Maya Eva and Knuckles glided back to where the other three were as fast as they could. Shani and Mira could hardly believe that Maya Eva was gliding!
"Whoa….that's way past cool!" Shani couldn't help but jump up and down in excitement. Her best friend now could fly! How cool was that!
"I envy you!" Mira complained, putting her hands on her hips.
Maya Eva smiled, but quickly dismissed it. They had more important things on their hands.
"Guys," she said, "we need to get back to the others. The eclipse cannon is going to fire soon!"
"But, what about…" Mira gave a wave of her hand to say you-know-what.
Maya Eva didn't answer. She knew her friend was right. They had to wait until that was finished first.
Knuckles had something else on his mind. "Hey, where's Darkness?" he asked.
The group looked around themselves, and sure enough, Darkness was not with them.
"Where did she go? It's not like her to just disappear like that! She knows better!" Mira said worriedly.
"But why would she leave? She couldn't have been taken by she?" Shani asked.
Maya Eva shook her head. "There's no one else out here except us and…." Her voice trailed off, and Mira and Shani finished her sentence.
"Rouge!"
………..
Darkness stared hard at the bat in front of her. She'd caught her red-handed.
"Well, what are you going to do? It's not like you can just take my shards away from me," Rouge replied, not liking that someone was in her way.
Darkness held her ground. She didn't know how long she could keep this up; she prayed that the others would get here fast.
"You just going to stand there and not say anything?" Rouge snorted.
Darkness kept quiet. Oh, hurry up, guys! she thought.
Rouge sighed, and put a hand on the wall beside her, leaning on it. Silence lasted for a while, and Darkness didn't know how much time had passed before Rouge finally said, "Well, I guess that settles it. Looks like I'm just going to have to make my way through."
With that, she jumped to give a strong kick to Darkness. Darkness, caught off guard, gaped, then quickly ducked; Rouge's leg whizzed by her head.
"If that's how you want it done, then fine!" Darkness said for the first time she caught up with the government spy. Then this way, I'll be able to stall Rouge! she added, silently.
Rouge gave her infamous smile, and then charged for another attack. What she didn't know was that Darkness had speed on her side. The black hedgehog zoomed out of the way, and before Rouge knew it, had hit her with a homing-attack.
"AH!" Rouge tripped, and quickly got to her knees. "So, you want to play hard, eh? Fine! Hip drop!"
Darkness was stunned momentarily, and that was all it took. Rouge got up and kicked her three times. Darkness fell back, and looked at Rouge for a moment, feeling hurt. She was sure she had at least five bruises just from that, and it hurt—badly. Rouge stood triumphantly.
"Is it too much for the little hedgehog?" she taunted, and that angered Darkness.
Darkness jumped up, trying to ignore her aching bruises, and quickly tripped Rouge with a slick kick.
"AH!" Rouge fell on her back, then quickly rolled, and got to a hunched position, her wings out ready to take off.
Darkness looked at Rouge, and had forgotten about her bruises. The two stared at each other, before Rouge took to the sky, and headed for a familiar building made of four pillars. Darkness, forgetting about how the game went, ran after the bat, and onto the floor. Once in the middle, she stopped and looked for her foe. Suddenly, Rouge came down with a kick that hit Darkness square in the back.
Darkness gritted her teeth to muffle her cry of pain as she fell to the ground. Her spine felt broken, but she was sure it wasn't. The hedgehog got to her knees, and glanced for the boots of the bat. One leg was rising to kick her in the head. In a flash, Darkness grabbed Rouge's leg, and swung her around, letting go to let her fly into a pillar. For a second, she was surprised that she had done that; surprised that she had just thrown someone her size into a wall. Then it struck her. She had made her fancharacter to be a strong one.
Rouge gritted her teeth, and looked angrily at Darkness before charging at her, ready to deliver a punch. Darkness easily stepped to the side, and Rouge didn't give up there. She then punched with the other fist, and Darkness dodged that, too. But then she kicked Darkness with her knee, and that hit her. Darkness stumbled back, but then jogged back and did her own punch, punch, kick.
