HEBM - PART IV
THE PULL OF THE MASTER EMERALD
The Floating Island. Many marvel of the thought of going there, like it's a popular vacation spot. The great trees, enormous mountains, giant mushrooms.. they all provide an incentive to explore what lays beyond. The Master Emerald has provided the main incentive to go there at this point. However now, much of that has changed. About ¼ of it had been obliterated from the previous attack of the Supremor after it crashed into the sea from attempting to capture the Master Emerald, however, the curiosity of the Master Emerald has not changed. Not according to Ivo Robotnik who had attempted to obtain it numerous times to power certain weapons of destruction but that might change for one person because very few are aware of the key the Master Emerald contains which is a key from certain doom. And all everyone wants less of is change.
Knuckles could do nothing but ponder as he gazed over the crevice in his homeland. Would those guys be back? He knew they got away from the Supremor because Gore was signaled to evacuate. They barely escaped too. If he hadn't of talked Sonic into running for a way to escape, they'd be dead for sure. It just hit him how lucky they really were. Unfortunately all this deep thought got washed away from the last thing he wanted to hear.
"Knux! Someone's entered the zoot chute!" Vector hollered. This was just great. Lighthead returned ALREADY?! He was on it faster than Sonic on a chili dog. Knuckles knew this guy was relentless and expected him to be there. Instead it wasn't Dr Lighthead and his bald, yellow assistant with the axe but a… flying monkey? Why did everyone seem to want the Master Emerald?
"Alright you little nut. Get outta here before you find yourself in some major trouble."
"I beg your pardon?" The flying monkey spoke with a firm tone. He wore armor around himself with a green hat that covered the top of his head.
"You heard me. You're going to have some problems."
"I don't think so. You see I am Otrebor, a flying monkey from a different planet. It is I the one who should be asking you to leave for I am the guardian of this!"
"WHAT?! I SERIOUSLY DOUBT IT! I'm the guardian!"
"You're the guardian of the Floating Island while I'm the guardian of the Master Emerald."
"Whatever.. I need that to keep this thing floating! Without it, it'll fall."
"Well, I'm afraid that is your problem! I've been instructed to take this back."
"By whom? Dr Lighthead?!??!!!"
"Dr who?! Wha?!"
"Alright that's it." Knuckles lunges with an attack
"I see you rather not discuss this."
"I'm not a people person."
"Listen. While you are the guardian of the Floating Island, I am the rightful guardian of the Master Chaos Emerald."
"Well, being the guardian of the Floating Island INVOLVES protecting the Master Emerald which you are in violation of."
"Baah! I've no use to get it now. I'll be back and with reinforcements! This isn't the last you've heard of Otrebor Uregu!"
"Right. Whatever." Otrebor escapes with his flight ability.
"Who was down there?"
"I don't know but it has me anxious. It was a flying monkey who claimed that he was the guardian of the Master Emerald."
"Sounds like some bull to me."
"Yeah, same here."
The following day in Knothole Village…. Antoine was recovering well and was expected to make a full recovery while Snively was hooked on life support. He was still conscious but not enough to fully think on his own.
It was late at night and most of Knothole were asleep. A silhouette emerged from the woods and crept up to Snively's location in the infirmary. Suddenly Snively awakened at the noises.
"Whose there?"
"Relax, its just an old friend." The figure stepped in and the light revealed it was the flying monkey from before. "It's me, Otrebor and I came to get you out of here."
"But.. I'm in no condition to walk, let alone move. There's no way I can get out of here."
"Or is there?" Otrebor pulled out gun similar to what Robotnik used to order his Swatbots to carry. A roboticizer ray.
