"Ow! Ow! Ow! That hurts!" Sonic hissed through his clenched teeth. Tails was dabbing rubbing alcohol on the hedgehog's nicked ear with a cotton ball. As he was working, his flashlight was pointing up to give them some light in the pitch black cave.

"I have to clean the cut. It'll get worse if it gets an infection." The fox dig inside his backpack to pull out a roll of bandages. He turned to the echidna who was pulling out small rocks from the collapsed entrance.

"Hey Knux, did you find a way out yet?" The Kitsune asked as he puts the bandages around Sonic's injured ear. The said echidna stopped to wipe sweat from his forehead.

"Sorry, but there's no way to push these bigger rocks without getting crushed." Knuckles said as he turns his head to look at his friends. Sonic looks at him with half-closed annoyed eyes.

"So, that means we're stuck in here?" He rolled his eyes, then sigh. "That's perfect." He hissed sarcastically. The red one glared at him.

"Well if you had mastered that move, then we wouldn't be here right now!" He argued. The hero glared back.

"So it's my fault? If you didn't throw me hard, then I wouldn't lose control!" The blue one shouted before standing up, and the echidna did the same. Tails gulped as he predicted what was going to happen in a few seconds.

"Hey, let's calm down!" He said while getting between the angry Mobians. "Maybe we can explore deeper in the cave for another way out?" He suggested with sweat forming under his yellow fur. Sonic and Knuckles looked at each other for a few seconds before turning away.

"Fine." They agreed in unison. The Kitsune grabbed his backpack and flashlight before the three started walking deeper in the cave. After a few minutes of walking, Tails and Knuckles turned to Sonic when he started whistling.

"Can you not whistle? The echo in here is making my ears ring." The echidna complained with his mitten hands on the sides of his head. The hero let out a low whistle while looking up at the other with confusion.

"You have ears? I can't tell from under those long locks." He said while lifting up some dreadlocks to try to see what's under them. But the owner slaps down the gloved hand with a glare.

"Don't touch my hair." He growled then pulled his hat down to hide his ears. The blue hedgehog rolled his eyes before putting his tan arms behind his head.

"So, what were you two doing in this cave earlier?" He asked. Tails raised a brow at the question.

"How did you know we were in the cave? You didn't came until Eggman ambushed us." The Kitsune pointed out. The echidna also raised a brow at the hedgehog. Sonic's eyes darted around while having a nervous smile.

"I guessed. Since..." He trailed off until he spotted what's on his yellow friend's vest. "You have cave dust on you." He explained, pointing at the vest. Tails looked at himself to see he had a dusty vest.

"Hmm you're right," He dusted himself with one hand. "But I'm glad that you came and rescued us." He said with a grin. The hero gave him a flashy grin.

"No problem." After a few minutes of walking, Sonic slumped his shoulders with a groan.

"How long is this stupid cave?" He demanded, his arms in the air.

"We don't know. It'll be faster if you don't complain every five minutes." Knuckles hissed with annoyed eyes. The hedgehog looked at his wrist as if there's a watch around it.

"More like every four minutes." He corrected the other. The echidna had a scowl on his face.

"You know what I mean." Knuckles growled. Sonic snickered at the red Mobian's reaction.

"I know. I was kidding." He said with a wink and his tongue out playfully. Knuckles rolled his eyes, and crosses his arms. As the three continue walking, they can hear raindrops hitting the top of the cave.

"It must be raining." Tails guessed while pointing the flashlight to the ceiling.

"Oh, great. My fur will be soaked when we get out of here." The hero complained.

"What's wrong? Afraid of melting?" The echidna asked with a smirk. The blue one glared at him.

"No! I just don't like getting wet." He defended himself with his arms quickly crossed across his chest.

"All these years, and you're still afraid of water. Why is it that?" Knuckles asked with a raised brow. Sonic looked distant for a few seconds before responding with half-closed eyes.

