"Is it just me or is it suddenly a lot warmer than it was a minute ago?" Asked Porker, wiping his hand across his forehead. Sonic and friends now find themselves in a place only known as Marble Zone. The place was made up of greyish-purple bricks, which implied that there was some sort of civilization here. Though now it was obviously abandoned, since plant life has now taken over in some places. Sonic looked to his left and saw some Ruins all over the place. Some of them had carvings on them. The image had what seemed to be 2 lions roaring up to the sky, they were also a bit elevated by a pole of sorts. Sonic didn't know why though, but the way the image was set up also looked like a face that had a really nice mustache and a big round nose. It definitely wasn't Eggman though. "Uhh… guys…" Johnny said in a somewhat alarmed tone. "What is that thing?" Sonic turned to where Johnny was facing and saw what looked like a large purple caterpillar inching towards them. This wasn't some abnormally large creature, but what appeared to be another one of the doctor's machines. It's body was made up of metal orbs with spikes atop every one. The front orb had large bug eyes, two yellow antennae sticking out the top, and a gaping mouth with four large fangs, which opened and closed like a fish swimming through the water. "What do you think this thing is for?" Johnny questioned. "Judging from its elongated and spiked body, it seems like some sort of defense robot." Porker began to speculate. "Like some sorta mobile form of barbed wire.". "Well whatever it is, it's got to go!" Sonic said as he began running at the robotic caterpillar. Like the pink crab thing back at Bridge Zone, Sonic dispatched this bot with a simple tuck and roll. He ran in, curled up, and smashed straight through the face of the bug eyed mechanism, causing it to burst into pieces and a small bird to fly out of the head of the now deceased defense robot. Then arrived a Buzzbomber which began firing at them. Sonic effortlessly dodged all of the pellets and jumped up to it, smashing it which freed the little piglet inside of it. "Hey Sonic, come here for a second! I have an idea!" Said Porker as he motioned for Sonic. Sonic ran over to Porker with genuine interest in what he had to say. "Alright Porker, let's hear it." Said Sonic. "I'm going to reprogram that Buzzbomber so it can lead us to Eggman, making it easier to traverse this place. Unfortunately, we'll need a fuel source but I don't want to use one of the animals." Porker explained, while expressing some of his concerns. "Porker, we'll most likely have to ask for their assistance, whether we like it or not. We haven't a moment to lose." Replied Sonic, understanding Porker's worries. "Hey little fella! We'd like your help with something!" Sonic called the Flickie Bird that was freed awhile ago. Sonic explained it to the bird and it proceeded to fly into the chamber of the Buzzbomber. Porker then began working on it. In the meantime, Sonic started running around the area, smashing robots and grabbing rings. Porker eventually finished fixing up the Buzzbomber and activated it. The Buzzbomber then began flying forward which the group presumed that the doctor was in the direction. "Alright, let's go!" Said Sonic as they all ran forward. Suddenly, the ground began to shake and shift. Sonic and friends had trouble keeping their footing, but Porker was about to have something much worse happen… "AAAH! HELP!" Yelled Porker as the floor beneath him broke apart, revealing Molten Lava. Sonic and Johnny ran as fast as they could to Porker's aid, grabbing him by his wrists. "YEOWWW!" Screamed Porker as his rear got slightly burnt. Sonic and Johnny finally pulled Porker up to safety. "Thanks guys… OW! Why does this always happen to me?" Porker pondered. "Don't worry Porker, we'll have your back all the way!" Sonic reassured him as he gave a thumbs up. Johnny extended his hand down to Porker to help him up from the ground. Porker chuckled a little and gladly accepted the gesture.

