Chapter 11

Hidden Palace

I ran back towards the palace, taking a quick glance over my shoulder. Sonic flew out of the mouth of the tunnel, and even from this distance, I could see the fire in his eyes. I knew I'd never make it back to the emerald chamber in time, so I figured this was as good a spot as any to give Sonic my challenge. I turned around, my eyes catching a glance of the mural on the wall. It showed a picture of a giant figure grasping a green gem like object, and a yellow, blue, and red figure fighting it to take back the object. For some reason, I had always felt a connection of some kind to that mural, but I had never figured out why. But I shook of the familiar feeling and turned all the way around. Hyper Sonic flew over to within twenty feet of me and just hovered there a few inches off the ground, his face one of pure rage.

"You have crossed the line Knuckles," said Sonic as he floated in front f me, his flashing fur and quills providing a dazzling display of colored light in the room. I took a step forward, which surprised me since I knew I was no match for him at this point.

"You don't even know what the line is, hedgehog!" I shouted at him. "YOU can to MY island, invaded MY home, went to MY Hidden Palace without MY consent, and now YOU say that I'VE crossed the line in defending MY home!?" I could tell that my anger was reaching its peak. My fists almost vibrated with the strength of the anger I felt, but somehow I managed to keep my voice calm as I said what I hoped would make the odds even. I crossed my arms across my chest and gave him a hard stare.

"Besides, you say your hot stuff, yet you have to use the power of the supers to take me on. Now that is surely the sign of a weak person, taking an advantage as soon as you see it," I said. I looked at his reaction, and was actually shocked to see him strike the supers together, his flashing colors changing back to their cool blue. He then put he supers into his pack and tossed it over to the opening to the tunnel.

"I don't need the supers to take you on," said Sonic in a chillingly evil sounding voice. I could tell he was very serious now, all his cockiness gone, his mind totally focused on me. I smiled inwardly. My plan had worked. Sonic was no longer invincible, and he wasn't as fast as lightning anymore. This would be a fair match. His speed versus my strength.

"And I don't need to cheat to win either. I will fight honorably," I said. And I wasn't lying. I always fought a battle honorably, at least until my foe didn't. And I could tell by the look in Sonic's eyes that he had no intention of cheating. He wanted to take me down by himself. And that was fine with me. I took a proper fighting stance, and threw a few warm up punches. Sonic also went into a fighting stance. I waited for him to make the first move.

I almost didn't even see it coming. He shot forward, going from 0 to 90 in less than a second. I tried to dodge, but I wasn't anywhere near as fast as he was. He curled up and spindashed into me, knocking me to the ground. The pain was intense, and I wanted to cry out. But I held it back and instead turned my pain into rage. I lunged forward, throwing a punch at Sonic. Sonic leaped above it, but I threw a second punch, an uppercut, and caught him in his left side as he came back down. Sonic went flying back ten feet and landed hard on his right side.

I could see him close his eyes tight from the pain, but he didn't make any noise. He stood back up, and we both circled one another, eyeing each other like a cobra does before it strikes. Then Sonic shot forward, and tried to spindash me again. But I was onto him this time. I leapt above him and gave him a swift kick to his right side, knocking him to the ground. I heard him left out a gasp of pain, but he jumped back up to his feet and rushed me. I prepared to dodge another spindash, but this time Sonic instead leaped into the air. I wasn't ready for him to do that, and so my guard above myself was down. He connected with both of his feet, knocking me to backwards and to the ground. I slowly stood back up, panting. Sonic, too, was showing signs of tiring. We both eyed each other, fire still burning brightly in both of our eyes.

Sonic then rushed me again. But I sidestepped and grabbed his outstretched arm. I then twisted it back, and I heard him cry out as I nearly broke his arm. But he turned the momentum he had back against me and swung his feet around and kicked me in the back of my head, knocking me forward and to the ground. We both laid there, breathing heavily. I was the first to try and get back to my feet, but my strength had left me. I could only sit up on my hands and knees and look at Sonic, who had managed to get to his hands and knees as well. We both remained like that for about a minute, then I found the strength to get back to my feet. I slowly stood up and ran at Sonic, who was still to weak to get to his feet. I had him.

