Chapter 10

Lava Reef

Falling, careening from side to side, striking a steep ramp, rolling down. Another drop, this time into deep blackness. Landing hard in a warm place. Tails somewhere near, but doesn't answer when I call. Deep silence, warm breeze in my face. So-dead-tired-

It seemed to Sonic that he was running, running from the monster in the pyramid, through echoing passages. Now the monster was a painting in the Marble Gardens mural, but still alive, moving, trying to attack him. Running again. Another wall, covered with strange pictures and writing, taller than the tallest building, stretching across the world. Then a beam of light was burning into his face and arms. Outstretched hands slowly turning into metal, the plating creeping up his arms-the light growing brighter, blinding him-fierce heat, like standing under a focused magnifying glass-

Sonic gasped and awoke. He was lying on his back on stony ground, and felt had been there for hours. It was a dream. What a relief. But where was he? The dream and reality were confused in his mind.

Slowly he sat up, bruised muscles aching. It was darker than the lightless pyramid-a tangible void of light for miles. He put out a hand, feeling around. Rocks, rough floor, uneven wall to his right. It was strangely warm. He had a feeling they were somewhere in the bowels of the Floating Island.

Where was Tails? Sonic got down on his hands and knees, hands groping, eyes straining to probe the darkness. It came to him that he hadn't heard a sound from his friend in some time. Oh no, what if he had landed wrong and-

One hand touched something warm and furry. An arm. Sonic felt along it until he located Tails's body. The fox was curled on his side. Sonic cupped a hand over his nose and mouth, then silently cursed the metal that dulled his sense of touch. He leaned over Tails instead and tested for breathing with his cheek. To his relief, Tails was alive.

Feeling a little better, he curled up beside his friend. Not much they could do now. Might as well sleep. It would pass the time until- until what? Until they starved to death in this black hole? The thought was so horrifying he slammed his mental doors on it.

He began to doze. The air smelled funny, like propane gas. It made him sleepy, dulling the aches in his body. He gave into it, wondering vaguely if it was poisonous. Nothing he could do about it anyway ...

Measureless time passed. Sonic and Tails slept, drugged by the gas gently blowing in their faces. Only the ventilation shaft above their heads kept them from suffocation.

At last the gas thinned out. The air continued to move, drifting up into the shaft. Their hole was the end of a mine shaft, for without knowing it, they had entered the Lava Reef mines, a hazardous region at the island's core.

Sonic began to awaken, returning to the surface like a deep-sea diver. For a while he had been aware that the darkness had become less, as if light was coming from somewhere. As he swam back to consciousness, he was aware of something else; a throbbing hum that filled the cave and viberated through the ground. With the unreasoning assurance of the half-asleep, he assumed it has the island's heartbeat. But as he awoke, he realized it was something else.

Slowly he lifted his head, realizing he could see the walls and floor. Where was the light coming from? He propped himself up on his elbows and found himself looking down a long, slanted tunnel. The light was coming from somewhere down it. He thought of his groping about the night before-or whenever they had entered this place. What if he had ventured into that tunnel, crawling down, searching for Tails? He shuddered at the thought.

Tails was lying in a different position now, double tails covering his body like a blanket. Sonic looked at him fondly, then shook him. "Tails ... Tails, wake up."

Slowly the young fox began to awaken. His sleep had been as deep as Sonic's. He yawned, stretched, opened his eyes and sat up. "Hi Sonic," he said sleepily.

"Hiya Tails," Sonic replied. "Feel okay?"

"Oh, I don't feel great, but I'm not in the red. My shoulder hurts-I think I landed on it when we fell." He looked down at the bandage, which wasn't so white anymore and bore a large red spot.

Sonic flinched. "I wish we could change that. It'll get infected."

Tails only nodded, his brain still kicking on. After a moment he looked around. "Where are we? I thought it was dark at the bottom of the hole."

"It was. There's some kind of light way down the tunnel. And a sound-hear it?"

They both sat quietly for a moment, listening to the low whirr. It was coming from a great distance. "It sounds ... mechanical," Tails remarked. "What is this place?"

"I donno," Sonic replied, climbing to his feet and wincing at his stiff muscles. "But we ain't getting out that way."

Tails looked at the dark shaft above their heads. "No kidding." He climbed to his feet and leaned against the wall. "I feel like I've been hit by a truck-twice."

"You and me both, kiddo." Sonic ventured a few steps down the tunnel, noticing the rough rock walls and wooden supports every few feet. "It looks like a mine of some kind," he told his sidekick. "We're underground again." He stamped one foot. "I'm sick of this! I've been underground more these past few days then in my whole life!"

