Chapter 4: The Emerald Chase
It was deep in the night when the two echidnas reached the base. The homes of the Emerald Hill Folk, who had once lived with Knuckles on the Floating Island, were still lit up even at this time. Either they had lost all sense of time due to the dark veil of the storm, or they were just plain restless. In fact, neither Tikal nor Knuckles could tell whether it was night or day.
The door to the Freedom Fighters' base of operations was unlocked, so they both entered.
"Who's there? Knuckles!"
Tails was in one of the downstairs rooms drinking cocoa when he rushed out to greet the guests.
"Hey Tails," said Knuckles. "Sonic around?"
"Upstairs!" chirped Tails. "There's been some kinda problem with another crazy echidna..."
"What do you mean, 'another'?"
"Umm... well, Dr. Zachary was one wasn't he?"
Knuckles just snorted, and ran upstairs, followed by Tikal. When Sonic saw Knuckles, he let out a little groan.
"Red! Just when I don't need you."
"Sonic, this isn't the time for arguing," said Tikal. Sonic hadn't noticed her until now.
"Hey, Tikal! What gives?"
"You know me?" she said.
"Don't worry Sonic. She had her memory erased. She won't remember you," explained Knuckles.
"I've met the hedgehog before?" asked Tikal.
"Yeah. We've met a couple of times," said Sonic. "Once in the ancient past and again on the Floating Island when we brought it back to the surface. I don't think much of that matters now. I have something else to worry about."
"What might that be Sonic? Wouldn't be Wechnia, would it?" said Knuckles with a frown.
"You've seen it!"
"Yeah. Wasn't much of a meeting, more of a battle... it tried to take the Chaos Emeralds."
"Don't tell me it got them!" Ashura had come over. He and Amy had been catching up on recent events, but he just caught Knuckles' words and had to know.
"Who're you?" inquired Knuckles.
"Knuckles, this is Ashura the Hedgehog," said Sonic. "He's Amy's brother. It was him who found the plans for Wech. Pity they don't tell us much..."
"Oh, okay. Anyway, it almost got the Emeralds, but thanks to Tikal and her spells, we stopped it. She transported them away from the Floating Island."
"Great, so the Island's sunk again..." muttered Sonic.
"No," said Knuckles impatiently. "It landed in Ultimatropolis. Somehow it came to rest between some buildings and it didn't cause any damage," he added, seeing Sonic's look of horror.
"Oh. So where'd the Emeralds go to?"
"Well, that's just the point. I don't really know."
"Nor I," said Tikal.
"Great... just great..." said Sonic bitterly. "It's Chaos all over again. Wech's gonna find them wherever they are while we sit around waiting."
"Well, that's why we came to you," Knuckles explained. "We've got to find them."
"Oh. I thought you'd come wanting glory for helping fight that Wech."
"Sonic! How many times have I told you that you're not the only hero on Mobius?" Knuckles said angrily. Knuckles and Sonic often were at each other's throats, no matter what the situation.
"Oh, stop it you two!" cried Tikal. "We have to find those Emeralds before Wechnia does."
"Yeah, you're right Tikal... there's no telling what that creature could do if he has those. We have to find the Chaos Emeralds, now!" said Ashura.
"Hey, I make the decisions around here!" said Sonic.
"Then what do you decide, Sonic?" asked Ashura with a false air of politeness.
"Uh... Let's find the Emeralds!"
Ashura shook his head, and Knuckles just glowered. However heroic Sonic was, he couldn't help being completely and utterly egotistical. It had always been the case, and had often led him into trouble. His cocky attitude tended to inflate to the maximum when he was working with Knuckles. He competed for the glory and often ended up in trouble by running headfirst into it while the echidna found a sensible solution for the problem.
"Alright then, it's decided," announced Ashura. "We're gonna find the Emeralds." He gathered everybody around in a circle, aside from Tekno, who was trying to rebuild the computers, and Porker, who had gone to bed. "I think we should split into pairs. Amy, you'll come with me. Tails, you go with Tikal, and that leaves..."
"... me and Sonic," continued Knuckles, frowning again.
Sonic groaned. "Why do I always have to work with Red? Why?"
"Hey, we know you work well together," said Tails, smiling.
"Yeah," said Amy. "You always get through everything!"
"But Red always slows me down!" said an exasperated Sonic.
"If it wasn't for me all those times, you'd be dead, Sonic," Knuckles snarled.
