Chapter 1
Floating Island
The red plane swooped over the ocean. The sun glinted off its polished wings as it looped and frolicked. Then it shot skyward, showing not only the double wings, but the twin rocket engines on the underside.
The bi-plane rolled and dove toward the ocean. As it turned upright the pilot and passenger became visible. The passenger was crouched on the upper wing. He was a stunning dark blue, and three rows of sharp spikes protruded from the back of his head and back. He called to the pilot, "Hey Tails, watch this!"
The pilot, a fox, looked up. His fur was a red-orange, and his muzzle and chest were white. "Go for it, Sonic!" he called.
Sonic thrust his feet through the handles on the paneling. He stood up and leaned forward into the wind. "Showoff!" he heard Tails yell. "See if you can stay up!" The plane angled upward. Sonic leaned forward even more, grinning. Tails was showing off, too. Tails steered the plane up, down, then straight up. Sonic moved with the plane, riding the wind. Then Tails banked abruptly, catching Sonic off balance.
Knowing he was going to fall, Sonic bounded off the wing. For one exhilarating second the wind lifted him in the plane's wake; then he resumed falling.
He had fallen off the plane before, but this time would be different. He was holding two of the chaos emeralds, which he had carried just in case. As he tumbled toward the water he struck them together. The power rush flung his arms out. He was dazzled for an instant, but when the world faded back in his vision had been enhanced five times, and he was flying.
Sonic glanced down. His arms and belly were the same color-brown and tanned-but the rest of him was glowing a hot yellow. The chaos emeralds were all circling him like electrons around a nucleus. "This is so cool," he thought.
He was skimming across the ocean, arms swept back for balance, laid almost horizontally. The toes of his red and white sneakers brushed the surface of the water, kicking up a rooster tail of foam behind him. He set his sights on the bi-plane, which was slowing down. The scream of the engines subsided to a throbbing purr, and as Super Sonic approached, the rockets assumed a hover position.
Sonic circled the waiting bi-plane, then jumped lightly onto the wing. "You won," he began, but Tails hissed, "Shh! Listen to the radio!" He turned it up, and Sonic crouched down to listen.
At first there was only static. Sonic looked at Tails. "It was pry just the wind."
Tails shook his head. "No! It was there a minute ago ..."
Sonic reached down to adjust the radio knob, but Tails slapped his hand away. "No way, buster," he snapped. "You forget what you do to machinery when you're super?"
Sonic grinned wryly, and Tails tuned the radio. Suddenly a voice came through loud and clear, saying, "I read. Must have been some interference."
Another voice replied, "I copy. As I was saying, my latest project is now operational."
Sonic and Tails looked at each other. The second voice was strangely familiar ...
"No kiddin'. Did it work the way it was supposed to?" the first voice inquired.
"Acknowledge. It is highly reliable," the second voice returned. "You are very good with programming."
"Yeah, well ... "
"What would you say to coming out here to-" (the station drifted) "-and design another robot?"
"That'd be great. And this time-Wait a minute. There's somethin' shiny out on the ocean!"
Sonic and Tails locked eyes, then looked around.
"Is it you-know-who?" the radio continued.
"It could be. Check for listeners on this frequency. They could be tuned in."
Tails hurriedly shut off the radio, then looked up at Sonic. The hedgehog peered into the distance. As Super Sonic, he could see much better than Tails could. "Yeah," he said. "You can see the Floating Island from here."
"Were they talking about us?" Tails asked, gripping the flight yoke.
"Count on it. We're the only 'shiny object' out here. Let's get to the island, like, right now!" Sonic dove off the wing and flew circles around the bi-plane as Tails returned it to flight mode. As it began to move Sonic called, "Race ya!" Tails grinned and gave him a thumbs-up.
Sonic cruised alongside as the plane picked up speed. "Okay," Tails called to him. "I'm all set! You ready?"
"Straight up!"
"Okay," Tails replied. "One, two, three-go!" He opened the throttle. Sonic put his head down and surged abreast of the bi-plane. "See ya at the island!" he yelled, and took off.
It was no contest and they knew it. Sonic was ten times faster than the bi-plane, even with rockets. He flew over the calm water, his glow reflected in its surface.
The Floating Island was about two miles away. Sonic wondered if ithad been Knuckles on the radio. Who had he been talking to? It had sounded like Robotnik. But Robotnik had been killed when the Death Egg went down! Could he have survived? And-Sonic shuddered to think of it- was Knuckles in league with him? Sonic's mind was spinning as the island drew closer. He had heard rumors of gems on the island more powerful than the chaos emeralds. What if Robotnik got his hands on them? It would spell disaster-for the Floating Island and Mobius both. "I've gotta warn Knuckles," Sonic thought as he neared the island.
One second he was over water-the next he was over land. There wasn't much of a beach there; the jungle began in a wall of trees. Recklessly Super Sonic plunged into it. Somewhere in the south quarter was a network of narrow paths. Someone had said they were a great place to run. He dodged between palm trunks and leaped over mossy rocks.
The breath of the island hit him, and he inhaled deeply. It smelled of water, warm foliage and a sweet scent of fruit and flowers. It was almost intoxicating.
The fern-carpeted ground gave way to a sandy path. Super Sonic turned onto it and began to fly again. "Man, this is fun-miles and miles of island to explore! Tails has gotta land the plane, then-"
Sonic's thoughts were interrupted as something lunged out of the bushes. With no warning, Sonic ploughed into it and bounced off as if he had hit a brick wall. As he staggered backward, it delivered a stunning blow to Sonic's nose. It didn't hurt-invincibility took care of that- but Sonic automatically recoiled.
The figure drove an over-sized fist into Sonic's stomach, knocking him down. Sonic sat up and saw the figure, instead of continuing the fight, was grabbing the circling chaos emeralds. As each one left its orbit, Sonic felt weaker. His glow faded back into blue, and his enhanced vision returned to normal. As it did, he recognized his attacker. Red dreadlocks, white crescent on the chest, pointed snout. "Knuckles!" Sonic yelped. The echidna leaped away, cradling the chaos emeralds in his cupped hands.
