We arrived at Angel Island, but Knox was shocked to hear from Omega that there was a secret area that even he didn't know about. Specifically it was the Hidden Palace which was supposed to be on Angel Island.
Knox then said to us, "Back when he was still alive, Knuckles never told me about the Hidden Palace except that the only entrance was hidden somewhere in the Lava Reef Zone. Because of Robotnik's actions recently, I have resorted to carrying the Master Emerald with me at all times. Yet, for some reason, sometimes an orange light shines from it. I'm not sure what this means, but maybe the answer lies within the Mystic Ruins."
Suddenly the Master Chaos Emerald emerged from Knox's hand, grew to twice his size and shined an intense orange light. When it died down, a young Echidna girl wearing a tribal dress was standing right in front of us, Knox included. The Master Emerald then shrunk back to its small size and Knox put it away.
"Who are you?" Sonic asked the girl curiously.
"My name is Tikal the Echidna. I'm sure you have many questions, but first we must head for the Hidden Palace, Sonic Jr. and Shadow Jr. That includes you, Argentum and Knox."
We followed Tikal to the entrance of the volcano and then she leapt inside. Unsure of where else to go, we leapt into the volcano as well. I was surprised to notice that my feet ended up touching solid ground instead of lava. The same situation was also experienced by Knox, Argentum, and Sonic We then followed Tikal through the volcanic area, dodging traps set to deter intruders. Just before we found the entrance to the Hidden Palace, my radio ended up picking up a transmission.
"Okay, Cornelia, head left to flank those R- robots while I hold them off so they can't get artillery close enough to attack the Casino Night zone from a distance." a voice on one end of the transmission said.
"Understood, Zolt. Those robots are about to become scrap." said a voice on another end of the transmission.
"What's going on right now?" I shouted on my end.
"Did you just hear that, Cornelia?"
"Yep, someone is hearing us talk to each other over the radio. Let's introduce ourselves before cutting off."
"Alright, but first, who are you, one who overheard me?"
"The name is Shadow the Hedgehog Jr. and who are you?"
"The name is Zolt, Zolt the Bee. Sis, it's about time you talk to him."
"I am known as Princess Cornelia the Bee. Nice to hear you, Shadow Jr."
"In any case, Shadow Junior, I'm cutting the transmission now. Doing something important right now."
"Same thing on my end, Shadow Jr. This is Cornelia signing off."
The transmission ended as suddenly as my radio picked it up. We then found the entrance to the Hidden Palace and followed Tikal inside to a chamber that held some sort of shrine where a set of seven emeralds would rest along with a massive ornate altar for the Master Chaos Emerald. Knox pulled out the Master Emerald and it floated to the altar where, after it rested in its spot, grew to about five times my size.
"I will now answer any questions that you have." Tikal then said to us.
"First off, how come you weren't killed in the South Island Purge?" Sonic Jr. said to her.
"That's the easiest question for me to answer. I was actually caught up in it and killed, but the Master Emerald resurrected me as technically, I am already dead. You should also be aware that my physical body is currently sealed inside the Master Emerald."
"Then why were you killed in a forest fire back on Earth in 2015?" I asked her.
"My spirit was released from the emerald so that I could save innocent people from certain death. Vector, Charmy, and Espio, and Silver were also killed in the flames. Mighty the Armadillo was also around, but he was killed by a car bomb that caused the forest fire."
"You might not be aware of this, but from what I heard from Vlad, Mephiles the Dark shot Vector, Charmy and Espio, dropped them into a ditch, poured gasoline on them, and then allowed the flames to ignite the fuel." Argentum said to Tikal.
"As for that matter, I thought that none of the Chaotix's descendants apart from Vlad survived the South Island Purge." Knox said.
"There's one part of the purge that was recorded by the Master Emerald, but none of you saw it. I will now show you what had happened near the end of the South Island Purge."
