It's time for Chapter 5.

In the last chapter, the trio encountered a speed robot named Johnny, who challenged them to a race. The prize was a Chaos Emerald. Marine raced Johnny, and surprisingly won. Afterwards, they went to the Machine Labyrinth, where they found a Sol Emerald, as well as some Bronze Material. Now they can build a sailboat. But where are they, and what are the Emeralds doing in that place?

Some mysteries will be solved in this chapter.

WARNING! If you have not beaten the Coral Cave Zone in the actual game and do not want anything spoiled, or if you do not know what's coming and don't want to know, then do NOT read this chapter (or possibly the rest of the story), as there is a major spoiler for those who have not reached that point.

Chapter 5: Surprise at the Coral Cave.

Sonic, Tails, and Marine had just returned from the Machine Labyrinth with as much Bronze Material as they could carry. If Tabby hadn't done anything with the Green Material that they had collected from Plant Kingdom, everything was good to go in building the sailboat. They entered Marine's house, and saw every last bit of Green Material sitting in the corner.

"Good. At least nothing has happened to it." Tails said.

They got the Green Material and carried it to the southeastern edge of the island. A cliff was located there, and was perfect for a dock. The problem was, where were they going to find the items needed for a dock?

"Marine, is there anything in that book that says anything about docks?" Tails asked.

"Lemme check." Marine replied as she looked through the book. She flipped through about 10 pages before finding something. "Aha! It says here that if a dock hasn't been built for a boat, then the dock will be created along with the boat. What's best is that it requires no extra Materials."

"Well, that's convenient." Sonic said, surprised.

"Well, we have the Green and Bronze Materials, so let's go." Tails said. He handed Marine some blueprints. "This is the design for our sailboat."

Marine looked at the design for the sailboat.

"Not bad, mate. Alright, stand back!" Marine said as she tossed the Materials into the air. They started forming a circle, which Marine tossed the blueprints into. They quickly backed off as a small explosion was made in the side of the cliff, near the water. The materials, as well as the blueprints, headed inside, and a bright light emerged from it, blinding Sonic, Tails, and Marine temporarily.

When the light disappeared, there was a wooden door where the hole had been created, accompanied by two wooden lighthouses on each side. Up on the cliff, a door that served as a hatch to lead to the sailboat had appeared.

The trio descended into the dock, and found a large wooden sailboat. It had white sails on the top that doubled as a weather shield, a blue hull with a red bow at the front, two mill wheels that served as the propellers, two flaps on the sides at the rear, and a small radar in the rear. On the front of the ship was a depiction of a brown eagle. There was also a hatch in the back for the Wave Cyclone, in case they encountered Johnny out on the seas again.

"Alright! Finally, our sailboat! We did a bonza job." Marine said excitedly. "Let's get to sailing, mates!"

"Uh, Marine, we just tossed the blueprints into the circle of Materials. It was nothing special." Tails told her.

"Ah, let her believe what she wants. Personally, I don't care." Sonic told Tails, albeit quietly.

"Well, at any rate, we can sail out to even further islands." Tails said.

"Thanks for the hard yakka, there, crew. This is a beaut 'ere, it is." Marine said excitedly.

"Uh, Marine, I just said…" Tails began, but Sonic placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Remember what I said, Tails." Sonic reminded him. He then turned to Marine. "So, where do we go next?"

"Hmmm. Let me see…" Marine began, when the trio heard a voice.

"Yip yip!" Someone called. They turned to see who it was.

"Who's that?" Marine asked.

A gray koala appeared. He was wearing blue goggles with violet rims, a brown beret, and something that looked like a blue necktie. He also had the same brown shoes.

"Heeey, Marine! How are ya?" The koala asked.

"Oh, if it ain't the spy! G'day there, cobber! Long time no see!" Marine said.

"Spy?" Sonic asked.

"He's the Coconut Crew's…uh…Intelli….erm…Infiltra…Oh, I just can't think of it!" Marine complained.

"Information specialist?" Tails asked.

"Yeah, that's it. Anyway, this bloke 'ere is the Colonel. He calls himself a spy." Marine introduced the Colonel.

"Hmmm, calls himself a spy…" Sonic muttered.

"G'day! Nice to meet you! So, who're you lot, then?" Colonel asked.

A few minutes later, they had finished telling Colonel the whole story.

"So you and Marine built that boat? Nice job." Colonel said.

"It was nothing. We just did what I had done with the other boats I had built." Marine told him.

"Well, it looks like you can go a long way in that." Colonel remarked.

"Yeah. Problem is, we still need to figure out where to go." Marine mentioned. Then she remembered something. "Hey, Colonel, I bet you know tons of stuff, mate!

"Well, yeah, I've got plenty of intel. It doesn't come cheap, though, I warn ya." Colonel said. Marine wasn't too happy about that.