Rouge and Darkness both swat at each other, clawing and fighting. Darkness kicked Rouge, and then Rouge kicked Darkness. Finally, the two just stared at each other, panting. Before either of them could say a word, a sound suddenly erupted from beneath them, and Darkness opened her eyes wide, and without warning, ran to the nearest pillar, and began to climb—even though she wasn't very good at it.
Rouge, confused, looked down at the floor below her, as suddenly, it began to open up, revealing hot lava under it. She suddenly shot up and landed on the first row of steel walkways. Darkness had made it to the same one, and they stared at each other, before charging and continuing their fight. Finally, their fight made them move around, and Rouge got the advantage. She was currently forcing Darkness to step back with each foot as she stepped forward with each foot. Darkness, not wanting to be trapped, was forced to walk into a middle walkway, and did so.
The fight continued, and finally was able to stay in one spot as Darkness tried not to be moved a single more step. Rouge was getting tired of this game, and was suddenly reminded of what she had to do. This was wasting her time! She didn't have time to be fighting an amateur! She had work to do!
The bat stopped, and stepped back, panting, and Darkness did the same, confused.
"What's the matter? Had enough?' Darkness asked.
Rouge shook her head.
"You scared? Scared of tasting defeat?" the hedgehog pushed, hoping it would stall Rouge for just a tiny bit longer.
"You know you can't beat me, so might as well give up, eh? Wise idea…." Darkness hoped Rouge didn't see her nervous glance around her.
Rouge tried to ignore the girl's remarks, but it was hard.
"Guess you can't call yourself a treasure hunter? Being defeated by a silly amateur, am I right?"
Rouge froze. Of course she was a treasure hunter!
"Poor Rouge….now when you talk to the other treasure hunters, they'll all laugh at you, being the most ridiculous one they've ever seen…."
Rouge clenched her fists. Those other comments didn't matter….but saying Rouge wasn't a treasure hunter? Now that was going too far!
"Guess you'll just have to keep trying….or keep dreaming."
Now THAT was too far!
With a cry of rage, Rouge slashed at Darkness, catching her off guard. Darkness fell back and landed on her bum. With a blank expression on her face, she looked at Rouge, who had her eyes open wide. What was she staring at? Her cheek? Darkness reached up a hand to touch her cheek, and felt something wet. Scared, she brought it up to her face. Blood.
She looked at Rouge. That was the first drop of blood that was ever shed through the entire fight….but what plagued Darkness even more was the question: how big was the cut?
Rouge still had her eyes wide, staring at the mark she made on her opponent's cheek. Oh, it was a big all right. It went from the top of her cheek bone to her jaw. She didn't know how deep it was, but she could guess it was pretty deep.
"I….I'm…." Rouge couldn't finish her sentence. It wasn't like her to say sorry, but….she just made a scar that would probably last on the girl's cheek forever.
Darkness didn't stand up, but looked at Rouge, and was suddenly reminded of all the pain she had. She probably had bruises over every inch of her body, but that didn't compare to the numbness her cheek was feeling.
Rouge shook her head, and suddenly, both of them heard the cries of four familiar friends….
"DARKNESS!" Maya Eva called, and dropped from gliding behind her friend (the walkway wasn't wide enough to have two people side-by-side on it), and even let Shani get on the walkway, too (Knuckles and Maya Eva both took a girl with them when they glided so then they could travel together). Knuckles landed in front of Darkness after dropping Mira off with Shani and Maya Eva.
Knuckles brought his fists up to fight, but Rouge shook her head.
"I've already had enough of that," the bat said.
"Fine….then give me back the emeralds!" Knuckles replied.
Rouge shook her head, placing her hands on her hips. "No-can-do. These jewels are MINE. I found them! So you better back off!" To prove her point, the bat took a threatening step forward—and then it happened.
