(Written in Jan. 2004)

Pre-chapter Conversation

"A funny thing happened to me while doing production on this chapter." I said. "I read this comic by Jen Irwin, one of the world's greatest Robotnik fans. In it, she was reading the instruction book to Sonic Heroes."

I then growled, causing Izzy to give me a strange look.

"If you couldn't tell, he doesn't have it or Sonic Battle, so he's a little jealous." He said to the camera.

"A little!.?" I shouted. "I should have had them both already!"

"Yeah. You and everybody else who doesn't have them." The hedgehog rolled his eyes as I grumbled. I then turned to the camera.

"Anyway, so I'm reading this comic and she was looking at Dr. Robotnik's description, which said, get this, that he's a romanticist (o.O), a feminist (O.O), and a self-professed gentleman (o.o)! And I'm like, 'Yeah, right!' That was when I had a little idea. Let's see how the good doctor would be like in these three situations."

°°A Romanticist°°

The scene opened in a romantic French restaurant. Amy was sitting at a table and across from her was, not Sonic, but Dr. Robotnik!

"Eggman, why'd you kidnap me and bring me to this romantic French restaurant?" She asked somewhat frightfully.

Dr. Robotnik walked to her end of the table and kneeled in front of her.

"Amy, we have known each other for a long time. Remember the first time we met?"

"Yeah... You had Metal Sonic kidnap me." She remarked, crossing her arms.

"And ever since Sonic saved you, I couldn't stop thinking about you." He pulled out a box. "Amy—" He opened the box, which contained among all things, a ring. "—will you marry me?"

Now Amy was a smart girl. She'd be crazy to turn down an opportunity like this! The man was RICH! But, it was Eggman! Not to mention she had feelings for a certain hedgehog. So she did the one thing she deemed logical.

"Pfffffft!.!.! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!"

She fell off the table as she laughed herself into a coma, Dr. Robotnik frowning the whole time.

°°A Feminist°°

The scene opened in a clothing store in downtown Station Square, where Rouge was trying on different dresses. She soon stepped out, wearing an emerald green gown.

"Well? How do I look?" She asked, striking a pose that would knock out most men in a heartbeat.

Unfortunately, Dr. Robotnik, who walked up to her wearing a pink version of his normal outfit, wasn't most men.

"Oh Rouge darling!" He shouted with a girly accent. "You're absolutely stunning!" He clapped giddily.

"No…" The bat said with a weirded out look. "Just no…"

°°A Self-Professed Gentleman°°

The scene opened in one of Dr. Robotnik's bases. Sonic was seen dashing around enemy fire, destroying any robot that got in his way. He soon reached the center of the base and busted the door down.

"Alright Eggman! Give me the emeralds or—"

That was when Dr. Robotnik, wearing a black tuxedo, turned towards him.

"Ahhh Sonic! Just in time for spot of tea!" He exclaimed with a British accent. "Would you like one lump or two?"

Sonic gave a freaked out look and stood gaping for a few seconds before shrugging.

"Heh. Just one, thanks." He walked over to the table that was in the middle of the room and took a seat. "So, got any chili dogs?"

"But of course." The doctor replied, handing him a plate full of chili dogs.

°°End footage°°

"That was just creepy…" Izzy shuddered. I gave him a toothy grin.

"Anyway, let's start the next chapter!"

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

The Adventures of Izzy the Hedgehog

Chapter Eight

The Three-sided Quest

"Knuckles!" Izzy yelled at the growling guardian. "What do you want?.!"

"Revenge for you busting the Master Emerald!" Knuckles replied.

"Hey! That was a mistake and you know it!"

"I don't care! Nobody destroys my emerald and gets away with it!" Knuckles held up his right hand. "Thunder Arrow!"

The clouds above Izzy and Alice darkened and a huge bolt of lightning shot down towards them. The DE glowed and the bolt was deflected.

"What the—!" Knuckles said with shock in his voice. Izzy shook a finger in a condoling matter.

"Looks like somebody forgot about the rule about attacking a guardian."

"You? A guardian? Don't make me laugh!" Knuckles chuckled.

"Hey! This thing around my neck ain't just for looks!" Izzy said, holding up the Dragon Emerald. "As long as this baby's around my neck, you can't touch me with your powers."

"But I COULD attack you physically." Knuckles smirked as Izzy slapped his head.

"Damn... But not if you can't catch me. Let's go, Alice!"

"EEEEEEE!.!.!.!.! It's really you!" Alice yelled. Izzy turned around and gasped. His eyes widened.

"Sonic the Hedgehog! Can I get your autograph!.?" Alice continued as she ran over to the smirking blue hedgehog. Izzy was nervous.

"Double the trouble." He groaned. "Alice, there's no time for this!"

He tried to get to her, but it was no use. He was pulled back by Knuckles.

"I'm not through with you!" He yelled as he tossed Izzy towards a rock. The hedgehog righted himself and wall jumped off it. He was propelled towards Knuckles, who jumped towards him. They both reared back a fist.

"This is for what happened on Angel Island!" Izzy yelled. "And this time, Sonic won't save you!"

"Like I need his help taking care of a twerp like you!" Knuckles replied.

