"Oh…that Knucklehead! Just what does he think he was doing!" Sonic grumbled, now onboard the ARK.
"I don't know….but whatever he was doing, he better not do it again or else…" Jet said, stretching her back.
"Wow…this place looks like nobody's been here for a long time!" Maya Eva commented.
"This place was shut down over 50 years ago because of a terrible accident," Tails informed.
"What was the accident…do you know?" Amy asked.
Tails shook his head, but the seven friends from earth looked down, having flashbacks of the game.
"You guys know….don't you?" Sonic inquired.
They all nodded.
"Well, what was it?" Amy asked.
Each of them had a hard time saying it, but Darkness finally spoke up, "It wasn't really an accident….it was said to be of an accident, but we believe it was more like this place was shut down because of the power it contained."
"What do you mean?" Tails questioned.
Darkness glanced at her friends before replying, "The space colony ARK was the most advanced resource center of it's kind—as you know, Tails. It had many weapons, even one that once with all seven chaos emeralds could destroy an entire planet."
Tails' eyes opened wide as his mind clicked. "That's why they want my chaos emerald!"
"AND that's how they destroyed part of the moon!" Sonic added. "They must have only had some of the chaos emeralds, and performed a demonstration as a warning of what it can do!"
Darkness nodded.
"But….how do we stop him from destroying earth?" Amy asked.
At that moment, Tails brought up a laptop and began typing into its keys. "I think I may know how…."
Everyone gathered around the fox to see what he was doing.
"There is a strong signal coming from the ship's core—that must be where the other emeralds are hidden!" Tails informed.
"Wow….Eggman has six chaos emeralds?" Tia remarked.
Tails nodded, and at that moment, a small box appeared beside him, and opened up, revealing what looked like a chaos emerald.
"Wait a minute….that's the fake chaos emerald!" Shani said in recognition.
"A fake chaos emerald?" Amy repeated.
Tails nodded. "I made a fake one after studying the real one. It has the same wavelengths and properties, but is less powerful than the real one! It was designed to reverse the chaos emeralds' power core and then blow up. It looks so real, even a machine can't tell the difference!" Tails then handed Sonic the fake emerald, saying, "Sonic, I'll destroy the power supply while you put the emerald in place!'
"So the plan is, before the cannon fires, we'll switch the emeralds!" Sonic concluded.
Tails nodded, then added, "But you can't do it alone. I would suggest Jet go with you."
"WHAT!" Jet exclaimed, taking a step back. "Why me?"
"Because you were the only one who was able to handle all the loops and jumps back in the pyramid base. If you can survive those, you should be able to survive this!" Tails said.
"Oh…" Jet whined, having doubt.
"Jet….listen," Maya Eva said, her hope once again rising. "I know you can do this. Remember before we even came here, when you and K—I mean—Lee were playing this game? Remember? You wouldn't stop playing it because you were bound determined to defeat Lee! You knew you could beat him; all you had to do was never give up! And remember when you were so close to finishing the game? You didn't want to stop because deep down, you knew you could defeat it. You knew you could win. Why don't you believe you can now?"
Jet looked down, debating whether she could do it or not...but in the back of her head, she could barely, just barely hear the whisper of a voice saying, You can do it Destiny. Trust me; rely on me. I shall help you.
She didn't know who it was, but she had a feeling she knew. As she started to want to listen to the voice, it became louder in her head, until all she could hear was, I promise you this: you will overcome this darkness, this evil, before it is too late.
I don't know who you are, she thought back, but, I trust you to keep your promise.
I will…. the voice replied. Jet finally opened her eyes and looked ahead of her. The instant she looked up, the most amazing thing happened to her. She felt as if a fire was suddenly lit up inside of her, like she was that fire. She felt a flame in her heart….and yet, Jet knew that that flame inside her was that promise the voice made. The fire in her heart suddenly stretched through her arms and her legs and all her body until she felt stronger, more courageous, and most of all….she felt like kicking some Eggman-behind.
