Tikal's Secret
Knuckles was sitting with Tikal by the Master Emerald. "Tikal... you think anything of Axel?" Tikal spoke care freely as she always did.
"No, why?" Knuckles shrugged.
"He left kind of sudden like earlier. You know, about Angel Island. He didn't seem all that surprised either." Tikal looked at him.
"Axel seems alright to me, you worry too much." This statement threw Knuckles off track.
"Whadya mean! You saw what was going to happen first hand in the Master Emerald!" Tikal sat down in the grass.
"Well yeah, I thought it was big deal at the time too, but... lately I haven't been thinking of it much." Tikal stood up and took Knuckles' hand, pulling him up with her.
"What?" Tikal didn't say anything; she started running, forcing Knuckles to run with her again. "Where the hell are we going?" Tikal still didn't say anything. Soon they came out into a wide open plain, not the Emerald Plains, but much more beautiful. "Tikal, stop this nonsense!" Tikal stopped and turned, smiling, then continued towards a small hut. Knuckles sighed as it was clear she wasn't going to explain. When they entered, Knuckles was wide eyed. The hut was filled with old Echidna relics; many belonged to Knuckles and herself. "Tikal… where did you get all this stuff!" Tikal walked over and sat down.
"I found them using the Master Emerald! Do you like them? It was awfully hard work to keep secret." Knuckles examined each artifact with immense concentration.
"Yeah…" Knuckles cleared his throat. "Yes, but, where exactly were these things?" Tikal hopped out of her chair.
"Most underground, others hidden, why?" Knuckles picked up a stuffed teddy bear. "Was that yours? The Master Emerald said so but…" Knuckles threw it down embarrassingly at this question.
"Umm, no, no, I have no idea who's this is." It was a known fact in Knuckles' mind that it was Tikal long ago, who bought this for him. He continued looking, trying to change the subject. "Tikal, I have something to tell you, now don't go telling everyone else just yet, but I think I know what Dark Hedgehog is after. I think you should take a look at it." Tikal tilted her head.
"Yes, what is it?"
The Elemental Emerald of Chaos
Now Knuckles took her hand and forced her to run with him. They soon came to the edge of the island, where they jumped off, and continued towards Island 0. Tikal said nothing the whole way there; which surprised Knuckles, something that was happening much too often these days. When they reached the island, they jumped up and continued toward the temple. "We're almost there." Night was beginning to fall as they entered. Knuckles began leading her down a winding path that led to a small room, with which an emerald stood. "Tikal, this is the Elemental Emerald of Chaos." Tikal walked up to it slowly, but didn't want to move any closer.
"Knuckles, why'd you bring me here?" Fear was in her voice. "I don't want to stay, let's leave, now." Knuckles held her shoulders as she turned to leave.
"You must be strong, what can you see in that emerald? We have to know." Tikal almost as if she were about to cry, but nonetheless turned around and did as she was asked. It was long before something could be seen, and not by just Tikal, but by anyone who might be standing there. For an image was clearly projected onto the wall.
"Ha ha ha ha, I have found you at last!" Tikal instantly spoke.
"That's the hedgehog I saw!" Knuckles looked. It was clear that Dark Hedgehog would return… to find the Elemental Emerald of Chaos. Tikal and Knuckles continued watching.
"With all 4 Elemental Emeralds, I will destroy this planet! And… with the help of all of you, I will kill Shadow and his friends!" Knuckles looked confused. Surely Dark Hedgehog would if Shadow was already dead or not. Soon a thousand hedgehogs that looked like Shadow appeared. Knuckles almost fell flat on his face at this sight.
"How can this… be?" The army of Shadows were standing motionless, and as expected, expressionless. But this did not last long; soon they turned left in unison, and marched out of the temple. A flash of red and black light blinded the view, then it was over. It was clear that this emerald should not be discovered by Dark Hedgehog, but with the knowledge of knowing it would happen, it was hard not to be discouraged. Knuckles got a call on his cell phone.
"Knuckles, get back on Island 3, hurry!" The phone hung up. Knuckles put the phone away and urged Tikal to follow him, though she was tired from the previous event.
A Traitor
When Knuckles and Tikal arrived, they found Katrina crying. "No, why would he do such a thing! I won't believe it! I can't!" Tiffany; for the first time in a long time, was trying to relieve her. Knuckles stepped up.
"What's wrong?" Tails replied.
"We… have a traitor." Jewel came out form inside.
"He went to Emerald Island!" Knuckles interrupted.
"Who!" Artail walked slowly over to him.
