Chapter 18: Stowaways
Day 5
Angel Island 12:25 P.M. Knuckles and the Station Square Freedom Fighters were discussing what to do now. They searched everywhere for the emerald pieces. "Ya know, we should have a name for our team," Jett said. "Yeah, but what?" Knuckles asked. "Dunno..." Jett shrugged. "The Fearsome Five?" "What about just Freedom Fighters?" Lauren asked. "Nah, too bland," Bryce said. "I got it! What about Knuckles' Chaotix?" Jo asked. Everyone looked at each other. "Nah." "It'll never work," Knux agreed. "In a video game, maybe," Bryce laughed. "Wait a minute guys! It's not just US in the fight ya know," Knux said. "Sonic's the REAL hero out there, fighting just as hard as we are. HE'S the real leader." "True, you you DO lead a smaller group. US." Jett said. "We're the....Sonic Adventurers!" Lauren said. "Heeeey! I am liking that already! It's got a nice ring to it!" Bryce said. "Then it's settled," Knux said, standing up. "We're the Sonic Adventurers!" "YEAH!" everyone cheered. "Now let's go out there, and find those emerald shards!" Knux said. Suddenly he saw something in the emerald. A ship. The Egg Carrier. "Hey wait, guys. Look! It's the Egg Carrier!" Knux called. "Dude! What does it mean?" Jett asked. "That must be where the rest of the shards must be!" Knux said. "Then let's go!" Bryce said. "But I don't know where that ship is," Knux murmured, deep in thought. Everyone fell over in frustation. A metal clang drew their attention. They saw a red robot heading for the mountainside, where the exit to the mainland was. "Hey! Isn't that one of Eggman's robots?" Knux asked. "Yep. I've seen him hanging around Station Square," Bryce said. "I know! We'll follow it back to Eggman's base!" Knux said. "Good idea!" Jett said. They put their hands together. "Here we come, Eggman!" Knux shouted. Mystic Ruins 12:32 P.M. In reality, Gamma's been absent-minded since he grabbed the frog. As soon as he had gotten it, there was a bright flash. And then he found himself in front of a shrine. But he had not known what had happened. "Searching for location," he droned, scanning the area. But he still had no idea where he was. "No data found. Location unknown. This presents a problem." As he wandered towards the shrine, to get an idea where he was he saw over a dozen chao singing. "Stop! Don't go any closer!" a voice shouted. A girl echidna ran up to Gamma. She gasped and shyed away. "I'm sorry. I see you must not be one of them," she said, never seeing anything like him before. She thought it was a warrior scout. "Do you feel the presence guarding these children? He's a gentle loving creature." One chao, a green hedgehog-shaped, wandered by her side. "These little guys are too vulnerable without his protection. But now my father wants to take the emeralds from their holy grounds. It seems his heart is harden to us all." The girl paused. "But someday, I hope we can understand each other..." Red Mountain 12:54 P.M. Knux is gonna kill me, Sonic thought. Sonic had realized that in order to chase the Egg Carrier, he's have to sneak onto Angel Island and travel through Red Mountain. Now Sonic realized how different Red Mountain was from the Ice Cap range. Red Mountain was bursting with sesmic activity. I take that back. The heat's gonna kill me first. A pink light flew to him. "What's this?" Sonic asked as it flew around him. He felt a great energy fill him. "Wow, what was that?" he asked. "This is the ancient light," a voice called. "This will protect you from the harsh elements of heat." "Neat trick, lady. Now where are you?" Sonic asked. He got no response, but the ball of light shot off. "Hey! Wait for me!" Sonic called, running after the ball. He fell through a hole in the ground. "AAAGH!" he cried, landing inside the mountain. Lava pools were all round him. It must be Lava Reef, a place Knux told Sonic about. At least he wouldn't fry anymore. He wandered around, looking for a way out. After wandering the Reef for 25 minutes, he found the exit and came out into fresh air. He looked and saw he had missed the Egg Carrier by maybe 5 minutes. Stupid light. He saw in the distance what looked like a storm brewing. Suddenly he heard a cracking sound and a chao crying. Perfect. Just what he needed... "Sonic, the heat made Rukicha hatch," Chaima called, popping out of the pack with a crying gold chao. "I realize this," Sonic grumbled. Mystic Jungle 1:31 P.M. Knux and the FFs followed the robot through the jungle when they found the base. "Ah ha! You've lead me to your doorstep, Eggman! Maybe I can punch out that robot-" A pair of hands grabbed Knux and pulled him in a bush. The same thing happened with the rest of the FFs. "Who-?" Knux yelped. A furry blue hand slapped Knux's mouth closed. "Knux, it's me, Sierra Ranay," came the answer. The other slowly realized they were looking at the freedom fighters from earlier. "What?!-I mean, what are you doing here?" Knux demanded quietly. Sierra, Cyrus and Trevor looked at each other. "Frog-catching," they said at once. Knux gave them a weird look, then remembered seeing that robot hold the weird frog. "I'm not gonna ask," Knux said. "It's my cousin's friend," Sierra said. Knux looked at her. "How many cosuins DO you have?" "4. Shalita, Big, Amy and Daniel. Then there's my adopted nephew Tails..." "I see. Well, we need to get in-" "Hey, where's Big?" Trevor asked. Everyone looked around and saw the cat running for the bridge. Everyone groaned. "BIIIIIG!" They ran after him. Egg Carrier 1:37 P.M. They got in just in time, for as soon as they got on board, the Egg Carrier took off from refueling. TO BE CONTINUED