"Maybe it's not such a good idea after all..." mumbled Ashura. "Tails, you go with Sonic. Knuckles, you and Tikal work together instead. I guess she knows you best anyway."
Breathing a sigh of relief, Sonic went over to his best friend. Knuckles just glared at him for a moment, then stood beside Tikal.
"Okay," said Ashura. We need to have a plan. We don't want to all go to the same place, and we need to know what to do in the case of emergency, and how we're gonna track down the Emeralds."
"We can use those scanners you have to find them," said Knuckles.
"No we can't," said Tails. "All our computerised systems are dead.
"Oh, yeah..."
"Anyway," continued Ashura, "we'll have to rely on our own senses of direction..."
"We should be okay," said Knuckles. "I'm used to this sort of thing, and Tikal seems to have a sixth sense for finding the Emeralds."
"I've done this before too," Sonic said, with a quick grin at Knuckles.
"Hopefully, my knowledge of Mongor will help us. That's where Amy and I will go. Sonic, Tails, you two search South Island. Knuckles and Tikal, could you both go to Downunda? I hear that that continent used to belong to the echidna race, and that the ruins of Old Megopolis are still there."
"We'll go there, okay," said Knuckles. Tikal couldn't hide her nerves and let out a soft moan. Knuckles put a comforting arm around her.
"Now, in the possible event of Wechnia showing up, we need to know what to do. If he comes for us, I'll run away as fast as I can go. Sonic, you ought to do the same. Don't waste time fighting him; he's far too powerful. Knuckles, Tikal, just do whatever it was you did last time. Right, I think we should all be back here by the weekend. If you find a Chaos Emerald, bring it back here immediately."
There was a moment of silence in the room, apart from the pounding of rain on the roof.
Sonic was stirring. "Well," said Sonic. "Can't stand around all day! Let's go!" As the famous blur, Sonic rushed out of the base in a flash, into the raging storm outside.
"Hey! Wait for me Sonic!" called Tails, feebly running after him. As well as being brash, Sonic was highly impatient and hated nothing more than just standing around idly.
"Well, what're we all waiting for? Let's make a move!" Ashura declared. The Freedom Fighters all nodded, and made their way out of the building. The race for the Chaos Emeralds had begun...
~* * * *~
It was the third day. Sonic and Tails had searched the entire east side of the island and found nothing. They were trudging around the streets of Metropolis City looking for any traces of an Emerald's presence in the Zone. So far, they had been unsuccessful. By now, dawn should be breaking, but the thick cloud cover blocked the sun's light. The streets were littered with deepening puddles, the raindrops bouncing violently off the surface. Sonic was cold and wanted to move quicker, but he'd stand no chance of finding Emeralds that way. Tails looked tired and miserable. Sonic on the other hand wasn't tired at all, though he seldom slept since the death of Johnny Lightfoot. It was thanks to Amy that he didn't leave the Freedom Fighters forever... she had helped him through the weeks that followed.
Sonic was snapped out of his daydream by a sudden roar in the distance. It sounded very loud, but still not very close. Whatever it was, it wasn't thunder.
"Did you hear that?" he asked Tails.
"Hard not to," the fox replied. "What was it?"
"I don't know..."
Just then, through a hole in a wall of a derelict home, he saw some kind of red glow... maybe...
"Tails, I think there's an Emerald over there!" Sonic's heart leapt. He was getting very bored.
Tails looked at where Sonic had been looking just a second ago. "Yeah, I think you're right!"
They ran over to the abandoned building. It certainly seemed to fit with the gloomy setting; it looked old and ruined, as though it had been attacked by mindless vandals over and over again. It was clearly ready for demolition.
"You wait here and watch out for anything. That Wechnia could be waiting to attack. Shout me if you need me, okay?"
With that, Sonic slid inside. The room reeked of mould. The dusty wooden floors creaked under his light feet, and the windows were plastered with grime, as though they hadn't been washed in years. Some of the walls had collapsed, and doors ripped from their frames. There was, however, no doubt about it. One of the Chaos Emeralds was here. He could see its shape in the next room. It was the red emerald. He walked carefully over to it just in case the weak floorboards should give way. He clasped his hands around it and felt a sudden vigour in himself.
"Very good, hedgehog. Now, just hand that beautiful gem over."
