Chapter 11: Landfall
Location: Mystic Ruins
Afternoon...
A burly red echidna trekked through the dense jungle, trying to locate the scattered shards of the Master Emerald. Over the past several weeks, Angel Island had experienced numerous changes, the most drastic of which saw the restoration of the lost city of Echidnaopolis onto the island. Knuckles had attempted to take it all in stride, but he longed for the days when guarding the Master Emerald was his only priority.
"I saw his ship head in this general direction, but I don't see any sign of either it or Eggman," the echidna thought.
The egg-shaped scientist had attacked the island over night, destroying the Chaos Chamber and the Master Emerald secured inside. Shattered, the airborne island had plummeted out of the sky, landing in the Southern Ocean. Over the next several hours, the island would be at risk of sinking, something that his numerous ancestors were working towards preventing, or at least slow down. Emerging from the thick foliage, Knuckles found himself standing amongst a set of ancient ruins.
"Oh, ho! What do we have here? Excavated ruins! And it looks like someone's been digging around here lately. Since Eggman blasted his way into the Chaos Chamber, it stands to reason he may have started elsewhere. In any event, it's worth a quick look around."
Taking a moment to survey his immediate surrounds, he found that it resembled an ancient city, although much of it had crumbled away with the passage of time.
"Déjà vu!" Knuckles mumbled, "This place reminds me of the ruins I've explored on Angel Island. Did Echidnas possibly live here at one time? If so, where did they go? More importantly why?"
His recent travels with the Lost Tribe had exposed him to the existence of other Echidna societies, so it wasn't that much of a stretch . He studied the ruins with a renewed interest, taking note of their advance state of decay. It suggested that the ruins had been abandoned for centuries, possibly even longer then that. Refocusing his attention to the task at hand, Knuckles proceeded forward through the ruins.
"Whatever happened to the days when everything was simple?" He thought to himself, "Sonic and I would duke it out...WHOA! That was some chill up my spine. And no wonder...shards of the Master Emerald."
Two chunks of the monolithic gem lay upon the cobblestones, glittering in the sunlight. Unsure when he might return to Angel Island, he had brought a sack with him to carry the shattered gemstone. Collecting up the pieces, he deposited them inside and continued on his way.
"The emeralds aren't the only thing giving me a funny feeling though," he said, rubbing his chin, "Something or someone is nearby...watching me."
"You're growing more perceptive, lad!" a voice declared.
Turning, Knuckles watched as a puff of smoke emanated from a nearby boulder, revealing the form of a red-skinned Fire Ant. He was dressed in a brown cowboy hat, matching boots, and a brown vest, with a bone necklace hung from around his neck.
"Archy? What are you doing here?" he inquired.
"You were in such a rush, that I suspected you may have forgotten this," stated Archimedes.
The Fire Ant reached inside the pack strapped to his back, removing a small gemstone. Green in colour, it had the image yellow starburst emblazoned upon it's glossy surface. Instantly recognizing it as the Guiding Star Gem, Knuckles practically wanted to kick himself for forgetting to bring it.
"Thanks. This'll make getting back to Angel Island all the easier."
"Looks familiar, doesn't it?" commented the Fire Ant, taking in the landscape.
"Yeah," he replied.
He suspected that he knew far more then he was leading on, which wouldn't have been the first time either. Archimedes and the Brotherhood had been withholding plenty of things from him, believing that these were things that he was not yet ready to know. Travelling deeper into the ruins, the pair stumbled across a small campsite that had been set up in the crumbling interior of what might have been a stone hut. Dropping into a squat, Knuckles held his palm over the fire pit, feel the residual heat emanating from the coals.
"Still warm," the echidna stated, "Someone was here recently."
"Watch yourself, Lad. They could still be around."
Rising to his feet, he continued deeper into the ruins, stopping before a massive temple. Fashioned from stone, the building was better preserved then the rest of the ruins that surrounded it. Of course the most striking feature was the enormous tree that was protruding from the roof.
"AAAAHHHH! HELP ME!" a voiced cried out, shattering the serenity of the jungle.
"I think it came from that direction," Archimedes stated, having perched himself on the Echidna's shoulder.
Rushing over to a gaping hole located at the base of the temple, Knuckles peered into the darkness, finding a ramp the slopped downward. Using his right hand to steady himself, he could feel vibrations emanating through the stone, signaling that a trap had been triggered. Having spent time exploring the ruins of the Sandopolis Zone, Knuckles knew the type of deadly traps that might linger inside. Plunging into the darkness with little regard for his own wellbeing, the Echidna almost immediately found himself encountering a dead end. He could hear the sound of stone grinding against each other, along with the unseen individual's renewed cries for help. Suspecting that he was trapped on the other side of the wall, Knuckles drew back his arm and drove his fist into the solid stone. The stone gave way with ease, exposing a hallway that was quickly becoming narrower. Located at the far end was a portly-looking Overlander with black hair styled into a bowl cut. He was dressed in brown khakis, a yellow shirt, a green coat, and matching loafers. The man was desperately trying to keep the walls from closing in, but was making no real progress. Drawing his arm back, he delivered a punch to one of the walls, destroying the mechanism that operated the trap. They emerged from the temple five minutes later, with the portly Overlander barely able to stand.
