Live and Learn

Chapter 8: The Blasted Side of the Moon

ARK-

"Shadow, what do you think it's like on Earth?"

"The professor said his life's work was dedicated all of those who live down there. He once told that the reason for his existence was making people happy through the power of science."

"Shadow…"

"Maria…I just don't know anything anymore. I often wonder why I was created, what my purpose is for being here. Maybe if I go down there, I…I will find the answers. Maybe…"

Shadow then got a sad look in his eyes.

"Maria…"

. . .

"Why so melancholy?" Rouge asked, walking up to Shadow. Shadow turned his head to acknowledge her, and then continued to intently stare out the window of the ARK. Rouge glanced down, and then looked up at Shadow again. "That was so unexpected, so unlike you, to come and rescue me. But your ability to use the Chaos Control certainly comes in handy!"

"Hmph…you know…I didn't come to save you. I came back for the Chaos Emeralds."

Rouge rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah. But then again, that's not the whole story, is it?"

Shadow continued to face the window, but his eyes slowly turned to Rouge. She then mouthed, "You are hiding something."

Shadow would've lashed out at Rouge like he did to Sonic, but a loud and obnoxious cough that belong to an equally loud and obnoxious person made him change his mind. Eggman had returned.

"Everything is ready to go."

"Are you sure? We only have six of the seven Chaos Emeralds, you know." Rouge pointed out.

"That's more than enough for the demonstration!" Shadow declared, already marching away. "So let's get this show on the road!"

17:30
In a mountainous region-

Knuckles was surrounded by jack-o-lanterns, an evening sky, and a creepy feeling. He blinked.

"This place sure feels haunted…there's no time to lose! I have to hurry and find the Master Emerald."

Too bad for Knuckles; he knew nothing of the fate of Prison Island, or the mess Sonic, Tails, Amy, Shadow, Rouge, and Eggman got into. Or, was that for the better? They were trying to blow each other up while Knuckles was just minding his own business, being a fighting freak, and collecting his Emerald pieces.

"Now where do I look? I have to find my lost pieces…I can't see any, but they're around somewhere. I know that it's here- I can sense it in my feet!" Knuckles jumped up and glided about. "But I just need a starting point…"

He floated above a graveyard (or what Knuckles figured was a graveyard) and suddenly felt a piece's presence. He swooped down and started looking immediately. However, as he searched, and even dug, he realized the sense wasn't as string at it could be and figure the emerald was still a ways off. Knuckles jumped down to a lower part- the sense got stronger, but still not that "nagging" level that told Knuckles he was super close. The echidna poked around, even starting to dig up a grave and come in contact with a ghost when he caught a glimpse of a piece sitting atop a dead tree. Knuckles climbed up immediately and stored the piece away with the others.

"Two more left."

Hopefully this wouldn't take very long- this place was CREEPY, especially with glowering pumpkins and ghosts of all things. Everywhere Knuckles would look- behind a grave, in a robot, under a rock- a ghost would pop out and scare him to the ground.

"Thank goodness no one is around to see me…" he muttered disdainfully.

Knuckles wound up in a scarecrow patch- well, it was actually a pumpkin patch, but there were so many scarecrows it seemed like the other way around! Knuckles' senses kicked in, and like a dog, started to sniff it out. It was until he didn't see where he was going, slipped off the edge, fell three stories, and landed on a hut of sorts that he found the second emerald piece in the rubble of the hut he smashed.

"…that's one way to find an emerald piece…"

He carried on, almost actually feeling a little lonely. Last time the emerald shattered, as he recalled earlier, Tikal was his floaty companion, occasionally nagging him but also being helpful in finding Emerald pieces that were even too elusive for Knuckles. Turns out, she was the spirit of an echidna- female echidna.

"But she's gone, and I have to fight alone now…" Knuckles then scowled. "And I have to track down that bat too! I don't know where she ended up, but she's led me here, and she's very lucky there happen to be pieces loitered about! And there's also only one more left here for me to find…"

Great, now he was thinking about her again. There was something about her that said, "You want to hate me, but you'll love me anyway". It made Knuckles furious.

"Why did she have to be there?" he whined. "Why couldn't it have been…Amy or someone? Just not her."

