26. "The Big Freeze"
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An eerie chill filled the air on a cloudless night, while a tall ancient-looking temple stood silently in the middle of a vast plain. The temple appeared to be carved out of pure rock, like the Incan city of Machu Picchu; it looked half-finished, with its main walls looking like bricks and its outer ends looking more like a chiseled mountain. But its main stairway and temple ground was reminiscent of the ancient Mayan temple, Chichen Itza. All was quiet at the temple, when-
"-CONTROL!"
In a flash of light, a gang of Mobians appeared like magic. It was Shadow, Knuckles, Sally, Bunnie, Amy, and Julie-Su, who have just arrived via Chaos Control, courtesy of Shadow. They gazed up at the temple stairway in awe.
"…You know," frowned a concerned Amy, "I think we would have heard from the others by now. You think they might still be in there?"
"Only one way to find out," replied Shadow as he took the first few steps. "Come on, we've wasted enough time as it is." He then skated up the stairs on his rocket-powered shoes.
Bunny whispered sarcastically into Sally's ear, "He sure is the life o' the party, that one." Sally giggled before leading the rest of the charge.
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- ONYX TEMPLE ZONE -
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Team Selected: Rose Red (Knuckles and Amy)
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- ACT I -
A deep blue ran rampant in the temple's interior, mainly because everything seemed to be frozen over in ice and even some snow. It was a blessing for the warriors that the floor wasn't as slippery as it looked, unlike in the second Act of Frozen Peak Zone. However, there were plenty of other hazards here, lurking in the shadows; Penguinators and Ice Orbinauts, just to name a few. Legionnaires were also running about, dressed in black cloaks and armed with icicles for lances.
And then, there was the temple itself. Underneath the ice, one could just barely make out chiseled mosaics and totem poles, but that beauty was overshadowed by dangerous spike pits and fragile stalactites above. It was dark, it was blue, it was freezing cold. And it was about to be invaded a second time.
"This place is covered in ice," said Amy while Knuckles led the duo. As the team moved, their exhaling breath was visible as small puffs of white.
Getting the first few Rings was easy; it was merely a run straight ahead…
Ring Count: 5
Then the path dipped into a slide, one that proved to be too slippery for Knuckles to slow himself down, and he slipped right into an Ice Orbinaut.
Ring Count: 3
Amy recovered three Rings, not that it mattered due to her Healing ability. But as he was blinking in recovery, Knuckles found an opportunity to pulverize the Ice Orbinaut. Soon after, two Penguinators and one Yeti-Bear armed with an icicle came at him. They were no match for Knuckles.
He then saw that the ground was going to form a slide once again, so he jumped at the edge and glided across to a wall encased in ice. He then climbed up with his spike-like knuckles, onto a platform where he was rewarded with a Ten-Ring Box.
Ring Count: 13
Seeing as how there was a dead-end, he had no choice but to fall down onto the slide. Only this time he jumped up at its base to keep himself from slipping into a spike pit. He glided across the pit and snagged more Rings
Ring Count: 18
"My turn!" cheered Amy, as Knuckles tagged her into play.
As Amy ran across the room, two Legionnaires jumped up from piles of snow, armed with icicles shaped like swords. She double-smacked them with her hammer before moving onto a block of ice, which lifted her upward. Upon its ascension, the ice block began to descend; Amy jumped across onto another moving block of ice, which pulled her forward. As it did, two Ice Orbinauts were floating along its path. Amy managed to jump over one, but was hit by the other.
Ring Count: 9
The ice platform stopped at the edge of a solid path; Amy jumped onto it and Piko-Dashed ahead, into an unsuspecting Penguinator, and over a loop-de-loop made of ice, where Rings were lined up.
Ring Count: 16
While still spinning, Amy missed a chance to grind on a rail made of ice, but instead was hurled down a slide that gave way to a spike pit. Fortunately, she jumped onto a fallen stalactite's top just in time.
"Let me at 'em!" called out Knuckles. The echidna took the lead, and jump-glided across the spike pit, then latched his fists onto the wall on the other side. As he was climbing upward, he stumbled upon a secret passageway. While going through the tunnel, he was rewarded with two Ten-Ring Boxes, and a third Item Box.
Ring Count: 36
Acquired: Fire Shield
"Sweet!" he cheered.