Sonic scrambled to his feet. "Knux, whadja do that for?"
Knuckles sneered at him. "Yeah, right. I know why you're here. And NOBODY needs all the emeralds."
"Neither do you," Sonic pointed out.
Knuckles frowned. "I didn't ask for a debate. this is MY island, and you and your foxy friend are not welcome. Get out."
Sonic folded his arms. "I'm not gonna leave until you give me an explanation AND my emeralds."
"You mean MY emeralds. You don't need them any more than I need to explain. Now scram." Knuckles took a threatening step forward. "Remember Sonic, you're not invincible anymore."
Sonic's eyes blazed, and his hands clenched into fists. "Neither are you, my friend," he said softly.
Sonic lunged at me, his face a mask of fury. I dodged backward, aware of the chaos emeralds in my hands. I could use them as well as he could, but if I let my guard down the instant it would take, he'd nail me. I stuck out a foot to trip him, but he avoided it. He was eyeing the emeralds in my hands. I backed away, knowing there wasn't room on the trail for fighting.
"Give 'em back, Knux," he growled.
"Over my dead body," I snapped.
Sonic crouched and held up his fists. "That can be arranged," he hissed through clenched teeth.
He sprang at me, his back arched like a cat's. I was sure Dr. Robotnik had told me the truth; Sonic would kill to get the emeralds back. I dodged him, then kicked his feet from under him. As he went down, one of his hands closed on my arm. His grip was like a vice- he was furious. I tried to jerk away, but only succeeded in pulling him to his feet. His other fist whipped up. Instinctively I snapped my head back, but he didn't strike. Instead, his hand snaked down between mine. "Hey!" I snarled. I pulled away and saw his hand was closed. He had one! His eyes lit up and he came at me again.
Suddenly I was afraid-not for myself, but for the emeralds. I turned and ran into the woods. I crashed through a bush, stumbled over a clump of ferns, ducked through several low-hanging fronds and ran for five minutes. Panting, I ducked behind a tree. With all the noise I had been making, I couldn't tell if I was being followed. But there was nobody behind me.
With a sigh of relief I got my bearings and headed north-east.
Sonic stood on the trail, half triumphant, half crestfallen. His left hand was still clenched in a fist as he stared after Knuckles. He remembered he needed to warn him, and he had blown it big-time. He opened his hand. There on his palm, glowing softly, was the green chaos emerald. At least he had one.
The blue hedgehog, feeling his color, turned and trudged in the direction of the beach. Tails should have reached the island by now. A moment later he began to run. He felt heavy and slow, as if he had emerged from a pool after swimming for two hours. But after a few strides he felt better, and was soon cruising toward the shore.
He heard the bi-plane approach and fly inland. Sonic tracked it to a big meadow. The red bi-plane was parked in the tall grass, and Tails was climbing out of the cockpit.
"Hey, Tails," Sonic called as he walked up.
Tails turned and gave him a thumbs-up. "Hey yourself. Where you been?"
"In a fight."
"Oh. Making yourself at home, eh?"
"Well," Sonic chuckled, "not really." He reached up and ran his hand over the smooth side of his plane, then looked at Tails. "Hate to tell you this, but something's up."
Tails raised his hands in a hopeless gesture. "Oh no! Not something else!" Then he looked at Sonic eagerly. "What?"
Sonic held up the green emerald. "See this?"
Tails glanced at it. "Yeah. What about it?"
"It's the only one I've got."
The fox stared at him in horror. "What? What the heck happened?"
Sonic informed him about what had happened on the trail. They were silent a moment after he finished.
Tails said, "So, was it Knuckles on the radio?"
Sonic nodded. "I think so. But I want to know who he talking to."
"Do you think it was-" Tails hesitated to say the name "-Robotnik?"
Sonic shrugged. "I donno. It sounded like him."
"But I thought Death Egg crashed!" Tails protested.
"It did," Sonic replied quietly. "We saw it go down. But you know, that old loser has more lives than a cat. He could have escaped." He turned and looked at the jungle. "All we have to do is look for his trademark."
"You mean robots?"
"Badniks, Tails. Robotized animals. If Robotnik is here, there'll be 'bots everywhere.
Sonic pulled out his chaos emerald and tossed it from hand to hand. "It's lonely," he told his friend. "I need to get the other ones back." He nodded to the north. "Knuckles ran off that way," he said. "Maybe we could track him down."
"Get real, Sonic," Tails said. "This is a big island. Knuckles knows it like the back of his hand."
"Yeah, yeah," Sonic replied good-naturedly. "It's not like we'd get REAL lost, and if we did, well ..." He fingered the silver whistle that hung on a chain around his neck. Tails wore a similar one.
"Well," said Tails, relenting. "I guess it wouldn't hurt. Besides, we'll have one heck of a lot of exploring to do." He smiled, and his double tails switched.
"Do you think the bi-plane will be okay if we leave it here?" Sonic asked Tails, the concern for his toy etched in his voice.
The young fox looked up at it, then around at the meadow. "Sure. It's not gonna go anywhere, and all we have to do is remember that we left it on the south side of the island."
Sonic rumpled his furry head with one hand. "You're a lifesaver, kiddo. C'mon, let's juice."
Sonic bounded away, becoming a blur at once. Tails followed him, his white-tipped tails whirling.
The island rose in the center in a crag-like mountain, two thousand feet high. The waterfall poured out of its side in a white, sparkling jet that plunged down the stone face and into the riverbed below. The settling cloud of mist turned the surrounding area into a rainforest.
Their feet squelched in the moss as they made their way through. Sonic had been forced to slow to a walk, as the ground was treacherous. His companion walked behind him, tails held high to keep the mud off.
