CHAPTER 3

Chaos Emeralds

The sun was setting over the city of Station Square. The thing stood a mile out of town watching the glowing sphere disappear behind the towering sky scrapers. In his hand he held a Chaos Emerald, sucked dry by his reckless purging.

The Emerald held a lot of power but not enough for satisfaction. He could already feel it draining.

I need an ultimate power, he thought dropping the now useless gem, Something that won't go dry so quickly. Not even that giant stone in those ruins had enough power....

The sun had vanished by then. It began to get dark.

Now! he thought.

The thing jumped down from the hill and ran straight into the city. It needed power and lots of it. It could feel a lot of power coming from the city from many different sources scattered around. It only had to find them.

The first place it headed was the musium. It snuck in carefully using its infered vision to see the alarm lazers. It found what it wanted easily.

The purple Chaos Emerald.

Without thinking about alarms or anything, it punched the glass making it shatter. It grabbed the Emerald and ran. Sirens began blaring so loud they could have woken the neighborhood. The thing ignored them though. It had what it wanted.

It slowed down when it reached the entrance and walked briskly outside.

Once outside it stared lustily at its prize. "Now, my beauty," it said corressing the stone. "Make me happy. Give me your power."

But before he could try to take it two spotlights suddenly shone on him. He looked up annoyed about the interference.

The police had arrive and had surounded him.

"Don't move!" one of the police officers ordered, "Just drop the Chaos Emerald and face the wall."

The thing said and did nothing. It just stood there.

"Didn't you hear me?!" the guy tried again," drop the Emerald and face the wall."
Now the thing reacted.

"I don't have to obey you. I don't have to obey anyone!" it said. "I am the ruler! The world is mine! I can do what I want! I am the ultimate!"
Now the police officer had no choice. He had to down this thing before it made a sceen. He nodded to his men. They raised their guns.

"Ready?" he said.

"Living mortals...... All living things...."

"Aim!"

The thing reacted faster then the police. It dug its clawed fingers into the Chaos Emerald, sucking out its power.

"Fire!"
The police opened fire. Bullets bounced off the things metal body.

By then its body was glowing from the absorbed power.

The police stared at it in horror.

It jumped into the air.

"KNEEL BEFORE YOUR MASTER!"

The thing shot out a blast of Chaos Energy. The police ducked as their cars caught fire. When the fire reached the gas tanks the cars exploded one by one sending debrees and people flying.

The thing laughed with insane pleasure. "You belong to me. Everything belongs to me. I rule all."

It glared at the remaining cars and streetlights. "Pathetic machines submitting yourselves to humans!"
It raised its hand. "BE GONE!"

The rest of the cars exploded with a loud BOOM! Streetlights burst and televisions in buildings and appartments close by blinked then burned out.

The remaining police aimed at the thing again out of desperation. It was gone.

"If Eggman's right about that robot, that got loose from his lab, wanting energy he'll go after everything with power," Knuckles was saying.

Sonic gave the echidna a discusted look. "I can't believe you actually believe him!" he exclaimed.

"Don't give me that, Sonic," Knuckles said annoyed. "You know very well what he told us is true! Just stare at the evidence. A ruined, sucked dry, Master Emerald, a desperate Eggman. Sonic these are facts! It doesn't take a Chaotix detective to figure it out."

"Really?" Sonic asked. "Then why don't we ask them?"

"They aren't home." Knuckles said. 'They've been gone for the past few days."

"I still say baloney."
"I don't care what you say! Think about it! It's the truth!"
Sonic couldn't deny it. He wanted to argue further but couldn't. He knew it was true. He just couldn't bring himself to admit it.

"And if he's right about that........," Sonic began.

"........That robot will go after anything with a lot of energy," Knuckles finished.

They both gasped. "THE CHAOS EMERALDS!" they said in unison.

Sonic grabbed Knuckles' arm. "C'mon, we have to get back to Station Square. NOW!"

Before Knuckles could reply or react Sonic was off and running, dragging the poor echidna along behind him.

When they reached the outskirts of the city Knuckles glanced at the ground and saw something. Something that shouldn't be there. "Sonic, look!" he exclaimed pointing.

Sonic screeched to a stop.

Knuckles stared at the ground. He picked the object he saw up. Sonic could see it clearly now.

"That's a ..... Chaos Emerald!" the blue hedgehog exclaimed.

The red echidna nodded. "And sucked dry. Just like the Master Emerald."

"We'd better hurry then!" Sonic said itching to get going.

Knuckles put the Emerald in the bag he'd brought along then followed Sonic into the city.

The first place they looked was the musium. Partly because they both knew a Chaos Emerald was on display there. They figured if they hurried they could get the Emerald before the robot did.

When they reached the musium they stopped in their trackes.

The parking lot of the musium was a mess of burned and twisted metal. It looked like someone had dropped a bomb right in the middle of the now destroyed parking lot.

"What happened here?" Sonic asked.

Knuckles knelt down and picked something up. "Does this answer your question?"