"Say what? Come on, mate! Tell us, please? Aren't we, like, best buddies and all that?" Marine asked eagerly.

"Okay, okay, just calm down. I'll tell you. Hold your horses!" Colonel said, trying to calm her down. "Well, I saw a long stretch of shallows on the western side of the machine island."

"The shallows?" Tails asked.

"Well, my spy sense was tingling, see, so I followed my hunches!" Colonel explained.

"We've got to give it a gander! I'm just dyin' for a good walkabout! Come on!" Marine said.

"Well, we might as well check it out, right?" Sonic asked.

"Okay, let's go." Tails said.

The trio entered the sailboat, which Tails called the Ocean Tornado. Colonel opened the doors at the entrance, and the Ocean Tornado sailed out. As they were going by the island, Tabby came out with the Wave Cyclone and loaded it up in the rear compartment. He then swam back to the island since it wasn't that far. With that, the Ocean Tornado was on its way. They took it to the Machine Labyrinth, where they would start heading for the shallows. Once they reached the island, they saw something coming at high speed. Sonic knew who it was.

"Oh great! Here comes Johnny." Sonic muttered.

Sure enough, it was Johnny. He stopped in front of the sailboat when he saw the trio.

"Well, look who we have here. It's the blue hedgehog." Johnny greeted.

"What do you want?" Sonic asked.

"I found another one of those 'Chaos Emeralds' as you call them. I know you're interested in them, so I thought to myself 'Why not challenge you to another race?'" Johnny explained as he held up the blue emerald.

"Alright! You're on!" Sonic said.

"I'll take him on again." Marine said. Sonic allowed it since Marine won the last race. Marine and Johnny lined up at the set start point.

"Alright, this is the same as the last one. One lap around the island. This time, there are more obstacles, and the course is a little longer." Tails told them.

3…2…1…GO!

This time, Johnny started out with a turbo boost. Marine quickly fell behind, but she activated her own booster, and caught up quickly. Johnny looked behind and saw Marine closing the gap. Johnny wasn't about to let himself be beaten by a kid. He quickly laid a mine, which Marine narrowly dodged.

"Hey! No fair!" Marine yelled.

Johnny just ignored her and continued on his way. About three-quarters of the way through, he saw a ramp, but decided not to take it. Marine did the opposite, however, and gained a little speed in the process. Johnny realized his mistake, but by the time he did, Marine had passed him.

"Okay, no more games." Johnny said. He activated the booster, and narrowly dodged Marine as he passed by her. Unfortunately for Marine, he passed her right at the finish. Johnny had won.

"No way!" Marine said.

"Yes! I won!" Johnny gloated. He stopped in front of the Ocean Tornado. "Hey, I had fun. Here, take it! I don't need it anyway!"

He tossed the blue emerald to Sonic, then left. Sonic and Tails were surprised.

"He actually gave us the emerald, after we lost? That's awkward." Sonic commented.

"Well, at least we got it. Let's continue." Tails told them.

"I'm sorry I lost. I thought I had it won, too." Marine said, unsure of herself.

"It's okay. We got the emerald. Don't worry about it." Sonic told her.

They left the machine island and headed west, towards the shallows. After a few minutes, they saw a small island. All it had on it was a small ancient altar.

"What in the world is this?" Sonic asked.

"It looks like some kind of old altar." Tails replied.

"Hey, look! I think it can be budged." Marine said as she tried to move it.

"Marine, don't…" Tails began, but it was too late. Marine pushed the altar, which moved, then a large clank was heard as it was moved into place. An earthquake occurred, causing the trio to stumble. They managed to grab on to something to keep steady. Tails noticed something happening nearby.

"Hey, you two! Look at that!" Tails said. Sonic and Marine looked out in the direction Tails was pointing at, and saw the water start to ripple as something started to emerge.

"Crikey! Something's comin' out of the water!" Marine said.

"What is that thing?" Sonic asked.

The object finally fully emerged, revealing a cave.

"It's an island!" Tails said.

"Is it a trick…" Marine asked. "…or are we looking at a new challenge?"

"We might as well check it out." Sonic said. "What choice do we have, anyway?"

They boarded the Ocean Tornado and headed to the newly opened cave. Once they entered, they saw that what Sonic had said at the Machine Labyrinth was true. The cave was kind of underwater, with gems and other jewels embedded in the walls. There were also some coral plants located in various areas.

"What do you know! I was right!" Sonic said.

"I never thought that underwater caves existed." Marine said, excited. "It's like something out of a storybook. This is the best adventure ever! I'll lead the way!"

Marine started to take off, but Sonic held her back.

"Hold it, Marine! This could be dangerous." Sonic said. Marine just brushed him off.

"I'M the captain! I get to lead!" Marine yelled. Sonic didn't take too well to this.