"It doesn't matter. The only thing that matters right now is to find a way out of this gosh darn cave!" He exclaimed before going ahead of them. The fox and echidna shared a confused look at the behavior. After some time of silence, the hero broke it.

"How long have we've been in this cave?" Sonic asked.

"From what I've guessed, around 20 minutes or so." Tails theorized. His blue friend look shocked.

"20 minutes? It feels like 20 hours! I'm going ahead to see if there's an exit." With that said, the hedgehog ran off further in the cave.

"Hey, Knux? Does Sonic seem a bit strange to you today?" The Kitsune asked. The echidna shrugged.

"I've noticed too. He seems to be more bothered than usual. I guess he didn't have a good breakfast." He commented. When they turned a corner, they saw Sonic leaning against the rocky wall, waiting for the two.

"Come on, we're wasting daylight." The hedgehog said as he starts walking. But stopped when he felt himself unbalancing at the edge of a hole. As he was falling, his right hand quickly grabbed onto something.

"Ow!" Knuckles shouted as Sonic grabbed his dreadlocks, and dragged him down the hole with the hedgehog.

"Guys!" Tails pointed his flashlight down the hole. He could see Sonic and Knuckles rolling down a hill as their grunts echoed the cave.

"Oh, dear." The fox murmured. His two tails twisted together before spinning like a tornado. He hovered off the ground, then floated down the hole to go after his friends. The echidna landed on his back after the roll. He stood up to only hit the ground again when the hedgehog landed on top of him. Sonic stood up while rubbing his sore head. He stopped when he saw who he was on top of, and smirked with his eyes half-closed.

"Hey~" After saying that, a quick uppercut to the jaw sent the hedgehog off of a blushing angry Knuckles. When Tails floated down, he was confused seeing Sonic giving Knuckles his hat with an awkward smile. And the echidna snatched his hat and put it down to his eyes after putting it on.

"Come on, I was kidding." The hero said with an awkward chuckle. The red Mobian only angrily huffed before looking away. The fox looked at the two with both confusion and curiosity.

"I have a feeling that I don't want to know what happened." He commented to himself. But his ears twitched when he hears a waterfall not too far away from them.

"Hey guys, can you hear that?" The Kitsune asked. The two Mobians stopped to hear the waterfall for themselves.

"A waterfall is down here?" Sonic asked while looking confused.

"Why would there be one all the way down here?" Knuckles asked with his hat away from his eyes. The three turned to see a big hole with a bright light inside. They looked at each other before going to the cave. The bright light blinded them for a few seconds until their vision adjusted from dark to light. Inside the cave were torches on the walls, a waterfall pouring out from a hole in the right wall, making a small pond. But the thing that caught the Mobians' attention was in the middle of the room. It was a stone shrine, inside was a large green gem shining brightly.

"What is this place?" Sonic asked with one hand on his hip.

"Hmm..." Tails pondered with a hand under his chin. "Looks like I'll have to investigate this place." He said, then put his backpack down to get the necessary supplies. Sonic was staring at the waterfall, then shivers a bit. Knuckles, meanwhile was staring at the shrine intensely.

"Don't you think a waterfall is a bit too much?" The blue hedgehog asked the red echidna. But when he turned, the other was gone. Sonic saw Knuckles going up the stairs of the shrine as if he was drawn to it. After looking at the large gem in the shrine, the hedgehog felt a chill down his spine. He doesn't know why, but the aura around it spells out bad news.

"Hey Knux, I don't trust that thing. Can you come back?" Sonic asked as the echidna reached the last step. "Pretty please?" The hero whimpered with a forced smile. But Knuckles can only hear whispers, and only getting louder as he reach the giant green gem. His arm extended, and his mitten hand hovered over the gem with the whispers turning into demanding shouts.

"Oh, there you are!" Tails said after looking for his tool kit in his large backpack. His blue eyes saw that his echidna friend was in the shrine, and was about to touch the large gem.