Rouge lost her footing on the walkway, and suddenly found herself plummeting toward her death.
"AAAAAAH!" she screamed, and closed her eyes, almost accepting her fate.
She didn't know how much time had passed, but suddenly, she found that she wasn't dropping. Something was holding her; something had saved her. She opened her eyes and looked up, and gasped when she saw who had saved her. Knuckles. The echidna pulled her up, and for a moment, their eyes locked, until Rouge pulled away.
"Get your slimy hands off me!" she exclaimed.
"Is that how you thank someone who just saved your life?" Knuckles retorted.
"Saving my life? Don't think I owe you one. You just wanted to hold my hand, didn't you? That's why you saved me! You're such a creep!"
"Say whatever you want, batgirl! I was saving the Master Emerald!"
Rouge sighed, feeling disappointed in a way. "Whatever you say, it sounds crazy!" To Knuckles surprise, Rouge threw the remaining shards in front of him.
"Wha--?" the echidna was too stunned to speak.
"Fine, then just take them. They stink like echidnas do," Rouge said, crossing her arms over her chest.
"If that's what you thought, you should've given them to me earlier!"
Suddenly, before everyone's eyes, the Master Emerald became one again.
"Finally!" Knuckles breathed, and looked at Rouge.
The bat looked away, avoiding his gaze. "What?" she demanded.
The echidna sighed. "I'm sorry….if I hurt you."
Rouge stared at the echidna, stunned. Then looked away again.
"I should get going…." with that, the bat took off running, never looking back.
Mira could swear she saw Rouge blushing as she ran. She smiled. That was only the beginning of her crush on Knuckles, and she knew it. Her thoughts were interrupted as she heard Maya Eva gasp.
"Darkness….what happened?" the echidna pointed to the cut on her friend's cheek, that was bleeding badly.
The others turned and saw what she was pointing at.
"Whoa….what caused that?" Knuckles asked.
Darkness looked down, and then said, "Rouge."
Maya Eva, Shani and Mira exchanged glances.
"You fought Rouge?" Mira asked.
Darkness nodded.
"COOL!" Shani exclaimed.
"No, not cool!" Maya Eva informed.
"Is too!"
"Is not!"
"Is too!"
"Is not!"
"JUST BE QUIET!" Knuckles shouted, and Maya Eva and Shani shut their mouths.
"Thank you…" Darkness whispered, and Knuckles took the time to examine the injury. "Well…." he finally said, "I hate to say it, but that scar looks like it's going to stay with you."
Darkness closed her eyes. "I was afraid of that…" she muttered.
"Hey, but that's okay! At least you'll have a reminder of what happened here!" Shani said, always trying to be the optimist.
"She's got a point," Maya Eva agreed, and Darkness finally nodded.
"I guess if you look at it that way, it is pretty cool…" she reasoned.
"You bet it is!" Shani said, and smiled.
Darkness smiled, too.
"Hey, guys? I think we're forgetting something…" Mira said, tapping her foot.
"Oh, yeah! The eclipse cannon! We have to hurry!" Maya Eva said, and jumped up to glide. She, Mira, Darkness and Shani knew that it wasn't the eclipse cannon they were so worried about. It was being in a certain place at a certain time to help a certain friend.
And as they ran off, hurrying back towards the ARK, with the Master Emerald and all, they knew that that certain time was going to happen soon.
……………
MJ walked down the hallway with her hands behind her back. She remembered the journal entries of Maria, and considered herself fortunate. That book was never mentioned in the game, and yet, it existed….well, probably because Professor Gerald's was more important. But it was fascinating. To see how Shadow was raised was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. She couldn't wait to tell her friends!
MJ stopped dead in her tracks. Her friends! She'd been caught up so much in what was happening, she completely forgot about them! Did they know she was with the Dark Team? Did they know that she was okay and made it?