"NOOO! NOT THAT!! PLEASE!------------********"
The ship known as the RSupremor enroute to Mobius, the 3rd planet from the sun or as Lighthead puts it, Lighgretron has already surpassed the ¼ way mark and Lighthead is more than ready with an overwhelming ship. It is visible by far from Mobius. Appearing like a slowly growing star at night and day but of course there was much more than met the eye if one would look up into the sky at night. How much more indeed. The RSupremor was vast, essentially the core of the sun, created to ward off the Star X Conquerors. It looked much like the original but with more modifications. A blackhole generator had been added but not tested. Twenty-five laser ports instead of three, eight disruptor fields instead of two, eighteen shield generators instead of two. C.H.A.O.S, a Cyber Holistic Advancement Onboard Supremor is included to detect intruders. The power that Lighthead had now was inconceivable. To think he and his people could get more was even more unthinkable.
"Gore! Get in here now!"
"What is it?" Gore walks up to his lightheaded boss.
"I've done it. Remember that blood sample you were able to obtain from the hedgehog the last we met with them?
"Well, allow me to introduce LIGHGRESONIC! He can dash at the speed of light and knows what his counterpart knows. And there is no way he cab be defeated since he is lightwaves, however he can attack because I've allowed him the transformation into the hedgehog's physical state which he can initiate at any given time. "
"Whoa. I like it but they're most likely dead."
No Gore. They aren't. I told you. I can tell they are still alive. It's a sense I was born with and will die with. I can always sense when someone is either dead or alive and I know both are alive and that is enough to tell me. How much longer until we reach Mobius?"
"About 16 hours."
"WHY?! Why have you done this to me!" Snively shot forward in Otrebor's direction with great speed.
"Easy! It's all part of my plan! You'll see."
"Right now, my plan involves killing you for the stupid fatal mistake you just pulled." Suddenly the door flew opened to reveal an all too familiar blue figure.
"What in blazes is going on in here?! SNIVELY?!!! And who the hell are you?!"
"This doesn't involve you, hedgehog!" Snively fired a few rounds of lasers in Sonic's direction which he was able to avoid.
"Yikes. Those suckers are powerful!"
"Perhaps. Almost as powerful as my metallic self." Snively caught Sonic off guard and thwacked him through the wall with this his arm to the side and blasted off through the roof with Otrebor hastily following. Sonic was unconscious.
Otrebor managed to catch up with Snively, "Alright Snively, You leave me know choice but to do this." Otrebor took out a gun of his own and fired a bright orange photon blast. It was too much for Snively, shutting his internal systems down and sending him back to the ground.
"Alright Snively. Like I said. I'm sorry but I need you for something and you're going to help me whether you like it or not. I've got things to settle on the Floating Island."
Meanwhile back in Knothole Village, it's still dark. Stars gleam down with prehistoric light from millions or even billions of years ago. A swirling cirrus cloud follows the curvature of the waning crescent moon. The site appears as if the moon is a gleam of an eye with a curious expression of an eyebrow watching below with eagerness.
"Ugh… what on earth? Snively... He's been roboticized. But how?" Sally, Bunnie, Tails and Antoine arrived at the scene.
"Sonic! What on earth happened?!"
"Snively! He's been roboticized and the last thing I remember he smacked me."
"But… but how?!"
"I wish I knew. I came in here too see what on earth the noise was and then he smacked me and I guess they flew south for the winter."
"Wait. What do you mean by 'they'?"
"Oh yeah. There was this monkey dude that was with Snively. They were fighting over something."
"Ok. Let's get the rest of the Freedom Fighters down here so we can discuss a search party."
Tails couldn't help but whine, "But it's 4:15 in the morning! Can't it wait? I'm too tired."
"Yes, it can but I want everyone down here so they will know ahead of time. Now go get Rotor."
Tails flies off towards Rotor's hut so at least the core Freedom Fighters would know what's going on. Tails knocked on the door.
"Hey Rotor, get up. We're on to something. Snively has escaped and was mysteriously roboticized."
No answer.
