Miles finished shaking himself off and peered out at the place he and Sonic had come to after exiting the temple. They were high up on rolling green hills, where they could see for kilometers all around them. The majority of the surrounding landscape was thick forest that contained a collection of ancient ruins whose decaying buildings were being reclaimed by nature. Where there had been a clear blue sky when they arrived, there were now a few dreary clouds hanging low in the distance over the mountains on the northern horizon. To the west, the two could see the desert they'd spotted during their flight, showing that they'd traveled quite a ways underground.

As for the more immediate area they'd ended up in, the ground was mostly man-made, or echidna-made they supposed, consisting of big stone slabs of gray, orange and purple. There were odd complex patterns thrown in here and there, and they were all covered in packed layers of grass. There were several trees bulging with ripe fruit, massive potted plants with straight-edged leaves, and numerous crumbling temples that had patches of yellow and brown stained glass between tall silvery columns. There were smaller pillars affixed into the ground all over the place, some of them broken up and revealing chunks of orange stone beneath their marble surface. There were numerous slopes and hills as well, many of which were dangerously steep and dropped into places that weren't visible from their position.

"Man, the National Trust would eat this place up," the fox commented as he snapped many pictures and recorded a few short videos with the Miles Electric, "but J's going to be beside himself since he'll be getting first dibs."

Sonic snickered and smoothed back his quills after drying them out. "He'll probably want to visit himself after we show him."

"I wouldn't blame him, this place has been like a treasure trove for archaeologists, historians, and so on," Miles replied. He switched the function on his multitool to the Emerald Radar and smiled at what it showed him. "Speaking of treasure, the next Chaos Emerald is somewhere around this giant garden. But, before we go and grab that..."

He turned the dial on his device once again and brought up the communication application. A few icons popped up on the screen as his quick contacts, his finger going to the likeness of Gizmo and initiating a call.

"What's up, Miles?" he heard his sister answer after a couple of seconds, her face popping up on screen.

The fox took a seat on the grass and stretched his legs. "Just checking in on you and the others. Sonic and I ended up pretty far east of camp, thanks to some underground ruins, and we've gotten two of the Emeralds back so far. How're you and everyone else holding up?"

"Gad and Fu were doing alright when I talked to them a few minutes ago," the teal wolf reported, "and I'm fine, just away from base at the moment."

Miles tilted his head. "What made you step away?"

"Well, sit tight for a few minutes and I'll tell you all about it."

He paid close attention as Gizmo proceeded to explain what she'd been up to since the last time they'd seen each other. How she and the others had met a large cat appropriately named Big, and that he was another native of the island. Unlike Knuckles, their encounter with the other feline had been benign, and he was simply looking for a friend of his own when he stumbled upon their grounds. She had volunteered to help him and got a good tour of the jungle until they decided to stop by his house, where she had just finished helping him build a fire for some fish he'd caught.

She went on to inform them that Big was apparently friends with the echidna, and that he'd learned some things from him. One of those had been regarding the story regarding the two-tailed fox, and the details she got about the mural within a place known as the Hidden Palace. The wolf wasn't sure, as the cat hadn't confirmed it, but she assumed that that was where the Master Emerald was probably located. Leaving that aside, she also told them that Big disagreed with Knuckles' interpretation of the picture, and that he wanted to meet with Miles himself after hearing about him from the lady lupine. But, that apparently wasn't the only interesting or exciting news she had to share.

"Look at what I've got," she told him in a little bit of a sing-song voice, holding up a familiar tool.

Miles' eyes widened and a smile spread across his muzzle. "The Pikkon Hammer! Where did you find it?"

"Not me, Big," she answered, giving the weapon a few twirls, "he said he picked it up shortly after the island fell to the surface. You told us you left it in the Battle Moon, so it likely fell out just before the station crashed."

The fox counted his lucky stars that it hadn't ended up in the sea, or the lake that the Battle Moon had landed in. He was also glad that they'd made a new acquaintance that seemed to be on their side when it came to the supposed destiny that was slated for him.

"I'll be sure to give him my thanks when we meet," Miles said appreciatively, before giving his sister a more serious expression, "just be careful. The Kukkus have been pumping out a lot of new Badnik models and other sorts of robots, from what Sonic and I have seen so far. Seems like they bounced back from their recent loss more quickly than we expected."

Gizmo nodded in understanding. "Thanks for the heads-up, I'll pass the message along to Gad and Fu. You keep on your toes too, little brother, and take care."

"Will do. See you soon, Sis."