A sound broke her thoughts, and MJ turned around to see Shadow standing there.
"What are you doing in the middle of the hallway?" he asked.
MJ blushed and looked away. "I'm…exploring."
It was obvious Shadow didn't take it as an answer, and he walked around her and stopped when he was directly in front of her. To avoid contact, the seal looked down, her cheeks still blushing.
"You shouldn't be getting your nose into what you don't need to know," Shadow said sternly.
"I wasn't really exploring…I was more like taking a walk, that's all…." MJ answered.
Shadow lifted MJ's chin up so then he could see if she was lying or not. MJ stared at Shadow, not knowing what to do except blush.
"Why are your cheeks red?" the ebony hedgehog finally asked, letting go of MJ's chin.
"I….um…." MJ blushed harder.
"You're hiding something…." he finally concluded.
The red in MJ's cheeks disappeared. "What do you mean?" she asked.
"You've been hiding something ever since I first met you. You know something about this all, don't you?" the hedgehog demanded.
"I….I…well, yeah….I know SOMETHING, but it may not be a lot…."
"No, it's a lot. You know what we're up to, don't you? You know everything, don't you?"
"Yes…."
"Why? Why do you know all this?"
"I don't know!"
"Yes you do know! You know it, and I want to know why!"
"But Shadow….if I told you, then you'd—"
"I'd what! You probably already know that, too, don't you?"
"No I don't!"
"Then how come you know so much!"
"Because I'm not from here!"
That silenced their argument. Shadow looked at MJ, confused.
"What?" he asked.
"I said I'm not from here! There! You happy? 'Cause I'm not!" Tears dwelled up in MJ's eyes. "I'm a long way from home! Heck, I don't even know where I am! All in know is that I am living the adventure of some video game that I can't even beat! I don't look like this at all! I don't know what happened to my friends! All I remember is being struck by lightening! And you know what? It all happened on MY BIRTHDAY. On MY BIRTHDAY I was sent far from home! On MY BIRTHDAY, my friends are lost! On MY BIRTHDAY we could have died! It was on MY BIRTHDAY." MJ shook her head, tears falling down her cheeks. "Some birthday…"
Shadow stared at MJ. Finally, he reached out and hugged her. MJ didn't feel her cheeks get red as usual. Instead, she found that all she could do was cry on his shoulder as he hugged her.
Rouge the bat walked up the hallway, then quickly hid in the shadows. Ever so slyly, she peeked to see Shadow hugging a weeping MJ. She smiled. Good. It was wonderful that he was hugging her. Naturally, Rouge would've wanted Shadow to kiss MJ, but…..that would have to wait. For now, this was good enough.
"MJ!" Eggman's voice boomed through the speakers.
Shadow loosened his hold on MJ, and MJ stopped crying, and looked up. What did that Egghead want now?
"MJ! Come here to the deck right this instant!" was the command.
MJ looked at the floor before looking at Shadow. Shadow fully let go of MJ and said, "You'd better get going."
MJ nodded, and then began walking up the hallway.
"Oh, and MJ?" Shadow called.
The seal looked back, her cheeks stained with tears.
"I'm sorry….about the fight."
MJ smiled weakly. "I forgive you…." she said, and then continued her journey to where Eggman wanted her.
Rouge hid back in the shadows as Shadow walked passed her. After the coast was clear, the bat stepped out of her hiding place.
"Hmmm….." the bat paced the floor, pondering. "There has got to be a way that I can get them together! They need each other—and I just saw it! From different planets or not, MJ and Shadow are going to fall in love! And I'm going to make it happen!" Rouge stopped pacing as the question came to her mind: "But how?" In a snap of your fingers, an idea came into the bat's mind. She smiled. "Perfect!"
………
Sonic jumped from the metal cliff, and Jet followed suit. Just then, more robots jumped down and landed in front of them.
"Man….how many of these does he have?" Sonic asked, and then gave a homing-attack to one while Jet did the other.