They both brought their fists forward, crashing into each other.

"Wow! I'm really talking to THE Sonic the Hedgehog!" Alice squealed. "Could you make it out to Alice, the hot beach chick?"

Sonic sweatdropped as he brought a pen to the autograph book Alice gave him.

"Uhhhh… Sure…" He replied, scribbling the message.

'At least she's not as bad as Amy.' He thought. He then handed the book back to her.

"EEEEEEEE!.!.!.!.!.! Thank you so much!" Alice squealed again. "I can't wait to tell Boomer I got your autograph! Hey Izzy! I got—" She gasped as she turned and noticed the fight.

Knuckles and Izzy were charging at each other, butting heads every few seconds. The two jumped back from each other. Izzy went into a Spin Dash and knocked Knuckles into the air. Knuckles righted himself and went into a Drill Dive. Izzy moved out of the way and the echidna burrowed into the ground.

"Oh great." The hedgehog muttered as he looked around the sand. There was no way he'd let Knuckles get the jump on him.

"Yah!" Knuckles yelled as he emerged from the sand behind Izzy. He went into the air and prepared to dive bomb the hedgehog.

"Chaos Control!" Izzy yelled. He disappeared and reappeared above Knuckles. He delivered a hard kick to the echidna. Knuckles crashed into the sand and Izzy landed with no problem.

"Heh. That's what you get." The hedgehog smirked. Knuckles surprised him though by grabbing one of his legs and tripping him.

"Eat this!" The red one yelled as he raised a spiked fist. He didn't get a chance to land the punch for Izzy spun his body real fast, becoming a tornado and throwing Knuckles off him. Izzy stopped spinning and looked at his opponent with a grin.

"Give up?"

"Never!" Knuckles roared as he picked himself up from the ground and lunged at the other furry.

Izzy scoffed and used his Homing Attack to knock the echidna back. Knuckles got back up and used his flaming uppercut before the hedgehog can do anything to block it. Izzy, slightly charred, got up from the ground and charged towards Knux. Knuckles ran forward as well.

"Sonic Wind!" Sonic's voice was heard. Knuckles jumped back, but Izzy kept running. He got struck by the wind attack and landed on the sand.

"Izzy!" Alice yelled as she ran by his side. "Are you alright?"

"Ugh… Yeah." Izzy replied as he stood. He gave Sonic, who was standing by Knuckles, a piercing glare. "What was that about?"

"Can't let Knux have all the fun." Sonic replied with a smirk. Izzy smirked back.

"Hmph! Since you're not a guardian, it'll be easier to deal with you." He held up his left hand as the purple emerald on the DE started to glow. "Chaos Beam!"

A purple energy wave made its way towards Sonic, who easily dodged.

"Heh. You're going have to aim better than that!" He teased.

Izzy growled and fired another beam, and another, and another, but Sonic dodged all of them without even breaking a sweat. Izzy panted.

"Tired already?" Sonic went into a Spin Dash and zoomed towards the other hedgehog.

"Chaos Shield!" Izzy blurted in his tired state.

The green emerald on the DE glowed and a green barrier appeared, blocking Sonic's attack. The cobalt hedgehog wouldn't give up though as he kept charging into the barrier, not even making a scratch in it. He jumped back and held up a fist.

"Sonic Wind!"

The wind attack struck the shield, but did no damage to it. Sonic tried harder to break the barrier, but it was no use. Izzy was starting to recover as Sonic was starting to lose his stamina.

"I see the tables have turned, huh?" The purple one laughed. Sonic kept up his attack.

"Let me try!" Knuckles yelled as he ran forward. He jumped at the shield with a fist raised. As soon as his fist struck it, the shield shattered like glass.

"Damn!" Izzy cursed.

He ran forward and rammed head first into Knuckles, knocking them both onto the sand. He raised a fist to pummel the echidna, but Knuckles pushed him off. Izzy stood up and made to attack Knuckles, but Sonic charged into him, making him hit a rock. Izzy coughed as he stood up.

"Give up?" Sonic asked with a smirk. Izzy growled.

"No way!"

Suddenly, the red emerald on the DE started to glow. Izzy's left hand glowed bright crimson. He waved his hand in front of him and waves of light traveled along the sand towards Sonic and Knuckles. They both dodged.

"This must be a new power." Izzy said with surprise as he looked at his hand, which no longer glowed. He grinned. "I'll call it 'Chaos Blade.'" He turned towards Sonic & Knuckles. His hand glowed red again.

"Chaos Blade!" He slashed at the air and blades of light flew towards the two. Sonic jumped out of the way, but Knuckles was absolutely still.

"Knuckles! Get out of the way!" Sonic yelled.

"I want to test something." Knuckles replied.

The blades got closer and closer, but just before they struck him, they dissipated.

"I knew it! You really can't attack me with your powers because of all the time I spent guarding the Master Emerald!" Izzy groaned.

"So I can't attack you. Big deal! I can still get Sonic though." He turned towards the other hedgehog with his left hand raised and started charging energy.

"Chaos Spear!" A new voice yelled. Sonic, Knuckles, and Izzy jumped to dodge the orange energy spears that were fired. The three males, plus Alice turned towards the source of the attack.