Knuckle shook his head. It was like the Bat Girl was the only thing that took his mind off the Master Emerald! But on the other hand, she had pieces of the Master Emerald, so technically when he thought of her he was still thinking of the Master Emerald too. It made perfect sense! Feeling proud for sorting that out, Knuckles ventured for the final piece.

"You're a chicken- don't be scared!"

Knuckles' eyes widened at the random phase seemingly calling out to him and turned to look over his shoulder.

"M-must just be the wind…" he decided, praying it wasn't a ghost. He quickly scampered off, starting to climb a pillar a large stone pumpkin head sat on. The last emerald piece was close! Knuckles climbed on up, until he was where the nose of the pumpkin face should be. His senses were going haywire, but there was no-

"Wait, wait!"

Knuckles pounding a shovel claw into the rock, then started clawing it out until he retrieved the Emerald piece from within.

"…again, I really have to wonder about the places these land in."

18:00
Day X-

In the middle of Station Square, somewhere downtown, a large announcement screen sat, dull, blank and black…until Eggman suddenly popped up on it.

"Citizens of Earth! Lend me your ears and listen to me very carefully!"

The 'citizens of Earth' watched the screen in terror. Eggman wasn't just on 'the big screen'- he was on screens and TVs and phones and everything! He was even on all computer screens! The entire world was probably forced to watch the doctor take up their screens!

"My name is Dr. Eggman, the world's greatest scientist, and soon to be the world's greatest ruler! Now, witness the beginning of the greatest empire of all time!"

Way up in space, just beyond the Earth's atmosphere, the Space Colony ARK revealed it's true weapon- the Eclipse Cannon, also resembling the face of a Robotnik. The little people down on Earth could only look up in awe at the sight of the massive super weapon. The Eclipse Cannon charged a bright blue beam that crossed the skies of the entire world, and blasted half the moon clean off. Eggman's laugh could be heard bellowing throughout the planet as every single screen donned a countdown- a countdown to doom's day, if you will.

23 hours, 58 minutes, 15 seconds, and counting down.

. . .

Sonic, Tails, and Amy had seen it. They had seen it all. Things definitely weren't looking good now. First, the military was after them for breaking Sonic out of jail (and would probably get pinned with the blame of blowing the island up, knowing the military), then there was Shadow still running amok causing trouble, and thirdly which was probably the most important, Eggman had a weapon that could make the world go boom.

"Look! Half the moon is gone!" Amy cried.

"Eggman! Oh, that creep never gives up!" Sonic exasperated.

"But how did he manage to harness all that energy?" Tails wondered.

"It's got to be the Chaos Emeralds…" Sonic blinked at this realization and scowled. "Yeah, that's got to be the reason they were looking for them!"

Tails gulped. "…and if Eggman has enough of them, he can use their power to make a super weapon and something tells me he has 6 of 'em…"

Sonic raised an eyebrow. "What makes you think he has six?"

Tails returned the raised eyebrow look. "It already takes huge amount of power to blow up half the moon, which would mean he needs at least 6. And if you've forgotten, Sonic…" Tails pulled out the final Chaos Emerald, the yellow one. "The Tornado II runs on Chaos energy, which means I've got the last one and Eggman doesn't have 'em all!"

"Tails…"

"The Chaos Emeralds are like magnets…" Tails continued to explain. "…they have the power to attract each other. I can use that to find where Eggman is!"

"The three of you- FREEZE!"

Sirens started blaring, and red flashing lights began to blind the trio.

"Oh lookie, it's the good ol' friendly neighborhood cops!" Sonic said in an acidly sarcastic falsetto voice.

"Put your hands up in the air and get on the ground!"

"Is that even possible?" Amy asked Tails in a whisper.

"Tails! I'll take care of the police while you try to find a way out of here! Find Eggman!" Sonic ordered.

Tails nodded eagerly. "Got it!"

Amy just stood around with a dazed look. "The three of you…that means me too! HEY, WAIT!"

She yelped and latched onto the walker's leg once again, right after Tails had jumped into it and almost immediately rushed off.

"Here we go again…"

Amy glanced over her shoulder to see Sonic waving his arms, catching the attention of the police, and then running off with the cops trailing him instantly. Of course, they needed backup for such a crime, and thus the 'backup' was on the path Tails and Amy were set to take.

