Knuckles pulled the car door of its hinge and helped a mother and her daughter out of the car. "Are you guys okay?"

"We are now. Thank you!" The woman hugged the ruby echidna, making him blush, though it was hard to see. "What was that?"

"I'm not quite sure myself Ma'am." Knuckles sighed. He turned around to see Sonic carrying injured people to the center of the city, where several G.U.N. choppers awaited. "Sonic!" He called. Sonic was next to him in the blink of an eye. "How is the north sector?"

"As far as I know...evacuated." Sonic flashed a grin, but it was a weak one. "Maybe I shouldn't have let Shadow out..."

Knuckles placed a hand on his blue companion's shoulder. "Don't worry about that stuff. You did what you thought was right at the time. So do what you think is right now."

"Your right Knux, thanks." Sonic smiled.

Two G.U.N. soldiers approached the two, a stoic look on their faces. "Sonic the hedgehog, our Commander would like to have a word with you." The one on the right said.

"Lead the way then." Sonic sighed. He already knew what this was about. "Knuckles, go check on Tails and Eggman. I'm curious as to what their plan is so far." With that the Soldiers escorted the speedster away.

They came to a tent, stopping outside. "This is as far as we go." Sonic rolled his eyes at them and entered.

"Sonic the hedgehog, world hero, or the man to damn us all." The commander sat in a chair behind a desk, an unlit cigar in his mouth. "Give me one reason why I shouldn't take you in now."

"Because I'm such a likeable person?" Sonic gave him a thumbs up. The two stood in silence, staring at each other.

"If I didn't have anything to say I would kick your ass out of my tent right this instance." The commander deadpanned, even though it was obvious he was trying to hide a grin. "I was made aware of this little plan of yours Sonic. And I've decided that I will add manpower to your team."

"No offense sir, but regular humans would just slow us down." Sonic coughed, feeling a little racist.

"Shut it and let me finish." The commander growled. "We are paying the Chaotix a...more than generous sum of cash to help you."

"Wait...your paying them to save the world? That seems a little...stupid." The cobalt hedgehog scratched his ear.

"I agree...but they are the worlds best detectives...when you get past their quirks." The commander sighed. "And their prices..."

"Well send them over to Tails's house. I'll meet them there." With that Sonic disappeared, the tent's opening flapping wildly.

"I really hate my job..." The commander muttered.


Espio knocked on the door rapidly while Vector tried to grab the swift Charmy Bee, who was flying in circles around the Crock. "It's okay to like Ms. Vanilla Vec, honest! I remember my first love!"

"Charmy! I do not love her! I just said she looked pretty!" Vector yelled, grabbing the Bee's arm. "Now I got you!"

"Espio! Help!" Charmy yelled, but it was too late. Vector began choking the life out of the bee.

The door opened, revealing a shocked Knuckles. "E-espio?"

"Long time no see Knuckles." Espio smiled.

"Yay! Knucklehead!" Charmy beamed, tackling the surprised echidna.

"Don't tell us you lost that sad excuse for muscle!" Vector guffawed.

"Oh hey, you must be the Chaotix! Come on in!" Sonic grinned, motioning for them to follow him. "We were just discussing our plan of action."

"We shall listen to the details before making introductions then." Espio said, following the hedgehog, leaving Knuckles to deal with the other two. He almost felt bad.

"So did you know Vector likes Ms. Vanilla?"

Almost.

Espio and Sonic sat down in a circular room. Tails and Eggman stood in front of a board, explaining their plan. "It's quite simple really. We fly up to the colony using my new cloaking device!" Tails exclaimed.

"Yes, it's quite a genius device, running on the energy from stars!" Eggman patted the yellow fox's back. "After-wards we split up, Sonic and Vector can take out the power supply for the colony. The Chaotix will look for the Chaos Emeralds, leaving me and Tails to distract Shadow." Eggman finished.

"Jeez Eggman, it sounds okay but...I was even match with Shadow, you can barely handle me!" Sonic threw his hands in the air.

"Yes but we have two weapons now, which my ingenious partner Dr. Eggman built himself!" Tails complimented the doctor. "One, the doctor knows many details about the colony and Maria, meaning we can use his own emotions against him."

