Grant floated there just above the ground, engulfed in an intense aura from the Chaos Emeralds. The Chaos Emeralds themselves laid motionless behind the guardian, having completed their job of supercharging both the dybbuk and the young adult echidna. The sheer force of the aura they created was enough to push you back a bit. The power was staggering and, now that Claire had control of it, you were a little afraid.
"And so we meet again. What do you think? Like my new upgrade?" Claire asked from the depths of Grant, giving a quick spin as if to flaunt the newly obtained power as if it were a newly obtained dress.
"What's going on here? What's happened to you, Grant?" the elder guard, Perry, yelled up at the guardian.
"Quiet you! I'm on a retrieval mission!" Grant's gaze shifted to the Master Topaz. "My my my. It's been a while since I saw this beauty." Grant's fingers gently slid across the giant gem admiringly. "And now you're all mine."
You took a step back, unsure of what to do. You glanced beside you to Knuckles expectantly, hoping he had a plan. When you did, however, Knuckles already seemed to be taking some sort of action. You watched him clutch onto the Master Emerald with his eyes close and start muttering something to himself. "The servers are the seven Chaos . . ." he began. The roar of the aura coming from Grant drowned him out a bit, however and your eyes became fixed on Grant once more in terror.
"And what's this? You brought me the Master Emerald as well? I'm touched. Really, I am," the possessed echidna grinned. "So I'd really appreciate if you, Princess, and that red echidna holding the Master Emerald – as well as the Master Emerald itself, of course – could just come with us for safe keeping." Grant pointed to the sky behind him where the massive Eggman aircraft could be seen, ripping through the clouds and coming in for a landing. Grant then begun to float ominously in your direction.
As Grant approached, Knuckles stood his ground, still mumbling. Finally, he spoke up. "I don't think so, Claire. I will protect the Master Emerald with everything I have and you're certainly not taking Lorr either. Master Emerald, stop the Chaos Emeralds!"
And with that, a blinding white light emitted from the Master Emerald. It was brilliant, powerful and exactly what your group needed to turn the tides. Grant gave out a startled gasp as his body was engulfed by the light. When the light faded, you watched Grant fall backwards onto his tailbone, his invincible aura gone.
I knew that the Master Emerald had the power to neutralize the Chaos Emeralds, but seeing it with my own eyes is still nothing short of spectacular, you thought as you stood motionless, trying to take in all that just happened.
"No . . . no! Without the power of the Emeralds I . . . I can't keep control of this guardian indefinitely. He's . . . forcing me out of his body with his will, but I . . . I will complete my mission!" Panicking, Grant pulled himself off the ground and with the force that betrayed the gentleness of his previous interaction with the Master Topaz, he ripped the gem from its pedestal. You watched in horror as he did this, knowing what the inevitable reaction of the island would be now that its power source was removed. Finally, the island's position in the sky began to give way, and it, as well as your heart, sank. You latched onto Knuckles' arm tightly as the gut-wrenching freefall began. His presence comforted you slightly, but you were still frozen in place. You heard Shadow, Sonic and Tails give a general gasp of surprise and concern as the island began to plummet. Grant, however, grabbed as many Chaos Emeralds as he could while still toting the massive chunk of Topaz and made a run for it in the direction of the Eggman airship.
"Quick! Get 'em!" Sonic yelled, trying to ignore the fact that the island was sinking and dashed towards the still-possessed guardian.
"Go away you annoying hedgehog! It's not you I want coming with me!" Grant yelled. "Master Topaz, listen to me! Listen to your guardian! Knock this ignorant shrew creature into oblivion!"
As the order left Grant's mouth, the Master Topaz begun to glow in a similar manner as the Master Emerald did but moments ago. Finally, a massive release of energy from the gem resulted in an intense gale force that knocked your entire group – including poor, confused Perry – back about twenty feet. Combined with the fact that you were all still plummeting into the ocean, Grant and his malevolent spirit were able to make their way back to Eggman's ship.
The force ripped your grip away from Knuckles' arm and knocked you backwards into a wall. A sharp pain ran down your spine as you collided with the stone barrier. The pain only intensified as someone even heavier than you collided with your torso, knocking the wind out of your lungs and almost making you throw up. Your vision was blurry and your consciousness was fading.
"Lorr! Are you alright?" Shadow asked. You recognized that it was him that was thrown into you by the wind you also heard a bit of pain in his voice. Was he hurt too?
"Shadow . . . please . . ." you began. Your voice was weak but your tone was desperate. "Please . . . save the island. I . . . I don't want to lose everyone again. . ." You weren't sure what he could do but you knew that you couldn't do anything to stop it; you couldn't do anything all those years ago and you certainly couldn't do anything now, especially in the shape you were in from that little attack. You felt your world slip into darkness as your minor concussion begun to take effect.
Meanwhile, on Eggman's ship, Grant collapsed to the ground as Claire's hold on him finally expired. Claire herself was exhausted; she latched her spirit back into Eggman's body, hardly able to even communicate with him about what happened. Grant laid sprawled on the floor, trying to reattach his mind with his body. His mind was weak from fighting for control for so long, however, and it was taking longer than it took Tails or Shadow earlier that morning.
"Incredible! Is this the Master Topaz that you sent her to get, Dr. Eggman? Oh, it's simply marvellous!" Rouge squealed as she laid eyes on the giant gem. "However, it looks like she lost most of the Chaos Emeralds."
"It doesn't matter," Eggman assured Rouge, "since the Master Topaz will give a better signal than the Chaos Emeralds anyway. Besides, she made sure not to leave all of them. Another 'Super Sonic' incident could really be a disaster, after all. I am a tad disappointed that she was unable to capture Knuckles or that other echidna though. Even if she was able to get the Master Emerald and get them off our trail . . ."
Shut . . . up, Claire said directly to Eggman's mind, too weak to force his body to say it out loud and confront both if them. They'll follow. They'll follow us and we can take it later. I . . . I need a break now though.
"Alright, alright. You practically left them for death on that sinking island anyway, so we may be able to just fish up the Master Emerald once we're done with the next – "
No. They will live. All of them. I would not kill my own kind, you heartless doctor. I told you before: I am making the world the way it should be. I will free my people. I will free all of them with the very power that keeps them imprisoned!
". . . We shall see what happens then," Eggman nodded.
"What are you . . ." Rouge began, still a bit confused as to how their conversations were going since she could only hear one side of it. She suddenly looked down as she heard Grant moan on the floor. His body was almost his again.
"Not to worry Rouge. For now, could you please escort this echidna on the floor to the holding cell?"
Rouge took one last longing glance at the Master Topaz and then helped Grant to his feet and walked him to the back of the ship.
I don't care what your plans are with these gorgeous gems, Claire, but you won't have to worry about them much longer. Soon they'll all be mine, especially the Master Diamond, Rouge thought with a smirk. She had very little intention of helping either of them complete their goals; she had other objectives that took a much higher priority than doing something as silly as trying to take over the world.