They all began to make their way to Eggman again but were met with a dead end. "Well great, It's gonna take even longer to get to him!" Whined Sonic. "Look Sonic! There's a passageway below us." Johnny said as Sonic looked down to see a deliberately constructed path, he could even see lit up torches on the walls. But how could that be? The place should have been deserted! At least that's what they thought. Oh well, only one way to find out what was going on. "Alright, let's get this over with." Sonic sighed as he hopped down without a second thought. Johnny followed down rather quickly, while Porker followed with a bit of hesitation. Sonic and the others walked down the hall for a bit, until Johnny was suddenly hit in the head by something that fell from the ceiling. It looked like a very cartoonish bat, with an exhaust on the bottom propelled it forward. Suddenly the reprogrammed Buzzbomber opted to aid our heroes and fire it's stinger at the Bat bot, destroying it and releasing the squirrel inside. "Johnny! Are you okay?!" Porker asked, worriedly as he ran to his aid. "I'm fine man, it's just a bump. Let's keep going." Johnny assured him as he got up. Continuing forward, the trio came across giant green pistons encased in glass built into the ceiling moving slowly up and down. "...This is too easy." Sonic said, rather disappointed. Sonic proceeded to roll underneath the pistons. Sonic uncurled and looked back to his friends who had also made it through rather easily. He wasn't shocked with Johnny, but the fact that Porker made it through without any hesitation pleasantly surprised him. They continued onward, coming across a green block. Sonic looked at it for a moment and tried pushing against it. It started to move forward and eventually dropped onto a green switch, which lowered a green pillar in front of them. "Jeez, how far down does this place go?" Asked Johnny. Sonic just shrugged and hopped down, with his friends following close behind. They entered a very small and narrow hall. They walked down it for a bit before they heard something behind them. Looking back, they saw that the wall had opened, flooding the hall with lava. "RUN!" Sonic shouted to his friends. They ran as fast as they could, but found that the ceiling had lowered even closer to the floor. Sonic rolled underneath it, but a bed of spikes came up under it as well, just barely missing him. Johnny slid under it after Sonic, also just barely making it out. Porker unfortunately had tripped before he could get through. Sonic reached his hands out and grabbed his wrists, pulling him to them as fast as he could. "C'mon guys! We can't take a breather just yet!" Sonic reminded them. Porker looked back behind them to see the lava melt away at the bed of spikes, and out of fear he pushed himself to run faster and squeal for his life. Sonic, Johnny, and Porker all made it up to safety and just fell to their knees, trying to catch their breath. "Just once... I would like to not almost get roasted…" Said Porker as he stood up. "That was actually kinda fun for me." Sonic admitted as he also got up. Being a thrillseeker, Sonic always dreamed of having these life threatening adventures, so it was practically a dream come true. Johnny got up as well and all three of them proceeded forward, climbing up toward the surface step by step. That is until Johnny noticed a shadow above Sonic, and it was getting larger… "Sonic! Look out!" Warned Johnny before tackling him out of the way as a big metal weight fell down hard. The weight was then slowly pulled up off the ground by its chain. "You alright Sonic?" asked Johnny as he got up and extended his hand out to help him up. Sonic just chuckled and took his offer. "It's all good, you saved my butt man." Sonic thanked Johnny. Sonic looked up to see the path continue above them, seemingly without any way to reach up there, or at least no entirely safe way up. "Come on, let's hop onto these to head up!" Said Sonic as he hopped right onto the weight that almost crushed him earlier. "B-But these things rise up all the way to the ceiling! We'll be crushed!" Porker protested as the weight lifted up off the ground. "Not if you're quick enough!" Retorted Sonic as he jumped onto a chandelier with spikes on the bottom and then onto solid ground. Johnny went next and as the weight raised for him, two Batbots dropped down onto him. Before Johnny could retaliate, he was suddenly saved by the bee robot that Porker reprogrammed awhile back. Johnny looked down to Porker and gave him a thumbs up before quickly meeting with Sonic. Porker did his best to keep a clear head as he climbed up as well.

The three continued up until they were met with a giant pool of lava, with no way around it. "You've got to be kidding me…" Groaned Porker. Sonic looked around for a bit and happened to spot another green block to the side. He thought about it for a bit… and he audibly groaned at what he was about to say. "We could ride across this thing." He said with a hint of disappointment in his voice. Uh… isn't it a little small? We'll all barely fit on it." Johnny said, a bit worried. "Look guys this is our only option, I ain't gonna like it any better than you are. Now help me with this." Sonic explained. The three then pushed the green block into the lava and climbed on top of it, trying their best to balance on it. "God this is boring…" Groaned Sonic just a few seconds after. "Well, this is our only way across." Replied Johnny. "Uh, guys?!" Porker shouted with fear. Both Sonic and Johnny look forward and see that the lava was about to erupt. "What do we do?!" Asked Porker in a panic. "Grab onto me, quickly!" Sonic told them as they did just that. As the green stone went over the bubbling lava, they were shot up into the air and as soon as Sonic spotted some solid ground on this level, he and his friends jumped off the stone and onto safety. Porker took a moment to relax before getting up. The three started to look around for where they needed to go, but they then realized that they