"I don't know!" the brown animal replied. "But all I know is that he sure has a boat-load of them!"
More robots jumped in front of them.
"Make that titanic-load!" Sonic replied as he did a somersault into them.
Finally, they were able to break through the wall of robots, and continue their journey. Every once in a while, Eggman would come back on, saying, "Sonic! If you don't come here right now, they will die!"
"We know that by now!" Jet chimed as he did it once more.
Suddenly, they came to a locked door.
"Darn!" Sonic said, and put his hands on his hips while he tapped his foot irritated.
Jet, on the other hand, having full knowledge of the game, broke wooden crates nearby, searching for a certain white balloon with a star on it.
"Jet, what are you—"
Sonic's question was answered as finally, the door opened. Jet had found the balloon.
"Doing? My job," Jet winked, and the two continued.
Robots were waiting for them. With ease, they destroyed them and went on.
When they turned a corner, new enemies were there. Two of them, to be exact. They were much like the one that Maya Eva encountered when searching for the Master Emerald shard.
"What are those things!" Sonic winkled up his nose in disgust.
"Just newbies. Aim for their head," was the reply, and Sonic did so.
They blew away, and Sonic and Jet continued.
Suddenly, they came to a weird room with a switch that showed an arrow pointing up.
"I'm almost afraid to ask….but what does this lever do?" Sonic inquired.
Just then, robots jumped behind them.
"Push it! Push it!" Jet cried.
"Okay!"
Suddenly, everything spun as gravity changed course.
"WHOA!" Sonic gasped as he found himself standing on the ceiling.
"Cool, isn't it?" Jet asked.
The blue hedgehog smiled. "You bet it is!"
The robots suddenly began firing at them.
"Yikes! Let's get a move on!" Sonic cried, and they moved on.
"This is weird…." the blue hedgehog informed, trying to get used to all the blood rushing to his head.
"We better get down soon. Unless we want to become unconscious," Jet replied.
"Let's get down!"
They found the nearest lever and pulled it, and everything went back to normal….
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" They screamed, falling head-first.
Sonic, used to this, quickly turned around. He then grabbed Jet, and they landed upright.
"Whew….that was close. Thanks," Jet said.
Sonic winked. "You're welcome."
They then ran forward, and came upon a room that Jet found familiar.
"Sonic! Follow me!"
Sonic turned and saw that the brown animal was running a different way then they wanted to.
"Wha--? Where we going?" Sonic caught up with Jet.
"You'll see," was the reply.
Finally, they reached a wall. "Jump up there and tell me what you find," she instructed.
The blue hedgehog shrugged, and did as told. His green eyes surveyed the area. They fell upon a weird-shaped ring.
"Find anything?" Jet asked.
"Yeah…there's this weird ring up here!"
"Take it!"
With a shrug of his shoulders, the hedgehog took it. Since it was a ring, he slipped it on his finger.
"Cool….now what does it do?" Sonic asked.
"It allows you to create a ball of flame around yourself when you somersault. Try it!"
Sonic did as told, and busted through a gray metal crate with ease.
"Whoa! Awesome!" he smiled.
"Yeah, isn't it? Now come on! We need to hurry!"
Sonic jumped down and joined Jet and the two ran up to another lever and pushed it. Once on the ceiling, Sonic followed as Jet led him to a row of grey metal crates.
"You need to bust throw those in order to continue," the animal informed.
Sonic nodded, and somersaulted, not only breaking through the crates, but also getting to the other side. Jet followed.
"All right. Now let's continue," Sonic said, and they made their way throughout the whole course, with Jet's knowledge.
Suddenly, they ran into a wall of robots.
"Uh-oh! Switch sides!" Sonic called, and they turned around, but there wasn't much help there, either. There was lava both below and over them.
"Aw, nuts!" Jet complained.
Sonic looked up. "Jet…."
"What?" the brown animal asked, looking behind them in growing fear,
"Do you trust me?'