Sonic felt hot breath against his spikes, and something else... A gun was pointing straight at his head. Slowly he turned around to a purple furred weasel with a large protruding tooth and a long, pointed tail. He wore brown and white boots, a brown leather belt, a wide brimmed hat and brown gloves. In one of those gloved hands was a pistol. The criminal's name was Nack the Weasel, a creature loathed by everyone due to his cruel nature. He would do anything for money. Like many others, he sought the Chaos Emerald, but for their monetary value rather than their unlimited powers.
"I told you to hand it over," Nack snarled.
"What've you done with Tails?" Sonic asked shakily.
"He's fine, just knocked out. Now, don't make me repeat myself," threatened the weasel, waving the gun dangerously.
The blue one had no choice. Reluctantly, he held out the jewel, which was promptly snatched by Nack, who started to laugh. Sonic caught the words "easy" and "pathetic".
"How did you know I was here?" Sonic spat.
"I have my sources. They spotted you coming into the city and reported to me. I've been hiding out in the centre of town. Interestingly enough, that's the only place where the cops don't look for me.
"Earlier this week, an associate of mine told me that the Chaos Emeralds had left the Floating Island again, and showed me the one she had found. I expected you or that echidna to start looking for them, and thought you could lead me to finding some of the others..."
"She?"
"Yeah, it was Rouge the Bat. I believe you know her." Nack laughed again. "Anyway, I have what I came for. You'll excuse me."
Nack backed out of the room, still pointing the pistol at Sonic, and then darted off into the street. Sonic quickly stood up and rushed outside to find tails slumped on the wet ground, his fur sodden with the water.
"Tails..."
Sonic lifted up his friend, and put him into the building for shelter. He, Sonic the Hedgehog, had a Chaos Emerald to recover.
In the background, he saw the weasel climbing onto a huge black motorbike and starting the engine. Now he knew what that roar had been minutes earlier as another sounded out, quashing the roll of thunder that should have been heard. Nack accelerated and took to the highway. Sonic readied himself and chased after him. The bike was fast, but Sonic was faster and soon caught up.
"You again!" bellowed the thief over the holler made by his engine. "Don't you ever give up?"
"Not really," said Sonic with a grin.
Nack groped around for his pistol and seized it. He fired a bullet at Sonic who dodged it. Nack had a great aim, but that wasn't enough in this hedgehog's league. The weasel shot at Sonic a couple more times, and missed completely.
"Is that all you got?" jeered Sonic.
"GAH!" Nack slotted the pistol into his holster and grabbed a machine gun situated at the side of his vehicle. He responded to Sonic's question with a volley of lead, leaving bullet holes in the buildings in the street. Sonic had to duck low to avoid this new threat. Nack used up five rounds or so in an attempt to hit his target, who used a series of swift aerial manoeuvres to dodge, and catch the projectiles. Supersonic speed was clearly an advantage.
Nack was almost cleared out of ammo. He reloaded and continued the relentless onslaught, but to no avail. Sonic was too fast. His supply had been depleted. Now it was simply a matter of skill to evade the hedgehog's pursuit.
"Run out of bullets, huh?" shouted Sonic. "Then it's my turn!"
He jumped up, curled into a ball and launched himself at the motorbike. This was the patented homing attack. Sonic crashed into the rear wheel and was thrown upwards by the rotary force. Nack stepped on the gas and increased speed even more. Burning jets emerged from the rear of the bike, propelling it forwards at immense speed, almost breaking the speed of sound! Sonic was becoming hard pressed to catch up again. Nack abruptly swerved round the corner into a narrow alleyway. He was a highly skilled rider. Sonic nearly missed the turn, but didn't lose much ground. His face was screwed up in concentration. He tried another homing attack, but landed just behind his enemy's means of transport. Nack laughed.
"Can't keep up?" he taunted. "I'm disappointed, hedgehog!"
Sonic's feet were moving so fast they created the illusion of some kind of revolving wheel of red and white streaks. His determination to retrieve the treasure at the helm of Nack's bike outweighed his exhaustion at keeping this speed going for so long. The ground behind him was smoking with the burning pace. Buildings whizzed past, blurs in Sonic's eyes, which were being peppered with large raindrops. The storm seemed to be getting worse...
He thought of what might happen if he failed to get the Emerald back... Knuckles' disappointment... everybody's... he remembered Greylan's lifeless face back at Jade Hill, and Johnny's death all that time ago... the dying lands of Mobius... he pictured what might happen if it continued... the trust that all of the Mobians had once placed in him evaporating as their world fell apart...
