CHAPTER 12

EGGMAN'S BASE

When Knuckles could finally see again he found himself at Emerald Beach. The sun was beating down on him and ocean gently rolled back and forth on the shore. He looked around not really noticing anything. Where is Tikal?
A sudden fear enveloped him and he started running down the deserted beach. 'TIKAL!" he screamed as he ran. "Tikal, where are you?"

Then he spotted her. She was lying face down on the sand near the water. From the way her body was slowly moving it looked like she was about to be carried out to sea.

"Tikal," he called, running up to her.

When he reached the echidna princess, he sat down beside her and took her upper body in his arms. He turned her over so he could see her face. Her eyes were closed. She was unconcious.

"TIKAL!" he shouted.

Tikal moaned, Knuckles looked down at her face. Her eyelids were fluttering. She's waking up. I hope she's alright. I hope sending us back here didn't drain her too much.

"Knuckles?" she said, opening her eyes halway.

"I'm here," he said. "Are you alright?"

"I think so," she said. "I'm just tired. Let me rest a little longer."

Her eyes closed once more. Knuckles put his arms under her body and carried her away from the water. I hope nothing bad happened to her, he thought setting her down farther up the beach.

The Master Emerald Guardian noticed something green and shiny in her right hand. He reached down and pulled it loose. It was a piece of the Master Emerald.

Where did she get this? he thought, staring at it curiously. I don't feel anymore shards around here. Is this the final one? If so why...?

The red echidna looked at her again. What do you want of me?

Tikal opened her eyes again. She noticed him holding the Emertald piece. "Is that the final shard?" she asked.

He looked down at her. She saw something on his face she couldn't read. "I don't know," he replied. "Maybe, maybe not."

She sat up. "Try putting the Master Emerald together," she suggested. "That way we'll know if we're still missing some."

Knuckles agreed and let the shard float into the air. A bright light flashed and the giant gem came together. Part of it was still missing. "But where could they it?" he asked nobody in paticular.

An image flashed through Tikal's mind. "Eggman's base," she said.

"How can you be sure?" he asked.

"I saw it," she answered. "In a vision just now."

"You can see visions?" he asked.

"I don't know... Maybe," she said. "But I do know those last few shards are in Eggman's base."

Knuckles helped her up. "Then we must go and get them," he said determinedly.

"If the last shards are there," she began feeling a little better about something. "Maybe Chaos is there too."
"I guess we'll soon find out," he said jerking on her arm. "Let's go."

It was difficult to get to or find Eggman;s base, but after a few hours of searching they did find it. It was hidden deep in the Mystic Ruins.

"Looks like Eggman rebuilt that place," Knuckles commented when he saw the huge building with the flashy spot lights. "I also see he's still advertising his base like a street sign."

Tikal gave him a curious look. "What do you mean?" she asked no quite remembering.

"Eggman built that place during the Chaos scare. He also had spotlights telling where it was. I'm surprise nobody saw the place when they were exploring the area and called the police."

"Hmmmmmmm..."

Knuckles took her hand. "We may as well get this over with. Let's just hope we don't run into trouble while we're in there."

"Let's," she agreed tightening her grip.

They walked up to the entrance. Knuckles examined the door to see if it was locked. If it had been he would have had to punch it out. No such luck. It opened instantly.

Tikal took note of that and fidgeted nervously. "I hope he's not expecting us or something," she said.

"He'd better not," Knuckles said. "But if that's true we're going to have a very rude welcome."

Tikal didn't look very happy at that thought.

"We'd better be on our guard while we're in there," he cautioned taking her hand again, mostly so she wouldn't run away. "Let's go."

She hesitantly let him pull her inside.

Knuckle soon found out that, even though the outside was the same, the inside was different. Completely different.

"I hope we don't get lost," Tikal said looking around.

"Don't worry, Tik," he said smiling at her reassuringly. "As long as we stay together we won't get lost. Hahahahaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

A huge sweat drop appeared on the echinda princess' head. "I'm not sure it works that way," she said slowly.

Knuckles didn't hear her, he was too busy pulling her along and laughing that silly laugh.

Since he seemed to know where he was going, and she didn't want to be lost, Tikal kept very close to the Master Emerald Guardian.

I just hope he does know where we are going, she thought. She felt uneasy for some reason but couldn't place it. Must be nerves. This place gives me the creeps.

Tikal let go of his hand and stopped to look around. I'd better be sure. She didn't see anything.

"Hey Tikal, stay with me," Knuckles called to her over his shoulder. "You don't want to get lost do you?"

Of course she didn't. "I'm coming." She quickly returned to Knuckles's side.

After a few minutes of walking in silence Knuckles suddenly said. "Um... Tikal, I don't want to scare you or anything but I think we're lost."

"Lost!" she exclaimed. "But I thought you said you knew where you were going."

"I did? Let me think. I think I did say that but I was wrong either way."
She just stared at him. "Now what are we going to do?" she finally asked.

"Let me think," he said.

"Okay."

