"Like, watch out! You don't wanna like, get roasted!" Kitty cried.
They had encountered a mean-looking machine that shot fire out of a spout on it's front. And it wasn't nearly as easy to destroy as it was in the game; it was following the trio and nearly singed them if it wasn't for Kitty's ability to phase.
Rogue could still phase too, since she still had Kitty's powers, and she instinctively grabbed Tails and phased into the ground, while Kitty shorted out the robot.
When she phased out again, the fox took a deep breath.
"What happened? I couldn't breath!!!"
"Aw, Ah fergawt! Ya cain't breath when ye'r phased in somethin'," Rogue answered, "A'll warn ya next tahm"
"That's ok. I'll remember"
When the two mutants and their fox-friend got to a ledge at the end of a bridge, they were interrupted by a familliar voice.
"Oh, what do we have here?"
Knuckles.
"Well, if it ain't thait mono-whatzit?" Rogue cracked, even though she had Kitty's extensive knowledge of egg-laying mammals as a result of the touch.
"That's mono-treme!" the echidna yelled, "And I believe you got something of mine! Hand it over!"
"No way, flah-boy!" Rogue replied.
Knuckles grabbed for the emerald, but the southern girl phased, so all he got was a fist full of thin air.
"Well," said the resourseful echidna, "There's more then one way to take care of intruders like you. I hope you can swim"
He pressed a button, lowering the bridge and sending them falling into a pit.
Rogue and Kitty used their phasing powers to slow their descent, and then looked around for another passageway to an emerald.
It wasn't hard to find one, since they could both walk through walls. They had to take breaths from the bubbles every few seconds when under water, though.
Meanwhile, Scott, Jean, & Forge had problems of their own.
"I... can't... hold it... much longer" Jean said, straining with her powers to keep the rocks from hitting them.
The robot had two drills that it used to destroy the ceiling, making rocks fall like rain.
Eventually, Jeans powers gave out.
"OWWCH!!!!" Forge yelled, as a rock hit him in the head.
"Are you ok?" Scott asked him.
"I'm fine," the cyborg-mutant answered, rubbing the spot that got hit, "But I'm gonna have one heck of a goose-egg"
"We got bigger problems!" Jean cried.
They all got out of the way of a giant falling rock.
Finally, with one well-aimed blast, Scott took the robot out.
He and Jean sat and rested on one of the rocks while Forge examined the remains of the robot.
"Whoa, far out! I could really use this!"
He took out a glowing object and attached it to his arm. Then he took some other odds & ends and connected them to various places.
"Come on," an impatient Jean said, "We need to get to Ice Cap Zone! Storm is in big trouble!"
"Ok, ok, just hold on-"
"Hold on indeed," said a familiar voice.
They turned to see Knuckles, holding a remote-control.
"Get off my island!" the angry echidna demanded, as he pressed the button.
Suddenly, the three were sent flying through a hole in the ceiling, propelled by what looked to be a bumper that was everywhere in the game.
Jean decided to manuver them to a safe place, one that was near the mountains.
And in the Carnival Night Zone, Evan, Kurt, and Sonic were sent flying out of a cannon by a certain monotreme.
"Ha ha! You never learn, do you?" Knuckles called after them.
Kurt teleported to the mountains, where Sonic pulled a snowboard out for each of them.
"Whoa, cool!" Evan exclaimed.
"Ja!" Kurt added.
"Ah, nothing like snow-boarding to get your heart going," Sonic sighed.
They snow-boarded down the hill, scanning the area for any sign of Storm or Logan. Nothing.
Then, because they weren't watching, they all slammed into a wall and fell into a pit. Luckily, Kurt was able to teleport them so they wouldn't fall so hard.
They searched the place, which was crawling with badniks, and found a secret room with another passageway.
"Hey, let's go in, see if we can get another emerald," The hedgehog suggested.
"Sure, why not?" Evan agreed.
They jumped in, and were ready for a very hard gauntlet.
Back in Hydro City, Rogue's team finished the race and got a purple emerald, which Kitty took and put on.
Suddenly, she was able to breath under water, and had a shield around her. Rogue and Tails were also able to breath when they joined hands with Kitty, and they were protected from the badniks that were there as well.
Then, they were attacked by a robot that stirred up the water and tried to bash them. Of course, Kitty was able to short the thing out just by phasing through it.
After the robot was destroyed, they were again stopped by you-know-who.
"Like, whoa!" Kitty cried, as she, Rogue, and Tails were sent flying by a jet of water.
"Ha ha ha! You're all wet!" Knuckles taunted.
In mid-air, they aimed for a site not far from the mountains, where they could dry off before heading for the Ice Cap Zone.
As they looked around, they met up with Jean's team. Jean now had a blue emerald on her forehead, and a shield around her.
"Like, you're alright!" Kitty cried.
"Yeah, even though metel-man held us up," Jean replied.
"Aw, c'mon," a blushing Forge groaned.
"Like, whoa, is that Scott?" Kitty asked, surprised that the usually bespectacled mutant was walking around glassless.
"Yeah, it's me," Scott answered, "And guess what else I can do..."
He formed a firy shield around himself.
"C'mon, it won't hurt you, it'll just protect you from the fire-balls"
"Like, wow!" Kitty exclaimed as she walked into the fire-shield, and dried off in the process.
"Ah lahke!" Rogue added.
"Cool!" Tails said.
"Ok," Jean spoke up, "We need to find Storm and Logan. I'll get you there, since my tek-powers have been-"
Suddenly, she transformed, and was dressed in an orange and green costume.
"I am phoenex!" she said in a resonant, commanding alto voice.
"Come with me," she continued, as she headed for the mountains.
The others weren't sure what to make of this, but they followed her anyway.
Meanwhile, Evan snagged the orange emerald, and was able to control the weather. A shield formed around him too, one that allowed him to jump high and repel electric attacks.
"Whoa, cool!" he exclaimed, "I'm like Aunti-O!"
just then, their friends came running in.
"Evan, Kurt, we know where Storm and Logan are!" Jean yelled.
"Yeah," Forge added, "She'll show you where"
He pointed to Jean, who was still in the weird getup.
Jean, as Phoenix, took them all and dove into ice and snow, straight towards the two freezing mutants.
Logan and Storm were losing hope. Storm was slowly losing control of her powers, encasing the room in ice with her rain.
"STORM!!!!!" Logan yelled, "DON'T DO THAT!!!!! CALM DOWN!!!!!!! STORM!!!!!!!!! PLEASE CALM DOWN!!!!!!!!!"
"I CAN'T!!!" She cried, as she made more rain, and was concentrating all her energy in holding back the lightning.
"STORM!!!!!! I LOVE YOU!!!!!!! DON'T DIE!!!!!!!!"
At that, something broke through the ceiling and grabbed them, then flew them out of that awful place. They regrouped back at Angel Island Zone, where Storm could recover.
Then they noticed something. Rogue looked different. And it wasn't the makeup; she now looked grown-up, with longer hair and a cooler costume[think Rogue from the first successful X-Men cartoon]
"Ach, frauline, do I know you?" Kurt joked.
"Yeah," she answered, "An' Ah'd probably ask you the same thang, sugah!"
With that, Rogue laughed and then soared into the sky, flying like Superman, not phase-levitating like she did with Kitty's powers.
"Hmph, something tells me this is gonna be a long day," Logan grumbled.