"I'm running out of time…" thought Gigex. "The seven stars of chaos will align in less then forty eight hours… And I still don't have the emeralds or my archive!"

Gigex couldn't bare the thought of having to wait another seven thousand years for a chance to see his beloved again. But all those years ago in his training as a warrior he learned to prepare for the worst, but did he have to? There was only one way to find out. Gigex went over to the crystal orb he had used to watch his happiest memories with Morganna. Years ago she told him it also had the power to show the future if you focused hard enough.

"But according to my beloved it has been wrong before… so can I really trust what it shows me? Will I even like what it shows me? And how do I know it won't just tell me what I want to hear?"

Gigex knew he just had to take the risk. There was no other choice. So he closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and opened his mind… Suddenly he could see his elite guard fighting Sonic and the others, he could see himself carrying Morganna's body up the stairs to the shrine of Chaos, he saw himself placing the emeralds on their respective pillars, he saw the seven stars of Chaos align, he saw himself reciting the ancient chant, he saw Morganna arise, finally he held her in his arms again. And just like that it was over.

"… That… That was the future."

With his newfound confidence Gigex got up and went to the command bridge.

"Dr. Eggman, prepare to change course. I know where Sonic and his friends will be."

"Are you nuts!? We can't land here!" said Sonic.

"Sonic we have to land on Atlantias. The planet of the water kingdom is one of the places where Gigex hid his homunculi." said Cosmo.

"Besides, we don't need to get wet at all." said Tails "Switching to sub mode."

Thanks to the Blue Typhoon's new sub mode, Sonic and the others could easily explore the vast oceans of Planet Atlantias, but Sonic still wasn't comfortable going under water even if they were in a giant sub.

"You guys know I hate water." said Sonic.

"Well in that case, welcome to hell." said Knuckles. "Cause there is no land on this planet."

"Wait a minute. If there is no land, then where is this palace of the Water King?" asked Cream.

"Chow."

"Duh… It's obviously underwater." said Rouge.

"Yes, the palace is deep in the ocean underneath several layers of the planet's crust, we will have to find exactly the right crevasse that will lead us to an underground air pocket in which we will find the palace." said Cosmo.

Sonic was not enjoying the trip. Even though he was inside the Blue Typhoon being underwater made him feel uneasy.

"Anything else we should know about this planet?" asked Knuckles.

"Well, Gigex did write one thing."

Cosmo pointed to the page in the archive that had everything Gigex knew about Atlantias. At the bottom of the page he had written,

There's always a bigger fish

For awhile Sonic and the others stayed inside the Typhoon as Tails piloted it through the vast oceans of the planet looking for the crevasse which would lead them to the palace of the Water king. Sonic was trying his best to find a happy place, but was not having much luck. Suddenly…

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

The whole Typhoon was shaking.

"What the heck was that!?" asked Vector.

They all looked out the view point and they saw that they where being attacked by something that looked like a giant barracuda, one so big it looked like it could take a bite out of the Typhoon.

"Guys, hold on to your stuff!" said Tails.

Tails had put the pedal to the metal but the giant barracuda was still able to catch up. Then suddenly out of no where a giant shark like thing came diving down out of no where and snatched the giant barracuda in its mouth.

"There's always a bigger fish." said Shadow.

Eventually Tails found the right crevasse and proceeded down it. It was long and dark but soon enough they found the air pocket. They continued to go through the tunnels on foot.

"This is almost too easy." said Espio.

Suddenly his foot sunk in the ground as though he stepped on a button or something, and then everyone heard a loud rumbling noise.

"Me and my big fat mouth."

Espio had unintentionally triggered a rock slide. Humongous boulders came falling from the ceiling and crashed through the floor revealing an underground river. Everyone ran in different directions trying to avoid the boulders but Sonic didn't notice the floor was giving out beneath him until it was too late.

"No Sonic!"

The floor gave out beneath Sonic's feet and he fell into the river below.

"Agh! Somebody help me!"

"Hold on Sonic!"

"Amy wait!"

But Amy had already jumped down into the river and swam down stream after Sonic. The current was strong and everything went by so fast, but Amy was determined. Eventually she caught up to Sonic and pulled him onto a rock that was floating down stream.

Sonic coughed up some water and said, "Thanks Amy."

"It was my pleasure Sonic… Uh-oh."

Sonic slapped himself on the forehead and said, "Don't tell me… We're about to go over a huge waterfall."

"Yep."

"You think there are sharp rocks at the bottom?"

"Gulp… Most likely…"

"… Bring it on."

Sonic and Amy went right over the waterfall.

"AAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"

It happened so fast, and just like that it was over. Amy broke the surface and took a deep breath.

"That was a close one Sonic… Sonic? Oh no!"

Amy took a deep breath and dove back under the water. Sonic was stuck under the rock they went over the fall on, he wasn't moving. Amy swung her hammer; even though it was slowed by being underwater she had more then enough strength to force the boulder off of Sonic. She grabbed him, sped back to the surface and swam to shore.

"Sonic! Sonic speak to me!"

Sonic wasn't breathing.

"Come on breathe! BREATHE!"

Sonic didn't respond.

Amy started compressing Sonic's chest, after doing it fifteen times she tried to get his mouth open, then she breathed into him. Then she started to compress his chest another fifteen times and repeated the cycle, until Sonic started breathing again and coughed up a lot of water.

"Oh thank God!" said Amy hugging him real tight.

"Amy… You really saved my life just now."

"Don't you scare me like that!"

Amy realized that Sonic hadn't told her to lighten up or anything. He just smiled. Amy couldn't stay mad at him, it really wasn't his fault, and she was just glad he was alive. For a few minutes there was nothing but that big awkward silence as they smiled at each other.

"So… How are we going to get back to the others?" asked Amy.

Sonic laughed and said, "Well let's see… All we've got to do is jump over that hundred foot waterfall, swim upstream about five miles, pray those falling rocks didn't cover the hole in the ground, and hope Tails and the others are still there with a rope or something when we get there."

"Or you could just wait for us to come and pick you up."

Sonic and Amy turned around to see that Tails and the others had already found them.

"How'd you guys get down here?"

"The stairs." said Cosmo.

Sonic and Amy didn't notice that this was also the room where the homunculus was. After Shadow disposed of it they went back to the Typhoon and Tails set course for the planet where they would find the final Homunculus. The planet Frumuseţe.

(To be Continued)

We are nearing the climax, with just one Homunculus to go, then it's on to the big bad vampire himself. Was the vision that Gigex saw the future that might happen or will happen? What does fate hold in store for Cosmo? To what lengths will Tails go to protect her? And what about the big mess made by the rockslide in this chapter, who's gonna clean that up?

Stay tuned for Chapter 11: The planet of Love and Woes