Tails trampled through police cars, evaded fighter jets, and blasted down military robots, fearing that they would get arrested while running into a tunnel. Amy didn't care if she would get caught this time.

"Blasting at the law enforcement certainly won't get us off the hook anytime soon!"

"I know! Even after I saved Station Square from blowing up-AMY?" Tails quickly glanced down, spotting Amy waving at him from the leg. "What are you doing down there?"

"Did you really think I'd let you and Sonic leave me behind just to be arrested?" Amy scoffed. "Since there's no way I'd be able to keep with Sonic, I came with you!"

"Great…"

"Look out! We're heading into Radical Highway!"

Amy pointed forward to the red-themed road, crawling with all sorts of police. Tails gasped and began rapid-fire.

"Well if you're going to stick with me Amy then at least climb up here where I can keep an eye on you-"

"Who are you? My dad?" She grunted, but climbed up never the less. Amy situated herself in what little room Tails had behind him, but man, was the view way better up here! Now she could help Tails!

"There's a bot behind that crate! Look up in the sky! It's a plane- AH! MISSILE! Tails look out for that pedestrian-"

"AMY!"

Amy grinned sheepishly and let Tails do his thing. Tails sighed and ran his fingers through his bangs- why him? As Tails blasted away, Amy took note of the sights- if they weren't running from the law, then it would be a nice place to run by with Sonic at her side…ah, what a nice thought. She then looked up and saw Tails' face flash on a billboard, and before she questioned that was a good or bad thing, military jets swarmed around them.

"I'll take that as BAD!"

"They're dropping bombs!"

Amy grabbed onto the side of the machine for dear life as Tails veered to the right to avoid the mini-explosion, which was nothing in comparison to the one on Prison Island.

"Go faster! Go faster!"

"Do I look like Sonic? I can't go faster!"

"But you're Tails-"

"Well I can't go faster because we're in a machine designed for flight/battle, not a sports car!"

"Why aren't we flying then?"

"Do you want to be shot down in a defenseless plane by jetfighters via a death explosion and crash?"

"Can't the Tornado pull out a gun or something in flight mode?"

"…not with the modifications I made to make it double as a walker…"

"Way to go, Tails!"

"We're still alive, aren't we?"

"I'm sorry! I've never been on the run from the law before! I'm too young to be put in the slammer-"

"I'm younger than you-"

"Missile!"

Tails and Amy both shrieked as the Tornado lurched forward, ducking under a missile coming from behind. Tails whirled around and blasted mercilessly at the source until it blew up.

"Blowing things up- that's always the way to solve a problem…"

"It's just as a bad as bashing thing into dust with a hammer!"

"At least I don't go bullet-crazy, thank you very much-"

"I'm not bullet-crazy! And if I am, then you're hammering mad!"

"Take that back! I've only bashed one thing this entire time-"

"Are you sure about that?"

"At least I don't talk to myself!"

"How do you know that? I mean…uh…"

"Gotcha!"

Tails sulked as Amy held up her head and victory, and both of them cowered in fear of the sound of police chasing them. Tails kicked in into as much overdrive as his thing would allow, while Amy spotted another billboard with Tails. This time she had a clearer picture- right under his face was a bold, red, "WANTED" message.

"I'm not kidding Tails… we've really got to get out of here!"

"I know that!"

Jets swooped dangerously close to them, making Amy sway back and forth from the aftermath gust of wind they left behind- and Tails was swaying back and forth away from the mines and bombs they left behind. The road cracked apart under the explosions of the bombs and both of the runaways gulped.

"Please tell me we're getting close to somewhere safe…" Amy whispered, now that they were out of Radical Highway and off the bridge. "Can you believe they blew up something like that just to get to us?"

"We're getting out of their range and yes, I can believe that. The military, army, police, and all law enforcement just aren't what they used to be…"

Tails then spotted the perfect getaway- an alley! It was just wide enough for them to get through, but not the police.

"Quick! In here before they spot us!"

Amy really didn't have any choice.

"How long will we have to hide out here?"

"As long as it takes…even all night if we have to…"

. . .

20:21
Mountainous region: Mine-

"Hm, I didn't expect the inside of the mines to be like this…" Knuckles commented, now in the underground area of the mountain region, just beyond Pumpkin Hill. He fell through a pretty obvious hole- I mean, dug himself there because he sensed Emerald Pieces below. "This is going to be tougher than I thought."