"Oh great! Now I'm really outnumbered!" Izzy grumbled.

"What are you doing here, faker!.?" Sonic yelled.

"Simple, faker." Shadow replied as he jumped off the huge rock he was standing on. He landed in front of the three males and pointed at Izzy. "I want the emerald he stole from me!" Izzy scoffed.

"Sorry bud. I ain't getting rid of my emeralds until I gather all seven."

"'Emeralds?.!' You have more than one!.?" Shadow, Sonic, and Knuckles asked in amazement.

"Yep." Izzy grinned as he took out the red and green Chaos Emeralds. They both glowed brightly. He then put them away. Sonic shot him a suspicious glance.

"What do you want the emeralds for?"

"None of your business." Izzy replied, sticking his tongue out at him. "And you guys better not stop us."

"Hmph!" Shadow scoffed. "You're a fine one to be making threats. Now, if you don't want to die a horrible death, I suggest you hand over those Chaos Emeralds and the emerald that's around your neck." Izzy shook his head.

"Why you—!" The black hedgehog charged towards Izzy. Izzy, in turn, used a combination of his Chaos Beam and Chaos Blade attacks, but Shadow was way too fast, thanks to his air skates. He went around them with ease.

"Ahhhh!.!.!.! No! Wait!" Izzy yelled, flailing his arms. Shadow was mere inches from him when he held his hands in a defensive position. Izzy waited for the inevitable strike, but it didn't come.

"Izzy! Look!" Alice, who was silent this whole time, yelled. Izzy opened his eyes, put down his hands, and looked.

Shadow was directly in front of him with a fist raised, but his eyes… They were glowing blue. Izzy looked down and noticed the blue jewel on the DE was glowing as well.

"What'd he do to him?" Sonic whispered to Knuckles.

"I have no idea." Knuckles replied with an unsure tone.

Izzy waved his hand in front of Shadow's face. Nothing happened. He then snapped his fingers. Shadow didn't even blink.

"What happened to him?" Alice asked as she walked up to Izzy, who was in a thinking pose.

"I don't know, but the Dragon Emerald definitely is to blame." He replied.

"It looks like you hypnotized him."

"Hypnotized?" Izzy asked. He then turned to Shadow. "Hmmm… Put your arms down."

Shadow put down his fist and stood with his arms by his side.

"Hop up and down."

Shadow started jumping.

"Bark like a dog."

"Ruff!" Shadow barked. Alice giggled. Sonic and Knuckles stared wide-eyed.

"It's true! He's under my control!" Izzy laughed. "I guess I'll call this ability 'Chaos Hypnosis.'" He then smirked evilly as he turned towards Sonic and Knuckles, who gulped.

"Is he going to do what I think he's going to do?" Knuckles asked nervously.

"I think so…" Sonic replied.

"Shadow! Go get them!" Izzy ordered. Shadow wordlessly turned towards the two heroes and skated towards them. "Heh, heh. While they're busy, we'll make our escape, Alice."

"Will they be alright?" Alice asked worriedly. Izzy took out the red Chaos Emerald.

"They should be. I hope so, anyway." He grabbed her hand. "Chaos Control!"

They disappeared.

"N-now Shadow, oh buddy, oh pal. You wouldn't want to hurt your favorite faker now, would you?" Sonic nervously asked. Shadow made to punch him, but he dodged the attack.

The dark one then turned his attention to Knuckles. He held up a hand and fired his Chaos Spear attack. Knuckles dug underground to dodge the attack. They fought for a good half hour before…

"Sonic! Knuckles!" Tails yelled as he flew overhead, carrying Amy. They both touched down and gasped as they noticed the fight. "What's going on?.!"

"Ugh! We found Izzy!" Sonic replied, dodging Shadow's Spin Dash.

"Argh!" Knuckles yelled as he tried to punch Shadow, missing him completely. "He's got two of the emeralds!"

"The emeralds!.?" Amy & Tails gasped.

"What could he want with the emeralds?" Amy asked.

Shadow tried to attack Sonic and Knuckles with Chaos Spear, but they dodged it.

"I don't know, but we gotta stop him!" Sonic replied.

"I think you guys got bigger problems right now." Amy pointed out.

Shadow punched Knuckles, who then went for a punch of his own. Shadow dodged it though.

"How do we get him to lay off!.?" Knux asked.

"What happened to him?" Tails asked.

"Izzy used that jewel of his to take control of Shadow. He won't stop attacking us!" Sonic explained. Tails got in a thinking pose.

"If Izzy used his jewel to hypnotize Shadow, maybe it'll wear off since he left."

"How long do think it would take?.!" Knuckles asked, firing a Thunder Arrow at Shadow, who dodged it. Shadow tried to kick Sonic, who used his Sonic Wind. Shadow got hit and was propelled into the air.

Just then…

"Shadow! What on Earth are you doing!.?" Dr. Robotnik's voice was heard as he entered the battlefield in his personal hovercraft. Rouge was flying alongside him. Shadow landed and went back to fighting the duo. "Didn't you hear me!.?"

"He's under some kind of spell." Rouge observed.