That horrible imagining did it. Sonic began to run faster than he had ever moved before. He could no longer hear the roar of Nack's bike, nor the rush of the wind. He was surrounded by some kind of blue flame. The distance between him and the weasel became ever slimmer. Nack's attempts to lose him by taking sharp turns were useless. His own feet no longer seemed to be under his control, and finally he was there, level with his enemy. Sonic somersaulted onto the back of the bike, and grabbed a hold of Nack. In a fluid movement, he threw Nack from his seat, swiped up the Emerald and dived from the vehicle a fraction of a second before it collided with a wall, showering the street with flames.
Sonic's knees gave way. He had never actually moved faster than sound before, but now he had... His legs felt rubbery following the excessive boost. After a moment's rest, he regained some stability and was able to stand. He looked at the prize in his hands; the red Emerald. In true Sonic fashion, he grinned, feeling elated from the victory.
He strode over to the limp form of Nack, who was unconscious, knocked cold by the force of being thrown from the bike.
"That's payback for hurting Tails!" proclaimed Sonic. "Nobody hurts my friends and gets away with it!"
He turned away from the scene as the flames began to vanish, extinguished by the brutal rain. He went to find Tails so they could get out of there.
When he returned to the place where he had left his friend, He found Tails already awake, massaging his head.
"Sonic!" cried the two tailed fox. "I'm so sorry!"
"You've nothing to be sorry for, my friend. I got the Emerald back easy enough." Sonic went on to explain the full story of his encounter with Nack. Afterwards, he remembered what the weasel had told him... Rouge the Bat had one of the Emeralds. She would have to be found before Wechnia reached her.
"Come on Tails," said Sonic. "Let's get outta here..."
They walked away from the city, heading back to Emerald Hill, hoping that the other groups had found at least something. Wechnia had really disrupted their lives with his prowess. Sonic found himself wondering where the creature may be at that moment, hoping that he hadn't gone after any of his friends. He couldn't help but feel something was wrong... what about when the storm began to strengthen even further... what if...?
No, he told himself, I mustn't think like that. We'll stop him, no matter what it takes!
It was deep in the night when the two echidnas reached the base. The homes of the Emerald Hill Folk, who had once lived with Knuckles on the Floating Island, were still lit up even at this time. Either they had lost all sense of time due to the dark veil of the storm, or they were just plain restless. In fact, neither Tikal nor Knuckles could tell whether it was night or day.
The door to the Freedom Fighters' base of operations was unlocked, so they both entered.
"Who's there? Knuckles!"
Tails was in one of the downstairs rooms drinking cocoa when he rushed out to greet the guests.
"Hey Tails," said Knuckles. "Sonic around?"
"Upstairs!" chirped Tails. "There's been some kinda problem with another crazy echidna..."
"What do you mean, 'another'?"
"Umm... well, Dr. Zachary was one wasn't he?"
Knuckles just snorted, and ran upstairs, followed by Tikal. When Sonic saw Knuckles, he let out a little groan.
"Red! Just when I don't need you."
"Sonic, this isn't the time for arguing," said Tikal. Sonic hadn't noticed her until now.
"Hey, Tikal! What gives?"
"You know me?" she said.
"Don't worry Sonic. She had her memory erased. She won't remember you," explained Knuckles.
"I've met the hedgehog before?" asked Tikal.
"Yeah. We've met a couple of times," said Sonic. "Once in the ancient past and again on the Floating Island when we brought it back to the surface. I don't think much of that matters now. I have something else to worry about."
"What might that be Sonic? Wouldn't be Wechnia, would it?" said Knuckles with a frown.
"You've seen it!"
"Yeah. Wasn't much of a meeting, more of a battle... it tried to take the Chaos Emeralds."
"Don't tell me it got them!" Ashura had come over. He and Amy had been catching up on recent events, but he just caught Knuckles' words and had to know.
"Who're you?" inquired Knuckles.
"Knuckles, this is Ashura the Hedgehog," said Sonic. "He's Amy's brother. It was him who found the plans for Wech. Pity they don't tell us much..."
"Oh, okay. Anyway, it almost got the Emeralds, but thanks to Tikal and her spells, we stopped it. She transported them away from the Floating Island."
"Great, so the Island's sunk again..." muttered Sonic.
