Chapter 10
Meanwhile, Big was wandering through the corridors of the Egg Carrier, looking for Froggy.
"Froggy!" Big called out. "Where are you?"
The corridor then violently shook, causing Big to fall flat on his furry white belly. He picked himself up and walked through a narrow hallway.
Suddenly, Big's large ears perked up as he heard little croaking sounds.
"Froggy?" Big wondered. "Is that you I hear?"
He followed the sounds to a large steel door with Eggman's insignia on it. He pushed a button, causing the doors to slide open, revealing a large, circular storage room.
"Are you in here, Froggy?" Big asked as he looked around the massive room.
Rrrriiibbiit, he heard. Looking upward, he found his beloved pet frog in a large tank of water perched high above a large shelf.
"I found you!" Big hollered. He began to climb up the shelf, but his weight tipped the shelf over, causing Big to fall flat on his back. The shelf hit the floor with a loud crash and the tank fell towards the ground. Big quickly lunged at the tank, catching it and Froggy just before it would have smashed into the floor.
With his heart pounding like a jackhammer, Big lifted the lid off the tank and Froggy jumped straight into his arms. "I got you, Froggy," Big smiled as he tightly hugged his pet amphibian. Froggy seemed to be back to his old self, and he was equally as happy to see Big again.
"We're together again at last!" Big whooped. Froggy croaked loudly in response. As they celebrated their reunion, the mysterious red light swooped down and flew straight at Big, who was lost in a dazzling white light.
Once the light faded away, he found himself facing the Master Emerald shrine from more than 4000 years into the past. He noticed that Froggy wasn't in his arms anymore.
"Froggy!" Big called out, beginning to panic slightly. "Where are you? Maybe he's in that pool over there," he concluded, noticing the large pool that surrounded the magnificent shrine.
He made his way over to the shrine, but instead of seeing Froggy, he saw Tikal. She was standing before the shrine, and the water in the pool seemed to softly resonate in her presence.
"Is... is it alright for me to be here?" Tikal asked the entity. The water began to ripple, seemingly responding to her question. Tikal was able to read its thoughts.
"So... you're saying that you trust me?" Tikal asked. "Thank you."
She was welcomed, and she respectfully began to walk up the steps to the top of the shrine. While making her way there, she observed the seven chaos emeralds gleaming atop the stone poles surrounding the shrine. "So these are the seven chaos emeralds," she said.
She eventually reached the top of the shrine, followed by Big from a distance. She took in the sight of the glowing Master Emerald sitting on top of the altar, which emanated a soft green light.
"It's so beautiful," she beheld. The Master Emerald flashed briefly, as if it was thanking her.
Something suddenly dawned on Tikal and she looked at the seven chaos emeralds, and then turned back to the Master Emerald.
"The servers are... the seven chaos emeralds," Tikal began, "Unified by one that is the controller." From this, she drew upon an astonishing conclusion.
"So... are you the one that controls the seven Chaos?" Tikal asked the Master Emerald.
Before she was about to get an answer, a bright light showered down on Big and he was transported back to the Egg Carrier, with Froggy safely in his arms. However, he wasn't in a very safe location. He was standing outside on one of the ship's decks, consisting of a giant, green circular platform. Underneath the platform's thick glass floor were a series of spinning mechanisms. Big had no idea how he got here, but at least Froggy was back with him.
"Froggy?" Big wondered. He then saw the Tornado II lying on the airstrip exactly where Tails had left it. "I must have been dreaming. We need to get outta here!"
He started to run towards the plane, but a large object dropped down from the sky and landed in front of him. Big was slow to react and he crashed into the object, falling flat on his back, dropping Froggy in the process. The large cat began to pick himself up, and he rubbed his eyes. Stricken with terror, he found himself looking straight up into Chaos 4's menacing green eyes. As if that didn't present enough problems, Eggman flew down beside the monster in his Eggmobile.
Meanwhile, Knuckles had been really busy since the Egg Carrier last took off, relentlessly searching for the final Master Emerald piece. Despite all of the action, mayhem, and destruction taking place around him, the echidna was too focused to notice any of the commotion.
Knuckles wandered through a large corridor deep in the hull of the massive flying fortress. This was the core chamber for the entire Egg Carrier, a massive space that was filled to the brim with computers, switches, and all sorts of high-tech machinery. In the center, an enormous generator hummed away, powered by a red energy core, filling up the whole area in a soft red glow. Knuckles then saw a glimmering green light revolving around the generator like a satellite.