"It's… it's…" Artail was crying, making it hard to speak. "It's Axy, Knuckles, it always was, he double crossed us!" Knuckles clenched his fist and stepped forward.
"What'd that son of a bitch do now!" TR broke his door coming outside, enraged to the highest degree.
"HE STOLE THE EMERALDS, THAT'S WHAT!" TR walked over to Knuckles. As they hit each other's fists, they ran off toward Emerald Island, leaving everyone else behind. Tails walked went over to Tiffany.
"We can't let them fight on their own!" Tiffany stood up.
"You're right, let's go."
Elsewhere
"Hmph, it's almost time." Someone stepped up.
"Whadya mean, 'almost'?" The other one turned.
"I'm not rushing in there until I see what I'm dealing with."
"Then it might be too late!"
"Hmph, it's almost time."
"What ever."
The End of a New Beginning
When Knuckles and TR arrived, they saw Axel, standing by the Master Emerald. "Axel, hand over the Chaos Emeralds!" Axel turned laughing.
"Be patient, you can have them when I'm done, I won't be long." He laughed again. Knuckles instantly charged after him. As Axel prepared for the attack, he was thrown off balance by TR, who had appeared behind him; this made Knuckles attack successful. Axel flew over the Master Emerald, and was bombarded by punches from TR and Knuckles. "I didn't want to have to do this… AHH!" Axel used the emeralds to become Super Axel. He then threw his arms up, throwing Knuckles and TR away. Tails and Tiffany soon entered the fray. Tiffany jumped up and spun five times, kicking Axel each turn. He flew into Tails who threw him up, and slammed back down on the ground, adding yet another crater to the planet. Axel; however, had little damage. Katrina and Jewel arrived just in time to see Axel pummel Tails into TR, rendering them unable to fight. Katrina ran up to Axel.
"Why are you doing this?" Axel turned, becoming greatly annoyed with all these delays.
"Get off me!" He threw his arm back and hit her, knocking her out. Tiffany ran towards him again, but this time he caught her leg and spun her into a cliffside. Knuckles wasn't about to charge full on, he had more sense than that. Jewel, rather than being angry, was more confused.
"Axel, why did you help me get here if you're just going to destroy everything?" Axel stopped messing with the Master Emerald.
"Destroy everything? Me? HA! I've said it once, and I'll say it again. I don't want to destroy everything, it wouldn't be fun anymore. However, I'm getting my dues for this little job, and bringing you here was part of it." Knuckles didn't show it, but he wanted answers; he for one, was tired of being confused. Jewel wasn't satisfied with the response.
"What do I have to do with this?" Axel turned once again, enjoying the ability to shove the great plan in everyone's face.
"Ha ha ha, you have everything to do with this! You'll soon find out." Axel began messing with the Master Emerald again. Soon he exited his Super form and placed the Chaos emeralds above the Master Emerald. As they floated above the Master Emerald, they started spinning. Axel backed up, holding his arms up saying something. A white light soon emitted from the emeralds. Then a flash blinded everyone, when everything became visible once again, someone was standing on top of the Master Emerald, tossing an emerald in his hand.
"Axel, they can have the Chaos Emeralds now." Axel smiled as he collected them, then threw them at Knuckles, who was speechless at what was standing on the emerald, it was Dark Hedgehog. Jewel was concentrating hard as she looked at him, then remembered something. She quietly whispered,
"The unnamed experiment…" Knuckles looked at her, as did Dark Hedgehog.
"Yes… yes I do recall being called that by a certain little girl once long ago." He paused and smiled. "Welcome Angel, or should I call you, sister?" Jewel looked confused. Was he talking to her? Knuckles looked back at Dark Hedgehog.
"I don't know what's going on, but it ain't gonna work!" The rest of their gang was listening to this conversation, each having something to say, but not the ability. Dark Hedgehog laughed as he jumped down, putting the emerald he was tossing in his pocket.
"You can't stop anything, you're just a poor Echidna, all alone in this world. I should have hunted you down the moment you had escaped." Knuckles lowered his head and clenched his fist, obviously angry at this comment. But before Knuckles could do anything, Jewel ran forward and put her hands together as if she were praying. She began mumbling something as her hands glowed yellow. Soon she threw her arms out in front of here, and a huge blast emitted from her hands, blowing Dark Hedgehog and Axel almost clear off the island. Knuckles stood there speechless, unaware of her power. But she didn't stop there. She jumped up and hovered in the air, gathering the Chaos Emeralds around her. Out of what seemed like nowhere, and without warning, a gigantic wave of light exploded from her body.