"No," said Knuckles impatiently. "It landed in Ultimatropolis. Somehow it came to rest between some buildings and it didn't cause any damage," he added, seeing Sonic's look of horror.
"Oh. So where'd the Emeralds go to?"
"Well, that's just the point. I don't really know."
"Nor I," said Tikal.
"Great... just great..." said Sonic bitterly. "It's Chaos all over again. Wech's gonna find them wherever they are while we sit around waiting."
"Well, that's why we came to you," Knuckles explained. "We've got to find them."
"Oh. I thought you'd come wanting glory for helping fight that Wech."
"Sonic! How many times have I told you that you're not the only hero on Mobius?" Knuckles said angrily. Knuckles and Sonic often were at each other's throats, no matter what the situation.
"Oh, stop it you two!" cried Tikal. "We have to find those Emeralds before Wechnia does."
"Yeah, you're right Tikal... there's no telling what that creature could do if he has those. We have to find the Chaos Emeralds, now!" said Ashura.
"Hey, I make the decisions around here!" said Sonic.
"Then what do you decide, Sonic?" asked Ashura with a false air of politeness.
"Uh... Let's find the Emeralds!"
Ashura shook his head, and Knuckles just glowered. However heroic Sonic was, he couldn't help being completely and utterly egotistical. It had always been the case, and had often led him into trouble. His cocky attitude tended to inflate to the maximum when he was working with Knuckles. He competed for the glory and often ended up in trouble by running headfirst into it while the echidna found a sensible solution for the problem.
"Alright then, it's decided," announced Ashura. "We're gonna find the Emeralds." He gathered everybody around in a circle, aside from Tekno, who was trying to rebuild the computers, and Porker, who had gone to bed. "I think we should split into pairs. Amy, you'll come with me. Tails, you go with Tikal, and that leaves..."
"... me and Sonic," continued Knuckles, frowning again.
Sonic groaned. "Why do I always have to work with Red? Why?"
"Hey, we know you work well together," said Tails, smiling.
"Yeah," said Amy. "You always get through everything!"
"But Red always slows me down!" said an exasperated Sonic.
"If it wasn't for me all those times, you'd be dead, Sonic," Knuckles snarled.
"Maybe it's not such a good idea after all..." mumbled Ashura. "Tails, you go with Sonic. Knuckles, you and Tikal work together instead. I guess she knows you best anyway."
Breathing a sigh of relief, Sonic went over to his best friend. Knuckles just glared at him for a moment, then stood beside Tikal.
"Okay," said Ashura. We need to have a plan. We don't want to all go to the same place, and we need to know what to do in the case of emergency, and how we're gonna track down the Emeralds."
"We can use those scanners you have to find them," said Knuckles.
"No we can't," said Tails. "All our computerised systems are dead.
"Oh, yeah..."
"Anyway," continued Ashura, "we'll have to rely on our own senses of direction..."
"We should be okay," said Knuckles. "I'm used to this sort of thing, and Tikal seems to have a sixth sense for finding the Emeralds."
"I've done this before too," Sonic said, with a quick grin at Knuckles.
"Hopefully, my knowledge of Mongor will help us. That's where Amy and I will go. Sonic, Tails, you two search South Island. Knuckles and Tikal, could you both go to Downunda? I hear that that continent used to belong to the echidna race, and that the ruins of Old Megopolis are still there."
"We'll go there, okay," said Knuckles. Tikal couldn't hide her nerves and let out a soft moan. Knuckles put a comforting arm around her.
"Now, in the possible event of Wechnia showing up, we need to know what to do. If he comes for us, I'll run away as fast as I can go. Sonic, you ought to do the same. Don't waste time fighting him; he's far too powerful. Knuckles, Tikal, just do whatever it was you did last time. Right, I think we should all be back here by the weekend. If you find a Chaos Emerald, bring it back here immediately."
There was a moment of silence in the room, apart from the pounding of rain on the roof.
Sonic was stirring. "Well," said Sonic. "Can't stand around all day! Let's go!" As the famous blur, Sonic rushed out of the base in a flash, into the raging storm outside.
"Hey! Wait for me Sonic!" called Tails, feebly running after him. As well as being brash, Sonic was highly impatient and hated nothing more than just standing around idly.
"Well, what're we all waiting for? Let's make a move!" Ashura declared. The Freedom Fighters all nodded, and made their way out of the building. The race for the Chaos Emeralds had begun...
