Sonic's Chaos

Chapter 2: Drowned Emerald


Robotnik sat up in his throne, his fat fingers rapping against the armrest. Sonic had thwarted his latest creation, designed to imitate his movements. He realised that this alone was not enough. To truly have a chance of beating Sonic, he'd need to make something to equal him, or better. How could he do this? His brilliant mind was quick to answer; create a small robot, purposed with taking a sample of Sonic's DNA. Using this, he could find out what makes that rodent tick.

Yes, he thought to himself. Something too small to be noticed, so small that Sonic would never be able to see it. It could function like a mosquito, draining Sonic's blood before flying back here. He just needed a way to lure Sonic out...


Sonic slept easy that night. Tails let Sonic sleep in the spare bed in his workshop, full of impressive contraptions considering the young age of their inventor. From what Sonic could make out, Tails, real name Miles Prower, seemed to be the techie of the Freedom Fighters, producing their equipment and other gadgets. From what Mighty told Sonic, Tails managed to save Bunnie Rabbot from being fully robot-icized, which provided useful insight about the process Robotnik used to create most of his robots. Sonic was already familiar with what this process was, but that didn't make it any less gruesome. He woke early; this was something he did often when he travelled in order to cover as much ground as possible. Now was different though – Sonic had purpose, he had a place to stay for a while; until Robotnik was defeated.

It wouldn't be long until the other Knothole residents, including his room-mate Tails, were up too. Tails showed Sonic some of the machinery he had made for the Freedom Fighters.

"About a year ago, Chaos Emeralds were dotted around the old Kingdom of the Acorn," Tails explain. "At the time, they were stored safely in the castle's dungeons, where they were heavily guarded. But when Robotnik took over, the Emeralds were scattered to prevent him from gaining any power from them. That's why I created this device; it still needs some tweaking, but the basic premise is that it scans for Chaos Emeralds. If we could find them all and harness their power, we can stop Robotnik for good."

Sonic scoffed. "Hey, I don't need Chaos Emeralds to do that. I could destroy Robotnik's empire and still make it home in time for tea."

Tails laughed. "Well, regardless; these Emeralds are important artefacts, and it's better if they're in good hands."

"Tell me about it," Sonic said. "Last time I ran into our old pal Robotnik, he was out to harness their energy. Too bad for him, I got to them first!"

"So, you've run into Robotnik before," Tails asked. "How did you beat him?"

Sonic thought back. "I guess it was a little different to how it is now. Robotnik didn't have much power then, but it seems like he managed to sneak under my radar this time. Back then, I just outran him. Now, it feels like I have to catch up."

"Well, you've done it once," Tails spoke optimistically. "I'm sure you can do it again, especially with our help. Sure, we may not be as fast, but we're pretty skilled regardless!"

"You bet!" Sonic replied. "I don't know how we'd have escaped the plant if not for you and Ray!"

Suddenly, one of Tails' machines started beeping – the Chaos Emerald Detector. There was a white dot, indicating the device's current position, and a yellow dot, where the Emerald should be.

"Is that it?" Sonic asked, rushing to look at the machine with Tails.

"It could be..." Tails replied, looking closely. "Like I said, this machine needs a little tweaking. It's gone off before, but never as strongly as this. There could be a real chance there's an Emerald here..."


At the Freedom Fighters' headquarters, Tails presented the machine.

"Not this again," Mighty said upon seeing the device. "I swear this thing goes off at least once a week."

"Well, I was doing some tweaking before you, Bunnie and I got caught," Tails said defensively. "And I haven't turned it on until this morning. It's never reacted so strongly before."

"Okay, Tails" Sally spoke up. "So if there is an Emerald there, what are the co-ordinates? Where's it located?"

Tails sighed. "This is where it may become a problem. The co-ordinates point to the chemical plant; the same one you, Sonic, Amy and Ray rescued us from."

"Ya gotta be kidding!" Ray exclaimed. "We're goin' back there?!"