"Rotor? ROTOR?!" Tails opened the door and to his astonishment, he wasn't there. There was a note on the bed. Tails opened it and read it:
Dear All:
I'm well aware of the way I've been acting and it's been on my mind for some time. I made the mistake of nearly costing the lives of Sally, Antoine and everyone. Sally's right. I should leave and that's what I'm doing. Whether or not she was serious, I don't care. She's right. I also goofed up with that gas grenade back during the mission into Robotropolis. I take full responsibility and I'm preparing for the worst. It's best that I leave with all my wrong inconsistent miscalculated mistakes. You deserve better. That I promise.
~Your former head mechanic
~Rotor
Tails then came rushing back to break the bad news.
"Rotor's gone!"
"Say WHAT?!"
"He's gone! Just read this!"
Sally stares at the letter with remorse. "Oh no. I didn't mean for this to happen. This situation has now caused more twists. We have Snively out and roboticized with some other companion and Rotor has left. I want everyone now to get back to sleep as hard as it may seem because we have big day tomorrow. You'll be getting back up in 2 and a half hours and I want you to be at your best."
Otrebor's great strength was propitious. He had managed to carry the mechanized Snively all the way to the Floating Island. Once there he decided to rest. The beam he used on Snively temporarily deactivated Snively's systems. He'd use this time to rest for his next phase because it wouldn't be too long until Snively's systems would be in operation again.
The next morning, the Freedom Fighters were awaken by a reveille and given a quick breakfast. They knew they had a big day ahead of them. Sally decided it was more crucial to look for Snively and his flying companion other than Rotor. How could he have been roboticized? Who helped him and why? All questions she wanted answers to. The problem now was that they didn't know where to start searching. They could be anywhere.
It was then determined. Sally wanted a group to stay at Knothole as well incase they'd be back for any reason. Herself, Antoine and Bunnie were asked to stay behind while Sonic and Tails would go on reconnaissance. It was decided that they should try Robotroplis first since Snively had once lived there during Robotnik's rule. Within only minutes, Tails had the tornado ready and with quick goodbye, they were outfitted with com units and set off in search of the roboticized Snively and flying monkey.
Back in the Floating Island, Snively's internal systems activated, waking up Otrebor abruptly. Snively was about to blast Otrebor but not after he explained his plan to him about obtaining the Master Emerald. He told him how HE was the guardian of the Master Emerald instead of Knuckles and that he wanted it back since it rightfully belonged to him. He also told of where he was from. He was from the outer reaches of the solar system in the Kuiper Belt from a planet very much similar to Pluto in size and climate. His home planet was Dexilion. Snively was interested in robbing the echidna of the emerald but didn't buy what the flying monkey had to say. Nonetheless, he would help him.
Meanwhile, the RSupremor was making haste advancement towards Mobius. Its colossal size had collided into Mercury, an insignificant gnat of a planet sending it into flaming bits of asteroids. The planet was like a golf ball in comparison to a basketball - Noticeable, but not much of a concern. Lighthead knew there existed another planet before Mobius which was still another 57 million miles or 9 hours away. He decided it would be practical to test out the Bedlam Cannon (which was similar to the thunderlaser on the original Supremor) at only 17% of its full power with only three laserports. It only took three to destroy a planet. Gore, readied the Bedlam Cannon. It would take nearly a half hour to charge from it's enormous size. It was approximately two Earth or Mobius diameters long. Three of the twenty-five laserports stirred and hummed. A light whitish yellowish glow started dim but grew with every passing second.
Once the half hour was up, the three laserports were all extraordinarily bright, like they were all one of the original Supremor's thunderlasers. Lighthead positioned the RSupremor's Bedlam Cannon in the direction of Venus and hit the large octagonal button in front of him. The four laserports explosively fired an intense beam into the center of the RSupremor where the Bedlam Cannon was. The Bedlam cannon seemed to pulsate the energy, enhancing it. The Bedlam Cannon then thrust forward with a great beam of energy following a path to Venus.
Six minutes later, a great explosion could be seen. It took about three minutes to get there and three minutes for the light of the explosion to come back. The Bedlam Cannon in action truly was, a great spectacle.