Tails moved up to him and touched his metal hand. "But we made it this far, didn't we? And we're still in one piece."

Bitterly Sonic lifted one hand. "Yeah, but at what cost? My hands are totally ruined, and you're walking around with a hole in your shoulder. Not to mention we don't have ANY of the chaos emeralds anymore."

"But Sonic, we're both alive. Where there's life there's hope."

Sonic gave his friend a withering glance. "Look at the facts, Tails." He ticked them off on his fingers. "You're hurt, I'm handicapped. We have no food, no water or supplies of any kind. We haven't had a drink since Sandopolis, and a meal since-since Mushroom Hill. Robotnik might have all the chaos emeralds, our supers, and the Master emerald by now. And you have the guts to be optimistic?"

Tails nodded. "Sure. The dog either walks on water or can't swim. Look, we're rested and alert. Neither of us have anything seriously wrong. Like Slasher says, never give up, in or out."

Sonic sighed. "You sure know how to boost a guy's morale. You win. I guess we'll hunt around for an exit or something."

And with that, they embarked on what could be called the last leg of their journey, little knowing what lay ahead.

The tunnel snaked downward, burrowing through the rock like a massive earthworm had drilled it. After a bit they came to the place the lights began-bare lightbulbs hanging from exposed wires on the stone ceiling. They were careful not to touch them.

At last they spotted the end of the tunnel. A strange golden light illuminated it, and the smell of heated rock and sulfur met them. They hurried toward it, stepped into the room, and stared in amazement.

The cavern was the size of an auditorium with a high, vaulted ceiling. Normally it would have been dark and cool, but it was exactly the opposite. There were five huge lava pits in the floor, seperated by high stone dikes. The lava was red and orange on top, but when bubbles broke the surface, it glowed like molten fire. The walls were made of black lava rock and scarcely reflected the orange light. The air was humid and very hot.

Sonic and Tails stared in a frightened awe. It was unlike anything they'd ever seen. Sonic discribed it all in a single word: "Hell." Then he beckoned to Tails and stepped onto one of the dikes. They quickly made their way across to a tunnel in the far side, shielding their faces from the intense heat. They ducked into the tunnel and leaned against the wall, gasping. "I think it singed the fur off my arms," Tails moaned.

Sonic felt the same. "Oh man, this is a terrible place! Let's get away from this cave."

But it was the Lava Reef mines, and they had been aptly named. There were many lava caves, and the tunnels wandered in and out of them at random. Always, above and below everything else, was that deep, throbbing hum. They found out later it was the circulation fans. Placed at strategic points in the caves and powered by geo-thermal generators, they kept the air moving. Without them Lava Reef would quickly have become uninhabitable.

Sonic and Tails found a waterpipe that had broken and was spewing hot water all over the floor. They drank from the cooler puddles and splashed their faces, washing away some of the grit accumulated in Sandopolis. Then they continued onward, thirst slaked and beginning to feel hunger.

They had been following a rather wide tunnel for a while. Cool air was drifting through it, and they were hoping for a lava-less cave or two, or maybe a mine exit.

Suddenly the wall a few feet ahead of Sonic burst outward in a cloud of dust. Sonic collided with something and stumbled back, the dust blocking his vision.

"What is it?" Tails asked from behind him.

"I donno," Sonic answered. "Stay behind me-it might be a robot or something."

Or something. Like the thing in the pyramid. Sonic crouched a little, slightly uneasy.

As the dust settled they made out a moving figure, just climbing to its feet. It turned and looked straight at them. Knuckles. His mouth fell open, and to their surprise, he turned tail and fled from them.

Sonic stood where he was, too surprised to move. Knuckles had run- from THEM! "Tails," Sonic said, "did you see that? He ran away! Weird!"

"He was too startled, I guess," Tails said, moving up to stand beside his friend. "Did he come out of the wall?"

They turned and looked. The rock had a gaping hole dug in it, chips and fragments littering the ground. Sonic poked his head in. "Ah, I see. There's another tunnel alongside this one, and he broke through the wall between." He paused, and Tails saw a look of consternation pass over his face. "Oh no! There's another of those glowing teleporters!" He backed away from the hole. "No! I'm just now feeling rested! No way am I gonna charge a super!"

Tails could see the glowing ring plainly through the opening. He gave Sonic a pleading look. "Please? There's only two left. Maybe, if we finish it up, it'll give us our strength back. C'mon, Sonic!"

"I said no, and I mean no! For-git it!"