Sally spoke, sounding slightly frustrated. "Well, the plant flooded, Tails. It's submerged in acidic chemicals. There's no way we'd get in and out of there in one piece."

"Not so fast, Sally!" Bunnie perked up. "We have that device, that box!"

There was silence in the room before Sonic spoke up. "So, what's the box?"

"We used to have these boxes that belonged to the Kingdom's forces, that granted beneficial effects," Tails explained. "Some gave you a shield, some granted temporary invincibility, assisting the user in surviving even the most deadly situations. Most of the supply was used up when Robotnik invaded, but we've been safeguarding a couple for special use."

Sally cut him off. "I just don't want to be using them on a whim. These are powerful tools. I mean, can we even be sure there's an Emerald there?"

"Every time it's been a false alarm before, its stopped beeping by now," Mighty chimed in. "It was pretty faulty before. But I've got a good feeling about this."

The gang fell silent again, before Amy spoke.

"If we did use one of those to get the Emerald, how long would the person even have – you know, before the effects ran out?"

"The effect lasts for about twenty seconds," Tails responded. "They weren't designed for prolonged use, only to get out of a dangerous situation fast. So, whoever we send with it, they're gonna have to be quick..."

Sonic immediately felt all eyes in the room land on him. He stepped up to the challenge.

"Well, seeing as I'm the fastest thing alive, I think it's pretty clear who should go! What d'ya say, Princess?" He turned to Sally for her approval; he could tell she was still unsure about using the device. She looked up at him.

"Fine," Sally gave in. "But in reality, you won't have twenty seconds. You'll have more like fifteen, to find where the Emerald is then to actually get out in one piece. You think you'll actually be able to do that, Hedgehog?"

"Please," Sonic retorted. "I'll be in and out of there in no time! So, am I going alone?"

"I'll go with you!" Tails volunteered. "Once we get there, I'll be able to find the position of the Emerald more closely. Plus, I can give you a brief demonstration of the device before you use it!"


Sonic and Tails headed towards the ruins of the plant; Sonic on foot, Tails in the air, carrying his Emerald Locator and the Invincibility Item. The two soon approached the plant; only a couple of taller structures remained, poking out in a sea of purple. They stopped at the edge.

"Okay, before we go in, I'll enhance the view so we get a closer look at the Emerald..." Tails fiddled with the device, the screen zooming in on their location. "It looks like the Emerald is located in the far left corner of the plant. Just how deep it is, I'm not sure."

"Hey, how do you even know if the Emerald will have survived?" Sonic asked sceptically.

"Chaos Emeralds have been on Mobius for thousands of years," Tails explained. "They've survived through all conditions. I have reason to believe, beyond doubt, that the Emerald will be intact."

Sonic was amused by Tails' encyclopaedic knowledge. "Well, if you say so! So tell me, how does this box thing work?"

Sonic looked at the device. It was a grey box with a flickering screen – quite unassuming.

"Ok, Sonic, before you dive into the water, you're gonna want to break this. This will immediately give you temporary invincibility, protecting you against all hazards. Remember, it only lasts for twenty seconds, and you'll need to account for the time it'll take you to get back here."

"Sounds easy!" Sonic replied. While melting in a sea of chemicals was not at all appealing if he failed, he was confident in his ability. Besides, if it got too risky, he could always try to escape.

"I've got a timer right here," Tails said, pointing to his watch. "You know, just to keep track of you. Are you ready?"

Sonic placed the invincibility box on the floor in front of him, positioned so that when he sped into it, he would immediately run straight into the chemicals. Sonic got into his starting position, preparing himself to run, before sprinting, smashing through the box and running into the purple. Tails set his timer as quickly as he could.

When the box broke, Sonic felt this strange energy form around him. Looking around him as he ran, he noticed a glowing bubble seemed to have formed, protecting him from the chemicals on the outside. Sonic ran down old, ruined walkways. When debris blocked his path, he simply rolled through it, breaking it up with his spines. He was heading quickly towards the area the Chaos Emerald was supposedly located. On the surface, Tails checked his timer; Sonic had 12 seconds left to get the Emerald, and then get out.