"The final piece of the Master Emerald!" Knuckles exclaimed with joy. He jumped on top of the generator, and he grabbed the last piece of the precious jewel. He closed his eyes, focusing intensely on something. The Master Emerald piece then shrank down to the size of a small stone.
"At last," Knuckles smiled. "My quest is complete."
Just as he put the piece into his brown sack, the mysterious red light hovered above Knuckles. It floated down towards the exit, and Knuckles concluded that the light was showing him the way out.
Meanwhile, Big and Froggy were staring straight into the eyes of Eggman and Chaos 4.
"My my, we have escapees at every corner," Eggman snickered.
Chaos 4's emotionless eyes stared right back at the helpless duo, but his eyes were more focused on Froggy than Big.
"Yes, Chaos," Eggman noticed. "I see that little frog has something you want, right?"
Eggman dug out the cyan emerald that he acquired from Bluebird, and this set off a strange reaction in Froggy. His body began to glow yellow in the presence of the jewel, and his mouth was forced open. The yellow emerald that Froggy swallowed a while ago was regurgitated from his body. Eggman then threw both emeralds at Chaos 4 like a baseball pitcher. The watery monster absorbed the emeralds, and a bright light enveloped Chaos as he underwent another transformation. However, once the light cleared, they saw that this transformation was unlike any other before it. Chaos was no longer even vaguely humanoid. Instead, he emerged as a 25-foot insectoid monster made up of several different creatures. He had the body of a frog, six insect-like legs, and eight spider-like eyes. He also had a pair of jaws lined with razor-sharp teeth, and his brain grew to the size of a small boulder. He had two chaos emeralds in his hind legs, and the other four were positioned in a row near his brain. Now called Chaos 6, the enormous monster cried out a terrifying roar.
"Chaos," Eggman reminded, "Don't forget about your tail!"
Chaos 6's spindly legs began to turn his new bulky body around towards Froggy. Glaring at the poor frog, Chaos 6 opened up his massive jaws. With vacuum-like force, Chaos 6 inhaled Froggy, swallowing the amphibian as if he was a pill.
"No, Froggy!" Big cried.
The poor amphibian helplessly floated around inside Chaos 6's watery body. Froggy's tail then disappeared and Chaos 6 grew a tail of his own, which was a long, scorpion-like appendage. Eggman began to laugh maniacally. "So, cat, how do you like my new and improved Chaos? I still have one more emerald to find, but you'll never get your little frog friend back, even though Chaos isn't perfected yet! Hahahahaha!"
Eggman's joy didn't last, however, because Sonic smashed through the windows of the Egg Carrier's bridge. He landed on the platform where Big and Chaos 6 stood on. It had been quite a while since Sonic had last seen Chaos, so he was shocked to see the newly empowered Chaos 6.
"Holy cow!" Sonic exclaimed. "Someone's been going on a fattening diet here!"
"Help me save Froggy!" Big implored.
"So, he's your friend, is he?" Sonic asked, noticing Froggy floating around inside the monster. "Don't worry, I'll go save him."
Sonic spin-rolled straight at Chaos 6 at breakneck speed, but surprisingly, he just bounced right off of the monster.
"What? No way!" Sonic cried.
"Hahaha! Nice try, hedgehog!" Eggman laughed. "You'll never win against him now, Sonic. Don't even think about saving that little amphibian."
At this point in Sonic's and Chaos' history together, Chaos 6 had come to hate Sonic as much as Eggman. Without warning, Chaos 6 sprouted long tentacles from his body, flinging them at Sonic. The hedgehog dodged the first one, but the second one painfully smacked him down to the ground.
Meanwhile, back in the belly of the Egg Carrier, the mysterious red light trailed in front of Knuckles, guiding him down the hallways which were now shifting and tilting back and forth.
"The ship is rocking back and forth," Knuckles said. "I hope I'll make it out of here alive!"
Suddenly, the red light stopped and hovered right in front of his face. Knuckles had a feeling of what was going to happen, and he was right. Lost in a blinding white light, he found himself being transported back to the ancient Master Emerald shrine. However, this experience was going to be different than any before it.