What he was holding was another dead Chaos Emerald.

"Aww, shoot!" said Sonic, "we missed it again!"

"What are we going to do?" Knuckles asked, putting the Emerald in the bag.

"We're going to find it," the blue hedgehog said with determination.

"What? Are you crazy? Just look what it did to that Chaos Emerald. Do you want the same thing to happen to us?"

"You're scared," Sonic taunted. He knew that the only was to get Knuckles to do anything was to make him mad.

"I am not!" Knuckles protested, "I'm just careful."

"Nope. You're scared."

"Am not!"
"Am too."

"Am not!"

"Are too."

"AM NOT!" Knuckles roared.

"Then prove it," Sonic challenged.

"Fine I will," Knuckles accepted.

"Good," Sonic said grabbing Knuckles' wrist. "You can prove it by coming with me."

The blue hedgehog shot down the street dragging the red echidna with him.

"SOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNNNIICCCCCCCCCC!" Knuckles screamed as he was drug along.

Sonic drug Knuckles down almost every block and alley in the city looking for the robot.

"Sonic!" Knuckles yelled, "How do you plan on finding that thing? It could be anywhere!"

"Oh, don't get techinical," the blue hedgehog replied. "I'm going so fast we're bound to run into it."

Or run by it, Knuckles didn't say.

From the roof of a building, near the shopping area of the city, the thing was watching the two animals run around for what seemed to him practically no reason but one. Hmm. So it seems I'm be pursued. By little animals, It thought. Maybe I'll just--

It jumped down from its perch. I don't need anyone trying to catch me, especially two stupid little animals!

Sonic said a shadowy figure land in front of him. He screeched to a stop, much to the relief of Knuckles who hadn't been enjoying the ride at all.

"Why'd you stop?" he asked looking up at the hedgehog. "I thought we........"

"Shh!" Sonic hissed. He beconed with his head."Look."

Knuckles looked up. He saw it too.

"Is that it?" he whispered.

Before Sonic could reply a huge silvery hand shot at him. "Whoa!" he exclaimed, jumping back just in time.

He saw the thing land cat like in the same place he'd be standing a second ago. The thing was still very hard to make out even though it was right in front of him. He still had no idea who or what it was.

"Look out!" Knuckles shouted.

The thing went after the blue hedgehog again. Sonic let go of Knuckles' wrist giving the echidna time to get up and get out of the way.

The thing didn't bother with Knuckles. It kept on assaulting Sonic. Sonic couldn't fight back though. All he could do was jump out of the way to avoid the silver razer sharp claws.

This thing fights familer. Where have I seen that fighting style before?

The thing slashed at the blue hedgehog's stomach. Sonic brought up his foot and kicked the robot back. It righted itself quickly and got ready to attack again.

"So, you wanna play?" Sonic said a confident smile forming on his face. "Well I'm ready if you are."

He ran at the robot. He noticed it didn't move. He felt something was wrong and stopped just a few feet away from it.

The robot held something. By its shape he knew it wasn't another Chaos Emerald.

"What's that?" Knuckles asked.

"I don't know," Sonic replied shaking his head.

It began to laugh. That laugh seemed familer too. Where have I heard it before.

"Let's see how powerful you really are," the thing shouted.

It dug its claws into the object.

Light. Sparks. Electriciy.

The robot laughed like a maniac then threw the object away. "Come on!" it shouted.

Sonic hesitated. Was he sure he wanted to tackle this psyco?

The thing didn't wait for a reply. It pounced at him. Sonic jumped just in time. The thing's claw dug into the pavement where he'd been standing.

Sonic came down on the thing, ready to swing a kick at it.

The thing looked up at him. It put out its hand.

Look out!" Knuckles shouted, not sure what it was going to do next.

Suddenly the robot did something new. Sonic wasn't even ready for it. String shot out of the things hands and tangled Sonic up. Sonic screamed as electricity shot though his body.

"I'm through with you," it said.

It swung the blue hedgehog. Sonic became untangled and flew through the air. He crashed into a car. He didn't get back up.

"Sonic?" Knuckles said looking over at the hedgehog.

Sonic still didn't move.

The red echinda looked at the robot. It seemed to be grinning. Knuckles fists shook. He knew what he wanted to do. Put his fist into that smug gloatingmetal face.

Without thinking he rushed the robot in uncontrolable anger. "GIIIIIIAAHHHH!" he shouted, jumping into the air and getting read to swing at the robot.

It saw him coming and shot out more string. It wrapped aroung the red echidna like a net.

"GAAAAAAAHHHHH!" he screamed in pain.

"Foolish creature," the robot said. "did you actually think you had a chance against me?"

It threw the echinda in the same direction it had thrown Sonic.

"OOF!" Knuckles yelped when his body came in contact with a car.

He slumped down on the pavement.

The robot walked up to them.

It stared at the two as if it were gloating. It didn't bother to try anything else. It seemed satisfied with it little victory. It turned and ran off without another look back.

Knuckles sighed in relief then passed out.