Can't remember exactly when Gamma finds Beta in "The Wrong Room". I think it may be earlier actually.

All copyright info in first chapter

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Chapter 7 - A Friend in need

Amy exhausted herself struggling in Zero's grasp. As she shut her eyes she admitted defeat, for now, knowing Sonic was coming.

She opened her eyes and found herself in a beautiful valley. Ahead of her were a young orange echidna girl and a load of Chao.

"Where am I?" asked Amy

"The Servers are the seven Chaos, Chaos is power, power is enriched by the heart. The Controller is the one who unifies the chaos. Hmm my mother used to tell me that chant when I was little. She told me that our family must remember that chant as when the time comes one of us will need to use it", said the girl.

"Er Excuse me but I have no idea where I am or even how I got here. One minute Zero has me in his grasp…" said Amy

"The Seven Chaos obviously relates to the Seven Chaos Emeralds. Chaos is power; power is enriched by the heart. Can the Emeralds really turn our feelings into power? And the Controller who unifies the Chaos, could it be this giant Emerald. What does it all mean", said the girl

"EXCUSE ME I NEED SOME HELP HERE!" Screamed Amy

"Oh I'm sorry how rude of me. My name is Tikal and yours is?" asked the girl

"Amy Rose. Wait I recognise them, they are the Chaos Emeralds. But they're sitting here at peace. That isn't possible", said Amy

"While it's true the Chaos Emeralds tend to repel each other when all seven are collected, the presence of their Guardian and the Master Emerald is believed to be the reason why the rest here. I just hope my father doesn't take things too far and decides to abuse them…", said Tikal

Suddenly Amy was blinded by a bright Red light. When the light faded she found herself in a prison cell. Amy sighed and realised it was just a dream, but it felt so real.

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Knuckles brought all the Master Emerald shards to the Outer Shrine. The Shards seemed to take a life of their own as they floated above the shattered base still lying in the ruins. The shards flew in a circular motion getting faster and faster. Then after a bright Green Glow Knuckles sighed as he saw a still incomplete Emerald.

Only a couple of pieces were missing now and despite all his hard work Knuckles didn't even consider taking a break.

"There are still shards out there but I've looked everywhere in the nearby area. Where could the last couple of pieces be?" asked a frustrated Knuckles.

Then an image appeared inside the incomplete emerald. The shape of a grey battleship baring the logo of the Doctor appeared and Knuckles knew where he needed to go. He just didn't know how to get to it.

"Eggman's Flying Fortress! But that could be anywhere!" said Knuckles.

Suddenly there was a crash sound and one of Eggman's Robots appeared. It was much larger and slightly more humanoid than his last designs. Knuckles raced over to the Robot and stood in front of it.

The Robot kept moving straight forward, heading into the mountain tunnel. Knuckles had to dive out of the way as the Robot didn't even seem to notice him.

"Hey! Robot! I'm talking to you! Where is Robotnik's Flying Fortress?" asked Knuckles frustrated.

The Robot didn't answer. Knuckles kept following it into the Jungle area and came across a massive metal tower. The sky turned grey as Eggman's Giant fortress appeared in the sky.

"HEY MISTER! Did you see a robot carrying a frog come by here!" shouted a deep voice.

"Huh?" asked Knuckles turning to find a giant Purple Cat, "Er yeah in fact. He just went in there"

Big took a deep breath and ventured into the metallic tower.

"Wow! He's either incredibly brave or incredibly stupid. Well what am I waiting for?" asked Knuckles before racing inside himself.

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As Gamma left Emerald Coast he felt a strange red light consume him. When it faded Gamma found himself in a Strange Valley.

"Scanning Database for present location. Location not found. This presents a problem", said Gamma.

Gamma felt a strange energy ahead of him and proceeded to investigate. He found an orange echidna girl not in his database surrounded by Chao creatures and a strange energy he didn't recognise.

"I'm sorry. I tried to convince my Father not to abuse the Emeralds power but he's determined to bring glory to the Echidnas. He wants to make Parachamac a name to be remembered for our kind", said the Girl

"Illogical. Records show all Echidnas were wiped out thousands of years ago except for one, Knuckles the Echidna. Does not Compute", said Gamma

"I do not understand what you are saying Metal Man, but I have more pressing matters to concern myself with. What? ... I can't Chaos… I can't let this go, my father is acting like a madman….No there must be another way…I will try and convince my father again", said the Girl

Suddenly Gamma was blinded by a bright red light again and when it faded he was back in the Egg Carrier.

"This is the right frog", said E-103 Delta

"No this is the fight frog", said E-104 Epsilon

"Let me see", said Dr. Robotnik.

The Doctor examined each frog and screamed in rage.

"Idiots, Idiots, IDIOTS! Can't you even get a frog with a tail? You are all useless", said Dr. Robotnik, "I should scrap you…hey wait let me see yours again Gamma"

Gamma presented the Green frog to Dr. Robotnik who after a quick examination looked back with a huge smile on his face.

"Yes this is it. Well done Gamma. I have never been prouder of one of my own creations. The rest of you be gone", said Dr. Robotnik.

Dr. Robotnik went to a computer console and pressed three buttons. The Other E-series robots disappeared. Gamma scanned the light that consumed them and identified it as a random warp ray.