"And you figured that out all by yourself? Bravo…" Robotnik said sarcastically while clapping.

Shadow was about to land a punch on Sonic when he stopped and blinked. His eyes no longer glowed blue. He held his head with a hand.

"What happened?" He asked himself, shaking his head. He took a look at Sonic & Knuckles and growled. "Now I remember! That little punk! Wait until I find him! He'll rue the day he met the Ultimate Life Form!"

"Still full of yourself, huh?" Sonic teased with his arms crossed. "Come on guys! We gotta beat Izzy to the emeralds!"

He grabbed Amy and ran off, followed by Tails and Knuckles. The three villains blinked.

"That kid's going after the emeralds, huh?" Robotnik said, stroking his mustache.

"And Faker's going after them too." Shadow added.

"What are we standing around here for!.?" Rouge yelled. "Let's go before they get all the emeralds!"

"Right! The closest emerald is a few miles that way." Dr. Robotnik said, pointing out to sea.

"You're kidding, right?" Shadow asked, glowering at him.

"Awww... Is the Ultimate Life Form scared of a little water?" Rouge teased with a smirk. Shadow growled at her.

"Let's go! We already gave them too much of a head start!" Ivo yelled, ending the conversation as he flew over the water towards their next destination. Rouge followed in the air while Shadow used his speed to skate along the surface of the water.

The three villains traveled for a good two hours before they reached an island.

"About time!" Shadow yelled as he skidded to a stop and sat on the sand.

"Why do you have to be such a big baby around water!.?" Rouge yelled as she landed. "Just get some swimming lessons!"

"No way! I'm not going anywhere near water and you can't make me!" Shadow stuck his tongue out at her. Rouge and Dr. Robotnik sweatdropped at his OOCness.

"Anyway… The Chaos Emerald is a few yards away, so get up!" The fat one yelled at Shadow. "We need you to locate the emerald!"

"Carry me?" Shadow asked sweetly.

"Uhhhh… No."

Ivo got out of his hovercraft and walked into the island's forest. Rouge followed, dragging Shadow along.

An hour later…

"There it is!" Rouge yelled after Shadow Spin Dashed through a bush.

Lying in front of them was the yellow Chaos Emerald. There was just one problem though.

"Rouge! Keep it down!" Ivo hissed at her.

In front of them, behind the emerald, was a huge cat-like creature! It was snoring though.

"What is that thing?" Shadow asked.

"I have no idea. I've never seen a cat like that before..." Dr. Robotnik replied.

"Will somebody just grab the emerald!.?" Rouge hissed.

"Glad you volunteered." Shadow said, shoving her forward. Rouge turned to him with a glare and Shadow countered with an even colder glare. Sighing, the bat girl turned to the task at hand. She started reaching for the emerald.

'Gently now… Slowly…' She thought nervously. Her slender hands were inches away from the amber jewel. 'Almost got it…'

"Rouge! Hurry up!" Shadow suddenly yelled. Rouge grabbed the emerald and gave him a piercing glare.

"Are you crazy!.?" She shrieked.

"No, but he is." Shadow replied, pointing behind her with a grin. Rouge slowly turned and gasped.

The cat creature was awake and looking awfully mad!

"ROOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAARRRRRRR!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.!"

"See ya!" Shadow yelled, snatching the emerald from Rouge. "Chaos Control!"

He disappeared in a flash. Dr. Robotnik had run away as soon as Shadow woke up the creature. Rouge was all alone as she growled.

"Shadow! When I get back, I'll turn you into a pincushion!" She yelled as she jumped out of the way of one of the huge cat's claws. She delivered a hard kick to the cat's head and flew off with the creature on her tail.

She weaved around the many trees in the forest while the cat just plowed right through them. Rouge soon got to the beach, where Shadow and Dr. Robotnik were waiting. Ivo was sitting in his hovercraft, which now had some lasers on the sides. Rouge landed by Shadow, who had his arms crossed.

"If we get out of this alive, I'll kill you!" She yelled.

"Whatever." Shadow replied. Dr. Robotnik started charging energy into the lasers when the cat got through the trees.

"Fire!" He yelled.

The lasers fired beams of yellow energy at the creature. They connected and it howled in pain as it was propelled to the other side of the island. The group sighed with relief.

"Glad that's over." Rouge said.

"We're not done yet!" Ivo said as the lasers retracted into his hovercraft. "We still have the other six emeralds to collect! Or did you forget?"

"Not to worry, Doctor." Shadow said, producing the yellow emerald. "Now that we have one of them, we can easily reach the others."

Everybody got close together as he held it above his head.

"Chaos Control!"

They disappeared. The trio soon rematerialized in a swamp.

"Ugh! Who decided to put one of the emeralds here!.?" Rouge yelled as she held her nose in disgust.

"Never mind that!" Dr. Robotnik said, turning to Shadow. "Go find it. We'll wait for you."

The hedgehog glared and huffed in frustration, but did as he was told. He made his way into the swamp. Unlike at the island, Shadow was able to get to his prize without facing a huge monster. There was still a little difference though.

"Quick! Get over here!" He yelled.