Knuckles, again, wasn't sure where to start. The mines were vaster than Pumpkin Hill was! Taking another good look around, and trying to ignore the annoying drip-drops, Knuckles walked forward and latched onto a lever, pulling him upwards, as levers always did.

"Now let's see if there's a piece up here I can snag…"

There probably wasn't considering the universe was trying to tell Knuckles that there was a piece underwater…or maybe Knuckles was becoming really careless and fell again, landing the water. Gratefully being a much better swimmer than Sonic, but not quite as good as Tails, admittedly, Knuckles started swimming around, feeling a piece nearby. He tried to swim deeper, thinking there was one at the bottom of the water, but his senses began to grow weaker as he did.

"…what."

He swam back up, turning up in a place completely different than from where he entered, but it must've been the Emerald drawing him close, as his senses were becoming stronger again.

"Maybe it's up here after all…" Knuckles mused, cling up a wall. When he reached the top, he found a hidden passage. His instinct told him something bad lurked through there, but his instinct also said that a piece of the Emerald was within. So he jumped down the shaft…and landed in a room full of ghosts.

"It's pretty cold in here…"

Knuckles suddenly felt breath on his neck. He froze, and then slowly turned around. The second the ghost was in his sight, it lashed out with a terrifying cackle that sent Knuckles to the ground, trying to scramble away.

"Why are all these ghosts even here?" he exclaimed, backing up to a wall. Ghosts floated around like he wasn't even there, and bigger ones were gilding around, waiting for a time to strike Knuckles. Knuckles wasn't taking any chances and scurried up the wall, sitting on a beam and looking down. "Ah, creepy. Very creepy. But I'm not scared."

Knuckles then turned his head- his senses were nagging him again. That meant a piece was close by! He stood up on the spot, looking around, and then daring leapt from one metal support beam to the next until he reached one with a Master Emerald shard perched on top of it. He grabbed it and turned too jumped back from where he had come from, but his foot had slipped and caused him to fall. This time Knuckles managed to grab the beam.

"Okay, I don't know why I fell in Pumpkin Hill, but I can say I'm falling in here because it's wet and slippery…"

Thinking it was safe, Knuckles let go…and fell into a swarm of ghosts. One attacked him, causing Knuckles some pain. He tried to fight back but his fists went straight through the paranormal creatures. The echidna sweat dropped, now seeing as he was helpless against the foes, and high-tailed it out of there.

"Well, there's not anymore Master Emerald shards down there anyway…gulp…I hope…"

Knuckles ran to the passage he had taken to get in there and climbed out pronto.

"Okay, not going back in there…"

He looked upwards to see the area he had originally fallen from (and ended up in the water), and figured it still had potential…or he simply wanted to go there because it was far away from the Ghost Room as physically possible. Knuckles grabbed the lever that took him up there, and this time around, he received a signal!

"What are the odds…" he mumbled, headed over to where he figured the piece was. A robot was hovering around in the corner, looking suspicious, but thanks to the might of Knuckles' shovel claw, it was no more, and left behind a piece as a prize. Knuckles stored that piece back in its stash, now only needing to find one more piece in this messed up mine and he could finally get out of here! He walked to the edge and glanced down.

"I really think there's an emerald somewhere underwater…I've checked everywhere else and was even almost eaten by ghosts!"

Spreading out his arms, Knuckles fell forward until he felt the cool rush of the water overcome him. He grinned- his sense started kicking in again. Now with a little more motivation, Knuckles trusted his instinct and swam toward wherever he was led to. He located an underwater passage this time and quickly swam down, the emerald getting closer with every stroke. Towards the bottom of the submerged passed was the final piece of the emerald floating around. Nearly gasping (and nearly drowning himself), Knuckles swam down and chased the emerald piece around in circles until it was his again.

"I have to try harder…" he thought to himself. Knuckles left the water, shook himself off, and started to leave the mines until he encountered a problem.

How was he supposed to get back out of there?


Knuckles has returned to the story! And we begin to touch upon the second half of the game- heading on up to Space Colony ARK! However, we've still got a high speed chase and a pyramid to get through first. ^^