Sorry about the long delay, I got a bad case of writer's block. Here,
then, is the next instalment in this story – hope you all like it! Sorry
it's a little short…
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The sunlight reflected off the approaching thing, whatever it was. It was closer than Knuckles had thought, small, about the same size as him, but he couldn't make out the details. It was coming closer very fast. Suddenly, it was right up next to them, coming to a stop on the very edge of the island and standing there. Its white-blue eyes, seeming to glow without actually emitting light, looked up at the radiance of the Master Emerald, then at Knuckles. Black Crystal, for that was what it was, suddenly sped in a straight line towards the Master Emerald. Immediately, Knuckles dashed after it, reaching the top of the shrine only a couple of seconds after Black Crystal. It was hovering with no visible method of staying airborne, right next to the slowly rotating Master Emerald. The very tips of pointed fingers lightly rested on the surface of the powerful gem that turned beneath them. Its head turned to look at Knuckles.
"Get away from that Emerald!" Knuckles said, ready to fight if he had to. Cold blue-white eyes regarded him, nothing revealed in their icy depths. Suddenly the island shook, and Knuckles nearly lost his balance, almost fell. With a shock, he realised that whatever this thing was, it was draining power from the Master Emerald! But it only seemed to draw on a little of the power, for Angel Island stabilised once more and the shaking stopped. Before Knuckles could act, Black Crystal's left hand snapped up, fingers and thumb curled tightly and drawn away from the palm, which was glowing with a faintly blue-white light. Its right hand still rested on the Master Emerald. Knuckles realised the danger and jumped to one side as a blue-white beam of energy fired from the palm of Black Crystal's hand, burning a hole in the ground where he had been standing.
-Give me the Chaos Emerald.-
Knuckles wasn't about to give anything up to this… whatever-it-was. He wondered how it knew that he had a Chaos Emerald, supposed that it could sense the energy.
-Give me the Emerald, and I shall leave.-
Tikal, still hovering behind Knuckles, suddenly darted to one side. As Black Crystal's head turned to follow the motion, Knuckles attacked it, sending it tumbling away from the Emerald. It righted itself almost as soon as it hit the ground, white-blue eyes still showing nothing. Snapping a hand up, it fired again, directly at Knuckles, who was now standing in front of the Master Emerald. The beam hit this time, throwing him back against the slowly turning gem. It must have been less powerful than the first, but it was still easily enough to knock him out. The Chaos Emerald fell to the ground, bouncing twice atop the hard stone of the altar before coming to rest. Tikal watched helplessly as Black Crystal picked up the Chaos Emerald and left the island the same way it had arrived. She floated over to where Knuckles lay, to reassure herself that he would be all right, before speeding away to find the former guardian of the Master Emerald, Chaos. And after that, the treasure hunter who had vanished into the depths of the island to explore – Rouge.
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The sunlight reflected off the approaching thing, whatever it was. It was closer than Knuckles had thought, small, about the same size as him, but he couldn't make out the details. It was coming closer very fast. Suddenly, it was right up next to them, coming to a stop on the very edge of the island and standing there. Its white-blue eyes, seeming to glow without actually emitting light, looked up at the radiance of the Master Emerald, then at Knuckles. Black Crystal, for that was what it was, suddenly sped in a straight line towards the Master Emerald. Immediately, Knuckles dashed after it, reaching the top of the shrine only a couple of seconds after Black Crystal. It was hovering with no visible method of staying airborne, right next to the slowly rotating Master Emerald. The very tips of pointed fingers lightly rested on the surface of the powerful gem that turned beneath them. Its head turned to look at Knuckles.
"Get away from that Emerald!" Knuckles said, ready to fight if he had to. Cold blue-white eyes regarded him, nothing revealed in their icy depths. Suddenly the island shook, and Knuckles nearly lost his balance, almost fell. With a shock, he realised that whatever this thing was, it was draining power from the Master Emerald! But it only seemed to draw on a little of the power, for Angel Island stabilised once more and the shaking stopped. Before Knuckles could act, Black Crystal's left hand snapped up, fingers and thumb curled tightly and drawn away from the palm, which was glowing with a faintly blue-white light. Its right hand still rested on the Master Emerald. Knuckles realised the danger and jumped to one side as a blue-white beam of energy fired from the palm of Black Crystal's hand, burning a hole in the ground where he had been standing.
-Give me the Chaos Emerald.-
Knuckles wasn't about to give anything up to this… whatever-it-was. He wondered how it knew that he had a Chaos Emerald, supposed that it could sense the energy.
-Give me the Emerald, and I shall leave.-
Tikal, still hovering behind Knuckles, suddenly darted to one side. As Black Crystal's head turned to follow the motion, Knuckles attacked it, sending it tumbling away from the Emerald. It righted itself almost as soon as it hit the ground, white-blue eyes still showing nothing. Snapping a hand up, it fired again, directly at Knuckles, who was now standing in front of the Master Emerald. The beam hit this time, throwing him back against the slowly turning gem. It must have been less powerful than the first, but it was still easily enough to knock him out. The Chaos Emerald fell to the ground, bouncing twice atop the hard stone of the altar before coming to rest. Tikal watched helplessly as Black Crystal picked up the Chaos Emerald and left the island the same way it had arrived. She floated over to where Knuckles lay, to reassure herself that he would be all right, before speeding away to find the former guardian of the Master Emerald, Chaos. And after that, the treasure hunter who had vanished into the depths of the island to explore – Rouge.