With that, they terminated the call and the teen got back to his feet. He saw Sonic standing nearby, gazing out at the steep downward hill that was immediately east of them. Joining him and looking out, he could see that traversing this place wasn't going to be easy. There were many twists and turns through the ruins and the vegetation, and likely several more paths that were out of sight.

"Looks like we've got a maze on our hands," Miles mumbled as he reexamined the Radar, "I'd fly us over to the Emerald, but it's buried in that mess, from the look of it."

The hoglet stretched his legs and grinned as he took up a position at the edge of the decline. "Guess we'll have to go on foot!"

"Into the maze we go!" the fox shouted, matching his partner's spirit.

The pair went into a Roll, streaking down the hill at increasing speed until they shot off a ledge. They landed on an outcropping, swiftly turning around and continuing down another couple of slopes. One of those strange springs from the underground ruins was hidden at the bottom of the third one, propelling them across a gap so that they landed near a trio of fruit-bearing trees. The path ahead didn't curve in a way that would let them go up to the next cliff, so Sonic jumped off of Miles' shoulders up to it, with the fox following after with his flight. The next one was more amenable to their pace, though they were forced to make a stop as a pair of pillars with spikes on the bottom came down in front of them! They rose back up and slammed down again every few seconds, clearly meant to deter whoever trespassed into the place.

The heroes waited until there was enough room for them to Spin Dash under the spikes as the columns receded, sending them up a sudden incline and touching down a few meters shy of a bed of spikes. Just past that was a huge ball and chain with broad spines all over it, whirling around a pole in an automated clockwise motion. Miles flew the two of them over the hazard and onto what appeared to be a large blue spinning top toy, which started to turn when they took steps. The more they ran, the more rapidly it rotated, and soon, it even began to hover up in the air!

"Not sure how this works, but it's cool!" Sonic said, stroking under his chin as an idea popped into his head, "I wonder what'd happen if we put it back on the ground like this?"

Miles was also curious, so he and his partner slowed their steps down to let the top touch the grass once more. With speed that almost rivaled their own, it rocketed up the hill, flying past a couple of trees before sailing into the air once more. As though they were on a track, their ride skirted down the next slope, where there was a dead end past a drop in the ground. The two abandoned the top to avoid smashing into the wall, then proceeded down the available route, avoiding a few more spike traps along the way. They dropped down to an overhang and further down from there, where Sonic rushed ahead at a marble pillar with a Rolling Attack. He tore through it and revealed a loop beyond the new opening, one that went down a long and spiraling structure. The boys got off on the east side, following the terrain down and then up, right into another spring that caused them to end up next to an odd blue and yellow wheel. Sonic put his noggin to use and Rolled against the object, which caused the ground to rumble and few platforms to rise out of the hill in front of them.

Miles spotted a couple of different ways they could go, but ultimately went for the highest one, carrying them both up to that ledge. Together, they broke down the marble that blocked their path, but found themselves putting their reflexes to the test immediately afterwards. They narrowly avoided being crushed by more of those falling spiked columns, hopped over a couple ball-and-chain traps, and passed by a bizarre rotating cylinder of earth that was studded with thorns. Past all of that, they boarded a spinning top, which plowed through yet more obstacles and allowed them to descend down a deep shaft within one of the old temples. When once again presented with the option of heading left or right, they went with the former this time, Rolling down two more slopes and hitting a ramp. After touching down, it appeared that they finally reached a straightforward section. There was a strange and dark, earthy liquid in a few pools in their path, though neither of them were eager to see exactly what it was. The route led them into yet another temple, but there were thankfully no traps waiting for them here.

Seeing as they were fairly far into the maze, and it seemed as good a time to rest as any, Miles took the opportunity to confirm the whereabouts of their objective. It seemed that they were on the right track, and that the Emerald was a lot closer than he'd originally calculated. Still, there was the matter of finding a way out of here and getting to the next gem, which was...not anywhere near their proximity. Neither were the other two remaining ones, he determined.

"Okay, good news and bad news," he announced to his friend.

Sonic looked at him quizzically. "So, what's up?"

"The good news is that the next Chaos Emerald is right around the corner, figuratively speaking," the fox started, "the bad news is that the rest of them are clear on the other side of the island. And like with our last outing, it looks like the Empire has one of them." He folded his arms and hummed. "They know I can track them, too, so they're likely preparing for when we eventually show up."

The hedgehog nodded. "We'll probably run into that knucklehead echidna once we do."

"Yeah," Miles murmured, having considered that as well, "it may sound optimistic, but maybe we can expose what the Kukkus are really like to him, if we have a showdown at their base."

The kid didn't seem all that psyched about the idea. "I dunno, big bro, he doesn't seem like the listening type." He then shrugged and smirked up at the teen. "But hey, if you still wanna try, then let's give it a go."