They stood in Hidden Palace, facing the last two dead gems. The cave was lit by the colored light from the five others. The ceiling's crystals reflected flects of color, and the polished marble floor held hazy reflections.

"Let's do it at the same time," Tails called from a short distance away.

Sonic glanced at him, eyes bright with uneasy anticipation. "Okay, if that's how you want to do it. Maybe it'll go faster. On the count of three. One, two ... three!"

They smacked their hands down on the emeralds' tops.

The process was routine by now, but this time it was doubled. The cave resounded with the energy transfer beams, and with the occasional agonized cry that escaped the victims. But at last the brilliant light faded away, and the two were let down.

Sonic lifted his head and let his eyes trace the room. Funny, he didn't feel as bad this time. The emerald he had brought to life was dark red, and Tails's was white.

Tails slowly sat up. "Well Sonic, we did it-whatever it is we did."

Sonic slid off the emerald and walked over to his friend. "You okay?"

"I guess." Tails slowly climbed down. "What happens now?"

"I donno." Sonic's eyes strayed to the Master emerald. "Maybe we should end it like we started it, by touching the Master."

Tails followed his gaze, then shifted his weight from foot to foot uneasily. "Um, you sure? That might not be a good idea."

Sonic shrugged. "No worse than you wanting to come here in the first place."

Tails winced at the tone in his voice. "You don't have to be such a grouch about it. Well, go ahead. I didn't touch it first."

Sonic advanced until he was standing before the gigantic green gem. With sudden forethought, he turned and said, "Tails, you might want to back off. It blasted you last time."

Tails hurriedly took shelter behind one of the emerald pedestals.

Once his friend was secure, Sonic focused his attention on the Master. He could see through it, like staring into a bottomless pool. He drew a deep breath, shut his eyes and placed a hand on the crystal's smooth top.

At first nothing happened. Sonic opened his eyes, looked around, then down at the emerald. To his surprise, the inside had lit up, the core glowing as if a lightbulb had been inserted. A stream of something- light? electricity?-was extended upward to meet his hand on the inside of the emerald. He stared at it, entranced. This was the bizarrest thing yet.

Suddenly the Master emerald flashed out, overwhelming his senses with light. Tails shielded his eyes. Something weird was going to happen.

Sonic flung his arms over his face and turned away from the intense brightness. His eyes fell on the super emeralds, all of which were shining like fire, triggered by the Master. The closest one, the green, suddenly directed its light at Sonic, as if aimed like a floodlight. The orange one followed suit. Then the blue. One by one all seven stones focused their energy on the blue hedgehog, blinding him. But it was more than light. There was a burning intensity, like radiation, that made it impossible to stand against. For one moment all the gems brightened and the cave was illuminated fully, light reflecting from the polished floor and scattered crystal formations. Then the gems returned to their former glow, and silence reigned once more.

Tails crept out from behind the pedestal, eyes readjusting to the dimness. "Well," he said, voice echoing through the cavern, "that was totally strange. Did you see what it did?"

He walked up to Sonic. Sonic had been standing motionless since the light had faded, staring down at his cupped hands. He looked up, dazed. "T-Tails. It gave me-look what it gave me."

Tails looked into his hands. Cradled against his palms were seven brightly-colored stones. They glowed softly, bearing witness to their power. "It's like I'm holding electricity," Sonic murmured, staring down at them. "My fingers are tingling."

"But what are they?" Tails asked gingerly. "The chaos emeralds?"

"N-no. These are shaped different. They're like-" He broke off and lifted one to the light. His eyes strayed to the big super emeralds, then back to the small gems. "Tails," he exclaimed, "these are super emeralds! Miniature supers! How cool-"

Tails shook his head, mystified. "But ... how? And what happened to the chaos?"

Sonic shrugged, unable to take his eyes from the jewels. "I donno, Tails. I just ... donno."

After a while he pocketed them and dazedly teleported back to Lava Reef with Tails. It was a good while before he fully recovered from his shock.

I had run from Sonic.

The humiliation of it filled my heart and mind.

I had RUN from him! Just turned tail!

Of course, I had been expecting him and his friend to be messily dead at the bottom of that shaft. Finding them alive was a shock.

But then, to simply run ...?

I entered the biggest cavern in the Lava Reef mines, the massive hollow in the heart of the island. The roof was a mile high, supported by seven gigantic stone pillars. They had been built several generations back by the other guardians, but had been slowly covered with flowstone, so they appeared natural.

I barreled across the stone floor, barely remembering to avoid the nasty sharp places. They were the spots where the liquid lava had cooled in ripples, forming sharp ridges that would slice the soles of your shoes. A fall usually meant cut hands and knees.