"So, you ready, Jet?" Sonic asked.
Jet smiled as she replied. "You bet."
"All right, then with that settled, Lee and I will go and destroy the power supply," Tails informed.
"But what about us?" Shani asked.
"You, Maya Eva, Darkness and Tia can go look for Knuckles; who knows where he is!" Sonic said.
"But, what about—"
"Let's head out!" Tails said, and the others set off, not letting Amy finish her question.
Krystal glanced at Amy, who had her fists clenched. "Amy…" she said slowly.
"OH, I HATE THEM! They always leave me behind and have all the fun!" Amy exclaimed.
Krystal rolled her eyes. "I think they're officially doing the same thing to me, too," she said.
Amy looked at her friend, feeling a little bit encouraged. "Yeah…no offense…"
Krystal gave a wave of her hand. "None taken."
It was at that moment that Amy realized something. "Krystal…you've changed."
"I have?" the white hedgehog replied.
"Yeah. You're no longer scared of going on these dangerous missions!" Amy informed. "You're actually being carefree for once."
Krystal thought for a minute, and then said, "I guess I am…"
Without warning, Amy hugged her. "I'm so proud of you! Now I bet you can sing in front of a giant crowd!"
Krystal's eyes opened wide. "Um….I think that's still something I need to work on…"
Amy let go of Krystal and put her hands on her hips, "What do you mean?"
"I mean….it just scares me because I'll be wondering if they think I'm a good singer or a bad singer," Krystal replied.
Amy thought for a minute. "I'll give you that one…."
Krystal let out a sigh of relief, but the feeling didn't last long, as suddenly a shadow towered over them and a voice said, "Well, well, well….what have we got here?"
In a flash, Krystal and Amy turned around, discovering the bearer of the voice.
"Eggman!"
………..
MJ walked down the steel hallway, looking for a room in particular. Where is it? she thought. Her eyes didn't stop looking at the different doors, but they didn't have signs on them, which didn't help much.
"I wonder if Shadow knows…." She whispered, and as if someone had read her mind, Shadow suddenly stepped out of a room, which startled her.
"AH!" she screamed in surprise.
Shadow stared blankly at her. "What?"
"N-nothing….you just surprised me…" MJ replied, her hand clutching her shirt.
Shadow and MJ stared at each other a minute in silence. Finally, Shadow spoke: "Follow me…"
MJ was stunned at Shadow's sudden command, but the hedgehog turned around, and motioned with his hand that he wanted her to enter into the room that had been behind him. MJ obeyed, and walked up to the door, beside the ebony hedgehog.
"Now…close your eyes…" Shadow said.
MJ was even more curious as to what the ebony hedgehog was getting at, but complied.
Shadow took a hold of her hand, and MJ could hear her heart beating a mile a minute. Then, she heard the door open. She was led in a couple steps, and then Shadow let go of her hand to close the door. As he stood behind her, he finally commanded, "Now…open your eyes…"
MJ obeyed. Her breath was taken away as she gaped at what she saw. She saw stars all around her. She was in a round room that was made of windows, to allow you to see outer space, and it was breathtaking.
"I've never seen so many stars…" she whispered, walking over to the glass wall—but then again, she was surrounded by glass walls. She could see stars under her, over her—everywhere!
Shadow finally had the courage to speak. "Do you like it?"
"Do I like it!" MJ gave a chuckle. "I LOVE it! How did you do this!" the seal turned around, smiling.
They have the same smile, too…Shadow thought. "This room used to be a room for Maria to experience what life was like on earth."
MJ's smile faded as she stood wide-eyed. THIS was that room! What happened to it?
"What? What's wrong?" Shadow inquired, thinking that MJ might not like his surprise anymore.
"How in the world did something like that become something like this!" MJ questioned, amazed.
"By taking out the panels that created the effects for Maria…" Shadow explained slowly.
MJ's smile returned as she turned back around to gaze out the windows. "Wow…."