Miles was glad for his companion's understanding. If they could convince Knuckles of the doctor's true nature, they would potentially gain an ally against the Empire. The question was how to best go about doing that...


"Gad?" Fuchsia called to the red wolf.

Gadget ceased his sifting through the Tornado's storage to glance back at the cat. "What's up, Fu?"

"I've been thinking about what Gizzy told us that she passed on from Miles," she said, her boyfriend's ears perking up further as he turned to better face her, "and about what I said before we came out here."

The lupine leaned back against the plane and eyed the space he'd just been going through. "So you want to see if there's something you can use to help out or defend yourself?"

"Yeah," she answered, strolling up to him and running a hand through his chest fur, "is there anything that comes to mind in that big brain of yours, wolfy?"

He flushed a little at her actions and tone, but made no move to stop her. Even if this wasn't exactly the time or place, he still found himself returning the affection by wrapping an arm around her waist. Not to mention, he always enjoyed compliments he received here and there, though he tried not to get a big head about them. Coming from his girlfriend, however, he let himself figuratively and genuinely puff out his chest with pride this time.

"Well, let's take stock of what we've got," he offered, "is there anything in particular you'd like, off the top of your head?"

Fuchsia's tail twitched as she gave it some thought. "What about that one you whipped out earlier?"

"My Lightning Baton?" he inquired, chuckling when he got a nod from her, "alright, I can show you how it works."

He put a couple of meters between them for safety, then fetched the baton from his belt pouch. Making sure she could clearly see what he was doing, he demonstrated that twisting the cap of the shaft clockwise so that it clicked once produced a solid and condensed bolt that doubled the weapon's length.

"I haven't used this much outside of training, but this is the actual nightstick form of my baton," he stated, giving it a few swings, "good for delivering blunt blows that can shock foes, although it has the shortest range."

Fuchsia nodded and watched him turn the top further clockwise, the solidly cylindrical beam of energy flattening and extending until it was sword-shaped. Its effective range seemed a little more than double that of the nightstick form.

"This is the blade form, which you saw earlier," Gadget went on, drawing a crackling line in the sand, "very effective against Badniks and other bots in close quarters, as the plasma can 'slice' through most armor like it's paper. Just watch where you're swinging it when you're around other organic folks; I haven't tested it on flesh and blood, but I'm not exactly eager to see how effective it would be."

The cat grimaced at the image that produced and shook her head to try and will it away. The wolf moved the cap counterclockwise three times, moving past the "off" setting and creating the whip he'd also employed against Knuckles.

"And then the whip form," he concluded, twirling it over his head and then deactivating his weapon, "it's got the longest range, but requires the most finesse to handle. It's pretty easy to hurt yourself with it if you don't watch what you're doing."

The wolf closed the distance and handed it over to the smaller Animal, who examined it for a moment. Just as he'd shown her, Fuchsia activated the nightstick form of the baton and gave it a go, liking how light it felt in her grip. Gadget looked on with a smile, seeing his girlfriend having a bit of fun with his personal weapon. Perhaps he should consider making another one if she truly wanted to pursue learning how to use it effectively. For a brief moment, his mind wandered to an image of him and the cat kicking some Kukku tail, and the potential action after the dust settled.

The snapping of tinder and leaves reached his ears before he could get too lost in his daydream. He slipped up behind his girlfriend and stopped her practice, holding up a finger to her lips when she was about to ask him what he was doing. His ears swiveled around, keeping alert for any sort of movement in the brush and staying close to Fuchsia while he kept his grappler at the ready. He picked up more commotion to his left, his right hand reaching into his utility belt and taking hold of a few small spheres as he turned to face the source. He heard heavy footsteps, about five pairs from the sound of it, as well as the buzzing of wings and the whirring of engines. Whoever it was certainly wasn't doing their best to be stealthy.

"We've got company," Gadget whispered to Fuchsia.

Stepping out of the shadows were a quartet of Robo Kukkus with slightly more streamlined designs than the last time that Gadget had seen them. Backing them up were just as many Buzzer Badniks, a pair of hoverpods, and a Kukku Walker that took a moment to spew flames in the air in a showy display. Had this been the Cocoa Island invasion from over four years ago, the wolf would have been scared out of his wits. But now, after his recent experience on West Side Island, and with someone he cared very much about by his side, he wouldn't let that fear get to him.

"A bit much for my first outing, huh?" the cat giggled nervously, turning the baton so that its energy took on its blade form.

"Just don't let them separate and surround us," the wolf murmured back to her, "now, cover your eyes."