"Wha—AAAAAAAAAAH!" Suddenly, Sonic grabbed her around the waist with one hand, and jumped up, using the other to grab onto a metal pole. Together, they slide down the pole with increasing speed.
When in the next room, gravity had changed and they were on the ceiling once more.
"Well?" Sonic asked.
"That…..was fun!" Jet smiled. "But….don't ever grab me like that again, okay?"
Sonic laughed. "Okay."
The two looked behind them and saw three switches. One pointing the right. One to the left. And one that led straight down.
"Let's use the middle one! We'll get down—"
"No!" Jet interrupted. "Use the one pointing right."
"What?"
"Just trust me."
"Okay."
Sonic pulled the right one, and gravity changed course again.
"All right, now where?" he asked.
"Now, you follow me!" Jet commanded, and they ran downwards.
"This is weird….." Sonic repeated, running straight down. It reminded him of when he was running on buildings.
"All right….Sonic, get ready to grind!" Jet exclaimed.
"YES!" the blue hedgehog cheered.
The two jumped on a metal rail, and grinded downwards. The metal pole then changed course and went parallel to the ground. When they jumped off, they landed on an island-like metal platform, and there on it were a thousand little balls, and one giant one above them.
"Uh…..Jet?" Sonic called.
"Just hit the big one. The smaller ones will go away once you defeat their leader."
Sonic nodded, then ball-bounced towards the big one, and finally was able to destroy it. Sure enough, like Jet said, the smaller ones burst away, too. The door behind them opened, and Sonic and Jet ran through. They continued the course, and finally came upon what Jet remembered as the most difficult part in the whole level.
Once they had ran through the door, they stopped short. There before them floated many different colored blocks with rails and other things on them.
"Darn," Sonic said.
Just then, they heard Eggman laugh and say, "All right, Sonic. You two will never get out of this room alive!"
"That's where you're wrong Eggman!" Jet exclaimed, and looked forward, refreshing her memory. The levers were the key. If they pulled the wrong one, then it would be the end for them.
"Sonic, stay close to me, okay?" Jet asked, walking towards the single lever in front of them.
"Why?" Sonic asked, walking besides the brown animal.
"Because if you don't, then you could get lost!"
With that, Jet pushed the lever, and everything spun around once again. Now upside-down, Jet led Sonic around a corner and past an enemy.
"Um…don't we want to get rid of him?" Sonic asked, pointing to the blue liquid creature.
"It's best to ignore them and move on. We don't have time to deal with all of Eggman's robots," was the reply.
Jet then pulled a lever that pointed left.
"How do you know we're going the right way?" Sonic asked, closely following the brown animal as she ran around a corner then straight downwards.
"This is one of my favorite levels in the game. I play it a lot to improve my skills in it," Jet explained as they stopped in front of some metal crates.
"Um….I can't destroy those…even with the flame ring," Sonic said.
"I know. We're going to jump over them and to the other side."
"We're what?"
Jet jumped on top of the black boxes, then ball-bounced over to the next side. Sonic followed.
"Wow….you playing this level sure pays off!" the blue hedgehog admitted, following Jet as she ran downwards.
"Thanks…" Jet froze.
Sonic ran ahead, then stopped and ran back.
"What's with the stop?" he asked.
"I just said….thanks…." the brown animal replied.
"Yeah. So?"
Jet looked at Sonic. "I'm not one to usually say thank you…I usually try to keep myself one that people can fear and look up to….but now…."
"You've become more of someone that people can call a 'friend' rather than a 'leader'," Sonic finished.
Jet nodded. "I haven't noticed when I've been saying thank you a lot….and when I just said thank you, it struck me….I've changed. I'm not longer a person that someone wants to have as a leader. I'm what someone wants as a friend."
"And that's the best type of person to be!" Sonic smiled.
Jet smiled back. Suddenly, Eggman's voice came back on. "Sonic! Jet! If you don't come here right now, they will die!"
