get yourself into Sonic…"
Sonic smirked mischievously. "But still be careful."
"I will," Sonic nodded at his brother's command. "We should split up now."
"Sure… bye Sonic…" the fox said solemnly and closed the door. Knuckles gave a wave goodbye as the plane lifted off.
Sonic was alone again. He sped off over the bridge and down the mountain, he didn't need to take a slow stroll as he had no slow friends to hold him back. His first destination? Station Square for a much needed chilidog.