Dr. Robotnik and Rouge shrugged and made their way to where Shadow was. They gasped as they reached the area. Rouge's eyes grew as big as saucers while Ivo had an evil grin.

In front of them was one half of the Master Emerald!

"Come to Mommy!" Rouge yelled as she ran forward. She hugged the jewel and acted pretty much the same way Izzy did when he grabbed the green Chaos Emerald. "My precious. My sweet precious." The two males sweatdropped.

"What's half of the Master Emerald doing here?" Dr. Robotnik asked himself before shaking his head. "That idiot echidna must have broken it AGAIN. We're going back to the base. He'll be looking for it."

"And with his tracking skills, he'll no doubt be on our backs." Rouge agreed as she picked up the emerald half. "It's not safe with us."

"Let's go." Shadow said, bringing the conversation to a halt. He held up his Chaos Emerald. "Chaos Control!"

They disappeared and reappeared in a hangar of Dr. Robotnik's base.

"With the Master Emerald shard and Shadow's emerald, we only need to collect one more Chaos Emerald to power my secret weapon." The scientist chuckled evilly. "If we can get the other five emeralds, plus the other half of the Master Emerald, we'll be invincible!"

"Why be greedy?" Rouge asked. "If all we need is one more emerald, then let's just get that one and cause worldwide panic!"

"And I thought you loved jewels." Shadow muttered.

"My dear bat girl, there's a little thing called security!" Ivo yelled. "If we had all the emeralds, then Sonic and his buddies won't even come close to stopping us!"

"If we don't get back out there, we'd have to deal with them." Shadow reminded.

"Right." Ivo nodded. "Just let me put this shard in the core." He went deeper into the hangar.

After an hour of waiting, the good doctor returned.

"About time!" Shadow yelled before using Chaos Control.

The group was now in a frozen wasteland.

"I'm SO not dressed for this!" Rouge shivered.

"A-A-At l-least y-y-you got clothes…" Shadow answered. His fur had a hint of blue on it.

"Well I'M nice and toasty." Dr. Robotnik said contently.

"G-Gee, I w-wonder w-why." Rouge said.

'Freakin' fatso.' She thought.

"W-well, l-let's g-g-go!" Shadow said as the trio made their way through the frozen tundra.

An hour later, they found the gray emerald frozen in a block of ice. Dr. Robotnik used flamethrowers on his hovercraft to melt the ice surrounding the emerald. The two furries cheered at their triumph and at the fact they can finally get warm again. Shadow used Chaos Control and warped the trio back to the base.

With Sonic and Co…

"We've been running for hours and no emerald." Tails said worriedly as the group entered a dense forest. Everybody stopped.

"You don't think they already got the other emeralds, do you?" Amy asked.

"No way! Don't think like that!" Sonic scolded. "We'll find them. Don't worry. As long as we get at least one of them, Eggman won't be able to do whatever it is he's getting them for."

"Hmmmmm… I sense a piece of the Master Emerald." Knuckles suddenly said. Sonic, Tails, and Amy looked at the echidna, who was looking all around their position. "That way!" He pointed to the left and took off at top speed.

"Knuckles! Wait up!" Tails yelled as he flew after Knuckles. Sonic and Amy followed as well.

They all went through the forest for a few miles before they came to a clearing. Knuckles grinned as he saw half of the Master Emerald sitting there.

"Whew! Thank God we found this before Eggman could've grabbed it." He sighed as he walked towards the jewel. He picked it up, shrunk it, and placed it somewhere for safekeeping.

"That was too easy." Sonic said with boredom heavy in his voice. "Hopefully, getting one of the emeralds will be more exciting." The group zoomed off to the next destination. Everybody got about fifty miles out from the forest before Knuckles noticed the Master Emerald shard glowing. He pulled it out.

"Guys, there's an emerald nearby!" He yelled.

"Where?.!" Sonic asked. Everybody skidded to a stop. Knuckles waved the shard around until it glowed brightest.

"To the west!" He said. Everybody turned and went in that direction. They traveled for miles, following the glow of Knuckles' emerald, until they reached a volcano mountain. The Master Emerald shard was glowing brightly.

"It must be in that volcano." Tails said. The group climbed up the mountain. When they reached the peak, they looked inside the crater and saw the light blue Chaos Emerald teetering on the edge of a platform over a pool of boiling lava!

"If that emerald falls, we're doomed!" Knuckles yelled.

"So it falls into the lava. Big deal!" Sonic said. "It just means one less emerald to worry about." Tails and Knuckles slapped their heads.

"Listen, smart mouth." Knuckles started. "If that emerald falls, the balance of reality and belief could be distorted forever!" Sonic gave him a puzzled look. Tails sighed in exasperation.

"You can't go super anymore."

"What?.! Hang on! I'll get it!" Sonic yelled as he dashed into the crater.

"Be careful!" Amy yelled before she started swooning. "Ahhh… My hero." Tails and Knuckles sweatdropped.

Meanwhile, in the volcano, Sonic ran along the side of the wall, wiping sweat off his face every few seconds.

'Oh man! I better get that emerald before I become roast hedgehog!' He thought as he neared the jewel. He jumped off the wall, spun in the air, and landed on the platform. Due to the extra addition of Sonic's weight, the platform tilted, making the emerald fall!