**********

Tails ran up the slope of the tunnel and could hear voices echoing from up above. They were too far away to understand, but he was sure it had to be Sonic and Knuckles. He ran faster, his twin tails spinning rapidly behind him as he tried to get back up to the exit. But he was exhausted. First the lava incident, then the climb down the side of the cliff. Then walking up the tunnel, and then running when Knuckles had sent a boulder down at them, and now running back up trying to catch up to Sonic. Tails panted heavily and came to a stop, falling to his knees.

"Sonic…I…I'm…coming…," he panted under his breath. He then looked back up at the tunnel's exit. It seemed to be over a hundred miles away at this point, he was so exhausted. He slowly got to his feet and started to run up the slope again, but his strength left him and he tripped and fell to the stone ground. He picked himself up and sat there, trying to get his energy back.

Then his ears perked up as an idea came to him. Why not use the Chaos Emeralds that were in his pack? Sonic had always said that he felt like he was just bursting with energy when he used them. Tails pulled his pack off and opened it up, looking at the seven glowing gems inside. He pulled them out and looked at them. He seemed to become lost in their glow as he stared at them. He closed his eyes and clapped them together above his head. A flash of white light shone from the small fox's body as the emeralds power surged through him. When he opened his eyes, he found himself floating a few inches off the ground, his orange fur now glowing a bright yellow, the emeralds orbiting his body.

"Whoa! What a rush!" said Tails as he looked himself over. Suddenly, four flashes of fiery light came flying into the tunnel from the entrance down where the lava lake was. Tails squinted, trying to see what they were. His now enhanced vision picked out one of the lights from the four and focused in on it. But the light wasn't fire. It was instead some kind of cardinal-like bird. And it was glowing a hot yellow. The four birds flew up to Tails and started circling his head. Intrigued by the birds, Tails held out one of his fingers. "Hi," he said. The biggest of the birds landed on Tails' finger. It wasn't very heavy, but still, it seemed to pulse with power.

"Hello. We are the Power Flickies. We were called to your universe by a novice using the power of the Chaos Emeralds. We will guide you in how to use the power properly and protect you when you need help," said the bird. It then cocked it head. "What is your name?"

"My name is Tails," said Tails.

"I like that name," said the flicky. Suddenly, all four of the Power Flickies turned their attention towards the tunnel's exit. "You must hurry. Your friend is in danger." Tails looked up at the tunnel exit and the flicky returned to its position in their formation. Tails then took off for the tunnel's exit, all his exhaustion gone. He noticed he had become a lot faster too. He could swear he was almost as fast as Sonic now. He flew out of the tunnel and was searching the room when he spotted them. There on the ground next to a giant mural lay Sonic and Knuckles, both panting loudly. Tails then saw Knuckles slowly get to his feet, and it was then he realized that Sonic wasn't going to get up in time.

"Help him!" Tails cried to the flickies. They all nodded in union and dove towards Knuckles. Knuckles rushed Sonic and Tails thought he might be too late. But just before he got to Sonic, the flickies flew in front of him and started knocking their small bodies into the echidna, knocking him backwards. Tails took this opportunity to fly down and land next to Sonic. He reached down and pulled Sonic to his feet.

"Are you okay?" asked Tails, worry deep set in his voice. Sonic shook his head and winced in pain as he put his weight down on his right side.

"I think…," said Sonic. He checked himself over. "At least nothing's broken."

"Get these things off of me!" cried Knuckles' voice. Sonic and Tails turned their attention over to where the flickies had pinned Knuckles to the stone wall. The lead flicky turned to Tails.

"What do you want us to do with him?" it asked. Tails couldn't stand to see even Knuckles being pinned to the wall, helpless like this.

"Let him go," said Tails. The flickies looked at him, puzzlement evident on their faces. But they obeyed him and released Knuckles from his pinned position. He slumped to the floor, completely exhausted. Tails walked over to him and offered him his hand. Knuckles looked up and hesitated. He looked over at Sonic, who just nodded. Knuckles sighed and then took Tails hand, and was then pulled to his feet by the young fox.

**********

I stood there, completely puzzled. Why hadn't they killed me? They had had me powerless to do anything to stop them, yet they had let me go? Why? I looked over at Tails, and saw the four glowing flickies flying around his head, each one had their eyes trained on me, watching me closely. I then looked into Tails eyes and saw a look of compassion. Why would he have compassion for me? I tried to kill him.