~* * * *~
It was the third day. Sonic and Tails had searched the entire east side of the island and found nothing. They were trudging around the streets of Metropolis City looking for any traces of an Emerald's presence in the Zone. So far, they had been unsuccessful. By now, dawn should be breaking, but the thick cloud cover blocked the sun's light. The streets were littered with deepening puddles, the raindrops bouncing violently off the surface. Sonic was cold and wanted to move quicker, but he'd stand no chance of finding Emeralds that way. Tails looked tired and miserable. Sonic on the other hand wasn't tired at all, though he seldom slept since the death of Johnny Lightfoot. It was thanks to Amy that he didn't leave the Freedom Fighters forever... she had helped him through the weeks that followed.
Sonic was snapped out of his daydream by a sudden roar in the distance. It sounded very loud, but still not very close. Whatever it was, it wasn't thunder.
"Did you hear that?" he asked Tails.
"Hard not to," the fox replied. "What was it?"
"I don't know..."
Just then, through a hole in a wall of a derelict home, he saw some kind of red glow... maybe...
"Tails, I think there's an Emerald over there!" Sonic's heart leapt. He was getting very bored.
Tails looked at where Sonic had been looking just a second ago. "Yeah, I think you're right!"
They ran over to the abandoned building. It certainly seemed to fit with the gloomy setting; it looked old and ruined, as though it had been attacked by mindless vandals over and over again. It was clearly ready for demolition.
"You wait here and watch out for anything. That Wechnia could be waiting to attack. Shout me if you need me, okay?"
With that, Sonic slid inside. The room reeked of mould. The dusty wooden floors creaked under his light feet, and the windows were plastered with grime, as though they hadn't been washed in years. Some of the walls had collapsed, and doors ripped from their frames. There was, however, no doubt about it. One of the Chaos Emeralds was here. He could see its shape in the next room. It was the red emerald. He walked carefully over to it just in case the weak floorboards should give way. He clasped his hands around it and felt a sudden vigour in himself.
"Very good, hedgehog. Now, just hand that beautiful gem over."
Sonic felt hot breath against his spikes, and something else... A gun was pointing straight at his head. Slowly he turned around to a purple furred weasel with a large protruding tooth and a long, pointed tail. He wore brown and white boots, a brown leather belt, a wide brimmed hat and brown gloves. In one of those gloved hands was a pistol. The criminal's name was Nack the Weasel, a creature loathed by everyone due to his cruel nature. He would do anything for money. Like many others, he sought the Chaos Emerald, but for their monetary value rather than their unlimited powers.
"I told you to hand it over," Nack snarled.
"What've you done with Tails?" Sonic asked shakily.
"He's fine, just knocked out. Now, don't make me repeat myself," threatened the weasel, waving the gun dangerously.
The blue one had no choice. Reluctantly, he held out the jewel, which was promptly snatched by Nack, who started to laugh. Sonic caught the words "easy" and "pathetic".
"How did you know I was here?" Sonic spat.
"I have my sources. They spotted you coming into the city and reported to me. I've been hiding out in the centre of town. Interestingly enough, that's the only place where the cops don't look for me.
"Earlier this week, an associate of mine told me that the Chaos Emeralds had left the Floating Island again, and showed me the one she had found. I expected you or that echidna to start looking for them, and thought you could lead me to finding some of the others..."
"She?"
"Yeah, it was Rouge the Bat. I believe you know her." Nack laughed again. "Anyway, I have what I came for. You'll excuse me."
Nack backed out of the room, still pointing the pistol at Sonic, and then darted off into the street. Sonic quickly stood up and rushed outside to find tails slumped on the wet ground, his fur sodden with the water.
"Tails..."
Sonic lifted up his friend, and put him into the building for shelter. He, Sonic the Hedgehog, had a Chaos Emerald to recover.
In the background, he saw the weasel climbing onto a huge black motorbike and starting the engine. Now he knew what that roar had been minutes earlier as another sounded out, quashing the roll of thunder that should have been heard. Nack accelerated and took to the highway. Sonic readied himself and chased after him. The bike was fast, but Sonic was faster and soon caught up.
"You again!" bellowed the thief over the holler made by his engine. "Don't you ever give up?"
"Not really," said Sonic with a grin.