Fuchsia did as he directed, catching sight of him pressing a button on his glasses to darken the lenses just as he threw down one of the objects he grabbed from his pouches. He heard all of the combatants cry out as a flash blinded the lot of them, leaving the automatons as their main opposition for the moment.

"Badniks and RK units, get them!" shouted one of the soldiers in the Walker.

The cat leapt forward and slashed at the nearest Robo Kukku, separating its head from its shoulders before it knew what hit it and leaving its body to slump to the ground. She pumped her other fist in celebration, but wasn't given long to savor her first beaten bot as the others started to open fire on the two of them. Gadget tossed the next sphere at one of the hoverpods, which buckled and collapsed as electricity arced over the vehicle, forcing the pilot to abandon it. He lobbed another high into the air and then grabbed Fuchsia with his now free hand, grappling and vaulting them both off of the now barren as the ball came down. The resulting blast blew away a couple of the Buzzers, while the rest of the group scattered and spread out to try and head them off.

Gadget sidestepped a few blaster shots and fired his wire into one of the Robo Kukkus, yanking himself over to it and smashing it with a Rolling Attack. Fuchsia let out a yipe as the remaining hoverpod fired a cannonball her way, reflexively swinging the Lightning Baton and slicing it in two, both halves flying past her and thudding ineffectively on the ground. She blinked at that, as did the combatant that had attacked her, then switched the weapon to its nightstick form as she pounced at him. The pilot avoided the initial blow she brought down, but by doing so, the vehicle's console took on serious damage and made it drop to the ground. Too stunned from the sudden landing, he was unable to react in time to dodge a follow-up strike, knocking him out.

The cat cried out and fell to one knee as an energy bolt struck her in the hip, courtesy of one of the Robo Kukkus. A second shot streaked at her, but she managed to roll out of the way before that could hit her too. Gadget's cable lanced through the same RK unit's torso, which he pulled toward him this time and brought down into the sand with a slam. He planted a boot in its neck and pulled the wire with both arms back through its chest, ripping out the CPU.

"That's what you get for hurting my girl!" he growled, turning to face the Kukku Walker.

Fuchsia rushed at the last of the bots, but every time she got close, it would put itself out of reach again. With a huff, she decided to try out the whip form of the baton, lashing at the cheeky creation with wide swings and flicks. After a few attempts, she managed to strike it down, but also felt her breath catch when she heard her boyfriend grunt in pain. She gasped as she saw that her last attack also whipped him across his back, the added shock making him drop to all fours. Seeing this chance, the pilots in the Kukku Walker aimed their primary flamethrower at the wolf and let loose a burning gout.

"Gad!" Fuchsia screamed as she watched him reach for his belt just before his form was consumed by the spewing flames.

The combatants let out a cackle as they assumed that they'd reduced the canine to a crisp. They soon stopped their laughter, however, when Gadget revealed that he was perfectly fine and back on his feet. He was holding up an identical device to the one his sister gave to Miles and Sonic, and his body was surrounded by a translucent, wavy sphere of fire that matched his orange eyes.

"Whew, got the Flame Shield up just in time," he said with notable relief as he stared down the Walker, "but if you think immunity to your main weapon is all it affords me, guess again!"

Gadget performed a Rolling Jump straight up, and at the peak of his leap, the shield around him completely obscured his balled-up self and changed to a white hot color. In a flash, he streaked at the front cockpit of the vehicle in the form of a fireball, ramming into it hard enough to dent the front guard and force it back a few steps.

"Fu, wrap one of its legs!" he shouted to the cat as he landed and once more hopped into the air.

Hoping for the best, and that she didn't hurt her boyfriend again, Fuchsia cocked her arm back and aimed for the knees with the Lightning Baton's whip. Thankfully, it hit its mark, sending a jolt through the thing's joints and causing it to buckle as Gadget gave it another Fireball Spin Dash. The Walker tumbled over, its occupants spilling out and making a run for it, now that they realized they were outclassed. One of them managed to get away, but the other was snagged by the wolf's grappling wire and dragged back towards the two Animals they'd just tried to attack.

"I'll be taking this," Gadget told the pilot as he snatched the Kukku's comm device from his uniform, "now, beat it!"

He then undid his cable and gave the bird a swift kick to send him on his way, watching as he picked up his unconscious comrade and fled. Fuchsia let out a relieved sigh and deactivated the Lightning Baton, then made her way over to the wolf's side and gave him a hug. Even though he deactivated the Flame Shield, his cheeks were still burning a bit from the affection. Part of his daydream had just come true, after all.

"I'm sorry I hit you earlier, hun," she apologized and looked up at him, "are you okay?"

