Ready for the next chapter?

In the last chapter, Sonic, Tails, and Marine discovered the Plant Kingdom, and found some Green Material, one of the materials needed to build the sailboat. As they left, they met one of Marine's friends, Tabby, and told them a little bit about the village's youth association, the Coconut Crew.

Now the trio sets off for the Machine Labyrinth, located southwest of the Plant Kingdom.

Chapter 4: Machine Labyrinth: The Mechanized Maze.

Sonic, Tails, and Marine were about to head to the Wave Cyclone's dock when Tabby told them to hold up.

"Wait up, you three!" Tabby called. The trio turned around to see what he wanted.

"You might want to leave the Green Material with me. If you take it with you, you might lose it in the Machine Labyrinth. It's a maze in that place." Tabby explained.

"Good idea. Thanks, Tabby." Tails said as he handed the materials to him. He took it back inside and put it in a crate for safe-keeping, and the trio headed out to the dock.

"Well, now we just have to get that Metal Material, and we should be able to build the sailboat." Tails told the other two.

"I can't wait. This is going to be fun!" Marine exclaimed. Sonic just shook his head.

"This is going to be a long day!" Sonic said.

"What was that, mate?" Marine asked. She had overheard him.

"Nothing. Just talking to myself." Sonic quickly replied as they reached the waterbike. Sonic jumped on it and started it up as Tails took Marine's hand and started to fly. Soon, Sonic was speeding away, with Tails and Marine following behind. They sailed towards the Plant Kingdom, where they would start heading southwest to the island Tabby mentioned. But before they could leave, they saw something approaching at a high speed. It was a white-and-green robot with yellow eyes, something that looked like a mouth, and its chest had a skull symbol that was obviously a pirate signal. The robot's head looked like a shark, complete with a fin near the back. The robot stopped in front of the trio.

"Hey, you must be the blue hedgehog that I've heard of." The robot said. "I heard you were fast, but you're not as fast as me! Let's see what you've got!"

"Huh? Who are you?" Sonic asked.

"I am the sultan of speed, the unparalleled and unequal Johnny." The robot introduced himself. Sonic, Tails, and Marine just looked at him for a few seconds, then burst out laughing. Was this robot for real? "Hey! What's with the laughing? No one can keep up with me! No one!"

"You really want to go up against me in a test of speed?" Sonic asked.

"What's the matter? Are you scared?" Johnny asked.

"Sounds interesting. You're on!" Sonic accepted the challenge. Marine, eager as Sonic and Tails had come to know, stepped up, however.

"Hold it! If you're looking for a test of speed, you gotta go through me 'ere, first!" Marine said. "I'm Captain Marine, the speed milk-drinking champion of Windmill Village."

"I don't have time to waste on humoring you, kid." Johnny said. He then turned to Sonic. "Come on, hedgehog, let's do this!"

Marine, feeling cocky, started to taunt the robot. "Ha! You're just scared I'll beat ya, you mug! I don't blame you, though, really. Wouldn't want to lose to me after all that 'sultan' yabber."

Johnny couldn't believe it. Was he going to let this girl taunt him? Not in his robotic life.

"I'm not going to sit here and listen to this! Not even from a kid! Alright, I'll take you on first, then!" Johnny challenged.

"That's the spirit! Let's go!" Marine said. Sonic quickly interfered.

"Hold it, Marine. Let me take him on." Sonic said. Marine quickly declined.

"Come on, Sonic. Let me! Please?" Marine asked. Sonic wasn't sure of himself, though. Could Marine really do it?

"I guess you can, Marine." Tails spoke up. Sonic was surprised.

"Are you serious, Tails?" Sonic asked.

"I'm sure. She looks determined, just like you usually are." Tails said.

"Alright, I suppose." Sonic replied, not too happy with it.

Marine hopped onto the Wave Cyclone while Johnny brought out a red speedboat and revved it up. Tails set a starting point and told them how this challenge would play out.

"Alright, here's how this goes. Both of you will race one lap around the island." Tails said.

"If I win, you surrender the boat to me." Johnny said. "And if you win, I give you this nice gem I found while racing here."

Johnny then pulled out a red gem that was all too familiar to Sonic and Tails.

"The Chaos Emerald?" Sonic and Tails both asked.

"So that's what this is. Well, to tell you the truth, I don't really need it, but I won't just hand it over." Johnny said.

"Fair enough." Sonic replied. Marine and Johnny got ready.

3…2…1…GO!