Shadow once again relaxed. "I thought you might like to see the stars…" he said.
"Oh, Shadow, I loved it! Thank you so much!" Without warning, MJ turned around and hugged Shadow.
The ebony hedgehog froze. What….why did he suddenly feel like his cheeks were getting warm? What is this feeling he's experiencing while this seal is hugging him?
MJ finally opened her eyes wide and let go, blushing madly. "Umm…I need to go…" MJ surged out of the room, leaving Shadow staring and pondering.
Finally, the ebony hedgehog walked over to the front glass wall.
"Maria…." He whispered, staring at the stars. "Somehow, I believe that you haven't left me just yet…." With that, he quietly left the room.
………
"All right!" Tails cheered.
"Die, robots die!" Lee said, imitating an evil voice.
Tails made an odd face. "What was THAT supposed to be?" he asked.
"Um….I don't know," Lee admitted, still aiming for all the G.U.N. robots.
The fearless duo kept at this before they entered a certain room where little packs were attached to the top of differently colored doors.
"Lee, I have to warn you: don't aim for those packs," Tails said.
"Why not?" the fox replied.
"If you do, then the door will fly away, and we'll be sucked into outer space forever," Tails informed.
Lee shuddered at the thought, and agreed to not aim for them.
They continued their mission, then came into another room, where single giant tubes where coming from the floor to the ceiling.
"Don't aim for those tubes either," Tails warned.
"Let me guess, they'll make a giant explosion?" Lee asked.
Tails smiled. "You got it!"
They continued their journey, doing very well, and destroying all the robots in their path, until suddenly, a robot jumped in front of them, and started firing at them.
"AH!" Lee screamed in surprise, and accidentally hit the "fire" button, shooting at a different location: a tube.
"Lee! NO!" Tails shouted. "I just told you NOT to!"
"Sorry!" Lee shouted back.
Both of the foxes covered their heads as the explosion destroyed the robot, but also sent them flying. Unfortunately, the explosion destroyed a pack, which opened a door. Bad news is: they were heading straight for that opening.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" Tails screamed in horror, fearing the worst.
Lee could only stare at their fate, too stunned to do anything. Frantically, he looked around, hoping to find something that could save them. He began panicking.
Think, KT, think! he thought, looking around.
They were being drawn into the opening which would lead them to their death faster and faster.
THINK KT! Lee's mind screamed.
The endless blackness became larger and larger, ushering them into it.
THINK!
Bing! Lee's mind clicked. With newfound courage, Lee aimed for the next pack right across from them. With great accuracy, Lee was able to hit the pack, causing the other door to fly away, too. The force from both openings fought against them, until they were dragged to the middle of the room.
"Tails! Let's get out of here!" Lee yelled.
Tails opened his eyes, which had been shut closed. The fox took a moment to realize he was alive before putting his hands on the control and pushing with all of his might to go forward. Even Lee put his weight toward the front to help. Finally, they were able to get free from the current, and escape the room.
Once out of there, the duo didn't get a rest; more robots were waiting for them. With great determination, Lee and Tails defeated them, and continued their mission in silence, until they finally reached their goal.
"Yes…" Lee breathed, leaning back in his seat, exhausted.
Tails was staring for a minute at the controls, and then looked back at his partner, saying, "How did you get us out of there?"
"Out of what?" Lee asked, sitting up.
"Out of the opening."
Lee smiled. "I just made the force from both sides of us equal, so then we could get out of there," he answered.
Tails was silent a moment. Finally he said, "Thank you."
Lee raised an eyebrow in confusion. "For what?"
"For saving my life."
Lee didn't say anything for a while, shocked that the fox had said that—and shocked at himself. He did save their lives. He was a hero.
"You're welcome," Lee finally replied.
Tails looked at Lee and smiled. "We make a pretty good team."
Lee smiled, too. "You bet we do!"
There was silence a moment, before Tails changed the subject. "We better see how Sonic and Jet are doing…" with that said, he reached for a walkie-talkie.