The twinkling, starlit night sky looked quite beautiful, but below it was nothing but destruction. The grounds, once beautiful and sacred, had been attacked, and everything from the grass to the trees, and even the shrine itself, was up in scorching flames.
"No... it can't be! What's happening?" Knuckles wondered, filled with terror. He couldn't believe he was witnessing such a grisly sight.
He then saw Tikal lying on the ground, injured. He rushed to her aid.
"Are you okay?" he asked the female echidna as she slowly opened up her blue eyes, which were filled with glistening tears.
"I couldn't stop them," she sobbed. "They came, and... my father and the others, they didn't listen to me! I don't... know what to... do." Tikal then broke down and tears were streaming down her face. Knuckles could do nothing to console her.
Far away, a terrifying, reptilian sea monster screamed out a shrill, piercing roar, and its echo was powerful enough to be heard from the burning shrine. As Knuckles wondered what it was, Tikal rose to her feet and began to run towards the Master Emerald.
"Wait!" Knuckles shouted. "Come back!"
Before he could run after Tikal, the light shone down on Knuckles and he was transported back to the shifting hallways of the Egg Carrier. This was one terrifying experience that he could never forget.
"What a horrifying experience," Knuckles said. "There has to be some sort of reason why I'm being shown these things. The shrine, the Master Emerald, the girl, and Chaos..."
While Knuckles was trying to make sense of everything that he saw from that vision, the ship violently quaked, nearly causing Knuckles to fall onto the floor. "I've wasted enough time," he said. "I have to get out of here, quickly!"
Back on the green platform, Sonic and Chaos 6 continued fighting. Chaos 6 vaulted high into the air using his long, grasshopper-like hind legs. He landed with an almighty crash, sending out a purple shock wave that radiated in all directions, causing Sonic and Big to be knocked backwards onto the floor. Sonic picked himself up and smiled.
"I'm not through with you yet, Chaos," Sonic bragged.
Big got back onto his feet, watching Froggy continuing to float helplessly in the monster's body. Big had enough of this.
"Every single time I come close to catching Froggy," Big declared, "Something always yanks us apart. Well, I ain't gonna let that happen no more."
Deploying his Power Rod, he summoned up all of his strength and cast his line into Chaos 6's body. Seeing the lure, Froggy quickly swam over to it and bit onto the bait, and Big began to pull as hard as he could to get Froggy out of the monster's body.
Like what happens when you throw a stone at a large animal, Chaos 6 merely shifted his gaze over to Big instead. The cat didn't move in the face of danger, so Sonic was forced to intervene on his behalf. Jumping in front of Big, Sonic began to push back against Chaos 6.
"Hurry!" Sonic shouted.
Seeing how the hedgehog was protecting him, Big continued to pull with all of his strength. Suddenly, Froggy was launched out of Chaos 6's body. He flew through the air and landed safely in Big's arms.
"Froggy! You're safe!" Big rejoiced.
Rrrriibbiiittt, Froggy croaked with happiness and joy.
Suddenly, Chaos 6 swung another deadly tentacle at Sonic, who effortlessly jumped out of its way.
"I'm glad that you got your friend back," Sonic said to Big. "Now hurry and get out of here before you or your pet gets hurt!"
After thanking Sonic, Big ran towards the Tornado II. He tried to climb inside, but he was too big to fit into either one of the seats. Big placed Froggy in the front seat and the feline jumped on top of the plane.
"Sure is neat, hey, Froggy?" Big said.
Ribbit, Froggy replied.
Big was looking at all of the buttons and switches. He was confused by the complex controls, and he just pushed a random sequence of buttons, which just so happened to start the Tornado II's jet engine. The plane skidded across the airstrip towards the end of the Egg Carrier. Big and Froggy held on tight as the plane careened off the ship and spun wildly into the sky.
"Aaaaaahhh!" Big screamed, followed by a series of loud, panicked croaks from Froggy. The plane began to spiral down into the clouds, where it eventually disappeared from sight.
Meanwhile, Sonic was nearly exhausted from the battle while Chaos 6 didn't even let up slightly.
"I didn't even do a single number on him yet," Sonic groaned. "He's definitely become a lot stronger since our last encounter."
"Are you feeling tired, Sonic?" Eggman taunted. "Why don't you cool off for a while?" He brandished a small egg-shaped ice grenade and threw it at Sonic. The hedgehog effortlessly jumped out of the way as the grenade harmlessly landed and bounced on the glass floor.