The Doctor had warped them to a random location without an objective. They were as good as scrap. Gamma felt what could only be described as a mixture of feelings. He was happy that Dr. Robotnik was proud of him but saddened at the cruel fate of his brothers.

"Gamma I am promoting you to the higher level Robot on board. I have a new task for you. In the prison area is a girl and a bird. Bring me the Bird", said Dr. Robotnik.

"Affirmative", said Gamma.

The alarm siren went off and Dr. Robotnik quickly left to see what was going on. Gamma turned to the other end of the hall and headed towards the prison halls. Somehow he was sent off course and sent into the laboratory.

When inside Gamma saw Beta but he was different. His legs were gone; His main chassis was much larger. His Arm cannons were huge. The Doctor was upgrading Beta. Gamma was horrified. Beta was incredibly strong now and overshadowed his own power by a great deal. Gamma was obsolete.

Gamma felt fear take over him and rushed out of the room. His cool robotic circuitry finally took over

"This is the Wrong Room", said Gamma before heading through the right door into the Prison Halls.

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Sonic felt more determined than ever to catch up to Eggman and the Egg Carrier. He needed to get to a higher level and with Tails nowhere to be found he desperately headed towards the mountains.

Rushing as fast as he could into the Mountains of Angel Island he came across an infestation of Eggman's Robots. They were everywhere though the tale tale signs of a certain red Echidna were apparent everywhere.

"I will not fail you Amy. I will not fail any friend in need", said Sonic

ACTION STAGE: RED MOUNTAIN (SONIC)

Sonic tried to climb the mountains but short of equipment the mountains seemed impossible to climb. Sonic raced through the mountains frantically searching for an area he could run up. Alas try as he might Sonic ended up getting lost within a volcanic area of the mountains.

Sonic eventually found daylight from the lava caves but he was more horrified than relieved. The Egg Carrier had got away and he was left on a balcony overlooking a giant fall into the ocean. Down was not an option so Sonic turned to head back through the lava caves.

Then he heard his salvation. The roar of propellers filled the air and the cries of his best friend could be heard.

Tails was here, in a new plane. Instead of red it was a mixture of dark blue and yellow, matching their colours. Besides that it didn't seem much different. Sonic doubted for a moment whether or not this new plane would succeed after the fate of the Tornado but he was willing to try anything.

"Tails. Oh am I glad to see you! Your new plane looks cool", said Sonic

"Come on Sonic, hop on!" said Tails.

Sonic leaped off the balcony and grabbed onto the wings of the plane. He climbed back to his feet and smiled as he felt the wind through his spikes once more.

"Welcome aboard the Tornado 2. This time we'll get on the Egg Carrier for sure", said Tails.

"Right! Next stop the Egg Carrier", said Sonic pointing to the flying fortress.

MINI STAGE: SKY CHASE II

This time they were ready but so was Eggman. It was covered with loads of cannons, eclipsing the number the last time. Though the Tornado 2 broke them in seconds. Tails' excellent piloting skills allowed him to avoid the missiles with ease.

Tails flew to the front of the Egg Carrier again.

"Tails are you crazy! There's no way we can defeat that laser", said Sonic.

"Don't worry I have a plan, trust me. TORNADO TRANSFORMATION!" said Tails.

Tails pushed a button and the Tornado 2 morphed. Sonic was pulled to the back of the plane as the wings turned into a giant 'X'. Each of the four mini wings with mounted machine guns. As expected the Egg Carrier prepared its giant laser.

Tails fired as many bullets as he could at the laser before pulling out of the way of the giant laser. This time they were quick enough to avoid the blast.

"Awesome! This plane is much quicker. Take that thing down Tails", said Sonic.

"Will do. No-one destroys one of my machines and gets away with it!" exclaimed Tails.

Tails kept firing at the laser while avoiding every blast. Eventually the Laser exploded meaning they could board the Egg Carrier.

"Alright we're in", said Tails.

"Awesome Job Tails. I'm so proud of you. Now just land on the Egg Carrier and we can pay old Egghead a visit", said Sonic

"Oh…er…that might be a problem", said Tails.

"Come again", said Sonic.

"There's no landing gear in this mode!" said Tails.

"ARGH! We're going to crash!" said Sonic.

Sweat poured off Tails' forehead as he expertly landed the Tornado 2. Any damage was minimal but the Tornado 2 didn't sit right. It could still take off so getting off the Egg Carrier wouldn't be a problem.

"Well any landing you can walk away from…" said Tails.

Sonic hopped off and looked back at Tails with a sarcastic look and a roll of his eyes.

"There's no time to waste. Let's get to the bridge and take control", said Sonic.

"You sly little pests. Don't think getting to the bridge will be that easy as you should know yours isn't the only aircraft that can transform. Get a load of this!" said Eggman over a tannoy.

Suddenly the Egg Carrier started to shake and changed shape around them. The area that looked like the bridge moved up higher into the air. It was now unreachable. The winds were too fast for Tails to fly them up and the Tornado 2 wasn't really an option.

Ahead of them was a door and it was the only way they could go short of a long trip back to the ground beneath them.

"Ho ho! The only way to me now is through the Sky Deck. You're welcome to try and get through my most dangerous, well defended pathway to this end of my fortress even if it is futile. Remember it's a long way down too", said Eggman.

"Whatever, nothing is going to stop us. C'mon Tails if this is the only way what are we waiting for?" asked Sonic.

"Right", replied Tails before the two headed into the Sky Deck.