Chapter 7
Mushroom Hill
Ah, the smell of giant mushrooms in the middle of the day! I loved taking a walk through the giant mushroom forest, if even for a little bit. I sat down under one of the tall mushrooms, resting in the shade. I then closed my eyes as I thought about everything that had happened over the last day and a half. But something didn't seem right. For some reason, I kept having the feeling that something major was going to happen very soon. Something that would change my life for good. I tried to relax, but the feeling made it really hard to do so. I finally got to a point when I felt as though I couldn't get any more relaxed when I heard a sound that jarred my eyes open. Then my mouth opened wide at the sight I saw.
"By the heavens of Mobius!" I cried as I watched the mammoth Death Egg, it's engines awash in flames, come falling down right towards the island's mountain range. I watched it gain speed, the face on the front leading the fall. I suddenly realized something. The force that would be behind the Death Egg when it hit would be more than enough to knock the island into the ocean and more than likely sink it. Thinking fast, I pulled the miniature Master Emerald from my shoe and held it at arm's length.
I already knew I couldn't get the island out from underneath the battle station before it hit, but maybe if I tried to hold the island up by sheer force, I might stop it from hitting the ocean. I braced myself as the Death Egg came within a few hundred meters of the mountains. Then it struck, sending a shock wave shooting throughout the whole island as it started to fall to the ocean below. I gritted my teeth and closed my eyes tight as I manipulated the power of the Master Emerald, trying desperately to keep the island aloft.
"Come on, come on," I kept whispering to myself. The island's descent was already slowing, but I was unsure if I could stop it before splash down. Every muscle in my body strained as I concentrated on stopping the island's fall. It took a few seconds more, but finally the island's descent stopped. I collapsed to the ground, all the energy gone from my body. I sat there a few minutes getting my strength back. After I was well enough to stand, I walked over to the edge of the island. I let out a whistle. The bottom tip of the island was only about a hundred meters above the water.
"Man, that was too close," I said to myself. Suddenly, the radio I had left back at the mushroom started beeping loudly. I ran back to it and keyed the talk button.
"I'm here. What in the world happened!?" I cried into the radio.
"That blasted hedgehog planted some kind of explosives on the engine housing!" cried Robotnik's voice over the radio. I suddenly remembered seeing the two suspicious Mobians working on the engines just before the launch. I cursed to myself in my mind. I should have gone with my instincts!
"Are you two all right?" I asked. Silence for a second, then…
"We are fine, no thanks to YOU!" said the voice of Metal Sonic. I let out a groan. Why did that robot always seem to put the blame on me even if it wasn't my fault? I then keyed the radio.
"Listen, Mecha. I had no clue this was going to happen, and I'll bet you didn't either, so just LAY OFF!" I hollered into the radio.
"Both of you just be QUIET!" shouted Robotnik's voice. "Now look. We can fix the engines within a day or so, but I'm willing to bet that Sonic and Tails are going to try and finish the job before we can fix this thing. Knuckles, I'm giving you the job of stopping them before they can get to us." I sighed. If what Robotnik said was true, then they would be back on the island, and my home once again.
"You got it. I'll be happy to throw them from the island," I said.
"Good. I will be out of radio contact at least until the repairs are made, over and out," said Robotnik's voice.
"And you had better do the job right this time, or you will have to answer to me. Over and out," said Metal Sonic. I looked up to where the Death Egg had landed. It had hit the biggest mountain in the range, which was the one right next to Hidden Palace. I took the miniature Master, rubbed my hand over the top, and then threw it to the ground. The glowing ring teleporter appeared and I stepped in. Once the flash ended, I was standing in the presence of the Master Emerald. Everything looked fine except for a few rocks that had fallen from the roof during the Death Egg's crash.
"Well, at least the palace didn't suffer any real damage," I said to myself as I reopened the ring teleporter. I jumped inside, reappearing in a small cave. I ran over to the entrance and glanced about. I had this strange feeling that someone was watching me, but I didn't see anyone. Shrugging, I walked out of the cave and started off to try and find Sonic and Tails.
**********
Super Sonic flew even deeper into the giant mushroom filled forest, Tails following close behind.
"So where exactly are we going?" asked Tails.
"I guess we should start here. Robotnik probably thinks we'll make a direct attack against the Death Egg while it's downed, so he'll have all his forces guarding it. I can't take on that many Swatbots even as Super Sonic," said Sonic. The two continued flying a few meters above the ground till they reached the edge of a small cliff. Sonic raised a hand as he suddenly stopped. Tails flew up beside him and started to ask why he had stopped. Sonic raised a finger to his mouth to indicate for Tails to talk quietly.