"Okay, fine! Just stay behind me!" Sonic retaliated. "After all, a captain needs bodyguards, right?"

"But I want to lead from the front!" Marine told him.

"Marine, it really could be dangerous in there." Tails told her. That's when they noticed some footprints in the sand that led further into the cave.

"Marine, someone else may already be here!" Sonic warned.

"You're right! We can't let them get away!" Marine said.

Marine started to follow the footprints, as Tails followed. Sonic stood there for a few seconds. He was ready to bail out right then and there, but he didn't because of Tails, plus he didn't want anything bad to happen to Marine.

"Man, she never knows when to quit." Sonic said to himself before following them.

The cave was large. But the footprints only led one way. Luckily, there wasn't any water on the path they were following. After avoiding a few rock drops due to weak coral, they found a large red robot with a white moustache, a red pirate's cape and hat, and light-blue neon eyes that shifted from one to the other. It had white robot hands that looked like gloves. On its shoulders were two small robots. One was green, and the other was blue. The large robot walked up to what looked like an altar that was past a ring. On the altar was a black cane with a blue hook. It was glowing with a white aura. The robot pirate laughed.

"D'arr har har har! Shiver me timbers! It be the Jeweled Scepter! Looks like we'll be shipping out sooner than I thought." The robot pirate said with a deep voice.

Sonic and Marine ran up to the ring that was before the altar, while Tails stayed behind.

"Good going, boss!" The green one, named Mini, said.

"You're amazing, boss!" The blue one, named Mum, said.

"D'arr har har har! Avast! Hurry up and grab that scepter, mateys!" The robot pirate said.

Meanwhile, a shrouded figure watched from up above.

"I can't let him take that." The figure said quietly. It was a female. She didn't notice the two figures that were running to the robot.

"Aye aye, sir!" Mini and Mum said in unison. But Marine had caught up to them.

"Aha! 'ere we go!" Marine said as she ran up to him. Sonic was quick to follow.

"Huh? Who's that?" Sonic asked. The robot turned around to see the hedgehog and raccoon.

"D'arr!! Who might you be, you scallywags?" The robot asked.

"We should be asking you the same thing, old man!" Marine replied. Sonic and Tails caught up to her.

"You'd best be staying away, lest you fancy windin' up in Davy Jones' Locker!" The robot warned.

"See, old man, now you've got me all curious. What's your bizzo down 'ere, anyway?" Marine asked.

"Arr. You won't be hornswagglin' ol' Captain Whisker here!" Whisker said, giving away his name. "You three have been pilferin' around, makin' trouble for me and my mateys!"

"Sonic, do you think these are the guys who sent that robot after us in the Machine Labyrinth?" Tails asked Sonic.

"I think so." Sonic replied.

Marine had taken notice of Whisker's moustache.

"Oy, old man! That's a pretty nifty moustache you got there!" Marine said. She reached up and yanked on the moustache. Whisker didn't like that.

"Blimey! Let go of that, you filthy bilge rat!" Whisker said as he slammed Marine off of him. Marine hit a wall and fell down. Tails went to check on her.

"Marine, are you all right?" Tails asked, concerned.

"I…I think so." Marine replied.

"Okay, that was uncalled for!" Sonic said to Whisker, who didn't care.

"Nobody is allowed to set hand on me precious whiskers!" Whisker said. "I'll make ye rue the day!"

Whisker was about to take the scepter when they all heard a voice from above.

"Hold it right there! I won't let you take the scepter!" The voice called out as it descended in a small tornado of flames. Whisker staggered backwards as the figure landed in front of him. The fire dissipated, revealing a lavender cat that Sonic knew all too well.

"B…Blaze?!" Sonic asked.

Blaze turned around to see where the voice came from, and her eyes went wide as she saw Sonic.

"…Sonic?" Blaze asked.

"What are you doing here? Didn't you go back to your own dimension?" Sonic asked.

"No, wait! What are YOU doing here?" Blaze asked.

Whisker decided to remind them that he was still there.

"Avast ye! We've still got a score to settle, mateys! Ghost Kraken, seize them!"

Sonic and Blaze turned to him, only to see a blue robotic squid with green neon eyes appear in the center of the ring. It sealed off the ring, which prevented Tails and Marine from interfering.

"We'll talk later. Are you good to go, Sonic?" Blaze asked.

"Hey, remember who you're talking to!" Sonic replied.

Coral Cave: Ghost Kraken

The battle began with the Ghost Kraken raising two tentacles. One was normal, while the other had a green transparent end on it. Obviously, this was its weak point. Now the trick was hitting it. They didn't have to wait long, as the Ghost Kraken slammed down one tentacle, then the other. They stayed there for a few seconds, during which Sonic did a spin dash into the tentacle with the green end.