Marine and Johnny started off. The island was fairly large, with a few rock outcroppings here and there, along with some small sharks floating around the island. Marine got a small lead for the first few seconds, but Johnny put his boat into high gear and started to speed past her. Both of them had to dodge the rocks sticking out of the water, which wasn't all that hard. But as they neared the finish, Johnny activated a booster on his boat that gave him a large lead on Marine.

"See ya at the finish, squirt!" Johnny called. That didn't sit too well with Marine.

"WHAT'D YOU CALL ME!?" Marine yelled. Johnny knew he had done it.

Johnny tried to go even faster, but Marine had kicked the booster and hit a nearby rock that served as a ramp, and the height allowed her to slam Johnny on the head. The force also had a side effect of propelling Marine right across the finish line.

"Marine won!" Tails said, surprised.

"I don't believe it." Sonic replied.

Johnny couldn't believe he had lost. He'd learn to keep his mouth shut next time. He pulled out the red Chaos Emerald.

"Here, take it. I don't really know why I should keep it anyway." Johnny said as he tossed the emerald to Sonic, who caught it. Johnny sped away as Sonic, Tails, and Marine continued on to the Machine Labyrinth. It only took a few more minutes for them to reach the island. When it came into view, they saw a bunch of machines working on the island. No doubt the place was where people got their machinery in…wherever they were. They landed the waterbike and stepped onto the island, which couldn't be called an island since there was no beach. As usual, Marine was the first one to speak up.

"Wow! It really IS an island of machines! Reckon you've ever seen anything like that?" Marine asked. Tails took a look around the island.

"Hmmm…it looks like it's all steam-powered. Very impressive." Tails remarked. "If only I could use some of this technology."

Marine was looking around when she saw a strange lever.

"Hey, what's this handle do?" Marine asked as she tried to pull it, but couldn't. "Grr! It's stuck and I can't turn it."

"Marine, watch out! That could be dangerous, so don't touch it!" Tails warned, but Marine didn't listen.

"No drama, mate. No drama." Marine said before seeing another one. "Aha! Here's another one! But it won't budge either."

Tails couldn't think of anything to say.

"I wonder what this island is designed to do." Sonic wondered. At that moment, Marine spotted something in the distance and wandered off without Sonic and Tails noticing.

"Hmm…well, I can't tell for sure, but it seems to be some kind of steam contraption." Tails said.

"First there was the jungle, and now this island? There's a lot of weird stuff here. What's next? An undersea cavern covered in gems?" Sonic asked.

"You're right about the weird stuff. Since anything could happen, we should all be extra careful." Tails said.

"Yeah." Sonic agreed. "That goes for you, too, Marine."

But when they turned around, Marine wasn't there. Where could she have gotten off to? They looked around, but didn't see her.

"…huh? Marine?" Sonic asked, but there was no answer.

"She's gone! Sonic, what should we do?" Tails asked.

"Damn it. She really IS hopeless. And after all that talk about being careful, too…" Sonic's voice trailed off.

With that, Sonic and Tails decided to head deeper into the island, hoping to find Marine. Once they reached the center of the island, where the most machines were located, they were shocked to see an actual labyrinth. From a distance, it seemed like there was no exit to it.

"How…are we…to get through this?" Tails asked.

"Simple. You stay in the air and guide me." Sonic said. "First, guide me to Marine, and once we get her, lead us to the exit."

"Right." Tails responded, then took to the air as Sonic entered the maze.

With Tails in the air, Sonic thought it would be easy. However, once he got in the maze, he saw that the maze walls changed position every few seconds, making it useless. Tails, up above, saw this too, and flew down to Sonic.

"Uh, Sonic, I don't think flight will help here." Tails told Sonic.

"What was your first clue? Was it the constantly shifting walls?" Sonic asked, annoyed.

"Hey, calm down. I know you don't like the fact that Marine wandered off, but you don't have to get mad like that." Tails retaliated. Sonic just waved it off. He just wanted to find Marine and get out of here.

He didn't have to wait long, because he found a small sign revealing the trick of the maze.

"To thee who wish to clear this labyrinth, each time you have a choice of turns, make a right one, and ye shall find the exit."

"Well, that could have been placed earlier in the maze." Sonic complained.

They followed the sign's directions, and soon enough, they found Marine on the other side.

"Marine! There you are! What did we tell you about being careful?" Sonic asked, annoyed.

Marine turned around and saw Sonic and Tails.

"Oh, Sonic and Tails! Where've you two been? I've been worried sick about you blokes!" Marine said. This didn't fly too well with Sonic.

"What are you talking about? YOU were the one who took off." Sonic said, a little louder than he usually talked.

"Yeah! It's dangerous to be out here all by yourself." Tails agreed.

"Oh, you blokes get stressed out too easily." Marine said.