The roar of the waterfall had become a rolling, continuous sound, so loud they had to shout to make themselves heard. Through the crashing of the river came the high-pitched voices of millions of treefrogs, peeping their praise of the water. It was a joyous wracket that deadened one's hearing. Sonic and Tails trudged through it, their feet and legs spattered with mud, their lungs filled with the fragrant atmosphere, their ears flooded with tropical sounds.
"You have them?" Dr. Robotnik asked. We were standing in the woods where Doc had landed at my signal. We weren't far from the waterfall, on the opposite side from Sonic and Tails.
"Sure," I replied. Then I hesitated and added, "Well, almost all of them. Sonic fought me and got one."
Robotnik's face turned an interesting shade of purple and his mustache quivered. "You-only have-six?"
I nodded and stepped back. His hands were clenching at his sides, and I was afraid he would try to strangle me.
The doctor exhaled slowly. His face returned to its normal color, but his voice was still trembling. "We need to get it back. Do you- think-you can?"
"Sure," I replied confidently.
I turned to go, but Ivo stopped me. "Wait, Knuckles. Give me the chaos emeralds. I'll keep them for you." He had an eager, almost hungry look in his eyes.
Something quailed in my heart-something cried, "Don't do it!" But my logical head replied, "Doc is my friend. Why shouldn't I?" I extended my cupped hands. He held out his hands; again I felt that apprehension in my guts. Again I fought it, and dropped the glowing emeralds into his hands.
We were hurled apart as if a bomb had gone off. I was flung backward into a tree. I slumped to the ground, my head whirling. After a second my vision cleared, and I saw Dr. Robotnik thirty feet away. He was propped up on one elbow, looking at something in the air. My eyes followed his, although I knew what had happened.
The six chaos emeralds were hovering about ten feet high, moving in a tight circle. With every revolution their glow increased until they were too bright to watch. Then they spiraled up into the sky and cleared the canopy, but I could see them through the leaves, shining like colored stars. They froze for an instant, then split in six directions.
I lay where I had fallen for a moment, my head still buzzing. I got up carefully. The back of my head was pounding, but other than that I felt okay. I walked over to Robotnik and helped him to his feet. He looked bewildered, still staring upwards. Then he looked down at his hands, which had been burned to blistering. "So much for that," he muttered, looking at the sky again.
"What was that?" Sonic called to Tails above the waterfall.
"What was what?" Tails shouted back, wiping the water out of his eyes.
"That flash! Didn't you see it?"
Tails shrugged. "I saw something, but I figured it was my eyes."
On impulse, Sonic pulled out his green chaos emerald. He and Tails stared as its vivid glow faded away, leaving it cold and dead. The only thing that distinguished it from any other rock was its size.
Sonic and Tails's eyes met. "Something must have happened to the others," Sonic said grimly. "We'd better find Knuckles, and fast."
I bandaged Doc's hands with alo vera, the juice inside a cactus-like plant. He insisted I needn't bother, but his hands needed tending. Privately, I think he was afraid that because it was a plant it would hurt him. Of course it didn't, and we talked as I worked. He asked me why the emeralds had separated, and I told him part of the reason. The red chaos emerald is extremely powerful, and it requires the green emerald to keep it under control when the gems are together. When I handed the emeralds to Robotnik, the red caused the others to lose balance and they scattered like repelling magnets.
What I didn't tell him was that the emeralds wouldn't do that unless they fell into the wrong hands. I should have put two and two together and realized Robotnik shouldn't be allowed to get his mitts on them, but like a fool I didn't. Instead, I was angry at Sonic.
Doc interrupted my thoughts. "So where will the emeralds end up?"
I shrugged. "Well, they fly for a while, then swap dimensions."
"Is there any way to retrieve them?" was his next question.
I nodded slowly. "Yes, but it wouldn't be easy. You see, we have no way of telling where they landed. If you have one emerald, it glows when it gets close to another. And the only person with an emerald right now is Sonic."
They had reached the edge of the rain forest and were standing on the riverbank. The waterfall spewed out of the side of the granite mountain and poured into the river like a curtain of white silk. It kicked the river into a raging, boiling torrent that roared down the channel.
Sonic and Tails washed their muddy legs and arms off, took drinks, then stood, dripping and refreshed, looking for a way to cross the river. There were no rocks they could use as stepping stones, and the only ones they could see were half submerged and covered with green moss. "I could speed across," Sonic said doubtfully, eyeing the rapids.
"Better not try it," Tails assured him.
The two stood there, puzzled. The fog the falls created put a haze over the sun, but as they stood there a breeze blew through. As the light changed, Tails touched Sonic's arm and said, "Look."
A few yards upstream was a large, old tree that leaned over the river. Its trunk twisted this way and that, and its gnarled limbs lifted its dark leaves to the sky. Its lower half was covered with thick green vines. Sonic's eyes traveled over the tree until he spotted the rope tied in its upper branches. The rope was strung across the river.
After a moment he turned to Tails. "So what do we do, walk the tightrope?"
"No," said the young fox, whose natural vision was sharper than Sonic's. "C'mon, I'll show you."
Tails raced away and Sonic followed. The fox jumped up on the base of the tree. "C'mon, let's do some tree-climbing!" Sonic started to protest, but Tails went up the tree like a two-tailed squirrel.
The top side of the old tree's slanted trunk was worn smooth, as if many other feet had passed that way. Any branches that blocked the way had been removed. But, Sonic noticed, there was always a limb nearby when he needed something to hold on to.
Before long, Sonic caught up to his companion. "See?" Tails exclaimed triumphantly, indicating the rope. It was knotted around a thick branch a few feet above their heads. From narby, the rope looked soft and frayed, as if it would snap any second. But what caught Sonic's interest was the shorter length of rope dangling from it. It was doubled around the other rope, and both ends were tied to a stick of bamboo. It was swaying back and forth, an arm's length away.