"We'd better get going," Sonic said.
Jet nodded, and continued downward. They ran into another lever, then pushed it, and fell upon a blue block. They rounded a corner, and found themselves at a dead end.
"Aw, nuts!" Sonic exclaimed.
"Sonic….now it's my turn to ask: do you trust me?" Jet asked, looking at a floating robot that didn't see them.
"I guess…." The blue hedgehog hesitated.
Jet didn't look at him. She was thinking. If only she hit the robot and moved on, then Sonic couldn't follow. They only had one robot to get them up there.
"Uh….Jet? What are you—"
"Grab me," Jet interrupted.
"What?"
"Grab me like you did before."
"Jet…I thought you said I wasn't supposed to!"
"I know….but it's the only way."
Sonic sighed. "All right." He wrapped his arm around her waist again.
"Okay, now, when I say 'three', then we both need to do a homing-attack and hit that robot and land on the next block. Sound good?" Jet asked.
Sonic looked at the robot, then the next block.
"Okay…" he said uneasily.
"One….two….THREE!"
At that moment, both of them curled up, and did a homing-attack at the robot, and bounced to the next block. Once there, Sonic let go and looked at Jet.
"So….why did you have me hold you like that again?" he asked.
"Because we had to stay together or else only one of us would make it. If we held each other's hands, then it was a weak hold. The only strong hold was the hold we had when you slid down that pole," Jet explained.
Sonic gave an 'o' expression, and then they continued. They ran forward and came upon another lever. Pushing it, they let their blood relax as they came to a normal position. But they had to keep running. They came upon yet another lever and went upside down.
"We're almost there!" Jet cried.
"YAHOO!" Sonic cheered.
The two rounded a corner, and ran into an enemy. Sonic had a hard time not fighting it, but he reminded himself of Jet's words. Luckily, there was some black boxes to give them refuge while they pulled another lever that set them to normal position once again.
"Do you want to have the honor?" Jet asked, pointing her hand at the direction of the red button.
Sonic bowed. "I would be delighted to," he said, mimicking an eighteenth century man's voice. Jet laughed. The blue hedgehog then stepped on the button, releasing a rocket. The rocket shot forward and destroyed a gate; behind it was an elevator that would lead them to where Eggman had Amy and Krystal.
"Hurry!" Jet yelled, and the two zoomed inside the elevator, and pushed the button for it to go to the deck.
During that time, they rested, and regained their composure. Jet leaned back against the elevator wall. A sudden thought came to her mind.
"Sonic…do you still have the chaos emerald?" she asked.
"You mean the fake one?" Sonic showed it to her. "Yep. Right here."
Jet nodded, and tried to relax. Something wasn't right though. Something was missing. There was something wrong about Sonic having the chaos emerald. There was something that was supposed to be there but wasn't. And yet, Jet couldn't put her finger on what it was.
She didn't have time to think about it though. They had arrived at the deck. "Ready?" Sonic asked.
Jet smiled. "Ready as I'll ever be."
………
Tails and Lee stared at Eggman. He had a gun pointed at Amy's head, and another gun pointed at Krystal's.
It was like they were having a stare-down contest. Eggman stared at Tails and Lee, and Tails and Lee stared at Eggman.
A sound came from behind Tails and Lee, and they turned to see the door open, and there stood Jet and Sonic.
"Ah….there you are, Sonic…" Eggman cast a glance at the animal beside the blue hedgehog, "…and Jet."
Jet looked at Amy. The pink hedgehog looked like she was more worried about Sonic than herself. The brown animal then looked at Krystal. She narrowed her eyes. What was Krystal doing? Then it struck her. The white hedgehog was doing sign-language.
Jet tuned out the conversation between Sonic and Eggman. She was paying attention to what Krystal was trying to say. S-O-N-I-C, she spelled, D-O-E-S-N-O-T-K-N-O-W-H-O-W-T-O-U-S-E-C-H-A-O-S-C-O-N-T-R-O-L.