Elsewhere
"What the hell is that!" The Earth was instantly lit up like a giant christmas tree, which lasted for nearly thirty seconds. A calm voice replied.
"It's our cue, let's move." A small smile on the speakers face.
The End of a New Beginning
When the light vanished, Jewel was on the floor, almost completely out of breath. Knuckles was on the floor in amazement. Dark Hedgehog stood, his eye twitching. He looked at... well, what would have been Axel's body, then back at Jewel. "Sis, you're not using your full potential. Aw, yes, you need Shadow to be able to do that, don't you? Heh heh, did you know, by an unexpected turn of events, I am able to commend the same effect? Your power will not be used as intended by the doctor, but by my will." He laughed again. Jewel stood up while Knuckles blinked at an excessive rate. TR and the rest were finally able to stand. Dark Hedgehog looked around. "What, are you all going to stop me? Without Sonic? Without... Shadow? Ha! You guys are so blinded by your cause, you forget to use common sense! You see, I have something that will strike you as surprising, and with that surprise... I WILL OBLITERATE YOU ALL!" Dark Hedgehog jumped up and transformed into an unnamed state. Knuckles and TR could clearly see what caused it. Somehow, Dark Hedgehog had gotten a hold of the three well known Elemental Emeralds. Tikal suddenly appeared, Artail was holding on to her arm. Knuckles looked behind him.
"What the?" Tikal explained.
"I used the Master Emerald's energy to teleport, what's..." TR interrupted.
"You shouldn't be here!" Tikal was confused.
"Why? What's..." She stopped mid-sentence, as she saw Dark Hedgehog. "No!" She fell on her knees in hopelessness. Artail looked up, shaking.
"That's a... a big bonus..." Dark Hedgehog laughed.
"Let's start the show!" He stuck his hand out toward Tiffany. "Chaos Drive!" A sharp needle-like emerald was fired from his hand, and went right through Tiffany's chest. To Tails, all this seemed to happen in slow motion.
"Tiffany!" He rushed over to help her, but there was little he could do here, as her injury was beyond his skill. Dark Hedgehog laughed again. This time he stuck both hands out toward Katrina and Artail.
"Chaos Beam!" A multi colored beam was fired, badly burning Katrina and Artail. Tails was holding up Tiffany's head.
"Tiff..." Tails was breathing hard, making it almost impossible to speak. She put her finger on Tails' mouth, signaling him to be quiet. Meanwhile, Dark Hedgehog picked another target, Tikal.
"Your turn!" He said this while his eyes looked like fire. "Chaos of Time!" Tikal froze, unable to move. The exact same move that denied Chaos' existence, was now becoming Tikal's demise.
"No!" Knuckles had pushed her out of the way, and now began suffering the same fate. Dark Hedgehog smiled at his futile attempt. He quickly frowned at the amount of time it was taking.
"Maybe I should do something faster?" He said this while still holding the attack, his arm shaking. He stiffened his arm, trying to hold it longer. Knuckles began to move, facing Dark Hedgehog.
"It's going to take more than that, to murder an Echidna." Knuckles clamped his arms together in front of him, the attack losing its effect fast. Dark Hedgehog frowned in anger.
"I see, I suppose when there's only so few left, extreme measures are a necessity. Fine, have it your way." He released his attack and threw his arms upward. "Chaos Blast!" In what seemed like no time at all, everyone was immobilized. Dark Hedgehog hovered in the air, satisfied. He slowly came down to the ground and walked toward Jewel. "Angel, it's been so long. We have so much to catch up on." Jewel helplessly raised her hand to attack as he picked her up with one arm and flew high in the sky. He faced Emerald Island, laughing. "I want you to see this first hand." He stuck his free hand out toward the island, small balls of energy forming in front of it. Knuckles barely stood up and limped towards Tikal, who wasn't moving at all. Artail was sitting up against the cliffside, breathing heavily. Katrina was lying on the ground, unable to move, but still clearly alive. Tails was still barely moving.
"Tiffany... are you… still there?" Tiffany was only barely moving, she had lost more than enough blood. She put her hand on Tails' head; messing his hair up, smiling.
"I… love you, Tails..." None of them were unable to make their way off the island. As they lay helplessly, everyone could hear Dark Hedgehog shout in laughter.
"ELEMENTAL BOMB!" A giant ball; the size of Emerald Island itself, was released from his hand, making its way toward the island.
Part 1; A New Beginning
The End
6