With his arms swinging, Knuckles plowed through the wall of the tunnel, nearly falling from the ledge but jumped into a glide once again In mid-air, he caught onto an icy rail and started to grind onto it with his show soles. Along its zig-zagging path, he melted two Ice Orbinauts with his shield and slid through a long line of Rings.
Ring Count: 48
At the edge of the rail, Knuckles jump-glided again, missing a spike pit and dodging two stalactites as they were falling into the pit. He also glided into an Ice Orbinaut, which would have been a hazard if not for his Fire Shield. But then, upon landing on solid ground, Knuckles met with three sword-swinging Legionnaires. They all came at him at once, and while he jumped onto two without a problem, the third extinguished his shield. Angered, Knuckles slammed his fist into the black-robed echidna, causing him to teleport out of sight.
"Tag me!" called out Amy.
Though she was rather slow, Amy was about to have the time of her life, slamming her hammer into the next five Legionnaires as they dared tried to get in her path. Three of them were holding icicles shaped like maces; the others had the ice swords. None of them could beat the swinging Piko-Piko Hammer. For her efforts, Amy grabbed the Rings floating above, as well as a Ten-Ring Box hiding in plain sight.
Ring Count: 62
Amy then jumped onto an ice block platform, which pushed itself down a slide, across a spike pit that proved useless, and through three hidden rooms that were sealed away in ice.
Ring Count: 71
Then at last, she came to a complete stop. The room she entered was very small, with only one way out. Well actually, two; the first was the obvious floating ice platform, but…
"Let me at 'em!" Knuckles found a faster way, by climbing up the wall. He missed five more Rings, but he felt he had more than enough for the journey.
As he climbed to the top of the ledge, an Ice Orbinaut dared to appear just a few inches in front of him. He jumped backward, nearly falling back down, but landed on top of the floating ice block. There, he waited until the Ice Orbinaut floated away, then made it back to the top where he was greeted by seven more Legionnaires.
"TEAM-UP!"
At the cost of fifty Rings, Amy and Knuckles performed their signature move: "Rosy Roulette." Knuckles grabbed ahold of Amy's free hand, while her other hand gripped tightly onto her hammer. Knuckles started to spin round and round, faster and faster, until they became a reddish-pink spinning top with a hammer on its edge. They moved freely on all sides, pushing themselves into their opponents and watched as the Legionnaires and Badniks flew off-screen on impact of the hammer's mallet.
Ring Count: 21
"That was so worth it," smiled Knuckles, even though he was looking rather dizzy right afterwards.
Knuckles had nothing in his way for a while, so he was free to grab the lines of Rings that were on the ground and floating just over his head.
Ring Count: 33
Knuckles entered another seemingly safe room, when suddenly a gigantic snowball came falling from a hole in the ceiling, and began to chase him down. He had no time to spin-dash, and so as he ran at full speed, he almost got run over and buried by the snowball. Fortunately, he jumped from a ledge and glided onto an ice rail, safe from harm. As he grinded down the loopy rail, he had to switch onto another one as the first gave way. Then a third appeared; he jumped onto it just as the second melted away. All the while, he grabbed even more Rings.
Ring Count: 68
Knuckles then jump-glided onto a wall, then climbed upward, into yet another secret tunnel where he was rewarded with two Ten-Ring Boxes.
Ring Count: 88
As he slammed through the wall on the other side, Knuckles met with two very large Yeti-Bears, six Legionnaires, and two Ice Orbinauts floating across the ceiling. There were floating ice blocks present, serving as safe escapes from the enemies… but why would he be bothered by that?
"TEAM-UP!"
Once again, Knuckles grabbed hold of Amy's right arm while she gripped onto her hammer with her left one. They spun and spun until their bodies blurred into a spinning top. Not even the large Yeti-Bears were a match; with two hits each, they were pulverized.
Ring Count: 38
Amy took the lead, but paused to shake off her dizziness. She then Piko-Dashed herself into the Goal Line straight ahead.
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- ACT I CLEARED! -
Ring Count: 38
Bonus Points: +20,000
Level Up! Knuckles can use "Ground-Breaker!"
Level-Up! Amy can use "Heart-Breaker!"
Rank: S (You've earned a Continue!)