After doing so, it cracked a bit, causing the robot to retract both tentacles. It then used two of them to pull the ring underwater. Sonic held his breath, but noticed that Blaze wasn't holding hers. She didn't like the fact that she was in the water, though.

"Blaze, hold your breath!" Sonic said, his voice sounding different from the water.

"It's okay, Sonic. The water in this chamber is breathable. See those multicolored flowers in the water? They allow this water to be breathable." Blaze explained.

Sonic let out a breath, and saw that Blaze was right. He could breathe normally, but the water was still real, so their movements were slowed. The robot squid pulled out four tentacles, one at a time, and tried to knock Sonic and Blaze out. They jumped over them, however, and when Blaze jumped over the last one, she managed to hit it, causing it to crack even more. It then shot some ink out of its mouth, which covered the water in darkness. Neither of them could see well. The tentacles came out again, and slammed down at the same time. Sonic was caught under one of them, and it began to apply force. Luckily for Blaze, it was the weak one.

"I won't allow him to die!" Blaze declared.

She jumped over the tentacle, then slammed down on the weak spot, causing it to crack to the breaking point, as well as releasing Sonic. The robotic squid then brought the ring back up, and slammed all eight tentacles down at once. The ink from underwater had remained, however, and reduced Sonic's and Blaze's visibility. They could hardly see. Luckily, Sonic was able to clear his eyes, and saw that the Ghost Kraken was vulnerable. He jumped into the air and slammed down on the green bulb, which broke it. The resulting surge short-circuited the robot, and started to explode. The seal broke, allowing Sonic and Blaze to escape. The robot exploded, sending red crystals everywhere, as well as a blue square emerald. It was the blue Sol Emerald.

Ghost Kraken: Obliterated!

After the Ghost Kraken was destroyed, Sonic and Blaze turned their attention to Whisker, only to find that he was gone, along with the Jeweled Scepter. They couldn't believe it.

"Argh! They always seem to get away right at the last second." Blaze complained.

Blaze started to chase after them when Tails stopped her.

"Hey, where are you going?" Tails asked.

"Those pirates have gotten their hands on the Jeweled Scepter. It's an ancient treasure from my homeland, and I've got to get it back right away!" Blaze explained.

"I see. So those guys were pirates. That's why they kept messing with us." Tails said.

"You guys are caught up in this, too?" Blaze asked. Tails just nodded.

"Anyway, just why ARE you here, Blaze? Aren't you supposed to be back in your world?" Sonic asked. Blaze just looked confused.

"I should be asking you the same thing. Why are YOU here, Sonic?" Blaze asked. Now Sonic was confused.

"Say WHAT!?" Sonic asked. It was then that Tails realized it.

"I don't believe it! We've been sucked into Blaze's dimension!" Tails concluded. Sonic couldn't believe it. They had been in Blaze's dimension this whole time. Marine jumped in between them.

"Hold it! Will someone please tell me what's going on 'ere?" Marine asked.

A few minutes later, they were back on the Ocean Tornado, heading back to Southern Island. They had taken the emeralds (all four of them, because they had brought the other two along), as well as all of the red crystals, known as Red Material, they could carry. Along the way, Blaze had heard the entire story. The one thing that surprised her the most, was that Sonic had proposed to Amy.

"I see. So, you were caught up in the storm, and when you woke up, you were here." Blaze concluded.

"And then I found and rescued you lot." Marine added.

"Get real!" Blaze said.

"Actually, it's true." Sonic said.

"When I ended up in Sonic's world, it was because both our worlds needed to be saved. Plus I had been led there by the Sol Emeralds." Blaze explained.

"Then something's up." Tails concluded. "We'll help. By the way, it's better if all of us band together."

"No worries! Just leave it all to me!" Marine said, excitedly.

Blaze couldn't believe it.

"Sonic, by the way…who's this little girl?" Blaze asked.

"Little girl? You gonna treat me just like anyone, are ya? Sonic, Tails, don't let her yabber about your captain like that! Get her!" Marine commanded.

"Captain?" Blaze asked.

"It's a long story." Sonic said, annoyed. Then he noticed that someone was missing. "Hey, where's Silver?"

"I don't know. He went out to do some exploring, and I haven't heard from him since." Blaze said, worried. "I just hope he's okay."

"I'm sure he is." Sonic told her.

End of Chapter 5.

This chapter was a record breaker. It's the longest I've ever done, both in terms of length and word count! Hooray for me!

Sonic and Tails have found out that they are in Blaze's world, which solves some mysteries. But why are they there? And what's happened to Silver? What are the pirates going to do with the Jeweled Scepter? And will Sonic and Tails ever find a way home?

I can answer that last question. The answer: Not at the moment. But in the next chapter, they'll find a way to contact their own universe. Can you figure it out? If you're right, you get to ask a spoiler question about this story, and this story ONLY! Remember to include your spoiler question with your answer to this one.

Well, Read and Review.