Chapter 3: Fight For The Master Emerald!

The hedgehog and the Koopa King were looking into each others eyes. They never looked away. It felt like they were in a staring contest, each determined to be the victor. Sonic and his friends, Tails and Knuckles, were on Angel Island, standing at the top of the altar of the Master Emerald. Bowser and his minions were afloat in their airships, just a few meters away from the floating island and the altar itself. The two seperate groups had different objectives with the Master Emerald. One needed to protect it, while the other wanted to steal it.

There was a long silence between the two groups. Finally, one of them spoke.

"So, what are you doing here?" asked Sonic. He was still giving eye contact to the Koopa tyrant.

"Hmph!" Bowser looked away from the hedgehogs stare, but quickly looked back. "What's more important is, what are you doing here?"

"Hey! I asked you first!" responded Sonic.

"Fine! hollered Bowser. "If you must know, I'll tell you. But I have a feeling you won't like it!"

Tails gave a huge gulp. Knuckles wanted to know. He knew that the Koopa King was here for the Master Emerald.

"Alright, listen..." Bowser said. "...whatever your name's are"

"It's Sonic! Sonic the Hedgehog!" Sonic interrupted. He smiled to himself.

"Yeah, Mr. Hedgehog, WE DON'T CARE!!" replied Bowser Jr. He was sitting on his own airship, which hovered beside Bowser's airship.

Knuckles gave Junior a quick look. "Nice kid you got there!"

Bowser groaned. "First, let me introduce myself. I am Bowser, King of the Koopas. Beside me is my trusty advisor, Kamek. And as you figured out already, that is my son, Bowser Jr." he pointed to Junior. "We're here for the Master Emerald. So I suggest you hand it to us right now if you don't want any trouble!"

"Grr..." Knuckles growled. "You'll never get it! You hear me! Never!"

"Knuckles, calm down!" Tails said. But Knuckles didn't listen.

"Look, Bowser! No matter what you do, you aren't getting the Master Emerald!" Knuckles screamed.

"Wow. Quite the temper, redhead." Bowser said. "What's your name?"

"My name?" Knuckles repeated. He was getting ticked off. Sonic and Tails could see it in his eyes. "I'm Knuckles the Echidna! Guardian of the Master Emerald!"

Bowser was a bit surprised. He didn't think that any human-being would be put in a job of guarding an ancient artifact. Although, he thought, Knuckles was an animal...

"So, you better keep your claws off the emerald or I'll have to turn you into a knuckle sandwich!" Knuckles added. He put his fist in the air.

"Hmph. I don't like your attitude, echidna." Bowser replied. Then he looked at Tails. "What's your name?"

The yellow fox himself was caught off guard, but introduced himself. "I'm Miles Prower, but everyone calls me Tails"

"Funny name, since you've got two tails." Bowser said.

"Umm...thanks?" answered Tails.

"Don't think that's a compliment."

Tails felt himself sink a little on the inside.

"Come on, Bowser, give him some space" Sonic said. As always, Sonic would always back up Tails.

Sonic and Tails were like brothers. They cared about each other deeply. Especially Tails. He thought of Sonic as an idol. Tails used to live in the forest, all by himself. None of the animals would want to be his friend, because of his intelligence. Then, one day, he caught a glimpse of Sonic run by him. He was amazed at how fast he could run. So, out of the blue, Tails chased after him. Using his two tails as a propeller, he finally caught up to the hedgehog. Sonic, who was astonished at how someone could catch up to him, let Tails join him on his adventures. Soon after that day, the two friends were inseparable.

"Tough words to say, hedgehog!" said Bowser.

"Now, I wanna know something." Sonic asked. "Are you working for someone called Dr. Eggman?"

Bowser gave a confused look. Junior could only laughed at the name.

"Hahaha! Dr. Eggman? What kind of wacked name is that?" Junior asked. He kept laughing.

"I'm guessing they're not working for anyone." said Knuckles.