He squeezed her back with one arm as his other hand fiddled with the plundered tech. "Yeah, don't worry about it, I know you didn't mean to." He offered a gentle smile. "Besides, you did well for your first real fight."

"As long as you're alright," she mumbled, still feeling a little bad about it. To try and take her mind off of things, she released the hug and watched him work with the device. "What're you doing with that?"

"Seeing if I can find the channel for their main base," Gadget explained, "once I determine the frequency, I'll be able to use my own comm to keep tabs on their activities."

It didn't take long for the tech-savvy wolf to accomplish that task, copying the necessary information into his device. He switched over to the radio function and adjusted the settings for the frequency, picking up various chatter until he found what he was looking for. To make certain that the Empire didn't know he was listening in, he muted his microphone.

"Sir," came a soldier's voice, "we've confirmed that the fox is close to retrieving the Chaos Emerald in the Marble Garden area of the island. Shall we continue with your plan to let him gather the gems for us?"

"Negative," Dr. Fukurokov replied, "the rest of the Emeralds are close enough for us to retrieve on our own time. Send the Kukku Dirigible to intercept Prower and the hedgehog. It doesn't matter if you take them dead or alive, so long as we get their half of the collection."

That was all Gadget needed to hear before he cut off the transmission. Much as he didn't want to leave the camp unattended, he couldn't just sit by as the Empire tried to spring a sneak attack on his vulpine brother. If he could beat them there, then maybe they could launch a counterattack against this "Kukku Dirigible" and bring it down. It certainly sounded like something important and powerful, if the doctor was confident in its ability to handle Miles.

"Fu, get in the Tornado," he commanded the cat, "we're going to throw a wrench in the old owl's plan."


Miles and Sonic exited the temple and found a curious sight awaiting them at the first hill they arrived at. It was one of those blue wheels partly buried in the ground, but with a rope attached to it that had a white and blue ring on the other end of it. It reminded the fox of those pull-strings found in some of those old talking toys he'd seen as a child, and it made him wonder if they worked in a similar manner. He jumped up to the ring and grabbed it, giving it a good tug to pull it taut. As he'd suspected, the rope wound itself up towards the wheel and pulled him along for the ride, his partner hopping up to grab hold of his other hand. They vaulted to another of the pulleys and let it carry them up so that they were directly across from a ledge.

When given the chance to continue ahead or fly further up, the Emerald Radar's reading suggested that doing the latter was the better course of action. Miles lifted Sonic and himself first to the top of a cliff that was tens of meters high, then to yet another ring-rope further up. After crossing over to the outcropping they found at the top, they Rolled down a hill into a loop, going into a spiraling pillar that offered a couple of routes. They went left and sprinted down the path to a drop, curving around and into a broken down opening of a shrine. It was there that the two spotted a faint, but still distinctly different glimmer from the rest of the ruins. The fox bent down and retrieved it, turning back to the hedgehog with a smile as he revealed it to be the magenta Emerald.

"Alright, that brings us to four," he remarked, tossing it to his partner, "I think we should make our way back to camp before we chase after any more of them."

The kid caught it easily and slipped it into one of his spare pockets on the belt. "Sounds good to me!"

From there, they came across a blue wheel on the ground, giving it a spin and opening the other exit to the building. That was when the ground started to tremble and the ruins began to sway, as though a great earthquake had struck out of nowhere. Thinking that getting to a high place would be best, Miles carried them both to the most elevated ledge he could find. They Dashed past a crushing trap into a small temple, clearing a bed of spikes and once again activating a door at the rear. The two hovered over to a ledge that was a bit lower than they were, then flew up into the chambers of the building they entered, avoiding another giant morning star. They slid down a decline on the other side and caught hold of a pulley, using that to reach a yellow spring and land upon a relatively flat plain.

The shaking had finally stopped, allowing them to take a moment to choose their next route. Even with the immediate danger seemingly over with, Miles and Sonic concluded that staying in higher places would probably get them out of there faster. Thus, the heroes detoured through the shrine on the upper route, grabbing a small stockpile of Rings and outmaneuvering a crushing trap. A loop and spiral pillar combo deposited them right next to another studded ball-and-chain, which they cleared with a timely Jump, only to land on one of those blue tops from earlier. The difference was that this one was already spinning, and the moment their shoes touched it, the stand that it had been on sank into the ground and the thing took off like a drag racer. It drilled through a layer of marble and clay to reveal a hidden path, which it then followed along like a track up and over a large hill. The ride came to an unexpected end as the top crashed into a rise in the terrain, flinging both of the boys through the entrance of a temple and onto their fronts.

"Man, the breaks on that thing," Sonic grumbled as he got up and dusted himself off.