"Two, If I can use this ray on him, it should renew his natural craving for the emeralds." Eggman finished. The two both gave an obnoxious laugh.

"Eggman really is a bad influence." Amy whispered to Sonic, who chuckled.

Knuckles and the remaining Chaotix entered the room, Charmy sporting several bruises. "Your lucky I let you live ya little runt!" Vector growled.

"Your just a big meanie...in love!" Charmy stuck his tongue out and flew away, leaving a fuming crocodile and a seriously annoyed echidna.

"Knuckles you missed our ingenious plan!" Tails whined.

"Can it kid." Knuckles rolled his eyes. "I'm pretty sure it has me and Sonic doing the most important part anyway. So when do we take off?"

"We could do it today, but we need time to build the shuttle." Eggman said. "Also, we will be using the Master Emerald as the power source."

"Hell no!" Knuckles jumped to his feet. "And don't tell me to watch my language!" He pointed at Amy, who huffed. "Every time we need to save the world we have to use the Master Emerald! No!"

"But Knuckles, if we don't you wouldn't be alive to protect it!" Tails complained. "We'd use the stars but the Master Emerald could also nullify the Chaos Emeralds if they were used against us! Besides, you owe us one!"

"Yeah, we saved that oversized rock more times than you can count." Sonic agreed. "So me and you can go get it now."

Knuckles grumbled to himself. "Fine, lets go." He turned around, obviously angry.


Sonic, Knuckles and Espio jumped out of the Tornado and onto Angel Island, the echidna immediately vomiting. "Who the hell taught you how to fly?"

"Aw Come on Knux, I'm pretty good at it!" Sonic grinned. "Espio's not complaining."

"It wasn't to bad Knuckles." Espio said, his arms crossed as usual.

"See?" Sonic laughed while Knuckles wiped his mouth.

"Then again, I have been in ninja training for most of my life, so I have a tolerance to most things." The chameleon stated. Sonic gasped while Knuckles laughed.

"Let's just get the damn rock." Sonic grumbled and began walking towards the Master Emerald's Altar.

"Something isn't right.' " Knuckles muttered and ran up the stairs. His eyes narrowed as he saw the empty altar. "This just isn't my day..."

"What is it Knucklehead?" Sonic asked, he and Espio reaching the top. "How did you lose it this time?" He was prepared to get hurt but was surprised that nothing happened. "Knux?" He checked to see if his friend was alright.

"Wait, look at this." Espio picked up a card on the altar. "It's smudged with a lipstick stained kiss." He handed it to The echidna.

"Hey! This is that same lipstick color that bat girl from G.U.N. wore!" Knuckles realized. "That no good rock stealing wen-"

"Didn't know you were paying attention to her lips!" Sonic teased.

Before the flabbergasted guardian could say anything, Espio threw a shuriken into the trees. A shriek of pain sounded out followed by a loud shattering. "It appears she is not to familiar with the Gem's resizing capabilities. I believe broke it."

"You mean to tell me I have to find the shards again?" Knuckles sighed. 'Why did the elders have to make it shatter so easily?' The trio ran towards the source of the sound and almost immediately saw Rouge massaging her left wing, which was sporting a cut. "You thief!"

"Rouge the Bat, notorious jewel thief." Espio armed himself with a shuriken. "We've been tracking you for months, and now that I have you I won't let you go."

"Could this day get any worse?" Rouge moaned. First she had to carry this big rock, then she broke a nail and now she injured her wing! "Your gonna pay for that ninja boy!"

"Wait, wait, wait! Your a thief and a G.U.N. agent?" Sonic asked, jabbing his finger in her direction. "That would actually explain why you don't get caught."

"Enough talk!" Knuckles growled. He charged at her, only to be tripped and sent tumbling into a tree head first.

"Poor Knuckles, always rushing in head first." Sonic shrugged before running towards the bat at high speeds. She raised her leg, him running into it. He twirled flipped in the air before hitting a tree as well, falling into unconsciousness.