Jet's heart skipped a beat. Her friend was right. Sonic didn't know how to use chaos control. She slapped her forehead with her hand. Because they were here, they've been separating Shadow from Sonic. Sonic never saw Shadow use chaos control! It was them who was fighting the robot! Sonic never fought Shadow in the forest! Krystal did! That's what was missing. That's what was causing Jet to feel uneasy in the elevator! Sonic didn't know how to use chaos control! This time, Eggman was going to send the hero to his death.
Not unless I can help it, Jet thought. She glanced around for Sonic. The blue hedgehog was stepping towards the middle! Without thinking, Jet burst forward just as the white tube came down. Figuring she wouldn't make it, Jet jumped to her side, and slid. She had barely made it inside.
"What the--!" Sonic exclaimed. He hadn't noticed that Jet was in there, too.
Eggman laughed. "You thought you could trick me with that fake emerald, didn't you?"
"So, how did you know it wasn't the real one?" Tails asked.
"TAILS!" Jet and Sonic cried. Sonic blinked a few times. Was that him? No, there was someone else who said it, too. He looked behind him; there stood Jet. "Jet! What're you doing here?"
"You'll see…." Jet said. It was obvious she was scared and tense.
"Because you just told me, fox-boy!" Eggman replied.
Tails' eyes opened wide as he realized his mistake. He looked at Sonic and Jet in the tube, and immediately felt guilty. It was his fault they were going to die.
Lee could only stare into the tube. Was this how awful it felt in the game when this happened? When he played it, he just shrugged the moment off and kept playing. But not this time. This time, it was reality. This time, one of his friends was about to die, and never be seen again.
Krystal and Jet's eyes met. It was obvious both were scared, but they each shared a courage and faith in one another. Y-O-U-C-A-N-D-O-I-T, she signed. Jet nodded.
"…and Amy, take care of yourself," Jet heard Sonic say.
Jet looked at Lee and Krystal, and said, "I want you two to be ready. Remember, it's not over yet."
Just then, the door opened again. This time, MJ came out of it. Time seemed to stop as Krystal, Jet, Lee and MJ all saw each other.
"MIKA!" Krystal cried.
MJ gasped. "Raquel?"
"Krystal, it's MJ," Lee corrected, trying to get MJ to see him. That worked.
"KT!" she exclaimed.
"It's Lee!" he informed.
MJ smiled. Her eyes then searched the room, and fell upon the tube. The smile faded. Her heart sunk.
"Destiny…." she whispered.
Eggman smiled. "You know them, MJ?"
MJ could only nod; her eyes never left her friend's face.
"Then come here, or else I'll shoot your friend," Eggman pointed his gun at Krystal's head.
MJ did as told and walked across the room. Just then, the door opened again, and out came Shani and Maya Eva.
"SHANI! Sto—" Maya Eva stopped and looked around. Everyone was staring at them.
"Heh heh….sorry to interrupt, guys. But, I just wanted to—" Shani froze as she saw Jet in the tube.
"Jet!" she exclaimed.
Maya Eva saw someone else. "MJ!" she shouted, not believing her eyes.
FINALLY someone calls her by her fancharacter's name! Lee thought.
"Rachel? Brigitte?" MJ said quietly.
"Maya Eva and Shani," Maya Eva corrected, winking. Shani tugged at her arm, and pointed at the tube, not able to speak.
"What?" the teal echidna finally asked, and saw what her friend was pointing at.
She gasped. "Jet!"
Eggman smiled again. "Now….where were we? Ah, yes. MJ, come here, or else you-know-what."
The seal continued until she was right beside the mad scientist. "Now, MJ, I'm going to ask a special favor of you…."
MJ looked at him. A small compartment from his machine went in front of her, and showed a button.
"…I want you to send your friend and that Sonic to their deaths!"