Miles chuckled as he did the same. "Good thing we're made of tough stuff."

Once they got back on track, they came to a dead end with a relief of a human face made out of stone. The edges of it were lined with yellow ornamentations, its eyes were stony gray with black pupils, and its forehead sported a shining red gem. The moment the two of them got close, its eyes swiveled down at them and its mouth opened in an O-shape. They dodged as an arrow fired from its orifice, and in retaliation, Sonic slammed into the forehead of the human likeness. Its mouth twitched for a moment and its eyes rolled back as a crack formed in the gem, which the two of them noticed. They rinsed and repeated the hedgehog's approach twice more and broke the stone, which caused the relief to deactivate and a piece of the floor to slide away, giving them a way out.

As several times prior, they used a blue wheel to open the route ahead, but were met with a sight that neither of them had expected to see. It was the latest iteration of the Mecha Golem line, which would make this model Mark VIII, and though it greatly resembled the previous version, it had a few notable differences. It now had an overall silver color scheme with gold trim around its mole-shaped head and its new hands, where it had smaller, retractable drills in place of the larger ones the older one had. It was also significantly downsized, about two to three times as big as Miles was, as opposed to the five or so that Mark VII approximately had been. The creepy smile that had been Robotnik's work was absent here, and it had two apparent side thrusters instead of three that were concentrated along the bottom. Most of all, it was apparent that this version was fully automated, like the heron and the Auto Arachnid.

"Well, I can't say I wasn't expecting this," the fox remarked, getting himself ready for a fight, "but a tiny part of me is still surprised the doctor would make another Mecha Golem. Sure, he took my advice on installing an AI, but it's still getting old. This will be, what, the fifth one I've scrapped?"

The hoglet shrugged and grinned. "Maybe he'll finally try something else after this one."

"Let's just get this over with," Miles said impatiently.

Sonic snickered. "Looks like I'm starting to rub off on you a little more, big guy."

Before the teen could retort, or do anything really, the Mecha Golem beat a hasty retreat, burrowing deep into the ground and making the earth shake much like the shock the two had experienced some minutes ago. Realizing that the robot was the source of it, and that the ruins were starting to collapse around them the heroes evacuated themselves. The ground gave way to a slope that dropped them at the bottom of a cliff, where they saw bits of marble, stone, and broken traps beginning to crumble and come down.

Wasting no time, Miles and Sonic cleared two makeshift hurdles in their path, then flew up through a gap into a collapsing shrine. They Spin Dashed to the end of the route, using another of those strange thorny columns as a stepping stone to reach the next ledge. The fox put his tails to use and made them rapidly ascend to the highest point, where it appeared there was a dead end. Unperturbed, the hedgehog shattered the marble barrier with a Rolling Attack, allowing them to safely arrive outside at what looked to be the very edge of the garden.

That was when the Mecha Golem resurfaced, the two Animals barely moving out of the way of its extendable arm as it tried to skewer them with a drill. Rather than pull it back, the automaton sprang in the direction of the limb and submerged once more, rooting around under their feet. Sonic's own nature as a burrowing mammal gave him a somewhat better feel for where it was, and he accurately predicted where it would pop out. Just as it moved to attack, the kid outpaced it, ricocheted off an outer temple wall, and drove himself into the thing's face. The MG8 reeled back for a second, but shrugged it off and went for another go, this time aiming for the fox. Its arms stretched out from the front and behind, attempting to trap the teen and force him into a tight spot. But, even as it predicted that Miles would use his flight, the hero was a step ahead and dropped a few bombs during his ascent.

The robot unleashed its own explosives, firing several mortars into the air to bombard the duo while it sought another prime opportunity. Miles was used to this tactic from its previous models, so he was quick to avoid the shower and set Sonic up for a clear path to Spin Dash the machine. It recoiled from the hit, and as the hedgehog bounced back, the fox passed him overhead and went into a Drop Attack, driving its head into the dirt. It became apparent to the AI that with the latter's flight and the former's natural affinity for burrowing, the mech was fighting a losing battle.

As the damage it took became more and more visible to the boys, the MG8 switched to more desperate tactics. It swam through the soil and came up beneath the vestiges of the shrine at the edge of the ruins, knocking out the columns one by one. Miles and Sonic soon discovered that it must have been wreaking even more havoc on the foundation, as the ground not only started to quake once more, but actually break apart and collapse along with the old structures. The fox made himself as horizontal as he could so that his partner could hop onto his back like a board, then rocketed high above the now even more ruined garden. As they moved away to try and find solid ground, the automaton pursued them with a vengeance, firing off more mortars in their direction while simultaneously trying to grab and jab at the flying duo.