"We must go at near full speed Gore. I want to get there as soon as possible." Gore played with the controls and increased the RSupremor's speed 2 times.
"Excellent Gore, it won't be very long now."
Since Otrebor knew the location of the Master Chaos Emerald, it didn't take very long for them to get there. Otrebor spotted the newly made zoot chute which was no concealed within a tree from Lighthead's previous attack on the Floating Island with the Supremor. Once opened, he jumped in with the mechanized Snively following and an angered red echidna following who had spotted them."This is it, Snively."
"Yes. I know. My uncle Julian used to be after this grand gem during his time but now, we have it." Snively was about to lift the Master Emerald when suddenly, "I somehow doubt that. Wha..? Snively? Roboticized?"
"Yes, echidna. It has given me more power than before. I should have done this long ago but I won't let you thwart us this time!" Snively stopped what he was doing and blast forth at Knuckles with amazing speed and agility. Knux dodged the attack and landed a kick to Snively's mechanical head knocking him back a few feet. Snively, now enraged, blasted at Knuckles. He was able to narrowly avoid each shot with quick agility but Snively fired out faster. Knuckles moved faster. The Chaos Chamber was quickly becoming redecorated.
Suddenly, once blast had a result with shear shock that no one had expected. Water sprayed out from one of laser holes. At first it was just a spray but it with just a mere seconds, it increased and then jetted out. Snively used this opportunity to blast Knux while distracted. He fell unconscious and the water level increased. Otrebor lifted the Master Emerald off the pedestal that held it and quickly made their way out of the chamber.
Once at the top, Otrebor was ecstatic "Yes! We did it! We got the Master Chaos Emerald!"
"Yes! And the echidna will drown! Oh yes! What a spectacular day." All of a sudden, the island shook violently. The two stared at eachother and began to run.
Unknown to them, they were being watched by a figure whose presence was not noted of. The figure took out a small radio device and contacted Knothole. Sally picked up.
"Listen to me, Sally. The Floating Island is in grave danger. Have your team over here at the Floating Island ASAP!"
"Wha? Rotor?!! Is that you?!"
"Nevermind that, it's a long story. Just do it."
"OK.. I'll contact Sonic and Tails since they're on the biplane." Once Sonic and Tails got the transmission, they then turned around. It would be at least an hour until they would get there however since they originally were going to Robotropolis. "Get this thing moving at full speed, big guy. Something tells me we need all the time we can get."
Knuckles still lay out cold on the floor of the chaos chamber. The hole with the water jetting out had grown to more than four times its size since Snively blasted it. The water level had augmented more and now reached Knuckles' feet. Unfortunately, the floor was sloped and Knux lied somewhat close to the source of the water but the level was rising at only about 1 inch every 5 minutes. But then it happened, the hole had doubled in size and then doubled again. The water pressure was enormous. It was apparent that the chaos chamber was right next to a small lake. Knux was then swarmed underneath the water. He didn't have much time now for the average time someone has underwater before drowning is 4 minutes.
Rotor, who had witnessed Snively and Otrebor unfold their plan, also knew Knuckles was in the chamber since he had not come out yet which was not a good sign. He jumped through the chute and took a breath.
The water was very cold but didn't bother Rotor since he was used to the freezing temperatures when in the frozen North Sea. He spotted Knuckles at the bottom and started on his way back up. Once at the surface, he began to try to revive Knux by using a rescue breathing technique.
After a few cycles, Knux finally came around and coughed up the remaining water out of his lungs.
"Wha? Rotor? How did you get here?"
"I'll explain later. Right now, Snively and the flying monkey are on fast tracks with the emerald."
"OH NO! That's right! They're long gone by now. It's hopeless. You should have gone after them instead of saving me."
"Nonsense. The island is still up. That must mean they're still on the Island."
"You're right. Lets hurry. And thank you."