met a dead end. "Great! Just great! We're stuck!" Porker started complaining. "Chill Porker, I'll have us out of here in no time." Sonic reassured his friend. But before anyone could do anything, they heard what sounded like metal hitting stone coming from a wall behind them. They all looked to said wall and saw what looked like a mole coming through with a pickaxe. Said mole was wearing a blue jumpsuit and an orange hard hat with a flashlight on it. "What're you all doing here?" Asked the mole, sounding rather displeased. "We're after a fat bald man with a mustache."Yeah, right! I know why yer really here! Yer after my treasure!" Said the mole, sounding a bit more hostile. "What treasure?" asked Porker. "My diamondius!" Replied the mole. "What exactly is that?'' asked Johnny. "It's among the strongest materials in the world!" Explained Porker. "Grrr! Now get out, You can't have any of it!" Ordered the mole. "Look buddy, we're stuck here. We just want your help getting out of here." Sonic said, trying his best to communicate. The mole then looked at the robot bee accompanying them. It was one of the bots that were also scattered throughout the mines. "I knew it! You are after my treasure! Yer with those pesky robots!" Accused the mole. Sonic then just remembered about their robot guide. "Oh come on!" Sonic said in annoyance. The mole suddenly swung his pickaxe at Sonic, but he easily dodged it. The mole was carried by the momentum of the swing, and started falling off the cliff into the lava. Sonic ran as fast as he could to catch him by the pickaxe. "You… you saved me? Why?" Asked the mole, bewildered by what just happened. "Look, no one deserves a fate like that. Not even a grumpy old man like you." Sonic explained, pulling him up. "N...No one's ever been this nice to me… Thank you." Said the mole, shaking his hand in gratitude. "Don't mention it. Name's Sonic by the way, and you are?" Sonic asked. "I'm Spelunk, and well, you basically already know my occupation." Spelunk introduced himself. "So whattaya say? Mind helping us get out of here?" Asked Sonic. "No problem, just follow me!" Replied Spelunk as he led the party through the tunnel he made earlier. After a while, they reached the end of the tunnel but Spelunk stopped them for a moment. Suddenly, a spiked chandelier came down hard on the floor then slowly lifted back up to the ceiling. "Okay, go! Quickly!" Said Spelunk as they all made their way through. "Now be careful these here steps have spikes hidden in them, so watch yer step." Warned Spelunk as the group climbed up. Porker was pretty close to becoming a shish kabob once or twice, but he managed to make it up. "So, I gotta ask… what's with the beebot that's tagging along with us?'' Spelunk asked. "Well, we reprogrammed it to lead us to its creator, who goes by Dr. Robotnik." Explained Porker. "Who's this Robotnik?" Spelunk asked again. "An evil Scientist that aims to take over the world, and we're here to stop him!" Said Sonic, finishing the explanation. "Well, I'll help ya in any way I can." Said Spelunk, holding up his pickaxe.

As soon as they reached the surface, their beebot buddy was shot to pieces, but thankfully the Flicky was safe and flew off. The group all looked back to who fired the shot, and it was none other than Robotnik! "Seriously! Stop following me! First you assault my nephew and I, and now you're toying with my equipment!'' Robotnik said, sounding very annoyed. Robotnik was floating in his hovercraft still, but this time, it had a new attachment on the bottom. A large, round, metal ball. "Is that a new type of animal capsule?" Sonic inquired. "No, and it's not any of your business." Robotnik answered. "None of this is your concern. Now quit being such an annoying little pest and-" Before he could finish, Sonic had already slammed into the ball at the bottom of the hovercraft. "AAAHHH! Watch it you little rodent!" Robotnik yelled in annoyance while trying to maintain balance after the shake up of Sonic's impact. Sonic looked at the ball and saw that he managed to make a significant crack on it, although it began to leak out small bits of lava. The molten oozed onto the patches of grass below the hovercraft, causing it to begin going up in flame. "Look what you've done!" Robotnik hollered. "Uhhh….. Don't worry, I'll go get some buckets of water!" Spelunk said as he dashed off to go get said buckets. Seems that fire hazards are a common occurrence in the Marble Zone. "Have you been using the molten here for crafting metals?" Porker asked. "Of course!" Robotnik said. "So you are creating weapons of mass destruction!" Sonic exclaimed. "ARE YOU SERIOUS RIGHT NOW!?" Robotnik yelled. "Look, the old mole can deal with the flames, I don't have time for this!" Robotnik turned his hovercraft around, pressed a button, and caused the busted capsule to drop into a pit of lava as he flew off. "Well that went by quicker than expected." Johnny noted. Spelunk came back with a bucket of water, throwing it forward and putting out the flames. "Whew! That was a close one!" Spelunk said, wiping sweat from his forehead. "So you kids plan on following him?". "Absolutely!" Sonic responded. "Somebody's gotta put an end to his evil ways.". "Well you kids be careful now." Spelunk warned. "Oh, and as thanks for helpin' me out…" Spelunk reached into his pocket and pulled out a large red emerald, with a similar vague glow to it as the blue one the boys had previously encountered. "I found this goin' through a strange tunnel of sorts. You can have it." Porker took the emerald and placed it in his inner jacket pocket with the blue emerald. "Thank you for the help, Spelunk." Johnny said. "Oh it's no problem at all, kids." the old mole replied. "Now you go on and show that rotten egg what for!". "Oh we most certainly will." Sonic said as he motioned Porker and Johnny to follow as he dashed off to the next zone. Spelunk waved them goodbye as Johnny and Porker ran off to catch up with Sonic. "What nice boys." Spelunk said, heading back to the mines.