"Boys really are stupid!" Rouge giggled. She then turned to the lavender chameleon, who was also charging towards her. "Now for three!" She tried to trip him as well but he jumped over her foot, landing on a nearby tree and springing off of it. He landed a solid punch to her jaw, sending her flying. Rouge struggled to her feet, a pout on hr face. "Your not suppose to hit ladies!"

"I'll remember that the next time I see one." Espio flung three shuriken at her, which she barely dodged. He dashed at her again, swinging his leg towards her gut, only to have it blocked. Rouge performed a spin kick to his side, but the ninja didn't move. Instead, he grabbed her foot and pulled her towards him, extending his foot, kicking her gut.

The female bat gasped, staggering backwards. "What the hell...I've had two years of training in martial arts."

"I've had over fifteen." Espio smirked. He suddenly vanished before Rouges eyes. "So answer me this bat girl, can you hit what you can't see?" Rouge spun around and kicked his chest following it up by throwing a small purple bomb in his direction. The bomb detonated sending him flying.

"Don't need to see. I can hear just fine!" She smiled. She turned around to walk towards the emerald, but remembered it was in pieces. "Damn ninja boy." She began picking up some of the shard before being shoved aside. "Hey!"

Knuckles swiftly gathered the remaining shards. "Hand em over thief!" He growled.

"Come make me big boy!" Rouge stuck her tongue at the echidna before running into the forest. Knuckles prepared to give chase but was stopped as he saw several bombs roll onto the ground.

"Knuckles, move!" Espio yelled out. Knuckles jumped aside just as they exploded, setting the forest aflame. "She got away...I failed."

"There goes our power source..." Sonic groaned, struggling onto his feet.

"Of course you wake up at the last minute." Knuckles sighed.


Rouge jumped off the island, landing in her own personal plane. No sooner had she started flying away she got a transmission from G.U.N. . "Commander?" She answered.

"Rouge. We're sending you into space to deal with the U.L.F." The commander stated.

"Yes sir." Rouge nodded. Sure he saved her life, but he also took her precious emerald. And no one takes a jewel from her. That's why she's the worlds greatest treasure hunter. "How will I get there?"

"Sonic the hedgehog and his friends are embarking soon, so we will arrange for you to be stowed onto their shuttle." The commander said. "Do not let us down. The world rests on your shoulders." The transmission ended, leaving the bat to her thoughts.

"That is a LOT of pressure...they better be paying me for this!"


"No emerald...this complicated things." Eggman sighed. Sonic winced as Amy pressed a bag of ice to his head. Knuckles sat, brooding in the corner while Espio talked to Charmy and Vector.

"Guess we'll have to chance it." Tails said. The door suddenly blasted open, revealing the Dark Legion.

"Doctor! One of our members, Julie-Sue has gone missing!" Menniker yelled, getting everyone's attention. "We must find her now!"

"Relax Menniker. We have bigger problems right now." Eggman stated. "We lost our one guaranteed way of getting to that colony."

"You don't understand, she took the parts and substances we use to repair or mechanical body parts." Menniker growled. "That wench. Without it, we're basically useless."

"Oh well then. Your purpose has been served." Eggman said, turning around. "Leave my presence at once." Everyone gasped at Eggman's coldness.

"Y-you can't be serious!" Rex gasped. Seeing the doctor stay still, he turned the Legion turned to leave.

"You just made yourself a very, very powerful enemy." Menniker growled before they left the room. Everyone stared at the doctor, expecting an explanation.

"It had to be done sooner or later. They were getting to be the opposite of useful. Besides, after they were done using me they would have turned on me anyway." With that the Doctor left the room, leaving the heroes alone.

"Okay then, I'll work on the shuttle!" Tails sighed, leaving the room. He entered the hanger. He opened the side of the tornado to reveal the yellow chaos emerald, glowing in all its beauty. He placed back into the tornado and closed the compartment before looking for spare parts. He opened his closet to reveal Julie-Sue huddled in the corner. "Ah!" He screeched, falling backwards.


I'm well aware this is short. Sorry about that but These days have been hard because I have no personal computer, so I hop around a lot. I'm working on the next one now, as well as three of the new Sonic heroes, so please bare with me! Read and Review!