"Oh no you don't!" He yelled as he lunged for the emerald. He made the grab and ran up the tilting platform. The platform fell off its stand and started falling towards the lava. Sonic got to the other end and jumped towards the wall. He was a few inches too far to reach it though!

"SONIC!" Amy and Tails yelled. They didn't notice the hole behind them.

"Oh no!" Sonic yelled. Before he can fall any closer towards the liquid fire, a spiked hand grabbed his own hand. Sonic was relieved as he looked at the echidna that saved him.

"Thanks, Knux! I owe ya one, buddy!"

"Save it for when we get outta here! The volcano's gonna erupt!" Knuckles replied. He was right. The platform Sonic was on earlier splashed into the lava, causing the entire mountain to shake. The lava started rising!

"Come on, Amy! We better fly!" Tails said as he wound up his tails.

"But what about Sonic!.?" Amy asked as the fox took flight.

"He'll be fine! Come on!" He grabbed her hands and flew her away from danger.

Back in the volcano, Knuckles pulled Sonic into the hole he made and started climbing. The lava wasn't far behind though.

"Uhhh Knuckles, do ya think you can go a little faster?" Sonic asked nervously. The heat of the volcano started to melt his shoes.

"Patience, Sonic. What's the big deal, anyway?" Knuckles asked innocently as he dug.

"Oh I don't know. How about the lava that's on my tail!.?" Knuckles looked back and noticed the lava was mere inches from Sonic!

"Crap!" Knuckles cursed as he dug like he never dug before. The two furries made it to the surface and ran down the side of the mountain before it exploded, sending rocks flying.

"Whew! Safe!" Sonic sighed, fanning his tail.

"We got one of the emeralds!" Tails exclaimed cheerfully. "Just six more to go!"

"Yeah. Let's just hope none of the others got a large amount of the other emeralds." Amy said.

"Or the other half of the Master Emerald." Knuckles added. The four furries took off again. About a hundred miles away from the volcano, the cyan emerald started to react. The group was at a lake.

"The next emerald must be in that lake." Tails observed. Everybody else rolled their eyes. Sonic instantly jumped onto a tree and relaxed against the wood.

"Well have fun." He said, closing his eyes. The other three sweatdropped.

"Just get some swimming lessons, Sonikku." Amy said. Sonic scoffed.

"No way!"

"What a baby." Knuckles said.

"I'll get it." Tails said. He stretched his arms and legs, then took a deep breath and dived into the lake.

It was like entering a brand new world. Fish swam peacefully in schools. Frogs and turtles were also seen swimming. The underwater grass (for lack of a better word) swayed gently in the water as if it was dancing in the wind. In the middle of the lake's bottom, Tails saw the dark blue emerald glowing.

'I better hurry up.' He thought. 'I'll run out of air soon.' He reached the emerald and made the grab.

Just then, he ran out of air! Panicking, he quickly kicked up to reach the surface. His lungs were on fire as he swam. Just when he felt like it was all over, he broke through the surface. He greedily took in air. Amy cheered at the fox's accomplishment.

"Alright! Let's go! There are plenty more emeralds to find!" Sonic yelled as he jumped down from the tree and zoomed off, followed by the other three good guys.

With the neutrals…

It was a starry night in a faraway city. On the roof of a building, a green light shone. When it dissipated, Izzy and Alice were standing.

"What a way to travel!" Alice yelled. Izzy silenced her.

"Be quiet!" He hissed. He pulled out the red Chaos Emerald, which was glowing brightly. "We're close to the next emerald." The two hedgehogs walked over to the edge of the building and looked ahead. They saw a bank. It seemed to be heavily guarded. The building was surrounded by a barbed wire fence. In front of the gate stood two guards.

"Hmmmm… Makes sense. What better place to put a Chaos Emerald in than a bank?" Izzy said, rubbing his chin.

"That place looks more secure than Fort Knox! How do you expect to get in there!.?" Alice asked. Izzy smirked.

"You'll see. Come on." The duo went down the building and walked up to the bank's front gate. As expected, the guards drew their weapons.

"FREEZE!" The guards yelled. Izzy scoffed and held up the Dragon Emerald.

"Chaos Hypnosis!" The DE's blue emerald glowed and the guards were put into a trance. "Now, open the gates and disable the security system!" The right guard pulled out a remote control and pressed a few buttons on it. The gates opened and the two furries walked inside.

In the Chaos Emerald vault…

"I don't know how the security system deactivated, but no matter. All I gotta do is grab this emerald and scram." A female voice said.

The lady moved into the moonlight. She was revealed to be none other than Rouge. She made her way towards a case holding the only emerald not possessed by any of the three groups; the purple emerald. Her hand was almost at the emerald when she heard voices that were getting louder.

"Oh great! Guards!" She hissed as she flew up to the ceiling.

"…So then I said—" A familiar voice started.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!.?.!" A guard yelled.

"Chaos Hypnosis! Anyway, I said, 'You were gonna name me after a girl!.?' And then, I whacked him over the head with a mallet and called him a baka!"