Tails held down the talk button, and said, "Hey, Sonic. This is Tails, can you hear me?"
………….
"Hey, Sonic. This is Tails, can you hear me?" buzzed the walkie-talkie.
"Yeah, I hear ya loud and clear, Tails!" Sonic answered, running as he did so.
Jet listened, too, running beside Sonic with almost-equal speed.
"Where are you?" Tails asked.
"We're….whoa…." Sonic stopped running, and stopped answering as he stared at what was in front of him. Jet stopped beside him.
"Sonic?" Tails called.
"I'm here…."
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, just amazed at the core…it's way past cool!" Sonic commented.
"Yeah, amazing that they had this technology over 50 years ago, isn't it?" Tails asked as Sonic and Jet began to walk up the narrow walkway toward the core.
"You bet it is! Now, where do I put the chaos emerald?" Sonic asked.
"You need to put it—" Tails' reply was cut off by a familiar voice, saying, "Tails. Tell Sonic that if he doesn't come back here, then—" Tails then came back on, and said, "Sonic, Amy and Krystal is—" Then, silence.
Sonic waited a moment, before saying, "Tails, what happened to Amy and Krystal?"
No reply.
"TAILS!" Sonic cried into the walkie-talkie.
Nothing.
Sonic glanced at Jet, and both of their hearts fell as they knew what happened: Eggman had Amy and Krystal.
Without warning, Jet slammed her fist against the metal desk. "Stupid, stupid, stupid!" she cried. "Why didn't I think of it before!"
"Think of what?" Sonic asked, shocked by Jet's outburst.
Jet looked at the blue hedgehog before replying, "I should've known…I should've caught up on it…."
"Should've caught up on what!" Sonic asked.
"That Eggman would capture Amy and Krystal."
Sonic didn't say anything for a moment as everything in his head began to fall together. "It was part of the game, wasn't it?" he asked quietly.
Jet nodded somberly. "And I know what's going to happen next…" she said.
Their conversation was interrupted as Eggman's voice boomed throughout the room, announcing, "Sonic! If you don't come here right now, they WILL die!"
Jet and Sonic glanced at each other, before taking off at high speeds.
………….
"Is it really THIS hard to find Knuckles?" Shani asked.
"I say we have a bad search…" Darkness said.
"Why do you say that?" Tia asked.
"Because," Darkness replied, "We have no solid leads as to where he his—nor do we have a way to find him."
"I think I might have a way…" Maya Eva informed quietly.
"You do?" Shani said excitedly.
"Yes…I remember how to find treasure, like Knuckles taught me. If I can find where a master emerald shard is, then maybe we might be able to find him," the teal echidna answered.
"Great idea!" Tia praised.
"It's better than having to blindly search for him! Let's do it!" Shani agreed.
"Um…only one slight problem," Maya Eva interrupted.
"What's that?" Tia asked, even though she already knew the answer.
"I won't be able to get a reading unless I'm somewhere close to the shards…so I might have no idea where they are."
Everyone gave a sigh.
"Well…we could find one of those computers to give us hints!" Tia suggested.
"Another great idea! Let's find one!" Shani said excitedly, and led the way as the quartet began their search for a floating computer.
It didn't take long to find one, though…
"Hey, everybody! I found one!" Shani exclaimed, and the other three went to join their friend, who was staring at the words on the screen:
Somewhere high
"Oh, THAT helps!" Maya Eva retorted, not feeling the least bit enthusiastic about climbing—or gliding, for that matter (Knuckles hadn't exactly taught her that yet).
"Well…let's look for another o-" Tia's encouragement was cut off by Darkness' remark, "Hey! Here's one!"
The others went to join her too, and found their second clue:
Blue guardian
"'Blue guardian'? What kind of clue is THAT?" Shani said.
Maya Eva shrugged. "But my guess is that it's guarded by a 'blue guardian'."
"Whatever THAT means…" Darkness added.