"Cool," Sonic exclaimed. "Hey Tails, I'll slide down here, and you can fly."
"No way!" Tails yelped in outrage. "I want to try it as much as you do!"
Sonic pulled the bamboo handle over, set his weight against it and pulled. The rope bounced a little, and nothing happened. "Seems strong enough," he muttered. "Why don't we swing down together? I could grab on this side, and you could take the other side. Whaddya think?"
"Sounds cool to me," Tails said. "Let's do it!"
They grabbed the handle, and at Sonic's shouted, "Go!", they leaped off the tree. The smaller rope began to slide along the larger one, swinging its passengers over the river.
Sonic looked at the white water below his red sneakers as they neared the center of the river. "I hope the rope holds," he thought.
Suddenly the smaller rope caught against something in the big one and stopped. Sonic and Tails lurched forward, then swung back and forth, the ropes bouncing.
"Great. What do we do now?" Tails said flatly.
"I donno," Sonic replied. "Can you see what we're caught on?"
Tails looked up. "There's a bunch of frayed stuff caught in the loop," he reported.
"Well," Sonic said, "let's try to bounce the rope over it."
They bounced weight up and down. The only change was that the rope slipped a few more feet.
Tails couldn't spin his tails hanging there, and it was suicide to jump off.
Sonic drew his knees up to his chest and kicked out. The swing moved an inch. "Hey, maybe this'll work," he said. He did it repeatedly, the swing moving a little each time. Sonic paused a moment, tiring. "I'm gonna try it again," he informed Tails. He pulled his knees to his chest, then kicked his hardest.
The bamboo handle split down the middle. It crumpled in Sonic's hands, and he dropped like a stone into the river. By the time he realized what had happened, he was five feet under water.
Instinctively Tails had let go of the handle as it splintered and grabbed the rope. He was dangled there, staring at the place Sonic had disappeared.
Sonic came to, aware that he was still in the water, and lodged between two mossy rocks. He didn't remember when he had passed out, but guessed it was somewhere between the third and fifth rocks he had hit. He was bruised all over, and knew he wouldn't need a drink of water for at least a week. His head and shoulders were above water, and his legs and body were wedged sideways in the rocks.
Sonic looked around. He had been carried about fifty feet, and could still see Tails, who was dangling from the rope above the river. His companion was staring anxiously downstream, unable to see his friend. Sonic waved an arm. After a moment Tails spotted him and waved back.
But there they were stuck. Tails could not get down, and Sonic could not get up. One of them had to get free to help the other. It looked hopeless for five long minutes.
The pitch of the waterfall changed. Sonic and Tails both looked up at the white plume.
The waterfall was narrowing. It looked like someone was turning off a gigantic faucet. The noise lessened, and soon the waterfall vanished. All that remained was a great wet path down the face of the cliff.
The river was slowing down its source cut off. Its roar was quieting. The furious water that had torn at Sonic and swirled against his chest was sinking lower and lower. Soon it was lapping around his ankles. Dark, bare rocks jutted up out of the riverbed, scoured clean by the water.
Sonic worked his way out of the rocks, and gingerly picked his way back toward Tails. Without the noise of the waterfall, it was strangely quiet.
"Hey Tails," he called.
"Hey Sonic," Tails replied from above. "Are you okay?"
"Sure, I'm cool," Sonic replied, wincing at the ache of a bruise on his leg. "Can you get down now?"
Tails shook his head. "Get a load of what you're standing on, Sonic. You think I'm gonna drop fifteen or twenty feet on to great big rocks?"
"Sure," Sonic said with a grin. "I did, and it didn't hurt me- much."
The two were interrupted by the ominous click of a pistol. Sonic spun around in time to see Knuckles, about fifteen feet away, aim a laser pistol in Tails's general direction and fire. Tails dropped to the ground and lay still. Sonic gave a cry and charged at Knuckles.
Knux had not expected this. He dove for the cover of the woods, but was not quick enough. Sonic tackled him from behind and drove him to the ground. The echidna struggled, but he was no match for Sonic's panic-fury strength. The two wrestled for a long three seconds, and ended up with Sonic sitting on Knux's chest, pinning down his arms and snarling into his face. "Why'd you do it, huh? Tell me why!"
"Why what?" Knuckles yelped.
"Why did you shoot Tails?!"
Knuckles yelled, laughing, "I didn't shoot the fox, you idiot! I shot the rope!"
"It's true," said a voice behind Sonic.
The hedgehog went limp with relief as he recognized Tails's voice. He got off Knuckles and turned to his friend. "Tails! I thought he shot you!"
"Yeah, so I heard," Tails replied drily. He leaned forward and said in Sonic's ear, "You're blowing it with Knux again. We need to talk to him, remember?"
"Oh yeah," Sonic said, flushing slightly.
He turned to Knuckles, who was sitting up, watching them. Sonic held out a hand to him. "Uh, sorry, Knuckles."
The echidna scorned his hand and climbed to his feet. "I'll think about accepting your apology," he said insolently.
Sonic gritted his teeth inwardly. "Knuckles, we need to talk to you."
"Yeah? About what?" Knuckles folded his arms and shifted his weight to one foot.
"About the chaos emeralds."
"Really," said Knuckles. "Are you going to hand over the green one?"
Sonic shook his head. "No. It's mine. I rightfully earned it."
Knuckles looked uneasy and did not answer.
Sonic noticed this. "The green one is dead. I want to know what happened to the others."
It was quiet for a long minute, and they could hear the birds chirping in the trees.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Knuckles said lamely.
Sonic moved forward a step. "Yeah you do. It's really important, especially if the island is to survive. C'mon, Knux, you can tell us. We're your friends."
The red echidna looked uncertain. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He moved back a step, his eyes darting from Sonic's face, to Tails's and back again. He turned and looked toward the southern horizon. "Listen, I turned off the waterfall to free you. I broke my own swing to get your friend loose. Isn't that enough? I gotta go."