Sonic noticed a large pile of debris, light emitting from the cracks. Sonic leaped over, spinning into a ball. He smashed from some of the debris, and the light grew stronger, but there was still more in the way. Sonic threw the rocks aside as fast as he could. On Tails' timer, it read that he had 7 seconds left.

Finally, the Emerald was in sight; a green, translucent rock with a diamond shape. He grabbed it and ran as fast as he could back up the plant. Tails grew worried as the timer read 3 seconds; there was no sign of Sonic.

As the timer struck one, something cut through the surface, flying high into the sky. Tails looked up to see Sonic falling towards him, Chaos Emerald in hand. Sonic smashed into the ground by Tails' feet.

"That's one Emerald down!" Sonic exclaimed, juggling the green diamond. "How many of these are there again?"

"Uhh, about six!" Tails replied sheepishly. "This one seemed to be the closest, and now that we have one Emerald, I can use it to refine my detector!"

Suddenly, Tails' radio buzzed. It was Sally's voice.

"Tails, did you find the Emerald?"

Sonic quickly snatched the radio and buzzed in.

"Yep, piece of cake! Only six more to go!"

"Don't celebrate yet, Hedgehog," Sally replied glumly. "Bunnie has just found a series of robot generators in the fields nearby, guarded by Badniks."

Sonic looked to Tails to check if he had heard. Tails nodded.

"They don't know what they're messing with! We'll be on our way!"


The pair dashed back to Knothole, where they found Sally organizing an assault on the generators.

"Here they are," Sally said. "Got the Emerald?"

Sonic tossed the Emerald in the air. Sally jumped up to catch it. She seemed impressed.

"Very good," Sally turned to face the others. "Now, for the matter at hand. Bunnie, Amy, Rotor and I are going to take the guards head on. Meanwhile, I want Ray and Tails to sneak Mighty and Sonic behind the generators, where they can plant some explosives. Once they detonate, we take out any of the remaining guards, then leave. Got it?"

A resounding yes came from the crowd. "Good," Sally said. "Now, let's get a move on!"

Tails handed Mighty and Sonic two bombs each. "Now, once all the bombs are placed by the generators, each of us should press the red button; this gives us roughly ten seconds to get away. Got it?"

Mighty, Ray and Sonic nodded their heads. Ray grabbed onto Mighty and Tails onto Sonic, and the four made their way to behind the generators. Looking down, Sonic could see the other four fighting the Badniks, faring well. They lowered in altitude before Sonic and Mighty's feet touched the ground. Each of them rushed behind one of the four generators, planting the bombs. As Sonic looked to see if the Tails, Ray and Mighty were ready, he felt something prick him on the arm. It hurt a little, but there didn't seem to be anything there. Must have been a bug bite.

The other three were ready. They each pressed the buttons at the same time before Ray and Tails grabbed their partners and flew off. Seconds later, the generators exploded. By then, the Badnik guards were already dealt with. Once they got back to base, they discussed the events of that day. Antoine pointed out something troubling.

"Just a thought..." he said worryingly. "If Robotnik had a Chaos Emerald at the chemical plant, what's to say he hasn't already got the other Emeralds?"

The group paused before Tails quickly calmed the others. "Even if he has the other Emeralds, he's still missing this one, meaning he can't utilize their full power. If we keep this one safe and find the others quickly, Robotnik won't be able to use their power."

"And how are we gonna find the others?" Mighty asked.

Tails was quick to respond. "Using the Chaos Emerald we already have, I can refine my detector, making the process quicker and more reliable."

Sally took over. "We've got to be quick, people. This Emerald needs to be kept in safe hands."


Robotnik, at his lair, laughed as he looked at his screen. His robot was successful in taking a DNA sample from Sonic.

"Yes!" he exclaimed, "Using this, I can create an AI replicating Sonic's behaviour. Finally, that brat will meet his match!"

He laughed menacingly. Designs flashed on the screen; a sleek design, coloured the same as Sonic. Something that could truly equal or better him.