"Thank you," I said. Tails just smiled. I turned my eyes towards Sonic, who seemed to have calmed down a lot since the fight. I then noticed that I had too, my anger almost gone. I suddenly realized what I had almost done. I had been on the verge of killing Sonic. Even someone who was after the Master Emerald didn't deserve that fate. I had almost betrayed my good nature. I saw Sonic let out a sigh, then he looked at me, shaking his head.

"Well, that was sure a rumble that I wouldn't want to repeat," he said, laughing lightly as he went over and picked up his pack. I couldn't help but smile at what he said. That was exactly the way I felt. As Sonic walked back towards me and Tails, a loud blast sounded from behind us, back in the direction of the emerald chamber. We all looked over towards the source of the sound. I suddenly felt my strength flood back into me as I realized that someone was in the very core of Hidden Palace. I ran out ahead of Sonic and Tails and into the room. I stopped in my tracks as I saw what was taking place. Robotnik had just blasted his way into Hidden Palace and was now lifting the Master Emerald out of its resting place with his hovercraft. It was then realization hit me. Sonic and Tails weren't after the Master Emerald at all! I had been tricked! The one who was really after the Master Emerald was…

"YOU!" I cried. "YOU were the one after the Master Emerald this whole time!" I saw Robotnik look out the glass dome at me, then his ship turned and started towards the ventilation shaft that kept Hidden Palace's air circulated. I took off after the craft, knowing that if I didn't catch him and get the Master Emerald back, then Floating Island would crash into the sea and sink. I leaped into the air and grasped onto the side of the glassy surface of the Master Emerald. I guess Tails and Sonic must have been in there by then, because I saw the Power Flickies fly past my head and throw their bodies at the hovercraft. I heard it's engines whine each time a flicky touched it, but the thing wouldn't let go of the emerald.

"So, you finally figured it out, echidna. I figured you would eventually," said Robotnik's voice over the speaker. "However, you figured it out a little too late. So this is goodbye, and good night." I don't remember exactly what happened next. The only thing I can remember is two pieces of metal touching the side of my head, then a sharp pain shoot through my head, and then blackness.

**********

Sonic and Tails burst into the emerald chamber to see Knuckles yelling up at Robotnik in his hovercraft.

"How'd he get here?" asked Tails in shock.

"I don't know, but he's not getting away with that emerald," said Sonic as he pulled the supers out of his pack and clapped them together, their energy flowing into him as his body started flashing through the cycle of colors and the energy stars circled his body once more. He started to fly towards the craft when something metallic slammed him hard from the side, knocking him into the side of the wall. Sonic looked up to see Metal Sonic hovering twenty feet away from him, his black and crimson eyes set dead center on him.

"Well well, look at the new trick the hedgehog has learned," said Metal Sonic as he hovered. Sonic smiled as he looked at Mecha. Now that he was Hyper Sonic, he knew he could take the robot on with ease.

"Tails, you stop Robotnik! I'll take care of Mecha!" yelled Sonic. Sonic saw Tails point towards Robotnik's ship as the four Power Flickies took off towards it. Sonic then turned his attention back to the blue robot.

"All right Mecha. We finish this here and now," said Sonic. Metal Sonic just crossed his arms and looked at Sonic.

"Ah, but I think there is something even more important to worry about than me," said Metal Sonic. Sonic looked up. "You see, you're little echidna friend over there is about to get one heck of a shock, then fall thirty-five feet to his death." Metal Sonic pointed with a claw towards Robotnik's ship, which now had Knuckles clutching the Master Emerald and a pair of metal probes connected with his head. He saw Knuckles go limp and fall off the emerald. Sonic broke into a supersonic flight, breaking the sound barrier open in less than a second as he rushed over towards his fallen friend. He caught him and slowly set him to the ground. He looked back up to see Robotnik's craft vanish from view out of the ventilation shaft, Metal Sonic now nowhere to be seen. Then a loud blast sounded as the ventilation shaft became covered in rocks from above. Robotnik had blasted the hole shut, trapping them in the underground palace.

"This is just GREAT!" yelled Sonic as he slammed a fist into the floor. Tails landed next to him and decharged himself, the flickies color changing to a cool blue that matched Sonic's color.

