Windy valley was a small valley that's closer to the edge of the Mystic Ruins. It got its name from all the strong winds that took place there and if one was not careful they could easily get blown away.
This is what both Sonic and Tails were keeping in mind as they made their way through Windy Valley. Of course, there was another thing that they had to deal with. Up ahead was a tornado. It wasn't moving around but staying in the exact same spot. This was due to it protecting an active Star Post.
"So how are we supposed to get through that?" Tails asked as the tornado came into view.
"You can fly, can you not?" Sonic responded.
"Well, yeah," Tails said wirily, "But I'm not sure if I can fly through that."
"The Star Post is at the very center of the Tornado towards the ground," Sonic explained to her, "We need only to get to the bottom."
"Easier said then done, "Tails said, "After all you have some very high winds in there. Not to mention the debris that's probably flying around in there."
"That debris is what will make this easier," Sonic said as he advanced towards the Tornado, "So are you coming?"
"Well, wouldn't it be better if we entered at the top of the tornado?" Tails asked.
Sonic nodded.
"Ok then, Tails said as she began to spin her tails. Once they reached a certain velocity they lifted her off the ground, "Let's get started."
Tails flew over to Sonic and grabbed his hands. A slight increase in her tails' velocity and they were off. Tails thought it best to gain the height needed before getting to close to the tornado so she just went straight up. As she cleared the tree tops she looked around. In the distance she could make out an old pyramid. She indicated the pyramid to Sonic but he didn't seem too amused.
"Pay attention to the task at hand, Sonic told her.
So Tails took her attention off of the pyramid. Not long afterwards she rose above the tornado. At that she made her way towards it as she braced herself for the strong winds. She made it above the tornado and already she could feel the force of it.
"Let's go, Sonic told Tails.
Tails nodded as she braced herself mentally and began her decent. The winds were all around her as they threaten to blow her off course and to who knows where. Just as Tails expected there were different sizes of ground here and there through out the tornado. Some were small and would only serve as annoyances while others were large enough to either stand on or use to make their way downward. Of course, Tails knew that doing that would require acrobatics that she was not familiar with. Sonic on the other hand would, have no problem with it.
Suddenly out of no where a basketball sized piece of earth came towards the two. Tails didn't noticed it until it had struck her just perfectly so that she let go of Sonic.
"Oh No!" Tails said as she regained her balance and went towards Sonic. Sonic didn't seem to be having any fear as he continued to drop. However, it seemed to Tails that the debris just then decided that they were going to stop her from reaching Sonic as different pieces continued to get in her way. Suddenly, a bigger piece hit Tails in the side. Knocking her into the walls of wind that made up the tornado. Tails screamed inside as she fought for control over the forcing winds but to no luck as the winds just carried her off. Not long Tails was ejected from the tornado. Tails got control as the force of her ejection knocked her a ways from the tornado.
"I've got to go back for Sonic, Tails said as she began to ascend to above the tornado.
Meanwhile, back inside the tornado, Sonic had heard the strike from the debris hitting Tails and he knew he'd have to continue on his own or risk getting ejected as Tails did. So Sonic turned his fall into a dive as he continued downward. He used the debris to help him continue down as he bounced off of them. It was a new challenge for him but Sonic was finding it not as difficult. His main concern was about when he finally reached the bottom. Of course, the way the winds were starting to pick up Sonic found that it was coming to the point that he could no longer just fall to proceed downward but he had to push off of the different debris. But there was enough of it around that it wasn't hard.
Finally, Sonic could see the Star Post. Like he had heard the Star Post was active. Sonic neared a decent size piece of debris and he used it to push himself the extra distance he needed to reach the Star Post. Sonic reached out his hand as he neared it and grabbed onto the Star Post. There was a flash and Sonic was brought inside.