"Well, she doesn't know what we've been through." Sonic whispered to Tails.

"Yeah." Tails agreed.

Just then, Marine noticed something.

"Oooooh! What's THAT, mate? That floating thing! It looks fun!" Marine said. Both of them wondered what she was talking about. Then they noticed.

"Come on, Sonic, let's have a go at it. It'll be fun!" Marine said.

"Just hold it a sec, Marine. If anyone's going to have fun, it's going to be ME!" Sonic said before running off.

"Not if I have anything to say about it!" Marine said before running after him. Tails just shook his head.

"Why am I always dragged into these problems?" Tails asked himself before flying off after them.

The trio landed on a ring in a lower area. The 'thing' looked like a blue robotic blimp with a red knob on its head. Hanging from it was a white string with a small green ball attached to it.

"What is this?" Marine asked.

"I don't know, but I think it's time to bring this thing down." Sonic replied.

Machine Labyrinth: Ghost Pendulum

The so-called battle began with the robot swinging the ball at the trio, trying to hit them with it. The heroes ducked low, however, to avoid them. Marine, wanting to have fun, decided to hit the ball back. She punched it hard, and the ball was sent flying to the top of the robot. It hit the top of the robot's head, and came back down.

"Marine, you've done it again!" Tails called. "We have to knock the ball back to its head!"

Sonic decided to get the next shot. He did a spin dash, and before passing it, he jumped so that the force of his attack would be enough. It was, and the robot took another hit. At that moment, an electric shock came from the bottom of the machine and hit the ground, creating a shockwave. The trio managed to jump over it, but it gave the robot enough time to have a drone attach a larger yellow ball to it. This one was a little heavier than the green one, so it would take more force. Marine hit it first, which caused it to rise about halfway, then it started coming back down. Sonic saw it coming, however, and jumped into it, causing it to hit the robot again. Tails caught it spinning around as it came down, and hit it again, causing the robot to be hit again. It released another shockwave, which the trio jumped over, then a heavy red ball was attached to the robot. This one would take a lot of power to get it to the robot. Marine once again started it off by punching the ball. As it came down, Tails slammed it with his tails, causing it to fly higher. As it came down again, Sonic charged up a spin dash and jumped into the ball, causing it to come around and hit the robot. The force was so great that it knocked the balls loose, and the robot came down. The red ball then hit the robot one more time, and the robot started to explode. It exploded into a bunch of brown metal pieces, which were in a hexagonal shape with a hole in the center.

Ghost Pendulum: Destroyed!

"We did it!" Marine said as she jumped for joy.

"And I guess that this is one of the types of Materials?" Sonic asked. Tails looked at the shipbuilding book.

"Yep. This is called Bronze Material. Let's grab as much as we can and leave." Tails said quickly.

They grabbed as much as they could, but before they left, Sonic caught a glimpse of red on the side. Apparently it had came out of the robot when it exploded. Sonic went to pick it up, and he couldn't believe what it was. What he had picked up was a red square-cut emerald.

"No way! Is this a Sol Emerald?" Sonic asked. Tails noticed what Sonic was holding, and went over to see it for himself.

"Sonic, what is that?" Tails asked.

"I think this is one of the Sol Emeralds." Sonic said.

"Why would the Sol Emeralds be here?" Tails asked.

"I don't know. I wonder what Blaze is going to say when she finds out that one of them has gone missing." Sonic said.

"Hey, Sonic!" Marine called. "That was awesome. When I step down, I'll make you the captain. Not that I plan on calling it quits anytime soon."

"Man, what is with her?" Sonic asked himself, clearly annoyed.

"Something bugs me. I wonder what that robot was that attacked us." Tails mentioned.

"I can answer that, mate." Marine spoke up. Sonic and Tails looked at her. "There's gotta be some secret organization that's out to get me, yeah? They're jealous of my famous adventures, and they want to put a stop to them."

Sonic just rolled his eyes. Tails couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Ha, I'm just kidding ya. Though it would be cool if it were real. Actually, Tabby told me a few rumors about rogue robots going around." Marine said. "But even if it were true, they can't stop me! My adventuring spirit will not be broken so easily!"

Sonic brightened up a bit at that.

"Yeah! That's the spirit, Marine." Sonic said.

With that, they headed back to Southern Island, two emeralds and a set of new Materials with them.

End of Chapter 4.

Sonic, Tails, and Marine have found new Materials, a Chaos Emerald, and surprisingly, a Sol Emerald. Why are the Sol Emeralds in where the heroes are? How did the Chaos Emeralds get there? How were they going to get back to their world? Who are these robots that keep attacking them? You'll have to find out in the next chapter.

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