"Now, enough of this side talk!" Bowser announced." Hand over the Master Emerald now, or face the consequences!"

"I told you! You're not getting the Master Emerald!" shouted Knuckles.

"Hmph. Then you leave me with no choice" Bowser pointed at them. "Attack, my Koopa Troop!"

Suddenly, a group of Koopa Troopas and Goombas jumped off Bowser's airship. They surrounded Sonic and his friends.

"Whoa! What the heck are these guys?" yelled Knuckles.

"They look like...some sort of turtle and mushroom people!" answered Sonic.

"Hey! That is a stereotype right there!" said one of the Goombas. "Just because we look like mushrooms doesn't mean we are mushrooms!"

Without warning, the Goomba charged at Sonic with full speed.

"Sonic! Look out!" warned Tails.

Sonic knew what he had to do. He instantly jumped in the air and did a Homing Attack on the Goomba. Once the attack connected, the Goomba was knocked back, fainted.

Sonic landed on the ground. "Now that was a piece of cake!" exclaimed Sonic.

Bowser wasn't surprised. "Come on my Koopa Troop! Use your full strength!"

Then, the fleet of Goombas and Koopa Troopas attacked the three friends all at once.

"Hmph! Let's get this over with." said Knuckles. He charged at the group of enemies and punched the nearest Koopa Troopa. It went flying off the island. The Koopa Troopas stared in shock.

"Basic Manuever Three!" shouted one of the Koopa Troopas. Suddenly, all the Koopa Troopas retreated into their shells.

"What's this? Already given up?" taunted Knuckles. But then, all the Koopa shells started to spin towards Knuckles.

"Umm, Knuckles, I better run if I were you!" shouted Tails.

"Good idea!" said Knuckles. The Koopa shells were getting closer. The only thing Knuckles could think of was to get away. They chased him into the forest. Tails was about to give chase, but Sonic stopped him.

"Knuckles can handle himself." Sonic assured. "We've got to deal with these mushroom guys." He pointed to the group of Goombas in front of him. All had an angry look on their face.

"Okay, my Goomba friends! Let's do our kind good!" hollered one of the Goombas. They all yelled their Goomba shout and charged at Sonic and Tails.

"Alright, Tails! Let's do this." Sonic said, rushing towards the stampede of Goombas. Tails followed right behind. As they both got close to the army of Goombas, Sonic jumped into the air and launched a Homing Attack. One by one, he attacked each Goomba. Tails followed right behind him, also doing a Homing Attack. In a matter of minutes, all the Goombas were laying on the ground, knocked out.

"Yay! We did it!" cheered Tails. He gave Sonic a high five.

"That was too easy!" said Sonic. He looked up at Bowser. The Koopa King had an impressed look.

"Come on! Time for Round Two!" Sonic taunted. He did a few quick leg stretches.

"Lakitus! Go forth and give them all you've got!" commanded Bowser. Less than a minute, Lakitus were surrounding Sonic and Tails. They were on floating clouds. Each had a supply of Spinies with them, ready to attack.

"These guys look like they aren't playing around!" said Tails.

"Don't worry! We can handle this!" comforted Sonic. He gave his fox friend a thumbs up. Tails nodded. Then they both got into battle positions.

"Attack!" yelled one of the Lakitus. Quickly, they all threw Spinies towards Sonic and Tails. They both dodged them successfully. Then, the Spinies on the ground started to charge towards them. One of them headbutted Tails. He fell to the ground.

"Ow! That's sharp!" screamed Tails. The Spiny hit him directly in the belly. He looked. There was a small bruise on him.

"Tails! Are you okay?" said Sonic. He rushed towards him.

"I'm fine, really." Tails replied. It didn't hurt him too bad. He tried standing up, but suddenly felt a sharp pain in him.

"Stay down!" instructed Sonic. "I'll handle these goons myself!" Tails did what he asked. He sat down on the patch of grass.