Back towards the top of the tornado fighting to get down back towards the bottom, Tails noticed the Flash and knew that Sonic had made it to the Star Post. At this she wasn't sure of what to do. She had no doubt that Sonic would be able to get the Emerald from it but it was what would happen afterwards that worried her. Sonic said that the Tornado was caused by the Star Post Being active. But if that were true then would the tornado instantly stop after the emerald was retrieved or would it last a bit longer. If it lasted longer, then Sonic would need her down there to help him get out. But if it instantly died then she would have to worry about falling debris. So she decided to hang back. She had to trust that Sonic would be able to handle himself if the tornado was still there after he left.
Inside the Special zone, Sonic was working through it with not much problem. Of course, he had gone through so many special zones that they were no longer a challenge for him. True each special zone was unique in its own way when it came to ring and spike ball placements some even had different amounts of rings you had to collect. But to Sonic they just weren't challenging any more. The thing that was on his mind was about what would happen once he was done. He knew that the tornado would eventually die out once he had the Chaos Emerald. But he wasn't sure of how long it'd take. So he had to brace himself for it incase it was still going on. The other thing he had to watch out for was falling debris if it did die out immediately. Sonic wasn't worried about either way. He was just keeping them in mind so he knew what to expect.
Sonic made it to the end of the special zone to where the multiwall stood. He spun into it as to speed up the amount of time to get through it. The panels flashed through their different colors before disappearing all together. Once Sonic was through he grabbed the Emerald and in a flash he left the Special zone.
Back outside Tails noticed the flash from the Star Post and knew Sonic was finished. No sooner had it did then the wind from the tornado died out. Causing all the debris within it to fall. Tails wasn't as worried at this cause she knew that with Sonic's speed, he'd have no trouble clearing it. Tails maneuvered around so she could see Sonic. Eventually she spotted him as he was a safe distance away from the falling debris. Tails landed next to him. In his hands, Tails could see the Blue Chaos Emerald.
"Where too next?" Tails asked as she touched down.
Sonic glanced at the sun. It was at the horizon and in not much time would begin to set.
"Casinopolis," Sonic told her.
"There's a Star Post at the casino?" Tails asked.
Sonic nodded.
"Well, ok then..." Tails began but suddenly a beeping sound came from her COM, which was a device that looked similar to a watch but was also a type of computer.
Tails pressed the button to active the link. Rotor appeared on the screen.
"Hello Tails, Rotor said, "I'm just informing you that I've arrived and I'm having the plane shipped to Dash and Jazz's Workshop in the Mystic Ruins."
"All right," Tails replied, "We'll be there after we stop by Casinopolis."
"We?" Rotor asked raising an eyebrow.
"Me and Sonic," Tails said.
"Oh, well, I assume it's not for gambling," Rotor said.
"There's an active Star Post there," Tails replied.
"I get it," Rotor said, "Just swing on back here after your done."
"Right," Tails said as she closed the link. She then turned to Sonic, "Shall we?"
In response Sonic began walking and Tails followed.
A little before Sonic and Tails were risking their lives in the tornado, Knuckles had started an adventure of his own.
Knuckles had prepared a bag and was now in Station Square as he was searching for shards of the shattered Master Emerald. Of course, he didn't have a complete whereabouts to them but he just had this knack as he seemed drawn to them. Of course, has Knuckles had entered Station Square he was a bit overwhelmed. Considering he had been on Angel Island is oh life, seeing things like cars, huge buildings, and many Mobians were a bit much. Knuckles tried not to let it bother him as he continued his quest. He did think it was strange how the Master Emerald shards would be in a city like this but he realized that with not only when the Master Emerald was shattered did the pieces get scattered. Having the whole Island fall would also cause some of them to fall off.
So Knuckles' search continued. It didn't take him long as he found one of the pieces in an alley way. As he was about to leave, two Mobians came up blocking his way out. One was a Mobian Rhino while the other a slick Mobian Meer cat.
"Say who do you think you are, taking our Emerald," said the rhino.
"Your emerald?" Knuckles asked.
"Yes, Our emerald, The Rhino responded by the sound of his voice you could tell he was a bit dense, "We found it not long ago."