He turned as if to make a break for the woods, but Sonic caught his arm and stopped him. "What about the emeralds?"
Knuckles looked into his eyes and relented. "They're all lost," he said very quietly. Then he pulled free of the hedgehog's grasp and fled into the woods.
Sonic watched him go. "What was the last thing he said?" Tails asked. "I couldn't hear him."
Still staring after Knuckles, Sonic replied, "He said the emeralds are all lost."
"What's that mean?"
Sonic turned to face him. "I donno, but I'll tell you one thing- this spells disaster, with a capital D."
"Yeah," Tails replied, his ears twisting to the south, dragging his eyes around. "And guess what? Coming right at us is the capital D."
"What?" Sonic exclaimed, whirling. He spotted the dark specks on the horizon-aircraft that were approching in a swarm. Tails looked at Sonic with a smirk. "Three guesses who built them."
Sonic shook his head. "No-it's not possible he survived. We saw his ship go down!"
"Still," Tails said calmly, "those look like badniks to me. And besides, could the guardian of the Floating Island-accidently lose six chaos emeralds?"
Sonic stood still, hands on his hips, eyes on the approaching specks. "You have a point there, little bro. And I don't think this is a good place for battling badniks. Let's speed and find someplace secure."
Tails spun his double tails in preparation for takeoff, and Sonic crouched. "Ready, Tails?"
"Ready, captain," Tails grinned, giving him a thumbs-up. "Okay," said Sonic. "We are up, over and gooonne!"
Seconds later, the only thing there were their muddy tracks on the rocks.
Dr. Robotnik had told me that burning the south quarter would remove the dead underbrush and clear it for new growth. He had warned me that his fire squad would be flying in at ten o' clock, and to be anywhere but the south quarter. But there I was, and all because of Sonic. If Sonic hadn't been carrying the green chaos emerald, I wouldn't have cared two cents that he was stuck in the river. But he was, and I, with some fool notion about saving him, had turned off the waterfall. "But because of his stupid questions," I thought, "I'm still here and the robots are coming."
I reached an open place in the woods and stopped for a breather. I glanced up at the sun. It was pretty close to ten; the fire squad would be here any minute. I couldn't see them because of the trees, but I knew they had to be nearly here. I wondered if I should have said something to Sonic and his friend. "They'll be okay," I thought.
I began to move again, heading for the mountain range in the center of the island. I could see it, towering above me through the green canopy, but I was at least a forth of a mile from the foothills. Once I hit the trail, I could follow it straight up the mountain.
I was five minutes from the trail when the robots arrived.
I could hear the crafts humming like gigantic bees. They were scattered all over. I don't know when the carnage began, but it spread like wildfire once it started.
Those robots were carrying bombs for destruction by fire. The bombs looked like a torpedo with detonator charges in the noses. They exploded on impact, spraying the area with a burning chemical.
The humming grew louder. Four of the robots, flying about ten feet above tree level, would pass right over me. They were steel blue, spherical ships. They didn't look like my idea of a robot; more like an automatic warcraft.
They didn't start firing until they were a little beyond me. They fired four bombs apiece into the air, which went up as a group, scattered, and came down one by one. They hit and exploded with a crack, igniting fires instantly. I stood aghast. You don't burn a forest with chemicals if you expect it to recuperate. What was Doc trying to do?
I was suddenly aware of my immanent danger. The woods were burning down around me; I had better take cover or be barbecued where I stood.
I ran in the direction of the trail. Getting out of the forest was foremost on my mind; everything else I pushed out to brood over later. Smoke was filling the air, and it reeked something awful because of the green leaves and chemical. Through the forest to my left was an odd golden glow. I glanced at it and felt the wind in my face. The wind off the mainland, boosted to hurricane force because of the fire, was pushing the flames inland. Not only was I in danger, my entire island was, too.
I broke through the trees and found the trail. At last I broke into a real run. The smoke around me was beginning to turn the sunlight the color of blood. The golden light behind me was growing brighter. I tried to run faster.
Without warning a tall tree ahead of me burst into flames from base to crown. I felt its heat as I tore past. If the fire is already here, I thought, then what chance do I have? "None," my mind replied. "None at all." I kept running anyway.
The smoke was so thick it looked like a heavy fog had rolled in. But fog didn't burn my throat and lungs. I began to cough and slowed to nearly a walk. I knew I would have to stop soon; I was winded, had a stitch in my side, and I needed to see where the fire was.
I topped a small rise and stopped. I rested my hands on my knees. My breath came in painful, ragged gasps, and my chest burned. "Gotta-keep going," I wheezed aloud. "Gotta get-away-from here-" But my feet refused to budge.
After a moment I forced myself to stand up and look around. What I saw frightened me. Red-gold flames were licking above the treetops. It was sweeping through the trees faster than a horse could run, springing from treetop to treetop, followed by the slower brushfire on the ground. Forgetting I didn't have any breath left, I turned and fled.
It was then I envied Sonic his speed. It felt like the world was in slow motion; everything but the fire. It was coming after me at normal speed, and the slowest way for me to get anywhere was by running. I had never noticed how long the path was. I could see the foot of the mountain up ahead, but it seemed miles away. The fire would beat me there.
I stumbled and fell. I tried to get up, but my arms and legs were too heavy. It felt good to lie still, close to the ground where the air was a clearer. My mouth and nose felt like they were padded with cotton; it was difficult to get a decent breath. I lay there for what seemed like hours, but I think it was only a few minutes. What woke me was the roar of the fire as it approached. I turned and looked at it through bleary eyes. I lacked the strength to escape.
From the other direction, back toward the peak, came a short cough. Then somebody called, "Knuckles! Knuckles! Where are you?" I didn't recognize the voice, but I knew it had to be help. My voice came out as a croak. "I'm over here!"