Sonic looked up. The Lakitus were laughing. "You're gonna pay for what you did to my friend!" Sonic shouted.

"Oh! And what are you gonna do?" teased one of the Lakitus. They all got ready to throw their Spinies, but before they could, Sonic fired up his Homing Attack. He attacked each Lakitu. They all fell off their clouds onto the ground, knocked out.

Sonic looked up at the Koopa King. He wasn't worried one bit. "Bravo! Excellent!" he congratulated. Sonic was confused. He folded his arms.

"Come on, Bowser! You've gotta have tougher minions than these guys!" Sonic said.

Bowser thought about something for a moment. Then he pointed at Sonic. "Alright, hedgehog! Time to face my greatest minion yet!" He looked at Kamek, who was at the wheel of the airship. Kamek nodded back at him. He took out his scepter and he magically teleported near Sonic.

"Time to fight me, hedgehog!" Kamek said.

Sonic was raised an eyebrow. "Just him?" He asked.

Suddenly, Kamek raised his scepter out in the air and pointed it at Sonic. In a split second, a fireball appeared in the air, hurdling towards Sonic. Just as it was about to hit him, he moved out of the way. The fireball crashed into the ground, leaving only a small patch of fire burning. Kamek, not too surprised of this, fire three more fireballs at the hedgehog, all which Sonic dodged without hesitation.

"Not bad, my blue friend." Kamek said. "Now try to dodge this!" He waved his scepter in the air. Suddenly, a copy of himself appeared beside him. Then another. Suddenly, a circle of Kameks surrounded Sonic. The blue hedgehog didn't know which one was the real one. Then, all the Kameks twirled there scepters in the air. Suddenly, a ball of blue fire appeared right in front of each Kamek. They swatted it towards Sonic. He tried to dodge them all, but it seemed liked the blue fireballs was homing on him. Each fireball hit him, one by one. Sonic fell to the ground. Tails could only stare in shock.

"Sonic! Get up!" yelled Tails. Sonic tried to, but he he didn't have the strength to. Kamek walked towards him, there was only one of him this time. The copies of him disappeared.

"Hehehe!" laughed Kamek. "Maybe next time, hedgehog!" Kamek walked past him. He was heading towards the Master Emerald. Sonic tried to stop him, but didn't have the energy to get up.

As Kamek was about to get the Master Emerald, he was interrupted by someone.

"RRAAUUGGHH!!!!" yelled Knuckles. He jumped behind from the Master Emerald, trying to land a punch on Kamek, but he missed, instead, punching the ground, making a huge crack around him.

"Missed me, Echidna!" teased Kamek. Suddenly, he waved his scepter in the air. Knuckles felt a tingle in his body, then he felt it, he couldn't move.

"What, I can't move!" Knuckles screamed. He tried all his might, but it didn't work.

"Don't worry, the effect will wear off." Kamek assured. "Just enough time to take the Master Emerald with us!"

"No! You don't wanna do that!" Knuckles warned. "I'm serious!"

Kamek ignored what he was saying. He called Junior to bring his airship near the altar. Using his scepter, he used his magic abilites to float the Master Emerald onto Juniors airship. All Sonic and his friends could do was watch.

"What a beaut!" Junior said. He wiped the Master Emerald with a small towel.

All hope seemed lost for Sonic and his friends. Knuckles couldn't move, Tails and Sonic were badly injured. But then...

BOOM!

They heard a large explosion in the distance.

"What was that?" asked Bowser.

"Was that an earthquake?" asked Junior.

"It's about the Master Emerald!" Knuckles shouted. "If the Master Emerald is taken out if it's shrine, Angel Island will fall to Earth!"

"What?" shouted Kamek, surprised. He looked at Junior, then to Bowser.

"It didn't say in the book!" Bowser said.

Suddenly, the island started to shake.

"Come on! We've gotta get outta here!" screamed Junior. Kamek floated onto Junior's airship.