"Why did you stop?" he asked in a whisper. Sonic pointed down to the ground below. Tails looked down to see the head of Knuckles sticking out from a cave entrance directly below them. "What's he doing?"
"I don't know," answered Sonic. They watched as Knuckles shrugged to himself, then started walking off further into the dense mushroom forest.
"Wonder what's in the cave," said Tails. Sonic shrugged himself. After Knuckles was out of view, Sonic flew down to the entrance to the cave. Reaching out, he struck two of the orbiting emeralds together, his hot yellow coloring fading back to the normal blue. Tails then landed next to him.
"Let's find out," said Sonic. Putting all but the white emerald back into his pack, he walked into the cave, the white emerald providing light. Tails followed behind him, sticking very close to him in case it was a trap of some kind. Tails then noticed something that neither one of them expected to see.
"Sonic, look! Another ring!" cried Tails, pointing to the spinning ring. But something was different about it this time. "Why is it glowing?" Sonic looked at it closer, then also notice the glow it was giving off that it hadn't before.
"Don't know. Why would another ring even appear for us anyway? We already have all the Chaos Emeralds," said Sonic. Tails shrugged.
"Maybe it's a fluke," he gestured. Sonic put the white emerald back into his pack.
"Well, let's find out!" cried Sonic, grabbing Tails' hand and jumping into the ring. There was a flash of white light, and then they found themselves standing in a cave covered in crystals with seven pillars surrounding an eighth one that was a little bigger than the rest.
"Whoa!" said an amazed Tails. "Check this place out!" Sonic and Tails looked about the cave. The whole place seemed to glow with a light all its own. Sonic then spotted something that caused his mouth to hang open. Tails noticed him, and followed his gaze up. Then he saw it as well. Sitting on the central pillar, the base surrounded by glowing crystals, was a giant green emerald. It glowed brighter than all seven Chaos Emeralds put together, and it was huge. It had to be at least four feet tall!
"Man, now that is what I call an emerald," said Sonic. Tails just nodded in agreement. Sonic then noticed some kind of writing engraved on the side of the central pillar. Bending down, he tried to make out what it said. It was in Old Mobian, which wasn't one of Sonic's best languages. "Hey Tails. Can you read this?" Tails walked over and bent down to try and read it.
"I can make out a few words," he said as he moved his finger across the stone surface. "I see the words 'Master Emerald', but I can't make out the rest."
"I guess the Master Emerald must be that big one on top of the pillar," said Sonic. He climbed up the pillar and reached out to put his hand on the emerald. But as soon as he touched the glassy surface, he was knocked to the ground by some unseen force. Then the giant emerald on the top of the pillar glowed even brighter than before, almost blinding them. When the light died down enough for them to see again, they saw the seven Chaos Emeralds circling the Master Emerald.
"What's going on?" asked Tails.
"I have no clue," said Sonic. All of a sudden, the emeralds flashed their respectable colors, then disappeared. Seven rays of white light fell down on the other pillars. When the light died, each pillar supported a gray jewel about 3/4 the size of the Master Emerald.
"What in the world are those?" asked Tails.
"They look like giant versions of the Chaos Emeralds, only they look dead," said Sonic. He walked up to the nearest gray emerald and placed his hand on it. A blast of white light emitted from the dead jewel, engulfing Sonic and Tails. When the light died down, they found themselves back in the sphere dimension where they had found the Chaos Emeralds.
"Guess we have to collect the emeralds all over again," said Sonic. The two of them started collecting blue spheres left and right, picking up rings as they appeared. When they had grabbed the last blue sphere, the green Chaos Emerald appeared. Sonic reached out and snagged it as they were swallowed by another flash of light. When the light died, they were back in the cave.
"Well, now what?" asked Tails. Sonic started to put the green emerald back into his pack when it jumped out of his hands. It hung in the air for a few seconds, then shot a beam of green light at the giant emerald Sonic had touched just before they were taken to the sphere dimension. Sonic and Tails watched in awe as the dead jewel suddenly burst into a bright green glow just like that of the green Chaos Emerald.
"Tails, do you know what these things are?" asked Sonic.
"No, what?" said Tails.
"I think these are the Super Emeralds," said Sonic. Tails suddenly took a deep breath.
"You're kidding," said Tails. Sonic shook his head no.