I sensed somebody standing over me. I felt a hand on my shoulder, and was pulled to a sitting position. He was backdropped with the fire, and I couldn't see his face. He pressed something against my nose and mouth. At first I didn't know what it was, but then I took a breath. To my surprise my lungs inflated easily; it was an oxygen mask. I held it against my face and gulped down the fresh air as the person-I guess it was a person-picked me up. I got the impression he was a lot bigger than I was.
Then he began to run, or maybe we flew. I remember looking down as the ground swept by-then I saw the fire below us. The fire in the trees had circled around and cut me off. I don't know how we got over it. Then the person laid me down on rocky ground. I could feel the sharp corners digging into my ribs. The person-I still couldn't make out who it was-rubbed my chest a little and said, "Just rest a little and keep the mask on. You'll be okay." Then he was gone. The last thing I remembered was lying there, watching clouds of smoke billow across the sky, and clutching the plastic mask to my face.
"C'mon, Tails, up there!" Sonic scrambled up the rocky hill on all fours. Tails shook the water out of his fur, then headed after him.
The two had one heck of a time with the fire. For one thing, the robots had set fire to the trees in a ring around them. Sonic had raced around and around the circle to create a strong wind. The fire was drawn in one direction, leaving gaps in its wall. The two raced out, only to find that they were in the heart of the inferno. There was no smoke, but there was no air, either.
Tails revved up and leaped into the air, crying, "C'mon, Sonic! I'll get us outta here!" Sonic locked wrists with him, and Tails flew skyward, his double tails a whirling blur. The rising hot air created a strong wind a few feet above the ground. It boosted Tails high above the treetops. There they encountered the thick, choking smoke. Tails flew through it, unable to see and almost smothered. It was the same with Sonic, although he was able to keep one eye on the ground. The glowing flames were below them for most of their flight. As Tails began to falter, Sonic spotted a blank space in the fire; a pond. "Water- down there, Tails!" Sonic coughed. Tails stopped whirling his tails, and they descended. After a moment Sonic let go and splashed into the water. Tails joined him a second later. Neither of them could touch bottom, so they trod water for a few minutes as they kept an eye on the fire. It was sweeping inland, driven by a fierce wind. A short distance off the fire had stopped and could go no further. It was the rocky foot of the mountains in the middle of the island.
The two swam to shore and clambered up the slope, streaming water. They paused after twenty feet for a look around. The fire had spread out to the east and west. Sonic sat on a rock and watched. "Too bad," he sighed. "It was so pretty, too."
"Yeah, I know," Tails added, sitting down beside him. "NOW do you think Robotnik built those droids?"
Sonic nodded. "Yeah, He's the only person the world with 'destruction' for a middle name." He stood up, turned and looked up the hill. After a moment, he pointed and said, "Hey Tails, it that a cave up there?"
Tails looked up at the base of the mountain. "Yeah, looks like it."
"Well, let's check it out!" Sonic exclaimed, his spirit of adventure reigniting.
They climbed up the hill, picking their way among the scattered boulders. They had climbed halfway up when Sonic, who was a few yards ahead of Tails, stopped dead and hissed, "Tails!" The fox looked up in time to see a large, dark figure glide by silently, thirty yards further up. It loped along until it reached a gigantic rock outcropping a hundred yards away. It spread a pair of huge wings, leaped into the air and vanished into the smoke.
Sonic turned and looked at Tails. They both grinned and exchanged a long wink. Without another word, they continued up the slope.
It turned out the cave was a niche in the rock. The two walked into it for a look around. The air inside was relatively fresh compared to the haziness outside. The rear wall of the cave bore deep scratches, as if some clawed thing had dug into the rock. A small stream of water trickled from a hole in the ceiling. Sonic and Tails drank from it, then Sonic remarked, "Let's head out and see if Robotnik's around. I'm gonna get him for bombing the island like this."
As they turned to go, Tails grabbed Sonic's arm. "Listen. Somebody's coming." Sonic listened, but could hear nothing. He poked his head out the mouth of the cave. A second later he ducked back in. "Knuckles," he whispered. "Hug the walls. He won't see us unless he comes in here."
The two flattened themselves against opposite walls of the cave and waited. It seemed Knuckles was indeed going to enter the cave, however. He paused outside it, then slipped in. The darkness of the cave prevented him from seeing Sonic and Tails, but they could see him clearly. He was covered from head to toe in ash and dirt. He was carrying a wadded-up object in one hand. Sonic didn't recognize it until Knuckles set it on the ground. An oxygen cannister connected to a tube and mask.
The red echidna had something else in his hands, now. It looked like a chaos emerald, but was shaped differently. It lit his hands with a faint green glow. Sonic and Tails watched as he rubbed it in his hands, then tossed it to the floor of the cave. A beam of light shot from it and spiraled upward, forming a giant ring. The middle looked like liquid fire. It lit up the cave, and Knuckles would have seen Sonic and Tails had he not had eyes only for the Ring. They watched him as he picked up the breathing apparatus, then leaped through the Ring. He vanished into it, and it disappeared a second later.
The two observers stared at the place where the Ring had been.
"What was that?" Tails asked, moving away from the wall.
"I donno," Sonic replied. "Some sort of teleporter, I guess." He paused. "Well, Knuckles is gone. We'd better get out of here before he comes back."
As they stepped out into the hazy sunshine, Tails turned and looked back. "Oh, Son-ic," he sang out.
"What?" Sonic replied, turning.
Tails pointed. "The Ring is back, and Knuckles ain't with it."
"Say what?" Sonic exclaimed. He climbed back up and looked into the cave. "Sure enough," he grinned. "Let's check it out."
"What do you mean?" Tails asked. "Like, jump into it and see where it takes us?"
Sonic's only answer was the glint in his eyes and the smile on his lips.
"Oh no, Sonic! We don't know what'll happen!"
"Aw, c'mon, Tails," Sonic replied. "Where's your spirit of adventure?" As he approached the Ring, Tails muttered, "I think it fell into the river and drowned."