"Those brutes destroyed priceless historical remnants and ancient flora!" he snarled, "we're not gonna let them get away with this, Sonic!"

The hoglet knelt down on the fox's back and gauged the distance between himself and his target. "I'm not so broken up about the geeky stuff, but trashing other people's things is uncool. You know I've got your back, Tails!"

"Alright, let's circle back and give this mole a proper dogfight!"

The fox pulled a rapid 180 and shot straight at the MG8, the hedgehog performing short hops to stay airborne and dodge oncoming fire as his partner twisted and weaved this way and that. Miles brought out a Dummy Ring and expertly tossed onto the end of the construct's snout, diving low to avoid the blast while Sonic jumped high. The younger Animal delivered a Bounce Attack that lobbed him even further up, giving him enough time to pull off a few stylish poses and flips, and then safely land on the older boy's back. In order to match their speed, the MG8 put its thrusters into overdrive, putting some vertical distance between them and then dive bombing with its drills out. Miles didn't even have enough time to grab more munitions as he was forced to dodge, growling as the robot wheeled about and came back for another go.

Sonic pounced and let the MG8's attacks do little more than graze him as he clinged to its face, giggling boyish as it tried to swat him away to no avail. Even in such a limited space, the little blue blur was simply too agile and treated the bulky creation like an aerial jungle gym. This occupied the latter's attention long enough for Miles to equalize his elevation so that he was just a couple of meters above and away from the MG8's position. He cut his flight for the briefest moment, using his tails as an air strip as he charged up a Spin Dash just as gravity began tugging him down. Once he was level with the automaton, he let loose, with Sonic jumping clear the instant before the fox drove himself into his target. The Kukku weapon spun off course for several seconds, allowing the boys ample time to rejoin and come up with an ideal finisher.

"Let's lure him up so I can spike him down at ya!" the blue blur proposed.

The amber teen considered a few ways to follow that up, and a grin formed when he arrived at a decision. "Got it. Get ready to use my feet like those springs we've come across!"

The MG8 retried its combination from earlier where it interspersed its mortar volleys with grapples and drill strikes, but the heroes didn't flee. Miles rose and fell, ducked and jolted around the limbs and projectiles, while Sonic was more showy about it. He flipped over punches, used a few mortars like stepping stones, and most insulting of all, he touched down on the fists from time to time to make faces or dance in a taunting manner. The AI appeared to have feelings of some degree, as the assault became less focused and more erratic, as though the hoglet had touched a nerve.

'Of course it would react like that,' Miles thought with amusement, 'the doc hates it when he and his creations get mocked, and he has a big enough ego to base the AI on his own neural makeup.'

It worked more than well enough for their purposes, as it didn't take long for the Kukku mech to switch to a more aggressive approach. With a whip of his tails, the fox soared to increasingly dizzy heights, coaxing the MG8 into trailing after him. Once the gap between them was sufficient, Miles canceled his flight and flipped himself around so that his head was aimed toward the earth, his legs cocked back as Sonic stood atop his shoes. With a powerful thrust of his feet, the vulpine catapulted the hedgehog far above him and passed the robot on the way down, smirking when he saw the thing doing a double take as he did. Its optics swiveled back up to Sonic, who was spinning his balled-up form faster and faster with each passing second, the air spiraling into the blue sphere. When the familiar screech associated with a different technique reached a crescendo, the hedgehog remained suspended for what seemed a lot longer than it actually was, and the robot could somehow sense that his foe was firmly centered on him.

"Have a new take on an old favorite!" Sonic called out, "Meteor Spin Dash!"

The sound barrier shattered, and faster than it could possibly calculate, the MG8 was struck in the center of its mass, sending it hurtling back down the way it came. Miles gave his tails a quick whip and a spin, accelerating to meet the robot halfway, though he once again halted his flying ability. He wound up his torso in one direction, his rear limbs bracing against him, eyes narrowed on the spot his partner had dented.

"Take this!" he shouted as he whirled back around and slashed at that area with his twin appendages, "Rending Tail Attack!"

To the fox, it was as though time slowed to a crawl the instant that the Mecha Golem fell past him. Peering back, he could see a bifurcation right where he'd meant to strike, delivered so cleanly he hadn't felt any resistance when his tails passed through the metal. The two halves of the formerly whole automaton came apart, then gave in to gravity as it pulled them down. Seconds later, his perception returned to normal, and twin fireballs shot upwards from the sea of greenery and rubble where the MG8 crashed, a fresh cloud of debris adding to the mess that was left after its last artificially induced earthquake.

After catching Sonic, Miles brought them back down to the ground when he found a place that was stable. The hedgehog gave the fox a thumbs-up and grinned brightly at him.