High in the sky, the RSupremor can be seen but not by many for it was in a cloak mode. It was decided that Lighthead wanted the element of surprise by all means necessary. A smaller craft known as the Xavant (sounds like 'savant' except with an 'X') broke off the RSupremor that wasn't cloaked and made it's way into Mobius's atmosphere and towards the Floating Island.
"It's nearly time, Gore."
Meanwhile, Snively and Otrebor were still making their way through the island towards the edge.
"Where are we taking this thing?"
"Just to my home planet, Taxidius."
"What? Forget it! It's coming with me!"
"I don't think so!" Otrebor thwacked Snively to the side.
"Oh yeah?!" Snively armed his laser and fired at Otrebor, hitting him thus make him drop it. Just then, they noticed a craft make its descent towards them with thrusters blazing downwards. It appeared to have parked in mid air.
"Oh great. Who're they?"
"I don't have the slightest clue." But when Lighthead and Gore walked out of the craft, Snively gulped. In his mind, he knew their appearance could only mean one thing. They were after the Master Emerald and they knew he and Otrebor had it.
"Ah, Snively. I see you're not dead but rather you've been made into a robot or transformed in a robot. That's not going to help you because you didn't have much ability to start off with."
"Yes and no. I've been mechanized and my abilities have great increased. I wouldn't underestimate me."
"I also see you have the Master Chaos Emerald. You gave me false information last time when you in fact knew where it was all along."
"THAT… was for a reason!"
"What reason?! To trick me so you could get it just like now?! If you think I am THAT incompetent such as yourself then you are wrong. Do not underestimate the power I have achieved."
"UNDERESTIMATE THIS!" Snively, outraged and appalled by the statement, lifted his right arm and fired. The blast was deflected by energy from Lighthead's bulb. It was effortless for him as well as it seemed that the light bulb had a whole mind of its own.
"Would you care to try again?" And so he did and yet it ended with the same result. Once Snively decided to stop, Lighthead's bulb glowed intensely, creating fear for Snively and Otrebor. Suddenly, an energy blast so bright was unleashed and struck Snively dead on, knocking him back aways. He dropped the Master Emerald. Otrebor made a swift dash for the emerald. He decided not to bail out on the overall mission. But very shortly…
"YOUR NOT GOING ANYWHERE WITH THAT EMERALD, TRESPASSER!" It was Knuckles and he was in a fit or rage after seeing the same flying monkey holding the Master Emerald. He then noticed Lighthead and Gore were also here and gasped. This was not good. Two parties that were eager for the Master Emerald. How could he deal with BOTH of them? It was his duty as Guardian of Floating Island to make sure that the island stay afloat and NOT in the water but in the air. Rotor then whispered a strategic idea.
"I've got an idea. Just let those two battle it out and hopefully they'll neutralize eachother."
"It won't work. Lighthead will win with ease. He may take care of the flying monkey but then me dealing with him is going to be suicide." What Knux didn't realize were many things. Snively was getting back up and making his way back and the sound of a plane was getting louder and louder. Rotor looked up. It was Sonic and Tails! He waved his hands and they easily saw.
Meanwhile, Otrebor took off flying and saw Snively on the ground. He signaled him and he joined up with him. The island began to shake. The Master Emerald was off! But this didn't stop Lighthead. SMDCs and AMDCs came from above out of the RSupremor heading in Snively and Otrebor's direction at great velocity. Unfortunately, Dr Lighthead did not want to have to this. This exploited the RSupremor by decloaking it. The entire sky miles above turned wavy and dark. Fortunately, neither Knuckles or Sonic and Tails had any idea what they just witnessed. Little light got through. Only Rotor had some idea and his expression was grim.
Otrebor gave the emerald back to Snively since his strength was far better than his. They looked behind and noticed the SMDCs and AMDCs closing in and tried to go faster. Snively turned around and tried to blast them but only succeeded temporarily. An AMDC managed to blast the arm off he was using to carry the Master Emerald with great accuracy. The Master Emerald fell back down to the island. Otrebor and Snively decided enough was enough and flew off as fast as they could.