"Quiet, Slam," The Meer Cat said and Knuckles thought that he was the brains of the group.
"But he's trying to take the emeralds we found, Slick. Slam replied.
"You don't say we found the emerald, "Slick told him, "You say give it back to us or we'll use force."
At this Knuckles chuckled. Slick turned towards him.
"What's so funny?" Slick asked.
"You too, " Knuckles replied, "Thinking you can force me to give you MY emerald."
"You really think so?" Slick asked as he indicated Slam who was very muscular, "But my friend here thinks otherwise."
"I do?" Slam questioned.
"Don't talk, Slick said to him, "Just go pound that little guy into munch meat."
"Ok," Slam said. He began to advance on Knuckles who just stood there calmly.
Slam began to pound his fist into his other hand then cracking his knuckles. Knuckles the Echidna was still waiting patently. Finally, Slam was right in front of Knuckles.
"Ready for some hurt?" Slam asked.
Slam then punched at Knuckles, who easily dodged it. Then Knuckles punched Slam in the chest and Slam let out an ooff sound as the wind was knocked out of him. Knuckles followed his punch by turning around and grabbing Slam s arm. Then using simple leverage Knuckles flipped Slam over his shoulder. Slam just lied there as he was unconscious.
Knuckles turned to Slick who had his hands up and shivering.
"Uu... like Y-you said, Slick stammered out, "I-I-it's your emerald."
"Thought so, Knuckles said as he left the alley.
Knuckles went on from there as he found a few more Master Emerald shards. His searching eventually lead him to Casinopolis, which was Station Square's casino. The casino was closed so Knuckles began to look around outside. Suddenly a strange feeling came over him as he looked in a window of the Casino. Inside were all sorts of different gambling tables and machines but what caught Knuckles' interest was a display. On the display were Master Emerald shards encased in a glass dome. There was a sign that read, The Emeralds from the Sky.
Knuckles looked around and couldn't see a way inside. So he made his own way by breaking a window. He made his way over to the display and lifted the glass dome off of the shards. Knuckles placed the shards in his bag then walked back to the window.
Once outside Knuckles noticed a ring of Mobians in flying crafts. Each had a metal device and they had them pointed at him.
"We have you surrounded, The Lead Air guardian said to Knuckles, "give up and you will not be harmed."
Give up? Knuckles wondered, Just what did they mean?
Knuckles began to walk on but one of the air guardians fired a shot that landed just in front of Knuckles. Knuckles could feel the electricity from the shot. Knuckles turned towards the guardian who fire the shot. He wasn't too happy.
"Drop the bag and place your hands above your head," The lead Air guardian told him.
Drop the bag? These guys are after my emeralds, Knuckles thought.
Slowly knuckles placed the bag on the ground. He then placed his hands on his head and took a step towards the middle of the ring.
"There you go, The lead air guardian said he then motioned to other guardians forward.
The guardians pulled out a pair of handcuffs and grabbed Knuckles' arms to put them on him. However, Knuckles pulled forward as he sent the two air Guardians flying towards the two in front. They hit and they two still on their hover crafts were knocked off as they were pinned under the other two.
The two left opened fire on Knuckles. However, Knuckles was already heading towards one as he tackled him off his flying craft. Knuckles got back up and angled the other craft so it'd absorb the shots from the last remaining Air Guardian. Knuckles advanced towards the Air guardian keeping the hover craft in his line of fire. The air guardian paused on his firing and Knuckles used this as an opportunity to throw the hover craft at him. The hovercraft hit the unsuspecting guardian and he was knocked off.
With the Air Guardians neutralized, Knuckles went back and picked up his bag. He then took off down an alley way.
That went well, Knuckles said, I just don't get why so many people are after the Master Emerald shards.
Suddenly, Knuckles got the feeling that someone was behind him. Slowly Knuckles turned around to see a glowing orb advancing on him.
"What the..." Knuckles managed before he blacked out.