"Now what do we do?" asked Tails. Sonic looked up, then slowly looked down.

"I don't know. I just don't know," said Sonic. He sighed. "First thing we need to do is get Knuckles awake." Sonic clapped the supers together, his color fading back to blue. He then put the emeralds into Knuckles' hands and clapped them together. Knuckles' started to glow a hot reddish pink as the supers filled his body with their power. Sonic and Tails watched as Knuckles started to stir. He then opened his eyes and quickly sat up.

***********

"Where is he!?" I yelled. I suddenly froze as I realized I didn't hurt anymore. I looked down at myself to see my fur glowing a bright reddish pink color. I looked over at Sonic. "What happened?" Sonic shook his head.

"He got away. Tails and I tried to stop him, but Mecha showed up and I got distracted by the though of being rid of him forever," said Sonic. He looked down at the floor, and he looked like he was about to cry. "It's my fault!" he shouted, slamming his fist into the floor. "If Floating Island is destroyed, it'll be my fault!"

"No it's not!" I cried. Sonic looked up at me. "It's my fault! I'm the one who was supposed to protect the Master Emerald and Floating Island. I failed to do that. And now because I didn't trust my instincts on who was the real enemy, it's gone." Then a rumble filled the chamber. I saw Tails look down at his watch, not yet realizing that having gone super, his watch would be fried by the emeralds' power. Then it hit me. The twenty minutes they were talking about was the time until the Death Egg would launch again.

"Well, looks like we didn't get to the Death Egg in time," said Sonic. I looked up suddenly as an idea came to me. Maybe they could still get on board the Death Egg before it escaped the atmosphere.

"No, but you have the supers and the Chaos Emeralds, right? And you can both fly using them, right?" I said. Sonic nodded. "Well, there's an access hatch just underneath the nose part of the face. I saw it when I was helping him make the final preparations during its first launch back at Launch Base." I struck the supers together, my fur fading back to its crimson color. I clenched my fists and teeth as the pain returned, but I still found the strength to stand. I handed the supers to Sonic and then, walked over to a wall, and motioned for them to come over.

"I'm not in any shape to take on the Death Egg, but I think you two stand a chance with the emeralds on your side," I said.

"But how can we get up to the Death Egg in time? I took us over an hour just to get here from that pyramid," said Sonic. I waved a finger.

"Ah, but you didn't have me on your side before," I said. I then punched the wall in a certain spot. Now to anyone looking at it, it would seem to be solid rock, but I knew it was only a few centimeters thick. The wall crumbled down, leading into another room where a giant red orb sat in the middle of a small machine.

"What is that?" asked Tails as he ran over to it, examining the machine all over.

"That, my friend, is a teleporter that at one time was used by my race before they were wiped out. I still haven't figured out what exactly that orb is made of, but when power is added to it, it can teleport anyone to wherever they need to go," I said. Suddenly, the ground beneath us left our feet, and we lifted off the ground slightly, then we fell down in a heap, me landing on top of Tails, who landed on top of Sonic. One of the flickies jumped up off its perch on the machine.

"The Master Emerald has left the vicinity! The island is falling!" it cried. I climbed off of Tails and ran over to the controls, quickly setting the coordinates we needed into its ancient computer brain.

"Come on! We have to hurry!" I said, motioning to Sonic and Tails to touch the orb. They picked themselves up and walked over to the orb. They reached out with a hand and touched it. I then placed my hand onto it. There was a flash of light, and the feeling of going straight up in an extraordinarily fast elevator came over me, as I'm sure happened to Sonic and Tails too. Then we stopped. There was a thick fog around us, not surprising since it was still early morning. Despite the fog, I knew where we were.

"Now don't move until I tell you to. No telling where the edges to the platforms are," I said to them. I then walked slowly across the platform, searching for the switch that I needed to trip. I found it and tripped it, and a light warm current of air started blowing across the platform. The fog started to swirl and dissipate as the wind blew it away. When the fog had cleared, we were standing on a platform that was over two miles above Floating Island.

"Where are we?" asked Sonic, looking down at Floating Island, which was still in the middle of its descent into the ocean. I looked over at him and smiled.

"Welcome to Sky Sanctuary," I said.

END OF CHAPTER 11