Chapter 4: Always Hope

Blaze found herself in a lush green forset, with the sun peeking through the tops of the trees. It was day time in this dimension. she walked a few feet out of the forest to find herself on a hill overlooking much of a city that was indeed, her hometown. A palace could be seen in the distance and that was her home. "It's good to be back." she thought as she stood still for a moment, taking in the beautiful scenery. The others then came up from behind her.

Espio said to Blaze, "I'm sorry Blaze, but we cannot stand idle. Which way to the Sol Emeralds?"

Blaze pointed to the palace down in the city, "They're in that palace."

Sonic started walking down the hill, slowly stepping into a jog. "Well let's get this job over and done with." he said, as he sped off. The others followed suit, as they passed through a street that seemed like the place where vendors would set up stalls and showcase their goods for people to buy. As the gang came speeding through, a lot of people had to double take, at the speed they were going. Of course Sonic, Shadow and Blaze were at the head of the group with their super-speed, but the others were still no slow-pokes.

Sonic was the first to reach the palace front doors, and turned towards the others as they caught up. "Bout time," he snickered, and turned towards the front doors. "So we go in here? Is anybody home?"

"There will be some guards, making sure the palace is safe, but most of it will be empty." said Blaze, as she began to open the front door.

Blaze began to run through the halls with the others following her, until they came to a small room, that was at the far back of the palace and seemed quite far out of the way. They then saw the sacred jewels, the Sol emeralds, each on it's own pedestal scattered around the room.

"wow," Knuckles said, as he looked around the room, "I wish I got to live in a palace while I guard the emeralds." Blaze ignored the comment and stepped towards the center of the room.

Shadow looked around the room, "We should get the emeralds and hurry on outta here. This isn't exactly the best place to be hiding from a power crazed monster." he turned towards the door and froze as he saw Kaitan standing at the only exit.

"Well what do we have here?" said Kaitan, as he walked further into the room. Espio, at hearing the voice of Kaitan instincively Camouflaged himself. Knuckles started to sweat, "But how!" Kaitan laughed and looked towards him. "Simple... I followed you here. I think I shall also make this lovely place my new home... a good headquarters for my future faction with which I will dominate your world." Blaze felt someone tap on her shoulder and heard Espio whisper into her ear. Blaze nodded to show that she understood.

"Guy's, new plan! we're getting outta here, full speed!" She grabbed Knuckles' arm and ran right towards the door. Kaitan moved out of the way, only caring about the emeralds, did not want to bother with the annoying creatures if they did not have them.

"As long as I get the emeralds," he looked at the pedestals and saw that they were gone, "How is this possible! They were there, when I entered!" He growled and lost his composure, as he was not very used to losing.

Meanwhile, Blaze and the others had kept running on, until they reached the one hill spot, where they had over looked the city. They stopped running and were panting a tad, as they gave it all they had to get out of there as fast as they could.

Knuckles the spoke to Blaze, after giving her a bit of time to catch her breath, "Why did we run? What about the Sol Emeralds?" Knuckles looked around, "...And we left Espio behind!"

Blaze looked at Knuckles and smiled, "Don't worry, about it. It's all under control." Just then, Espio appeared right in front of the group, holding the Sol Emeralds, in his arms. "Did ya miss me?" the chameleon said, cracking a tiny smile.

Sonic gave Espio a congratulatory slap on the back, "Camouflage... nice one, Esp!"

"Now what are we going to do?" Said Shadow, with a slightly worried tone, "We may have the Sol Emeralds, but can we really defeat Kaitan?" the smile on Espio's face turned to a more serious look, "He may have more power than us, but we have strength in numbers. And if we dont at least try to stop him, then both our worlds will be in trouble."

Espio placed the Sol emeralds on the ground and turned towards the view of the city. A beautiful sunset was taking place. "We are not giving up without a fight."

AN: A little short this time, sorry about that. i hope to get some action in soon