"Let's keep searching," Tia suggested, and the other three followed the half-robot, half-hedgehog as she led them around.
"And I'm guessing that is the 'somewhere high'…" Maya Eva guessed as she pointed to a suspended technological building that had platforms against it. It was in the center of the giant meteor they were on.
"I think you're right…" Darkness agreed.
"But how in the world is she supposed to get up THERE?" Shani asked.
"Good question…" Tia commented.
"Hey, look! That…that…" Maya Eva's voice trailed off as she recognized the four pillars that were in a square formation, with walkways running from one to the other, making it look like a building, but not quite.
"That's where Knuckles and Rouge fought!" Shani remarked.
"Wow…never though it would be so tall!" Tia exclaimed.
"But remember, they haven't fought just yet," Darkness warned, "so we must be on our toes."
Maya Eva's mind was on a completely different subject…
"But, how in the world am I supposed to get from that building to the other building?" she asked.
"Well, you could jump from floating platform to floating platform!" Shani pointed to each of the floating islands that were almost, ALMOST, like stairs.
"That works!" Tia said.
"All right, Eva! You better get on up there!" Shani smiled teasingly.
"Lucky," Maya Eva mouthed to Shani, before walking toward the building to climb it.
Gathering her strength, Maya Eva climbed the building. After getting to the top, she paused to take a breath, and glanced around to find the nearest floating platform. Having found one, she backed up a bit, wondering if she could make the jump, ran, and leaped toward it. She successfully landed on her feet, a pretty good distance from the edge of the platform. She then looked for the next nearest, and next nearest, and kept leaping from one platform to the other. She was getting quite good with jumping. She started to do flips like Knuckles and Rouge did in the game—and she was getting proud of herself. Finally, before long, Maya Eva reached the suspended building. She wasn't that tired—she was actually having fun. But when she saw that she had to climb more, her heart fell. With that, she began her journey upward.
It didn't take long before a certain sensation filled her entire being….
"A master emerald shard!" Maya Eva gasped.
The teal echidna at once, began to follow the tug as it got more and more intense.
"I'm almost there," she said, "I can feel it."
Finally, she reached the platform, where the tug was pulling wildly. Thankfully, she was able to keep it under control, and landed on the platform, where she took a grateful few-seconds rest…that is, until a blue liquid-like arm struck the ground right in front of her.
With a gulp, Maya Eva looked up. There before her stood a creature like Chaos 0…except without the arms and legs….and for a head, it was more robot-like.
"'Blue guardian'!" she whispered in recognition.
As it tried to attack her again, she thought, So the master emerald shard is inside HIM! …does that mean I have to destroy it?
She didn't get time to answer her question; she had to dodge his attempts to get her.
"EEEEEEEEEK!" she cried as it almost struck her.
The creature paused a moment—that was all it took. Without thinking, Maya Eva jumped, pulling one leg back, and the other she swung around, and struck the opponent square in the head.
It burst away, making a small sound like a bomb exploding, and it was gone. Maya Eva, on the other hand, was staring at the prize in front of her, the master emerald shard.
"Did…did I do THAT!" she said to herself. She looked down, and then smiled with joy. She couldn't help herself but cheer just for the sheer pride of it. "YES! I did it!" She paused for a moment, feeling awkward. "It wasn't THAT big of an accomplishment…" she reminded herself, but then she grinned, "But it sure was fun!" With that said, Maya Eva grabbed her award, and was about to start climbing back down, when a certain low male voice called, "Maya Eva!"
"Knuckles!" the teal echidna turned around to see the red echidna land on the platform; he had been gliding towards her.
"Yeah, it's me. Hey, listen. It's not like me to say this, but….what you did was pretty cool," Knuckles admitted. "It was a big step."
Maya Eva's eyes opened wide. "You saw me make that kick!"
The guardian nodded. "I was led to the master emerald inside of him, then saw you fighting him, and decided you should do it yourself—I was right."