Sonic ignored this and reached for his friend's hand. "All right, at the count of three we'll run for it. 'Kay?"
"Okay," Tails replied reluctantly.
"One," said Sonic, eyes sparkling. "Twothreego!" Dragging Tails behind him, Sonic hurled himself through the Ring.
The orange fire-light surrounded them for an instant, then faded away.
Sonic and Tails were standing before a large glassed-in cockpit. It was completely enclosed; there was no way in or out except by teleporter. There were two pilot seats before the control panel, as well as two flight yokes. The windshield was dark.
"What in the world is this?" Tails queried.
Sonic shook his head. "Beats me. Looks like a ride. Let's sit down."
As they did, the control panel lit up with colored lights and dials. One screen flashed, "Insert identification."
Sonic looked at Tails. "Oh oh. I don't have any."
"Neither do I," Tails replied. "What does it want, your fingerprints?"
Sonic leaned forward and looked at the panel. After a few seconds he said, "Hey Tails, look at this slot right here. Guess what would fit in it."
Tails looked. "Ah ha, your emerald! What are the little panels around it for?"
"I donno. Let's try it.
Sonic dug out the green emerald and inserted it into the round slot. Its glow came back with a rush, and a loud hum filled the room. The little screen flashed, "Identification recognized. System initiated." Sonic looked at Tails and clutched the arms of his chair. "Hope we were supposed to do that," he said over the noise.
Then the darkened windshield lit up, showing a bizarre landscape.
The floor (or ground) was a brown-and-yellow checkerboard. It curved over the horizon in a bewildering fashion. But that was not all. Red and blue spheres studded the floor, each one set on the intersection of the floor squares. The blues were grouped in squares with as many as sixteen or as little as four. The reds seemed to be set up as borders. "Weird," Tails said, staring.
"Weird with a beard," Sonic agreed.
They had not finished staring when the cockpit shifted, creaked, then moved forward and down, onto the checkerboard. The little screen flashed, "Two players found. Loading dual player mode."
"Whoa, what's that supposed to mean?" Tails said.
Before Sonic could answer, a panel closed between their seats, splitting the cockpit in half. "Hey!" they yelped. The cockpit jumped, and Sonic's screen said, "Establish radio connection between pods (Y/N)?" After a quick search, Sonic located a keyboard and punched "Y".
There was a click, and from somewhere came Tails's voice. "Sonic! Sonic, are you there? What's happening?"
Not seeing a speaker anywhere, Sonic ventured aloud, "Uh, Tails?"
"Sonic! Where are you?"
"Still in the cockpit. Listen, I think this is some sort of game. I've got the main controls, but you can steer your half around. We've got some sort of radio link going, and-"
Sonic was cut short by a voice saying in two pods, "Game sequence activated. Get blue spheres. Ring amount: zero. Ring goal for level: sixty-four. Ultimate ring goal: three hundred seventy-eight. Player with most rings wins. Go."
There was the crescendoing hum of engines, and Sonic's pod started to move. He grasped the flight yoke and turned it to the left. The pod made a right-angle left turn and cruised slowly forward at five miles per hour. Sonic twisted the controls around. The pod made two right-angle turns to the left, letting Sonic see Tails's pod.
The pod was shaped like a flattened torpedo. The dark windshield curved around the front half. The outer hull was red. "I see you," Sonic said.
"I see you, too," Tails replied. "There's a big flat place along the side of yours where mine connects. Let's explore this place."
They turned their pods and ran them side by side. "I don't see any rings," Sonic said. "How are we supposed to get the rings if there aren't any?"
"Beats me," Tails answered. "It's gotta have something to do with the blue spheres ..."
The golden light surrounded them, and they felt their feet touch the ground. The brightness faded away. They were back in the same cave.
Sonic grinned and held up the red emerald. Once all the spheres had been collected, it had appeared in the slot next to the green one. He pulled out the green chaos emerald and held it up. A faint spark glowed in its middle, but it was not as bright as before. The red one was so bright it looked as if it would catch fire, and hot enough to burn, but its power was tempered by the nearness of the cool green. Sonic folded them into his glove, keeping them together so the red wouldn't overheat. Then he looked at Tails. "Two down and five to go."
"There's gotta be more teleporters someplace," Tails said, "because there has to be a way to get them back."
Sonic strode to the mouth of the cave and looked around. "Still smoky out there, " he commented. "Like I said, let's head out and see if Robotnik's anywhere around. I'm gonna get him for bombing the island."
The island had moved. The south quarter was now facing north. The wind that had been forcing the fire inland was now blowing it back on itself. The entire quadrant had been burned, leaving nothing but black, charred ruins where the tropical forest had flourished. The air had cleared somewhat, but still reeked of smoke.
Sonic decided they needed to climb higher to see any sign of Robotnik. He had spotted a plateau that ran parallel to the mountain, two hundred feet higher. They made their way along the base of the mountain, looking for a way up. They found a place where the wall had crumbled, leaving a slope that was easy to climb.
As Sonic had figured, the plateau afforded a clear view of a barren landscape of charred trees, leafless and naked. Fortunately the fire had stopped before it reached the east and west. It was odd to see the black against the wall of green.
As they surveyed the scene, Sonic realized something. "Tails! Our bi-plane!"
Tails gasped. "It must have burned!"
They stared toward the place where they had left it, hoping against hope to see its shiny red shape. But all they could see was more burned forest. After a few moments of looking, during which all hope drained away, Sonic said, "Well, I guess that's something else we have against Robotnik." He sighed heavily. "C'mon, Tails. I don't know where we're gonna go, but I bet Knux could help us."
"Yeah, but will he?" Tails muttered.
The plateau stretched around the right spur of the mountain, where it sloped down to the forest to the north and east. Sonic and Tails followed it, downhearted at the loss of their beloved little plane.