"Knuckles don't touch it! It might be a booby trap!" The Kitsune warned.

"I'll get him," Sonic said. "But don't say booby again." He warned before running to the red Mobian. The fox rolled his eyes playfully on what his blue friend said. The voices around Knuckles almost make his ears ring as he felt heat hitting his palm from the gem. But when he was almost to put his hand on it, someone grabbed him from behind and pulled him away from the gem.

"Nope!" Sonic shouted. But as he was pulling the fighting echidna, they felt gravity pulling them down since the hedgehog missed the top step.

"Not again..." The Mobians thought in unison as they roll down the stairs. Tails watched the two roll down the stairs before face palming. Sonic landed on his back, but yelped when Knuckles landed on top of him. The hero opened his eyes to see the echidna was staring down at him with half-closed annoyed eyes. The blue one gave him an awkward smile.

"Whoa! Take me to dinner first." Knuckles rolled his eyes then got off of Sonic with a scowl.

"What was up with you at the shrine back there?" The Kitsune asked with worry. The echidna looked over his shoulder to the shrine as he noticed that the voices disappeared. He looked at the concerned fox.

"I don't know. It felt like my body was controlled by someone else." The red Mobian said while rubbing the back of his neck.

"Well, I'll have Sonic watch you, so you won't touch the gem." Tails said. Sonic put his arm on Knuckles' shoulder while wearing the cowboy hat that dropped during the fall.

"Don't worry, I'll be the best guard!" The hero said with a cheeky grin. The echidna glared at him, then snatched his hat back in a quick motion. The fox looked at a cave wall to their right.

"Guys, check this out." He said as he walks to the wall. The red and blue Mobians follow behind to see a large mural with ancient words under the painting. Knuckles read the words as the other two were looking at the drawing.

"This is the ancient echidna language." The red male said to his friends. The two Mobians looked at him with interest.

"Wait, you can read this?" The Kitsune asked with curiosity.

"Yes. My dad taught me to read this." The echidna explained before walking closer to the writing.

"You had a dad?" After saying that, Sonic felt a weak punch from his two-tailed friend on his arm. "What?" He asked. Knuckles decided to ignore the comment as he was more focus on reading what's on the wall.

"Alright," He said before reading out loud. "To who ever unleash the God of Destruction, will be shrouded in darkness if they don't have a pure of heart." When the red one stopped, the trio all looked at the painting that show a large monster with large tentacles. Around the monster, was hearts that were painted black. And the black ink slightly ran down, looking to blood.

"I think my dad told me something like this. A thousand years ago, the ancient echidnas angered their god named Chaos. To punish them, Chaos sealed them in darkness like their hearts. Or killed them, my dad wasn't sure about that detail." Knuckles said with uncertainty.

"I think killing them is better. Sealing them in darkness is pretty dumb." Sonic admitted.

"Sonic, people still died." Tails said with a concerned look. The hedgehog scratched his cheek with an awkward smile.

"Come on, I was joking about that. I'm a hero now, so I can't say anything like that." The hero said while looking ahead with his fists on his hips and chin up. The echidna rolled his eyes in annoyance. But they suddenly dilated as the voices came back. Violet eyes looked straight to the shrine that held the giant gem. He walks away without his friends paying attention.

"But you can't have an attitude like that." Tails said with his hands on his hips. Sonic crossed his arms and raised a brow at the little fox.

"What do you mean by attitude?" He questioned. The two-tailed fox was about to say something, until he noticed someone was missing in their group.

"Hey, where's Knuckles?" He asked nervously. They turned to see the said echidna getting close the giant gem in the shrine. He extended his arm to it like before, his shaky dilated eyes stared at it.

"Touch it!"

"Free us!"

"Save us!"

He could see black inky hands gripping on his arm, forcing Knuckles' hand to get close to the gem. He could feel the heat radiating from the powerful jewel once again. The voices were so loud, that he didn't hear Sonic shouting his name. When he felt someone pulling him back, the echidna fought it off then finally put his mitten hand on the gem. The voices cheered loudly when the gem started to crack under his hand.