Gore saw the whole thing. He knew where it had fallen and made an astonishing jump to it. Knux saw him do this before when they last saw them when the Supremor crashed. Gore jumped back to his now ecstatic boss. They now had what they came for. This was was going to supposedly greatly help the RSupremor in overthrowing the Star X Conquerors. They were about to return to the Xavant above in the air about half a football field high with the Master Emerald when Lighthead noticed something about Knuckles. He originally didn't want to meddle with him and just get the emerald and head back but this was just too much for that. He noticed that Knuckles' cell structure was deformed or wet like when you're in the pool for a long time. This state was necessary for lighgrecization. Lighthead had tried this before back on the Supremor and now this was his second chance.
"Robotar! Get down here! I have a very brief job for you!" Knuckles didn't like the sound of this one bit. Robotar dropped from the Xavant from above with couple modifications from before. He now had a big ray gun on the arm, bigger than the one on the right. However, Robotar wasn't the only one who dropped from the sky. Sonic jumped down from the biplane as Tails went to land it.
"Hey, Knux. Glad I could drop in. Oh and hey Rotor. Everyone's been looking for you!"
"Never mind that! We have to get the emerald back!"
"Hmm.. I don't know about that. Echidna, remember when you were on my ship and got soaked before? Well, now that you're soaked now, you will be subject to lighgrecization and as for you, hedgehog, I already have your counterpart ready. I'd like you to meet Lighgresonic." A beam of light descended from the Xavant and materialized into an exact form of Sonic right beside Lighthead. "He has all your abilities. In fact, he's like an identical clone of you but of course with more special abilities. He can move at light speed when in this light form and he can revert back to his physical state whenever he likes! Isn't it spectacular?!" Sonic could just give a stare of hatred. "And as for you, echidna, Robotar, lighgrecize him!" Robotar lifted his arm with the newly built in lighgrecizer and fired out a yellow beam. Knuckles jumped out of the way. He knew he had to avoid that in whichever way possible. Rotor then ran behind a fallen tree for cover in case he got fired at.
"Robotar, please hurry though. I know its much fun but I would like his lighgrecized form ASAP." Robotar nodded and continued. Lighgresonic, now in physical form, dashed at Sonic. Sonic saw this coming and went into spindash mode, but LS (Lighgresonic) dodged it and used this opportunity to land a punch in from behind. Rotor went to seek a safe place. He knew he didn't much of a choice in the matter. He had a few gas grenades from before but decided to save them for now.
Knuckles pondered on a way to stop them from taking the emerald as he avoided Robotar's blasts from the lighgrecizer. He knew that it'd still be about 10 or so minutes until he'd be normal again and not have to worry about it but now that wasn't the case. Now, he was starting to get restless. He noticed how Sonic was preoccupied with LS and Tails wasn't here yet. It was up to him to stop them from taking the MCE. But how could he destroy the lighgrecizer? Would he have to wait until his cell structure returned normal?
"You're fast, but not quite as fast as me." Sonic declared while avoiding LS's blows. LS then spoke, "Actually, I contain the same speed as you and more." His voice was exactly that of Sonic's. This enraged Sonic. He had faced robot versions of himself but never clones of himself. This was something different and this clone had an extra feature of going light speed when it wanted.
"ARGH! THERE WILL NOT BE TWO OF US! I don't care how you were created but I'll make sure to put you back in your place!" A stunning blow was given to LS's side.
"Pity. You should care. I was created by the DNA of you." LS elbowed Sonic in the face.
"Yeah.. well, nothing beats the original." Sonic yelled in a fit of rage, socking LS in the head.