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!.!.!.!.! He was really gonna do that too?" A female voice asked, stifling giggles..

"Yeah. He would have done it too if it wasn't for the other guy that was there."

"STOP WHERE YOU ARE!" Another guard yelled.

"°Sighs° Chaos Hypnosis. Anyway, we're here." Izzy said.

"Took long enough." Alice said. "I was starting to get a headache from all those guards yelling." The two hedgies then entered the vault.

"Alright!" Izzy cheered as he laid eyes on the Chaos Emerald. "It's my favorite colored emerald!"

"You can admire it later. Let's just get it and go before your spell wears off." Alice said. Izzy nodded and the two walked towards the case.

"Hold it!" Rouge's voice yelled. Izzy & Alice looked around until they found the bat girl floating in the air. The male got hearts in his eyes.

"Rougey Poo! Hi!.!.!" He yelled. Alice looked at him with a hurt look, then faced Rouge with a murderous rage.

"Will ya stop calling me that, already!.?" The bat yelled.

'That tramp. Trying to take Izzy away from me…' Alice thought bitterly with a clenched fist.

"So doll, what can I do for you?" Izzy asked, further egging Rouge on. Her eyes flared with as much fury as Alice's eyes were.

"Well I WAS going to steal the purple emerald to add to our collection," Rouge started. "But it seems I'll get a two or more for one deal. Hand over whatever emeralds you have and step away from the purple one!" Izzy was about to carry this "lovely" conversation further when Alice suddenly stepped up.

"Yo! Don't you dare go near Izzy!" She yelled. "Leave us alone!" Rouge scoffed.

"My, my, look at the tough girl. Stay out of this, girly. This is between me and the kid." She landed across from them. Alice glared harder, if that was even possible.

"No way!"

"Alice..." Izzy started, holding a hand out to her.

"Butt out, Izzy. This is between me and her."

"Well, in that case…" Izzy said before he sped out and came back with a lawn chair, movie-sized popcorn, and extra, extra, extra large soda. "Don't let me stop you." The two ladies fell over.

"You really think you can take me on, little girl?" Rouge teased.

"Of course, you old bat." Alice retorted. Rouge gasped.

"OLD!.?.!" Alice nodded with a defiant smirk. "I'll show you old! Black Wave!"

Rouge launched a wave of dark energy at Alice. The hedgehog barely dodged the attack. Rouge fired more Black Waves and Alice narrowly avoided each one. She got hit though and was tossed at the wall. She got up and charged towards Rouge with a fist raised. She almost hit her opponent, but Rouge jumped and flew high up.

"Why you—!" Alice yelled as she whipped out a machine gun. She let loose a barrage of bullets into the air. Rouge was shocked to see the hedgehog girl bring out a gun, but smirked as she moved around the bullets with ease.

"Argh! Stand still already!" Alice yelled as she continued shooting. Rouge continued flying around. She went for a dive to tackle Alice, who saw the attack coming and moved out of the way. Rouge kept going into dives, narrowing missing the bullets.

"Wow! What a show!" Izzy said, stuffing his face with popcorn. Just then, Rouge floated in front of him and flew back up. "Wha?"

°Ratta tat tat!.!.!°

"Ahhhh!.!.!.!.!" Izzy screamed as he jumped behind his chair. "Watch where you're shooting!"

"Sorry about that." Alice said, rubbing the back of her head. She went back to spraying Rouge with bullets.

"This has gone on long enough!" Rouge yelled. She went into a Drill Dive towards the other girl. Alice kept firing, but the bullets didn't even come close. Just as Alice was about to get a high heeled shoe shoved in her face, a bullet grazed Rouge's right wing. She shrieked and jumped back.

"Augh! My wing!" She rubbed it and winced in pain. She then glared at Alice, who was grinning from ear to ear. She ran up to the hedgehog and kicked the gun out of her hands.

Alice reached into her purse for another gun, but Rouge slapped her hard across the face. Alice glared and slapped her back. The two ladies kept slapping each other for a few minutes with Izzy whooping and hollering the whole time. After some more slapping, Rouge jumped back from Alice. She ran forward again. Alice took the opportunity to grab a rocket launcher out of her purse. Rouge stared wide-eyed

"Bye-bye!" Alice said with a grin as she fired. The rocket hit Rouge, causing an explosion that sent her flying out of the building.

"Looks like I'm blasting off again!.!.!" She yelled as she became a star.

"Alright! Nobody messes with me!" Alice yelled triumphantly as she stood her rocket launcher up and leaned against it. Doing so caused the weapon to fire a rocket at the ceiling. A piece broke off and landed on her. She staggered around dizzily.

"Alice! Are you ok!.?" Izzy asked as he ran up to her. He put his arms around her and sat down on the floor. Alice shook her head and looked up at him.

"I'm alright." She replied.

"Man that was some fight. You got her good!" Her eyes lit up at the compliment.

"Really?"

"Yeah. Now we can grab the Chaos Emerald." Alice's face dropped at that. Izzy looked at her more closely and noticed her cheeks were still red from Rouge's slaps. He held a hand to her left cheek. Alice winced, but moved closer to Izzy.