"What was that?!" Sonic howled in laughter.
"Doesn't matter," Eggman shrugged it off. "You won't be able to do anything against my new pet. Now, Chaos, let's whip that hedgehog into shape, and get him warmed up again!"
Chaos 6 swung a tentacle straight down towards Sonic, who jumped high into the air just as the tentacle landed, shattering the glass floor. Still in the air, Sonic charged up his Light Speed Attack and struck Chaos 6 multiple times. The monster didn't show the slightest sign of harm.
"No way!" Sonic kicked himself. "That was my best attack!"
"You'll never win, Sonic." Eggman growled. "Game over, hedgehog."
Chaos 6 then sprouted three more long tentacles and brought them down towards Sonic. The hedgehog jumped over the first and somersaulted under the second, but the third one caught him from behind and pinned him down to the floor. Sonic was too weak to lift himself up.
"Yes! Go, Chaos! Destroy him already!" Eggman whooped.
Chaos 6 raised his scorpion-like tail, ready to deliver the final death blow that would end Sonic's life forever. His tail had become greatly enlarged, and the tip of the tail began to glow bright-orange, hanging high above Sonic's pinned body like a guillotine.
"I'm done for!" Sonic cried.
"I've been waiting for this moment for many years, and it has finally come!" Eggman's heart raced with excitement. "Chaos, kill that hedgehog now!"
Sonic squeezed his eyes shut, prepared for the end. Chaos 6 brought his tail down on Sonic with full force. Just a fraction of a second before Sonic's life would have ended, Knuckles suddenly dashed in from out of nowhere and completely severed Chaos 6's tail with a quick and powerful punch. Screaming in pain, Chaos 6 recoiled, losing his grip on Sonic. The heroic hedgehog quickly shot back up.
"Knuckles!" Sonic and Eggman exclaimed in surprise.
"Here I am, saving you yet another time," Knuckles said.
"You have to be careful this time, Knuckles," Sonic cautioned. "It doesn't seem like anything can penetrate the watery hide of that overgrown jellyfish."
"I'll give you a hint," Knuckles grinned as he held up his fist.
"Oh, Shovel Claw, huh?" Sonic said in a slightly underwhelmed tone.
"You have a problem with that?" Knuckles asked. "They might act differently. Watch this."
Knuckles swung a Shovel Claw at Chaos 6, but it barely scratched him. Sonic then noticed Eggman's ice grenade, still lying on the floor.
Chaos 6 opened his mouth and began to inhale in an attempt to absorb the blue and red duo.
"He's trying to suck us in!" Knuckles exclaimed. He dashed to a railing and held on with all of his might, and Sonic grabbed his leg and held on too.
"Don't give up, Knuckles," Sonic encouraged him.
With the grenade tightly clutched in Sonic's hand, he pressed a little switch and threw it as hard as he could into Chaos 6's mouth. Seconds later, the grenade went off, blasting the monster with freezing energy that was way below zero. The enormous monster screamed loudly as his entire body began to solidify. In just a few seconds, Chaos 6 was completely frozen in solid ice, his body standing there like a gigantic ice sculpture.
"Okay, Knuckles, knock yourself out!" Sonic grinned.
"My pleasure!" Knuckles smiled.
With a swift swipe of a Shovel Claw, the monster's solid body was completely shattered, littering the floor with thousands of sparkling ice shards. The six chaos emeralds were amidst all of the broken ice, and Knuckles quickly scooped them up. Sonic turned his head and saw Eggman with Decoe and Bocoe. The trio were trying to escape from the ship in Eggman's Eggmobile.
"Where do you think you're going, Doc?" Sonic angrily asked him. He sprinted up to the Eggmobile and latched himself tightly onto its wing. The evil doctor tried to shake him off, but to no avail. They were still wrestling with each other even when the Eggmobile dropped off the edge of the ship and zoomed out of sight.
"I'd better get off of this thing myself," Knuckles said. He ran to the edge of the ship and jumped off, gliding through the sky.
It was a good thing that everyone escaped at this time, because several more explosions rocked and blasted around the ship. Massive fireballs blasted their way through the many corridors of the Egg Carrier, destroying everything in their path. The once mighty vessel fell through the clouds and crashed into the ocean, causing an enormous tidal wave to radiate from all sides of the crippled ship.