Maya Eva looked down, trying to hide her smile.
"But, I suggest we get down and back to the ARK. I've already found some shards, I just need to find that batgirl who has the others," Knuckles informed.
Maya Eva gasped, and looked up, remembering the fight between Knuckles and Rouge.
"What?" Knuckles asked. "Something wrong?"
"Oh…no, nothing wrong," the teal echidna hesitated.
Knuckles shrugged. "Whatever." Then, he turned and walked to the edge of the platform, calling, "Hey, Maya Eva. Come over here."
Maya Eva obeyed, and stopped beside the red echidna.
Without warning, Knuckles made a grab for her hand.
"Hey!" she called.
"Just hang on, okay?" Knuckles said.
"What, hang on? Knuckles, I don't know what you're doing! This could be a bad id-EEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Maya Eva screamed as the red echidna took off, gliding.
"KNUCKLES!" she complained, closing her eyes.
The guardian didn't answer.
"You put me down, right now! I demand to be on the ground, safe and sound!" Maya Eva protested, but Knuckles wasn't listening.
"Just what are you trying to accomplish?" she finally asked.
"I'm trying to get you used to the feeling of gliding," Knuckles answered.
Maya Eva hung quietly. She didn't have anything more to say to that.
"Now, you try," and before Maya Eva got a chance to react, Knuckles had thrown her into the air.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! KNUCKLES!" Maya Eva screamed, not realizing she had instinctively thrown her arms and legs into the gliding stance.
"Maya Eva, open your eyes. You're gliding!" Knuckles said from right beside her.
"No I'm not; I'm falling," Maya Eva protested, still not opening her eyes.
"Just trust me," Knuckles stated.
With a sigh, Maya Eva slowly opened one eye after another, and gasped. "I AM GLIDING!" she shouted, scared, but also amazed.
"See? You should've trusted me," Knuckles said, but Maya Eva didn't answer. Instead, she was lost in her mind.
It was magical. She was flying—actually flying! She was doing something humans have dreamed of doing! Even though the Wright brothers were able to create an airplane and fly, this was a different story. She was the one piercing the air, the one feeling the breeze ripple beside her, and see nothing but the beautiful scenery…well, okay, it wasn't THAT beautiful from where she was gliding, but it was a view non-the-less.
Knuckles smiled, and grabbed her hand again. "I want to show you something," he said, and Maya Eva allowed herself to be led by him.
"Um, Knuckles? Where are we going?" she asked, noticing they were flying AWAY from the ARK.
"Oh, you'll see," was the reply.
As they went farther and farther away, Maya Eva began to get more and more nervous, until finally, Knuckles said, "Turn around."
What Maya Eva saw when she turned around blew her mind away. She saw earth, beautiful earth in all its majesty, almost 'glowing' from the sun's light.
"Wow…" she breathed. "This is…this is unbelievable."
"Yeah…I just thought you wanted to see it, since this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," Knuckles said.
"Oh, Knuckles…thank you so much!" Maya Eva was truly grateful.
"You're welcome. I just thought I'd show you something nice since I might never see you again…" Knuckles' voice trailed off.
Maya Eva's eyes opened wide. Home! She'd been all wrapped up in this adventure, she completely forgot about her family! What would they think when they heard she'd been missing for more than one day? They'd be hysterical! What was she going to do? And exactly HOW was she going to get home? And what about Mira? They STILL haven't found they're friend….
"Ohmigosh…." Maya Eva froze.
"What?" Knuckles asked, confused.
"This is….this is Mi—I mean—MJ's birthday…..I totally forgot about that!" Maya Eva admitted.
Knuckles gave a snicker. "Quite a birthday, if you ask me," he said.
The teal echidna didn't answer; she was in deep thought, reviewing the game. Suddenly, she turned around and began gliding back towards the meteor.
"What…where are you going?" he called.
"I'm going back to find Darkness, Tia and Shani. We need to bet back on track—we don't have much time before the eclipse cannon fires!"