Continues: 2
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- ACT II -
Team Selected: G.U.N.S For Hire (Shadow and Julie-Su)
Song: "I Am (All of Me)" by Crush 40
"Where could the others be?" wondered Julie-Su as she took the lead.
Two seconds into her run, and Julie-Su came upon a trio of Penguinators. They slid like torpedos on the icy floor, but she was quick to jump onto them in a hot pink ball. Right behind them were five Rings to jump into.
Ring Count: 5
A giant stalactite came falling down, but instead of blocking her path it plowed straight through it, causing a small crater in the earth. Julie jumped, but not far enough; she clung onto the edge of the pit before pulling herself out.
An Ice Orbinaut came floating her way next, but she dodged it by ducking out of its way; unlike most Orbinauts, these icy ones would not relinquish their barbs so easily. Fortunately, three Rings were floating right behind it.
Ring Count: 8
Into the next room she ran, where there were several icy totems scattered around the place, forming a maze. Julie ran to the far left (three Rings), then to the far right, (three Rings) then down the middle where she ran into two Legionnaires armed with icicle lances. She shot down one and jumped onto the other; both were teleported away.
Ring Count: 14
"Tag me, you fool!" called out Shadow from behind, and he was tagged into play.
Shadow hopped up a staircase of ice blocks, into a hallway with two more falling giant icicles. He managed to double-jump over the first crater, but took notice of the Item Box uncovered within the second one. He jumped on it, and was rewarded with a shield.
Acquired: Fire Shield
As the blaze encircled him, Shadow double-jumped out of the crater and used the shield's ability to flash forward, straight through an Ice Orbinaut and over a Penguinator.
Shadow had to stop while a giant snowball- one big enough to fill the room- passed by over his path. He fire-flashed forward in case another would show up. Along the way, he grabbed more Rings as he entered the next platform.
Ring Count: 19
The next hallway had three plugs on the ceiling that emitted a mist that could freeze a player; Shadow was skating across when the second one's mist froze him in a block of ice. He was then released, but lost his Fire Shield. No worse for wares, he skated on.
The next room had a larger set of totems lined up like a maze, where more Rings and Legionnaires were waiting behind the statues. Shadow was forced to veer left, right, left, center, left, right, then center again before coming across any real danger.
Ring Count: 28
A whole line of Legionnaires were waiting, with their lances sticking out like pikes. The only thing he though to do at that point was pay 25 Rings to skip over them as well as the rest of the maze: "Chaos Control!"
Ring Count: 3
"Allow me!" said Julie-Su as she was tagged into play. While she wasn't as fast as Shadow, she was equally armed and dangerous, which proved useful against the Penguinators that were sliding her way.
But then suddenly, her path dipped into an icy slide which decreased her traction as she slipped into the next hall, and almost into a spike pit. Luckily she was quick enough to do a jump that stopped her momentum. She then had to wait for three small icicles to hit the spike pit, then use their tops as platforms, to travel across. While she jumped forward, she caught a fair amount of Rings.
Ring Count: 12
Her path started to zig-zag, while another giant snowball was seen up ahead. This one was sliding back and forth on two slopes, one on each wall, so that it was moving in pendulum-like fashion. Julie had to time her run right before it could slam into her, and she made it just in time. Two Legionnaires tried to surprise her by jumping into play, but she shot each of them down before moving on.
"Let me show you how it's done," gloated Shadow as he was tagged into play.
Being the higher jumper, Shadow ignored the usual path and double-jumped onto an icy rail that acted as a loopy slide across a path of spikes and Ice Orbinauts. The rail was also littered with Rings, which would prove useful. Shadow grinded across like a pro.
Ring Count: 38
"Excellent," he smiled upon landing into a low level of the temple.
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Shadow stopped in the middle of the journey to notice a hole in a wall, sealed in ice. It wasn't the ice that intrigued him, it was inside the ice block that did. There were small figure silhouettes in there, indicating that two creatures were trapped inside.
"Hmm… What could this be?" he wondered out loud. "…Chaos Spear!" He launched a green light of pure energy from his right fist, smashing the ice into oblivion.
Just as he had suspected, two small wolf children were being held prisoner within the chamber, only they were now Roboticized and standing motionlessly as though they were "switched off," just as Metal Mina was.