"Hmph! I guess this is goodbye, hedgehog!" Bowser said.

He looked up at Bowser. ".....your not going anywhere!" shouted Sonic. Suddenly, he found the energy to get on his feet. He ran towards Bowser's airship. He jumped into the air and did a Homing Attack on Bowser. He hit the Koopa King directly on the head. He fell onto his shell. During the impact, a book fell out of his shell. Sonic picked it up. he read the title.

"Legend of the Seven Chaos Emeralds"

Sonic realized. Bowser wasn't here for only the Master Emerald. He was here for the Chaos Emeralds too.

"Are you here to steal the Chaos Emeralds?" Sonic demanded.

Bowser gave a deep laugh. "How'd you find out?"

Sonic showed the book to Bowser.

"Oh..." Bowser said, surprised that the book fell out of his shell. "Yes, hedgehog, we're here to steal both the Master Emerald and the Chaos Emeralds." Suddenly, Kamek appeared beside him.

"Bowser, I just got news that the Koopalings have obtained all seven of the Chaos Emeralds!" Kamek informed.

Bowser gave Sonic an evil grin. Sonic was shocked. He didn't think any other villian, other than Eggman, would be able to obtain all seven Chaos Emeralds.

"Bwahahah!" laughed Bowser. He got to his feet. "I am planning to use the power of the Seven Chaos Emeralds and the Master Emerald to take over the Mushroom Kingdom!"

Sonic was confused. "The Mushroom Kingdom?"

Angel Island started to shake more violently.

"Yes. That is where I'm from. Soon after I take over the Mushroom Kingdom, I'll take over the whole galaxy! Everyone will be bowing down to me!"

Sonic was in horror. Not only was Eggman who wanted to conquer the world, Bowser wanted to take over the entire universe.

"And finally, I'll stop that mustachioed plumber and his brother!" added Bowser.

"You'll never get away with this!" Sonic screamed. He was about to do another Homing Attack when Kamek spoke.

"You can fight us hedgehog, but what about your friends on the island?"

Sonic completley forgot about Tails and Knuckles, who were helpless on the island.

Sonic knew what he had to do. He jumped off the airship and onto the island, carrying the book with him.

"Sayonara, Sonic!" shouted Bowser from above. His army left on the airships, along with the Master Emerald.

Angel Island started to descend slowly.

Sonic rushed towards Tails. "Can you walk?"

Tails nodded. He stood up, holding his belly. They rushed towards Knuckles. He still couldn't move.

"You guys gotta get out of here!" yelled Knuckles. "I'll be okay!"

"No!" said Sonic. "We can't leave you!"

Sonic and Tails carried Knuckles to the Tornado, which was beside the altar of the Master Emeralrd.

Angel Island was close to crashing into the ocean.

Tails started the engine of the plane. Knuckles was sitting behind him, in the passenger seat. Sonic, as usual, was on the wing of the plane.

"Go Tails!" yelled Sonic.

The Tornado was off the ground. Just as it was a few feet away from Angel Island, the island crashed into the ocean. A huge wave followed them.

"Tails! Behind you!" Sonic yelled.

Tails saw the huge wall of water behind them. He pulled the Tornado up, barely missing the wave that followed them. The group looked at Angel Island, which floated in the body of water.

"I can't believe this happened again!" argued Knuckles. "We've got to chase those turtle troops down!"

"We can't chase them if we're in bad shape Knuckles!" said Tails.

"He's right." said Sonic. "We need to take a short rest. And besides. I know what Bowser's up to."

Tails and Knuckles were surprised. "You do?" they both asked.

"Yeah, I'll tell you on the way back to Tail's Workshop" promised Sonic.

The trio headed back to Empire City, while Sonic told about Bowser's plans...

.

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To be continued...

Bowser has finally obtained the Master Emerald, including the Seven Chaos Emeralds. What will Sonic and his friends plan to do now? Stayed tuned!