"What the hell?" Knuckles heard Sonic questioned behind him. The cracks started to expand until it surrounded the whole gem. Knuckles pulled his arm back when water started leaking through the cracks. The hedgehog and echidna step back when the cracked gem started to shake.

"What did you-" Before the hero could finish, the whole gem exploded, making the two fly and hit the ground near the stairs.

"Guys!" Tails rushed by their sides in a matter of seconds. Sonic and Knuckles stood up while groaning as pain flowing through their bodies. Shards from the gem floated for a moment before flying away in different directions.

"What was that all about?" The hedgehog asked while rubbing his nicked ear with the wrapping hanging loosely. The echidna rubbed his head before he felt a sinking feeling in his stomach. He looked at his friends to see they had the same feeling. Soon, their feet lifted off of the ground as if they could fly.

"W-What's going on?!" Sonic asked with fear in his wide eyes.

"I-I think Angel island is falling!" Tails stuttered out.

"But how?" Knuckles asked. The hedgehog looked at the alter of the shrine to see a puddle of water floating above where the gem was. Before he could think, the three landed roughly back to the ground. They groaned at the impact.

"I swear," Sonic said with an annoyed look. "If we hit the ground one more time, there's going to be hell!" He hissed while rubbing his sore jaw he landed on. Tails groomed his messy tails, but stopped when his eyes looked up at the shrine.

"Water isn't suppose to do that." He whimpered out. The other two had a confused face, before looking up at the shrine. Their eyes widened on what they can see. The puddle that Sonic saw earlier was forming into a being from the stone floor. It formed into a humanoid creature with long limbs, a small tail, two fin-like protrusions on the back of his head, and a brain that was seen through. It lazily lifted his head to reveal blood red eyes. The water creature looked at its arms to see chains around the wrists. While the monster was examining itself, the three Mobians stared at it from the ground.

"What the heck is that thing?" Sonic whispered.

"I-I think that's Chaos." Knuckles whispered back in surprise.

"Of course!" The hedgehog hissed quietly. "You had to release a freaking monster that killed a bunch a people!" Before the echidna could respond, the Kitsune butted in.

"We need to get out of here! There's no way we could defeat him." Tails whispered while shaking. The other two nodded in unison. When the trio slowly stood up, it quickly got the attention of the former Guardian. In the monster's eyes was gray except for the frozen Mobians. Chaos looked at the shaking fox, and sees through his beating heart. The heart was bright around it, almost golden. The monster moved to the echidna, memories of the echidna clan rushed through him like a wave. He shakes in anger, not seeing the echidna's heart was bright like the fox's. Chaos lifted his arms in the air as he lets out an angry screech. The screech bounces off of the caves' walls, making the trio cover their ears. Knuckles jumped back with his hands still over his ears to dodge Chaos' punch. The monster's fist was stuck in the stony ground. As it was struggling to get out, Sonic took a few steps back.

"Water...It had to be made out of water?!" He thought while shaking. The water monster turned into a puddle then it jumped in front of the hedgehog. After transforming back to his physical form, he stared down at the frozen hero with red glowing eyes. Sonic tried to stop his shaking, and gulped loudly out of nervousness.

"So...You're from Labyrinth Zone?" He asked with a forced smile. Chaos didn't hear that remark as he was focusing on the hedgehog's heart. The beating heart is almost dark, as if it was close to being surrounded by darkness. When red eyes moved back to the blue Mobian's face, the water monster could only see a black hedgehog with the same red eyes as his. Chaos raise his arm in the air which sharp claws formed to slash the hedgehog. Sonic gasped then jumped to the side, barely dodging the sharp claws. When the claws scratched the stony floor, the former Guardian almost hit the ground when someone punched him in the back. He looked over his shoulder to see the echidna with his fists up, ready to fight. Chaos fully turned around to accept the fight.