"Shadow, what are you…?" asked Julie as she approached the scene. After taking one glance at the pups, she gasped. "They're… they're just children!"
"Yes," nodded Shadow, "and they're comatose, it seems."
"What do we do?"
"We'll keep them here for now, let's get to the heart of the temple where we'll find more answers." With that, they left the helpless wolf children behind.
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Shadow skated on, ignoring both Penguinators and Ice Orbinauts on his way to the third and final totem pole-maze of the Act. This one was, of course, the longest running of the three, but shadow had more than enough Rings to pass through half of it stealthily.
"Chaos Control!" ZIP!
Ring Count: 13
Still, he was only halfway into the maze and now being surrounded by ice-encased totems, he was truly lost. He began to skate forward, then turned left, right (three Rings), left, left again (three Rings), into a Legionnaire that almost slew him with his lance. Shadow jumped on him before moving forward. Then, with three turns to the right, he found a Ten-Ring Box.
Ring Count: 29
"Chaos Control!" ZIP!
Ring Count: 4
Finally, he was free. But now an even bigger gauntlet awaited him: a huge Yeti-Bear, armed with a massive stalactite. "Eh, great," moaned the black hedgehog.
"Let me!" called out Julie-Su, and she came at the Yeti-Bear with guns blazing. However, she was missing its hit box, which was its head. It swung its icicle mace at her, but she dodged it by rolling into a ball. It then jumped into the air and tried to land on top of her, but again it missed. As it landed, it formed a crater in the earth not unlike the giant stalactites did earlier. Then at last, Julie took a shot for its head and hit it once.
"Tag me, you fool!"
Shadow just barely missed getting hit by the stalactite weapon as he skated around the Yeti-Bear, and waited for it to lower its arms. When it did, he fired two shots and both shots hit it. But then the giant Badnik jumped and landed through the ground again, shattering Shadow's path. He now had to double-jump across the crater to the other safe platform before trying to hit it again with his gun. He missed.
"Let me!"
Julie stood her ground and fired two more times. One bullet hit the Badnik's head, the other hit its icicle shield.
"I'll show you how it's done!"
While the team switched, the Yeti-Bear started to drop its guard more, making it an easier target. Shadow needed to only hit it two more times, then it exploded into nothingness. There was no stopping the black hedgehog now from reaching the Goal Line.
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- ACT II CLEARED! -
Ring Count: 4
Bonus Points: 8,000
Rank: A (Very Good!)
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In the heart of the temple, everything was covered in dark blue ice, from the ceiling to the floor. The group almost didn't notice what was hiding inside the stalactites in the center; their main focus was the giant emerald-cut onyx sitting atop a shrine shaped like a giant stone wolf with his paws cupping it.
"What is this place?" mused Shadow.
Sally explained, "This temple is a sacred place for the wolf people; this onyx was their good luck charm before Chief Lupe was allowed to care for her own Sol Emerald."
"So, the onyx is powerless?" asked Julie-Su.
"Sort of," nodded Sally. "It was one of the original emeralds that came to our world long ago, but a mysterious figure known as Ixus robbed it of its core power. It's a long, ancient story."
Then from Amy came a gasp of horror. "Oh no… Look!" she pointed toward the giant stalactites, causing everyone to look upward. "It's the others… we're too late."
Indeed, trapped within the stalactites were the rest of the Freedom Fighters: Sonic, Tails, Antoine, Guntiever, and even Rotor were frozen in time.
"Oh mah stars," gasped a saddened Bunnie. "…Sal, can't we help them with Amy's healing power?"
"It's worth a try," nodded Sally. But then…
"¡Intrusos al santuario será eliminado!"
"Who said that?" asked Knuckles as he and Shadow braced for battle. "…Show yourself!"
"I said…" purred a metallic voice before its owner jumped into the scene. She, Metal Lupe, gazed into their eyes with blue beacons for eyes. "…Trespassers to my shrine shall be eliminated!" She then stretched out her silvery arms, as her wrists extended what appeared to be small cannons.
It was game time.
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SELECT (UP TO THREE) WARRIORS:
Sally Acorn
Knuckles the Echidna
Julie-Su the Echidna
Shadow the Hedgehog
Bunnie Rabbot
Amy Rose
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LOADING BOSS BATTLE…
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