Nack groped around for his pistol and seized it. He fired a bullet at Sonic who dodged it. Nack had a great aim, but that wasn't enough in this hedgehog's league. The weasel shot at Sonic a couple more times, and missed completely.
"Is that all you got?" jeered Sonic.
"GAH!" Nack slotted the pistol into his holster and grabbed a machine gun situated at the side of his vehicle. He responded to Sonic's question with a volley of lead, leaving bullet holes in the buildings in the street. Sonic had to duck low to avoid this new threat. Nack used up five rounds or so in an attempt to hit his target, who used a series of swift aerial manoeuvres to dodge, and catch the projectiles. Supersonic speed was clearly an advantage.
Nack was almost cleared out of ammo. He reloaded and continued the relentless onslaught, but to no avail. Sonic was too fast. His supply had been depleted. Now it was simply a matter of skill to evade the hedgehog's pursuit.
"Run out of bullets, huh?" shouted Sonic. "Then it's my turn!"
He jumped up, curled into a ball and launched himself at the motorbike. This was the patented homing attack. Sonic crashed into the rear wheel and was thrown upwards by the rotary force. Nack stepped on the gas and increased speed even more. Burning jets emerged from the rear of the bike, propelling it forwards at immense speed, almost breaking the speed of sound! Sonic was becoming hard pressed to catch up again. Nack abruptly swerved round the corner into a narrow alleyway. He was a highly skilled rider. Sonic nearly missed the turn, but didn't lose much ground. His face was screwed up in concentration. He tried another homing attack, but landed just behind his enemy's means of transport. Nack laughed.
"Can't keep up?" he taunted. "I'm disappointed, hedgehog!"
Sonic's feet were moving so fast they created the illusion of some kind of revolving wheel of red and white streaks. His determination to retrieve the treasure at the helm of Nack's bike outweighed his exhaustion at keeping this speed going for so long. The ground behind him was smoking with the burning pace. Buildings whizzed past, blurs in Sonic's eyes, which were being peppered with large raindrops. The storm seemed to be getting worse...
He thought of what might happen if he failed to get the Emerald back... Knuckles' disappointment... everybody's... he remembered Greylan's lifeless face back at Jade Hill, and Johnny's death all that time ago... the dying lands of Mobius... he pictured what might happen if it continued... the trust that all of the Mobians had once placed in him evaporating as their world fell apart...
That horrible imagining did it. Sonic began to run faster than he had ever moved before. He could no longer hear the roar of Nack's bike, nor the rush of the wind. He was surrounded by some kind of blue flame. The distance between him and the weasel became ever slimmer. Nack's attempts to lose him by taking sharp turns were useless. His own feet no longer seemed to be under his control, and finally he was there, level with his enemy. Sonic somersaulted onto the back of the bike, and grabbed a hold of Nack. In a fluid movement, he threw Nack from his seat, swiped up the Emerald and dived from the vehicle a fraction of a second before it collided with a wall, showering the street with flames.
Sonic's knees gave way. He had never actually moved faster than sound before, but now he had... His legs felt rubbery following the excessive boost. After a moment's rest, he regained some stability and was able to stand. He looked at the prize in his hands; the red Emerald. In true Sonic fashion, he grinned, feeling elated from the victory.
He strode over to the limp form of Nack, who was unconscious, knocked cold by the force of being thrown from the bike.
"That's payback for hurting Tails!" proclaimed Sonic. "Nobody hurts my friends and gets away with it!"
He turned away from the scene as the flames began to vanish, extinguished by the brutal rain. He went to find Tails so they could get out of there.
When he returned to the place where he had left his friend, He found Tails already awake, massaging his head.
"Sonic!" cried the two tailed fox. "I'm so sorry!"
"You've nothing to be sorry for, my friend. I got the Emerald back easy enough." Sonic went on to explain the full story of his encounter with Nack. Afterwards, he remembered what the weasel had told him... Rouge the Bat had one of the Emeralds. She would have to be found before Wechnia reached her.
"Come on Tails," said Sonic. "Let's get outta here..."
They walked away from the city, heading back to Emerald Hill, hoping that the other groups had found at least something. Wechnia had really disrupted their lives with his prowess. Sonic found himself wondering where the creature may be at that moment, hoping that he hadn't gone after any of his friends. He couldn't help but feel something was wrong... what about when the storm began to strengthen even further... what if...?
No, he told himself, I mustn't think like that. We'll stop him, no matter what it takes!