"Alright. Let's see you face something more than just a clone of yourself." LS started to glow and then transformed into transparent yellow figure of Sonic. In an instant, he had smacked Sonic by reverting back to his normal cloned self of Sonic and turning back into to his light state. LS did this procedure over and over, pelting Sonic with great force. LS was too fast for him since he was moving at the speed of light each time and then turning into his physical state right before striking. Knuckles knew Sonic was now in trouble since he was having a difficult time holding off LS.
Suddenly, "Hey! If you're going to fight, do it fair!" It was Tails. He seemed to come out of nowhere and whammed LS.
"Foolish fox! This does not concern you!!" LS went into light speed and smacked Tails afar. This infuriated Sonic. The sight of seeing his little sidekick get punched at the speed of light was abysmal. LS did nothing but laugh.
Lighthead decided to call Robotar off. He decided LS would finish off Sonic and he would get Knuckles another time. He then noticed that the Master Emerald was pulsating with a vibrant green aura. He had never seen this aura before, especially this bright. The island started to quake again.
"Boss! What is going on with the emerald?!"
"I.. I don't know, Gore. We must hurry!" the Xavant lowered down and opened up but the quake grew more fierce. Tree limbs that were dried up and brittle snapped and fell. The MCE pulsated at a faster tempo. No one seemed to know how or what was happening. As the aura grew, it then surrounded Sonic.
With a clash of light and sound, Sonic then transformed. His spines were raised and pulsated with shades of yellows and white in sync with the Master Emerald. He was now Super Sonic. He gave a malevolent stare towards LS who started to back away. Lighthead could just stare in awe. He had never seen him like this before, and of course Knuckles had and cheered him on. He was befuddled on how he could have used the MCE to transform but he was glad now. Perhaps he could tell him of that trick he thought.
LS regained his composure and transformed into his light mode. The battle was a lot fairer. LS charged at Super Sonic at the speed of light but this time Sonic saw it coming and got out of the way. It was Sonic's turn. He went at full speed in LS's direction but unfortunately went right through him. LS used this opportunity to send Super Sonic flying into several trees, splitting them in half and then some.
"Ok, Rote. I got a plan. You use one of your gas grenades to keep Lighthead from seeing me get the Master Emerald back. He won't notice the grenade because he's preoccupied with watching Sonic."
"Good idea." Rotor reached into his teal utility belt and pulled out a gas grenade specifically designed for distractions. Instead of throwing it, which would most likely be spotted, he rolled it along the ground. Knuckles became ready for when it dispersed. As it rolled, Lighthead's attention did not notice the grenade. Nor did Gore but Robotar's sensors picked it up in a flash. Once he saw it coming he blasted it with his Rapid Destruction Cannon mounted on his right arm. It dispersed too early and the plan would not work.
Robotar then spotted where Rotor was hiding and started blasting at the fallen tree. Charred splintered tips of wood shot up into the air and landed all around. Rotor threw another grenade. An explosive one this time. Robotar fired at it again but this time it exploded like a normal grenade. He did not expect this and as a result, his lighgrecizer was now damaged. As a result of Robotar's rage, he released his blade equipped in his left arm, a blade that was about 6 feet long which was only 1/5 his size.
Robotar charged towards where Rotor and Knuckles were. Just as Robotar pierced the tree, they got out of the way. Robotar lifted the tree by the blade and flung it towards them. Knuckles grabbed Rotor's hand and glided out of the way in the nick of time.
In Sonic's wake were trees and shrubs mutilated from being attacked at light speed from LS. "How can I beat him when I can't even touch him most the time? And when I can touch him, it's just for a split second. I guess I'll just have to make that split second count."
Lighgresonic approached with caution. Sonic waited for his next attack so he could utilize his plan. LS darted at Sonic. Sonic waited until he turned into his physical state. Once he did, he got out of the way and made a punch. The problem was that no contact was made. LS had reverted back to his light state before he got the punch in. Sonic was not expecting this but LS was. During that split second of time when LS's appearance was exactly like Sonic's, he made his attack and sent Sonic flying into the lake right next to the chaos chamber. The splash was enormous. It could easily be seen from where the others were. All that ran through Sonic's mind now was that he had to defeat this imposter and soon.