"We better get you to a doctor or something before we continue searching." He said. They both stood up and walked to the case holding the purple emerald. Izzy reached in and grabbed it.

"Whew! Three down, four to go!" He sighed. Alice clapped at their victory. Unfortunately, the sound of her claps was heard all over the building, knocking the guards out of their trances. The guard closest to the vault looked inside and noticed the two furries celebrating. He then pulled a lever nearby, causing the alarms to go off!

"Oh great! Your spell wore off!" Alice yelled.

"Ya know," Izzy started with a sigh. "I think clapping breaks the spell. Anyway, we better go!" He held up the purple emerald. "Chaos Control!" They disappeared in a purple flash.

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After getting her looked at by a doctor, Izzy and Alice zoomed all over many places in search of the emeralds, but they couldn't find any. Their search soon led them to the desert. The purple Chaos Emerald started to react.

"We're close." Alice said as Izzy skidded to a stop.

"This place looks familiar." He replied as he moved the emerald around. It glowed immensely as he pointed it towards a pyramid. The light was almost blinding. "There must be multiple emeralds nearby." Then it hit him.

"That's Dr. Robotnik's base! No wonder it seems familiar!"

"Well now what?" Alice asked. Izzy turned to her.

"Here." He said, handing the three Chaos Emeralds they collected to her. "I'm going in by myself."

"No way! I'm going with you!" Alice protested. Izzy shook his head.

"It's too dangerous." He started walking towards the pyramid. "If something happens to me, take the emeralds and find Sonic."

He was about to run when the ground started shaking. The two hedgehogs looked ahead and saw the ground open. A gigantic sphere was coming out of it! Izzy gasped as he saw Dr. Robotnik's face on the side of the massive weapon.

"No way! That's the Death Egg! Cool!" He yelled with a grin. Alice fell over.

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Aboard the Death Egg, Dr. Robotnik was issuing orders to the robots that were piloting the space station.

"Increase energy output!" He ordered. He then grinned. "Hahahahahahahahahahaha… Thanks to the emeralds we obtained, my glorious creation will once again rise to cause terror!" Shadow and Rouge joined him on the bridge.

"Doctor, we have company." Shadow said.

"Oh?" Ivo said before he turned on a view screen. He saw the two neutrals standing.

"It's that punk!" Shadow yelled.

"And that blasted girl!" Rouge hissed. Her right wing was bandaged.

"You two have problems." Dr. Robotnik said before an alarm sounded. The view screen changed to a display, showing the emeralds Alice had in her arms. "That girl has three of the emeralds! Fire the tractor beam!"

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Outside, part of the Death Egg's bottom opened, releasing a beam of green light that went towards Izzy and Alice.

"Get out of the way!" Izzy yelled, shoving Alice onto the ground. The beam hit him and started lifting him towards the ship.

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"Argh! We got the wrong hedgehog!" Dr. Robotnik fumed.

"This is actually beneficial." Shadow said. The others turned to him. "Remember that thing around his neck? We can use it to further power this station." Dr. Robotnik laughed evilly.

"Sounds like a plan. I like the way you think, Shadow." The two furries sweatdropped.

"Now where have I heard that before?" Rouge asked sarcastically.

Back outside…

"Izzy!" Alice yelled.

"Alice! Find Sonic!" Izzy yelled back as he disappeared into the ship. Alice picked herself up off the ground and ran away from the ship, which turned towards her. It fired another tractor beam at her. She almost got hit by the beam, but a blue blur came by and grabbed her, taking her away from the ship.

"You saved me…" Alice said to Sonic, who smirked back at her. They stopped a few miles away from the ship. Knuckles, Tails, and Amy were waiting for them.

"Hey! What's with the skirt!.?" Amy yelled, pulling out her Piko-Piko hammer.

"Chill Amy." Sonic said before turning to Alice. "What's with Eggman re-launching the Death Egg and where's Izzy?"

"Eggman took him up there." Alice pointed at the ship, which turned away.

"What about the emeralds he had?" Knuckles asked. Alice produced the purple, red, and green emeralds.

"Right here. He gave them to me before he was taken. You gotta save him!"

"I don't get it. How did Eggman re-launch that thing?" Tails asked, bringing out the dark and light blue emeralds. "Five of the emeralds are right here. He couldn't have possibly launched the Death Egg with just two of the Chaos Emeralds." Knuckles gasped and growled.

"The other half of the Master Emerald. Eggman has it! How do we get up there!.?"

"We can use the Tornado!" Tails replied.

"Will it fit the three of us though?" Sonic asked.

"You mean four." Alice said stubbornly.

"No, you mean five." Amy said. Sonic was about to protest, but the two ladies glared and pulled out their weapons. Amy, her hammer and Alice, a gun. Sonic gulped and turned to Tails, who was looking just as nervous.

"T-Tails, you can rig up two extra seats, right?"

"Y-yeah…" Tails replied.

"That's a good boy." Amy said.

"Women scare me." Knuckles said.

"Let's go already!" Alice yelled.

Sonic grabbed on to Amy and Knuckles grabbed on to Alice. The two males zoomed off towards the Mystic Ruins, followed by Tails.