"Nice one, bud!" he praised his partner, chuckling a little when he saw the teen was a bit out of breath, "you okay?"

Miles waved off his concern. "Yeah, just, we haven't had too much rest since we started, and it's been a while since I had to fly for that long." He smirked a bit in turn. "Not to mention the last time I did so, I wasn't carrying nearly as much weight."

"This just comes with being a young hog!" the kid said defensively as he crossed one hand over his belly, "gimme a few years and it'll stretch out!"

"Sounds like we'll both be waiting a while," the fox quipped.

The two of them shared a laugh at that, though they weren't given long before the older Animal's ears flicked from a disturbance in the air. It was a low, powerful bass, like that produced by an exceptionally large craft on the move, though not as mighty as the Battle Fortress' had been. Even so, it was big, it was coming from the northwest, and when he turned around to see, its identity became clear. It was a huge, heavily armored military blimp that was strangely held afloat by fairly low-tech propellers and machinery. There were platforms and outcroppings made of light gray metal with darker scar-like markings, and orange plating covering the top layer of much of the craft. It was studded with guns and cannons on the outside as well, but aside from those, it was relatively plain, aside from the fact that it was heading straight for them. And if his calculations were correct, it would be on top of them in just a couple of minutes.

"Where the hell were the Kukkus hiding that?" Miles wondered aloud, "I didn't even notice it until just now, and it's almost here already!"

Sonic snickered and hyped himself up for another fight. "Hey, don't sweat it, big guy. We'll just hop on board and bring that big bird down!"

"And how do you propose we do that?" the fox inquired, crossing his arms, "I'm not sure if I have the energy to get us both up there and still be able to throw down. If we had the Tornado, that'd be a different story, but we–"

"Hey, guys!" came a voice that was almost drowned out by the sound of the dirigible, as well as another, smaller aircraft.

Both of them whipped around to see the aforementioned plane streaking through the sky towards them, Gadget at the yoke with military green flight goggles strapped over his specs, and Fuchsia in the back seat waving at them. It was outpacing the bigger aircraft, in part thanks to its rocket engine, and was gradually lowering its altitude to meet the boys. Quickly getting the picture, the pair resumed running and picked up the pace so that they could more easily board the plane. Once the wolf brought it low enough, Miles and Sonic leapt up onto the top wings and held on as the Tornado performed a sharp ascent before evening out.

"Not that I'm ungrateful," the fox shouted over the whipping air, "but what're you guys doing here?"

"A squad of Kukkus and bots attacked the camp, but we fended them off," Gadget explained, tossing a device in question up to the fox, "I grabbed one of their comms, and we found out they were planning to try and take you guys down after you grabbed the last of the Emeralds on this half of the island. Obviously, I wasn't about to let them try it."

Fuchsia giggled behind him and gave him a pet between his upward curving ears. "You've got a good big brother, Miles. He's a good teacher, too; I don't think I'd have been much help without his primers."

"Th-that aside," the wolf went on, trying to ignore the blush forming due to his girlfriend's affections, "what's the plan, bro? Do we try to board it or fly away?"

It wasn't a difficult decision to make. Miles figured that the Empire knew where he and Sonic were because they had their own Emerald Radar. They could run, certainly, but they wouldn't be able to hide as long as the gems were on them. And if the birds were so eager to pick a fight, then it would be better to not only take them up on it, but also seize the initiative. There had to be something they could do to deal a more critical blow than just grounding the blimp.

The number of possibilities to turn this on the old owl's head got his gears turning, and he briefly referenced his own multitool to see where the remaining Emeralds were. Once he knew, he glanced back at the wolf and pointed at the immense aircraft.

"Bring us to the underside of the rear," he commanded Gadget, then turned back to his partner, "Sonic and I are going to infiltrate the place while you and Fu lure them back in the direction they came from. There's an Emerald in the snowy mountains close to where the Battle Moon landed."

The pilot nodded, making a U-turn and flying high over the dirigible as it came their way. Just as they arrived at the tail end of the thing, the Tornado went into a dive and rolled around to get in position. Conveniently enough, there were some auxiliary access points on the underside of the ship, likely to allow maintenance to get at thrusters and weapons ports. Miles and Sonic leapt from the wings onto the nearest one, then signaled the others to go on ahead. Gadget and Fuchsia pulled away and went to do just that, leaving the two heroes to their task.

"It feels like we're getting close to the end!" Sonic said excitedly, "wonder if they have any boards we can use to get down the mountains. I wanna show up at the doc's doorstep in style!"

Miles flashed a small smile across his muzzle before sporting a more serious expression. "Let's go."