There was a silence that seemed to last forever. "Knuckles?" she finally said.

The red echinda looked at her sheepishly. "I can't seem to think of anything," he said laughing. "In fact I can't seem to think! Ha ha!"

Tikal's eyes got real small. "W-we're going to be lost here forever!" she exclaimed in a small voice.

"No, we won't," he tried to assure her. "If we keep going we may find the way out."

"Use your treasure hunting skills," she advised. "Try to focus on the location of the Master Emerald shards."

"I never thought of that."

Tikal fell over.

"You're the guardian of the Master Emerald and you never thought of focusing on it to help us find our way?" she asked.

"Well," Knuckles gave a nervous chuckle. "It kinda slipped my mind."

Tikal said nothing. She was afraid that if she opened her mouth she might say something unpeaceful and uncalled for. Finally after a few deep breaths she asked."Can you focus now?"

"Í'll try," he replied.

Knuckles sat down on his knees and closed his eyes. He concentrated for a moment than said. "They're close. Even in the next room maybe."

He stood, took her hand, and headed in that general direction.

Tikal didn't loosen her grip on his hand and stayed close to him so not to be separated. She trusted Knuckles. She knew he knew where he was going.

The only problem was, Eggman was watching their every move by security camera.

"Looks like I have guests," he said grinning. "I'll make sure to give them a warm welcome."

He pushed a button.

"Do you hear that?" Tikal asked stopping.

"Hear what?" Knuckles asked.

"Nevermind. It's gone now."

They started walking again.

INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT! a computer voice suddenly started blaring.

"What is that?" Tikal asked looking around.

Knuckles knew exactly what it was. "That's the sign for us to start running!" he explained as he grabbed her hand and started to dash down the corridor.

Eggman saw them running and started laughing crazily. "You can run but you can't hide!" he called to them.

He pushed another buttom.

"Now for some fun."

Atomatic guns started firing. Tikal started screaming. "AAAAAAAHHHHHH!" she shreiked, dodging bullets. "He's trying to kill us!"

Knuckles kept running. His face was grim. She's right. But... how does he even know we're here?"

Then it came to him. "How could I have been so stupid!"
"What?"

"Eggman has security cameras all over his bases. It would be an impossible dream to think he didn't know we were here."

"How could you forget something like that!" Tikal demanded. She sounded angry.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to forget. I have a bad memory. Everyone always gets on my case about it."

Tikal said nothing. She felt stupid. It had been an honest mistake.

Suddenly a huge robot seemed to come out of nowhere.

"Knuckles!" she screamed.

The red echinda went into a slide, dragging her down with him. They slid safely under the robot and out of its reach. They got up and started running again.

They hadn't gotten far when all of a sudden the floor opened up underneith them. Tikal screamed as they fell thirty feet downward.

This is it! We're going to die! she thought, closing her eyes expecting and impact.

She felt herself floating. Tikal opened her eyes and discovered she was suspended in midair. What the...? She looked up. She saw that Knuckles had the spikes of his one glove dug into the metal wall.

"Knuckles!" she called up to him.

'Tikal, can you climb up?" he asked.

"Up?" she inquired confused.

"I don't have time to explain. Just climb up."
"Okay."

She climbed up him until she was able to wrap her arms around his neck. When she heard him gasp she changed her hold to his shoulders. He seemed satisfied with that.

"Now, I'm going to climb down." he said looking over his shoulder at her scared face. "Hold on tight."

"All right."

Slowly he made his way down. Tikal kept a tight hold on his shoulders and buried her head in his dredlocks. She closed her eyes to avoid looking down.

"It will be okay," he told her gently as he climbed down. "I won't let you fall."

She knew she could trust him but wasn't taking any chaces.

"Tikal," he said after a few minutes.

"Yes?"

"You can let me go now."

"No way!"

"But we are safe."

"We are?" she asked, lifting her head, opening her eyes and looking around. He turned was right. She saw they were safe on solid ground.

Tikal let him go and put her feet on the metal floor. "Thank you," she said.

"No problem," he grinned. "Anytime for my favorite echinda."

She didn't hear him, she was too busy looking at something behind him. "Hey, what's that?"

"What's what?"
"That thing over there," she started to walk past him. "It looks like it might be a Chaos Emerald."
The Master Emerald Guaridan looked in the direction she was heading. He saw a shiny red object sticking out of a small machine. "It could be," he agreed.

Tikal stopped in front of the machine and studied the object. "Yes, it is," she said reaching up to take it. "What's it doing here?"

"Eggman's always taking the Chaos Emeralds and using them for stuff," he explained.

"Stuff?" Tikal took the Emerald out of the machine. "He should have no right to have them," she stated. "Not for the 'stuff' he uses them for."

The second she took the Emerald out of the machine a loud rumbling sound rose up. "What's that?" she asked.

Knuckles had no idea. He took her hand. "I don't know but, I think we'd better get out of here before we find out."

Suddenly the wall to their left opened up reveiling hundreds of thousands of capsules.