Ch.6: Rising From the Unknown

When the Guardin finally reached Floating Island, he decided to look at the Hidden Palace for awhile, but didn't know why. The Hidden Palace was an evil place, it held the mysterious black chaos emerald. Only a guardin could enter, but Knuckles often refused to go, but not tonight. Something was pulling him towards the dark emerald tonight, something he couldn't quite explian. Walking through a small fissure in the cliff he finally reached the black emerald's alter. It was not unlike the Master Emerald's own, except the hole on top was made to only put a chaos emerald in.

He walked up the stairs of the alter and picked up the shining black stone. Knuckles stared at it for a long time, and as quick as flash red eyes seemed to glow from within the stone. The glowing red eye's made Knuckles eye's glow with dark fire, he could hear something, a voice, talking to him. He listened.

"Free me" said the voice, it was deep and eerie "Free me,"

"How?" Knuckles asked. He sounded hypnotized, like his soul was no longer part of him. His voice had no life, no emotion at all. Was this all the emeralds doing?

" Destroy the emerald" the voice answered " and you shall be rewarded. The Awakening must comence!"

Knuckles was getting to throw the emerald and smash it to pieces on the floor, when Shadow sped in. Sonic and him had arrived earlier on Angel Island to see what this weird feeling kept coming from. Nazo sped in right after Shadow, and Sonic followed. Looking up at Knuckles Sonic yelled.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you!" Sonic shouted, Knuckles didin't hear.

"Knuckles!" Shadow yelled " if you smash that emerald, this hold world is in danger!"

Knuckles still didn't answer and was ready to get back to his previous task. Then Nazo screamed.

" If Knuckles breaks that prision it'll be to late,"

Kimara ran in with Tails Doll floating beside her. Tails Doll noticed Nazo and glared at the silver hedgehog, Nazo glared back, but this no time for revenge as Knuckles broke the black choas emerald usleashing a bright black light. He walked inside it and the onlookers down below nearly screamed as he did so. When he reappeared Sonic and the others gasped in shock. This no longer looked like the Knuckles they knew. His fur was all black, with painted red tips on his dreadlocks. The white cresent moon on his chest was now a deep blood red. His gloves were longer hiding his hands. The talons and sickles shaped spurs were not that easy to miss. The tips of his talons were painted red, and agianist the black fur, gave the appearence of claws.

Laughter echoed through the chamber and sudden blackness fell, but the red moon and red tips on Knuckles glowed giving off an eerie light, revealing someone behind him. The firgure behind Knuckles was like one of those vampire's you see in the movies, but this vampire had more dragon/sorcerer appearence than anything else. He laid a hand on Knuckles shoulder grinning as he looked at the others.

"Your friend is now a servant to me" he said " The Awakening has begun,"

His eye's turned to the Tails Doll and Nazo."

"I trust this time you two won't interfere" he continued " or you'll lose more than your bodies,"

With that he disappeared along with Knuckles. Kimara started to cry, it was enough that Tails Doll had come into her life, but now Knuckles was servant to Zerou. He had more power than even the Tails Doll and Nazo combined. There was no way they could win now with him being free. The Earth was doomed.