"Watch out Knux!" Sonic shouted from behind the water monster. "It has sharp claws." He warned. The echidna had half-closed annoyed eyes.

"No shit!" He shouted with his arms out. As the two argue around the former Guardian, Chaos decided to speed up the fight to shut them up. Extending his arms, the monster grabbed Knuckles by the dreadlocks and Sonic by the scarf from behind. Both Mobians struggled to get out of the water creature's grip.

"Don't hurt them!" Chaos looked ahead to see the fox kid shaking like a leaf, and had tears forming in his eyes. The former Guardian stared at the Kitsune as the two were fighting against his grip. Chaos did a 360 then threw the Mobians at different directions. Sonic landed in the pool where the waterfall is, while Knuckles hit his back on one of the shrine's pillars. When the fox went to help his friends, the water monster decides to leave the cursed room to the outside world. He turned into a puddle and quickly left the room. He climbed up the slope easily, and then quickly navigated the cave. Until he stopped when he sees the collapsed exit in front of him. The puddle squeezed through the cracks to the rainy outdoors. He reformed to look up at the gray sky with narrowed red eyes. Chaos didn't noticed that a red robot was sitting under a tree, watching the monster closely. A red light blinks inside Gamma's eye, meaning it's recording the frozen water creature. When rain drops lands on the monster, it adsorbs them into its body. After a few minutes of standing there, Chaos jumped in the air, turning into a flying puddle to jump through the rain drops that were pouring down the fallen island. Gamma stood up, and ran after the strange creature. While running, he calls his master to get the next command.

~Meanwhile at Station Square~

"Hmm..." Eggman hummed to himself as he look at the menu.

"Are you ready to order, sir?" The yellow fox/rabbit hybrid waiter asked politely. The waiter fixed his glasses when he sees two robots sitting in the same table as the man, reading their menus like people.

"Ah, yes," Eggman finally said. "I'll have a chili dog. And these two rust buckets will have whatever scrap metal you can find." The man ordered as the three gives their menus to the hybrid waiter.

"Alright, your food will be ready in a few minutes." The waiter informed after writing the order, then walks to the kitchen.

"Is it me, or does that waiter looked familiar?" Cubot asked.

"I thought so too." Orbot said, agreeing with his counterpart. The doctor rolled his eyes, before seeing his watch is blinking. Seeing Gamma was calling, he answered the call by a push of a button.

"What is it? Has the rat and his posse got out of the cave yet?" Eggman asked before drinking his glass of water. When his robot sent a recorded video and played it, the human spat out his drink. He coughs as the customers stared at him with confusion.

"What's wrong, sir?" The red robot asked in concern. After his breathing went back to normal, the man showed the robots the video of a water creature standing in the rain.

"Is that-"

"Yes!" Eggman interrupted Orbot. "It's the Destruction God, Chaos! I never thought I'll ever see the day he comes back." He said as the hybrid waiter puts their food on the table.

"Gamma, follow Chaos until I can get his location. But be careful, I don't feel like repairing you anytime soon." The doctor ordered as Cubot gives the waiter a handful of money. Gamma nodded at the command before ending the call to continue following the jumping water on foot, leaving the collapsed cave behind him.

I hope you've enjoyed!

I'm sorry if grammar in this chapter is weird. I got rid of Grammarly. So I'm sorry if there's errors on the tense and commas.

And I agree with you Lightspeed935. I'll make Chaos mute for now on. If you want me to rewrite that chapter, I'll gladly do it.

The waiter at the end was a cameo of my friend's (Teharrisonfox) OC (Skye). Check them out!

So, the teaser for Sonic's design came out. When I first saw it, I was both confused and disappointed. But after a week, I got used to it. And when the "leaked" early concept image came out, for some reason I didn't like what Sonic looked like. He looks like my Sonic Build-A-Bear. But when the official trailer comes out I'll give my full thoughts on it.

Anyways, have a good day/night!