"These have to be. The Master Emerald, the Chaos Emeralds causing these big emeralds to appear, and the green emerald charging the larger version of itself. It only makes sense," said Sonic.
"But I thought the Super Emeralds were just a legend," said Tails.
"I guess the legends aren't legends anymore," said Sonic. As soon as he finished saying that sentence, they were both engulfed by another flash of light. When this one died down, they were once again standing in the cave that the ring teleporter had been in.
"Well, now what?" asked Tails as they walked out of the cave. But something had changed outside since they entered the cave. "Uh, Sonic…Why do all the mushrooms look like they're dying?" Indeed, the mushrooms had turned from a vibrant red to a dull brown.
"I don't know, but I'll bet Robotnik's behind it," said Sonic as he balled his hands into fists. He had had enough. Destroying this beautiful forest was the last straw. "Come on. We're going to stop whatever's causing this." Sonic took off, the wind caused by his speed kicking up a bunch of dead leaves as Tails flew after him. But they had only gone about a half a mile when suddenly Sonic tripped and fell over. Tails saw him fall, then suddenly he stopped as well, becoming tangled in a web of vines.
"Sonic, I'm stuck!" cried Tails as he tried to break free from the thick vines.
"I know, I'm stuck too," said Sonic, who was also stuck in a bunch of thick vines. Sonic struggled to get free, but to no avail. He tried to spindash himself free, but he was in an awkward position and was unable to curl up into a ball. Suddenly, Tails sensitive ears picked up a noise.
"Quiet," said Tails.
"Why? What is it?" asked Sonic.
"I hear something," said Tails. Sonic listened as well, then also caught the sound. And it was one he knew well.
"Oh great! One of Robotnik's robots!" cried Sonic. He renewed his struggle to get free from the vines, but he only succeeded in only getting himself more tangled. Then he saw it. The robot looked like a lumberjack with jets instead of legs and it carried a huge axe over its left shoulder. Sonic was a little worried that it would get to them before they could get free, but the worry melted away and gave room to an idea on how to get free from the vines.
"Hey ugly! Over here!" shouted Sonic. The robot lumberjack turned to the sound of Sonic's voice, then flew over towards them.
"Sonic, is it just me, or have you COMPLETELY LOST YOUR MIND!?" cried Tails.
"Maybe, but it might be the only way to get free of these stupid vines," said Sonic. By now, the robot was only a few meters away. It raised its giant axe back to swing down at Sonic, just like he had thought it would. Now if he could time it just right. The robot swung the axe down hard, the blade aimed right at Sonic's head. Then, at the last possible second, Sonic shifted his position in the vines, the blade missing him and cutting right through the vines holding him down.
"Oh yeah, the hedgehog's on fire!" cried Sonic as he jumped up at the robot. He bounced a kick off the robot, knocking it backwards into a nearby tree. Sonic landed ten meters away from the robot, and prepared to charge it. The robot flew around to the other end of tree, pulled back his axe, and swung it into the tree, chopping off the tip of the tree's top. The chopped off tip flew down at Sonic.
"Oh boy!" cried Sonic as he leaped out of the way of the log. Then he dashed at the robot as it prepared to chop another section of the log off. Curling up into a ball, he spindashed at the robot, slamming into the left side and knocking the axe free from its hand. The robot spun wildly as it tried to equal out its weight from the loss of the axe. Sonic took the robot's lack of attention to his advantage, spindashing into the robot's rear engines.
His rapidly spinning quills punctured the fuel line, causing the robot to start spraying gasoline everywhere. It spun even more wildly as it started losing power to its systems. Sonic then leaped high into the air and spindashed into the robot's head, knocking it off the body. The now under-powered robot went into a nosedive and slammed into one of the tall mushrooms, knocking the giant mushroom over to the ground. With the robot no longer a threat, Sonic ran over to where Tails hung from the thick vines.
"You know, you take too many chances," said Tails, shaking his head.
"Maybe, but if I didn't take chances, then my life would be really boring," said Sonic. "Now hold still." Tails closed his eyes as Sonic leaped up and went into a spindash, cutting through the thick vines with his quills. Once Tails was free, they set about trying to find what was causing the forest to die. After emerging from a tunnel in the side of a hill, they were shocked to see that the mushrooms were getting worse, as they were now a pasty white color.
"We'd better hurry, no telling how much longer these things will last," said Sonic as he started to run through the forest. He rounded a corner, then stopped. Tails also stopped when he saw what was in front of them. It was some kind of satellite dish, and it was emitting some kind of signal, which was evident by the beeping it was making.