Tails had suffered a great deal. A 4 inch gash was embedded at his right side and his right tail was bashed. He could tell wouldn't be able to fly anytime soon. Never before had he been hit so hard, so fast. He was lucky to be able to walk. He found a nearby stream to rinse off the blood from mainly his right side. He figured he'd be ok just as long he'd get some rest. After resting in the woods on a flat rock trying to figure out what to do next, Tails noticed a hint of red in the distance between the trees. Could it be? Could it be the biplane he used to fly here? Not having any other plan, Tails decided to check it out. After 5 minutes of brushing tree vines to the side and manipulating his way through the woods, Tails' face lit up as he saw the tornado.
Sonic, still in his super form, shot out of the water with great speed in search of his formidable adversary. Quickly accelerating from behind was LS. Sonic managed to block his attack this time and counter with one of his own, sending LS flying in the opposite direction but to Sonic's surprise, his original plan was unsuccessful. LS warped back to his light state to avoid any injuries. Sonic contemplated what to do next. How could he defeat a light being? Sonic remembered how when he and Knuckles were on the Supremor, his left hand had been lighgrecized when fighting against Robotar. His hand reverted back to its normal state when he used it to block Dr Lighthead's charged energy blast, which somehow backfired on him. If only he had the lighgrecized hand now, he thought.
In the midst of this thought, LS had already recuperated and was heading at Sonic once again. With one his hardest punches, LS knocked Sonic into the ground below. Sonic stared at his hand. He thought that there might be a way to transform it like LS can transform. If LS could, he might have the same ability, at least for the hand.
Super Sonic jumped back in the air ready for action once again. He decided to go with his original strategy. At first he thought of asking LS how he switches from form to form but he purged the thought. He punched LS with his right hand but it had no effect since he was in his light state but Sonic then tried with his left. DIRECT HIT! He had been punching with his right hand the entire time and never thought to use his left hand until now. Lighgresonic was sent soaring. Sonic quickly pursued after.
Once he caught up, Sonic returned the favors from before. Every punch thrown with Sonic's left hand debilitated LS. Sonic continued this with punch followed by punch at high speeds that eventually LS diffused into nothingness.
"Finally." Sonic thought. "Now I can get down to REAL business. I hope Tails is alright." Sonic looked to see if Lighthead still had the Master Emerald and he did. He was about to board his ship, the Xavant. Knuckles and Rotor were creeping around but Sonic knew they wouldn't have enough time to make their move. Racing at mach 3, Sonic went as fast as he could to try to swipe the emerald from him but it was too late. The Xavant emitted a translucent white shield that Sonic couldn't break through. Knux and Rotor watched as their comrade gave it his best to try to break through but to no avail. Dr Lighthead, Gore and Robotar were all onboard. The Xavant rocked back and then shot off, disappearing in the sky with a flicker of white light. They had failed. It was ruse. LS was sent to distract Sonic and Knuckles and Rotor had to deal with the 34 foot killer robot. Now they were gone. Sonic relapsed to his original form. A familiar quake started up again. Fortunately, the inhabitants were prepared if this scenario were to occur. Thrusters were placed all around the bottom of the island to keep it afloat - problem being that they did not have infinite fuel. Only enough for a week.
Knuckles was in shock. "This is not good. They took it. They actually took it."
"That's why we need to get it back!" was Sonic's upbeat reply. "We just need to figure out where they're taking it and then we'll go and get it back."
"What if they're taking it the sun though? We can't go there obviously."
"Actually, they are but not right away. I know what they're plan is." Rotor cut in.
"How do you know?" Sonic was cut off by the sound of a biplane. As they looked up, it was Tails. He landed the plane reasonably close and walked up still in bad shape. He needed medical attention.
"I'll explain on the way back to knothole."