They had only walked a little ways when a shadow fell over them. They looked up to see a gigantic blimp swooping down on them. It was the typical lemon-shaped balloon with the box-like passenger compartment, with one difference. There was heavy weaponry all along the underside of the balloon.
Its engines made the ground quiver as it came closer. "What's it doing?" Tails shouted above the noise.
"I donno," Sonic called back, eyes on the ship, "but it doesn't look friendly. Let's race it and see if it'll do somethin'." He turned and raced away. Tails ran after him, calling, "What do you mean, 'do something'? Like try to shoot us down? Sonic, wait up!"
Sonic slowed a little, allowing Tails to catch up. "Is it Wing Fortress?" Tails panted as he fell into step beside his friend.
Sonic shook his head. "Nope. Wing Fortress was about five times bigger, remember? Besides, this is a zeppelin."
The humming of the engines overhead crescendoed to a roar as the ship dropped lower. Sonic and Tails listened for change as they concentrated on the terrain ahead.
The metallic whirr of door opening caught their attention. They both looked back, but Sonic spotted their danger. "Split up!" he hollered at Tails. The fox broke off to the right, and Sonic went left.
A second later a smooth, red-tipped torpedo slammed into the ground a heartbeat behind Sonic. The concussion sent him reeling out of control. He collapsed to the ground, holding his ears. Tails, a dozen feet away, saw what happened and dashed toward his friend. Another missile nosed into the ground at the spot where Tails had been. Terrified, Tails pulled Sonic to his feet. The hedgehog could stand, but his eyes were glazed. He shook his head as Tails cried, "Run, Sonic! Run!"
In reply, Sonic rammed into Tails. They rolled over and over the grassy ground, the rumble of the blimp's powerful engines shaking the earth beneath them. As they stopped, another snub-nosed torpedo impacted where they had been standing. It exploded in a plume of white smoke. Sonic pulled himself to his feet and barked, "Run again, but weave this time!" Tails looked at him, but there was no time for questions. The two charged away, dodging back and forth.
They were running out of space. The plateau had become a hill, sloping down the east side of the mountain toward the trees. Missiles were hitting the ground like hail as the pilot of the war-blimp tried to keep them from reaching the woods. But Sonic and Tails plunged into the cover of the trees, and the blimp pulled up in defeat.
Sonic kept running, even as Tails peppered him with anxious questions. He didn't stop to answer until they had reached a small lake deep in the woods. There they stopped for a breather.
"Yes, I'm fine," he answered irritably. "The shock from the bomb hurt my head for a minute, that's all."
"That's all?" Tails repeated shrilly. "Sonic, you still look sick! You sure you're okay?"
"Tails-"
They were interrupted by the whine of an engine that spelled 'Robotnik' in every way possible. Sonic and Tails exchanged a look of disgust, then looked around. "You see him?" Tails asked.
"No," Sonic said. "The trees are blocking our view. Hey, see those islands out on the lake? We could see him from there."
The 'islands' were little more than four grassy hummocks sticking out if the water. They were connected by a series of flimsy-looking log bridges. The longest bridge connected the nearest island to the shore. With Sonic leading the way, the pair crossed the bridge to the first hummock, then turned and searched the horizon for Robotnik's hovercraft.
It wasn't long in coming. The tiny, one-man craft swooped over the treetops with surprising speed. The simple ship sported a flamethrower on each side. As it drew nearer, Sonic and Tails could see Dr. Robotnik grinning beneath his bushy mustache.
"He's going to attack," Sonic said, his voice low. "Regular attack plan. Test his defences." The two moved apart a step.
The hovercraft was only six feet in diameter and oddly egg-shaped. It was covered with metal patches, repairs from earlier encounters with Sonic. But Robotnik, heedless of danger, rocketed toward Sonic. The hedgehog side-stepped, and studied the flamethrowers on the sides as the ship went by. As it circled around for another pass, Sonic called to Tails, "Hit it right in front of the flamethrower. A good jolt will knock 'em loose."
The next time around, Robotnik turned on the heat, shooting out five-foot flames. Sonic and Tails let him pass unchallenged. As their nemesis circled around for a third try, Tails said, "C'mon, Sonic! Think! There's got to be something-"
"I know, I know," Sonic cut in. "I think I have an idea." His eyes lit up with that conniving glint Tails loved to see. As Robotnik flew by, flames roaring, Sonic leaped through the air and came down on one of the flaming jets, swiveling it around sideways. The flame was directed into the engine intake on the side. Sonic bounced off and smiled as Robotnik struggled frantically to shut off the fire, then rocketed away, spluttering and furious.
Tails gave Sonic a high five, but their cheering was interrupted by a sneering voice behind them. "You morons." They turned to find Knuckles standing on the next island out. "You think that because you won this skirmish, you've won the war. Not by half, Sonic. We've only begun to fight."
"We?" Sonic interrupted.
"Yeah. We," Knux snapped. "Me'n Doc. The fun's just started, Sonic, and you havin' the green emerald ain't gonna help ya."
Tails opened his mouth, but Sonic elbowed him and he kept quiet.
"Knux," said Sonic, "we saw you carrying an oxygen mask. Where did you get it?"
Knuckles appeared surprised. "How'd you know about that? Come over here and I'll show it to you."
The tone change put them on their guard. Sonic edged onto the bridge, Tails behind him. They had reached the middle when Knux said, "Tag. You're it."
Sonic and Tails watched in frozen horror as he kicked aside a rock, revealing a small lever built into the ground. He flipped it with his toe. The bridge fell slack, dropping them into the water. Instead of water, a hole had opened up in the lake, which Sonic and Tails fell through.
Knuckles flipped the lever again. The water begam still. He turned and walked away, but had he looked up at the mountain, he would have seen a dark silhouette poised on top of a cliff, watching everything. A gust of wind carried a cloud of smoke over it, concealing it for a moment. When it cleared, the cliff was empty.