"I'll bet that's what's causing the forest to die," said Sonic. They both ran over to the device, which was only a few feet taller than they were. Tails looked over the controls, trying to figure out how the thing worked. After a few minutes, he had it figured out.
"Okay, now the signal this things giving off drains the life-force from these mushrooms. I should be able to reconfigure the circuitry to send the life-force back into the forest," said Tails. He walked around to the back end of the machine and took a panel off the back. He then stuck his head inside the machine, looking at all the various wires and circuits. "Yeah, I should be able to do this." With that, he reached inside the machine and started fiddling with it. After a few minutes, he pulled his head out and placed the panel back on. "That should do it."
"So now what?" asked Sonic.
"Well, in a few minutes, the forest should have all its life-force back. We just need to sit back and watch," said Tails. True to his word, the forest started changing colors again, only this time they changed from the pasty white to the dull brown, then back to the vibrant red.
"Good job, Tails," said Sonic, messing up Tails hair with his hand. Tails giggled, then pushed his hand away.
"Hey, it was no problem," said Tails. Sonic then looked back at the machine.
"Now that we've fixed the forest, I'm shutting this thing down permanently," said Sonic. He curled up into a spindash and charged the machine, slamming into the radio dish. The antenna crumpled inward from the blow. Sonic then spindashed into the machine's front repeatedly, smashing the controls to pieces. He then ran back several meters, then rushed the thing. He spindashed the machine at over 300 mph, blowing right through the machine, leaving a gaping hole through the middle of it.
"You never do anything halfway, do you?" said Tails.
"Nope. And when we reach the Death Egg, I'll do the same thing to it," said Sonic. But he noticed that Tails wasn't listening to him. He had his ears perked up, meaning he was listening to something in the distance. "What is it?"
"I'm not sure, but whatever it is, it's big," said Tails. Sonic tried to hear whatever it was that had caught Tails' attention, but his hearing wasn't anywhere as good as the young fox's was. But after about a minute of listening, he also heard the noise. It was sort of a low hum like that of Metal Sonic's engine, but a lot louder. Then they saw it.
"That's all we need right now," said Sonic as he watched the Flying Battery, the flagship of Robotnik's fleet, cruise overhead. But Sonic then saw something that changed his mind about seeing the giant battleship. Two little specks against the silver hull were visible, and Sonic had a good guess on what those two specks were. "Looks like Robotnik and Mecha are hitching a ride." Tails finally spotted them just a few seconds before they entered the main hanger.
"What are they doing here? I would have thought they would have stayed on the Death Egg until it was repaired," said Tails.
"My guess, they need to get spare parts for the engines," said Sonic. "How about we pay them a little visit?"
"Good idea, but just how are we supposed to get up there? I can't fly us both that high," said Tails. Sonic looked about for a way to get up there, but there wasn't anything that looked like it could help then reach the ship. Frustrated, Sonic slammed a fist onto the trunk of one of the mushrooms, and was surprised when his fist bounced off like the thing was made of rubber. A smile worked its way onto Sonic's face as an idea came to mind.
"I know how. We'll take the mushroom express," said Sonic as he jumped up to the top of the mushroom. When he landed on the mushroom's cup, he bounced off like a ball. Tails smiled when he saw this. He then flew up to join Sonic on a nearby mushroom. The two of them bounced off the mushrooms numerous times, each time going almost twice as high. After about ten bounces each, they were high enough that they could make out the fine details on the Flying Battery. The only problem was that they couldn't bounce any higher. But Tails was on top of the situation.
"Hey Sonic," he yelled at the bouncing hedgehog. "We're close enough now that I can get us up there." Tails went back down and bounced up, but this time, he twirled his twin tails and stayed up in the air, waiting for Sonic to bounce back up. Sonic dropped onto the mushroom again, and bounced up at the waiting Tails. They then locked wrists as Tails lifted Sonic up towards the giant battleship.
"Almost there," said Tails as he neared a platform sticking out of the side of the battleship. Then they touched down, Tails panting as he slumped to the floor of the deck.
"Good job, Tails," said Sonic. Tails gave him a thumbs up. "Now what do you say to a little breaking and entering?" He pointed to a door that was level with the platform they had landed on.
"You bet," said Tails. Sonic smiled and spindashed into the door, knocking it open. The two Mobians walked into the cargo hold of the Flying Battery, Sonic shutting the door behind them.
END OF CHAPTER 7