I had run and was still running. I kicked myself mentally for it, but I had to. Lava Reef was dangerously close to Hidden Palace; there were several old tunnels that led straight to it. The emerald chamber was sealed, of course, but access from Lava Reef was easy, if you knew which walls were the weakest.

I would set a trap. I stopped a moment and stared thoughtfully around the huge cavern. A little way off was a gigantic fissure in the floor. A big earthquake had cracked it open a few years back, and it was slowly expanding. It was now about fifty feet wide, and most of the floor was molten lava. Yes. If I could somehow shove Sonic and Tails into it ...

A plan appeared in my mind. Oh yeah, it would work great. Sonic and Tails would walk into the most obvious of traps. I'd nail them as soon as they got close ...

Metal Sonic was seated on a ledge near the roof of the monstrous cave, watching Knuckles like a hungry hawk. His scanner didn't work well when tons of solid rock blocked its path, but he could see Knuckles clearly, and knew Sonic and Tails were somewhere near.

Quietly he reported in to Robotnik, who was somewhere on the other side of Lava Reef. "Hello, Doctor. Yes. I have all three in sight. Knuckles isn't leaving the big cave. I think he thinks Sonic and Miles are chasing him, the moron. No, they won't be in your sector for a while. You have located Hidden Palace? No? We MUST be getting close. I am picking high-energy readings on a cave not far from here ... Ah, you haven't reached it yet. Well, keep me informed. Do you wish me to attack the echidna? ... I see. Very well, I will not. Mecha out."

The robot stared at Knuckles, a red speck against the black floor. His metal hands curled into fists. "Not yet, at least," he muttered under his breath. His crimson eyes brightened. "But I WILL spill your blood, Knuckles."

Thirty minutes later Sonic and Tails emerged from the tunnel and stared the huge cave. At first they couldn't grasp it. It was overwhelming, like standing on the lip of the Grand Canyon. The floor was solid, but were those distant pillars real? Was it all somehow a gigantic poster?

Slowly they made their way out into the cavern. "Wow," Tails said. He searched his mind for something more eloquent, and added, "Gee."

Sonic blinked his eyes and shook his head. "Why do things always have to be so huge? It's just an island, for crying out loud." He looked down at the floor, trying to get his bearings. After a moment he said, "Well, let's cross this thing. We'll see if it's as big as it looks."

Moving around had helped Sonic get over his daze, but he wasn't himself. He was unusually quiet as they walked along, and content to move slowly. That in itself was a signal he was not all right. Tails kept tossing uneasy glances at him, worried. After a while he built up the nerve to ask, "Sonic, what's the matter?"

Sonic glanced at him, then back down at the ground. "Nothin'. Why?"

"You're acting funny."

Sonic shrugged. "I guess I am." He paused. "I keep thinking about those little super emeralds. Do I use 'em like the chaos? What do they do?" He snapped his metallic fingers. "I hate these things. If there were only some way to undo it ..."

They spoke little more. The hardship of their adventures was wearing on them, and it was good to walk in silence for a change.

Running parallel to their course and to the left was the big fissure in the floor. Neither paid attention to it until they neared the far end of the cave. There it began to snake toward them, narrowing. The rough basalt floor had cracks across its surface, as if it had suffered in the same quake that had formed the chasm. The ceiling above dropped lower, and the high wall curved nearer.

At last they came to a steep hill of loose rock, as if a section of the wall had collapsed outward. As their eyes moved up it, they saw the remains of a tunnel in the rock, partly blocked but passable.

"Do we go up there?" Sonic asked his sidekick, his voice betraying his weariness.

Tails shrugged. "I don't care. One more obstacle can't hurt."

They looked up at the passage again, just in time to see Knuckles appear inside it, sneer down at them, then retreat back inside.

Sonic and Tails looked at each other. "Maybe he knows a way out," Tails exclaimed.

Sonic nodded, eyes showing some of the old sparkle. "Yeah, let's follow him!"

They charged up the slope. It had formed recently, as most of the rocks had a freshly-broken look, and shifted beneath their feet. It was mostly stable, however, and was not difficult to climb.

It wasn't until they were three-fourths of the way up that they realized Knuckles's scheme.

The scarlet echidna stepped out of the mouth of the tunnel, folded his arms and leered at them. Sonic and Tails automatically stopped and watched him warily. Sonic, faintly hopeful, called, "Do you know a way out of here?"

"Ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies," he snorted.

The three exchanged stares for a few minutes, Sonic and Tails trying to be alert for anything. At last Sonic said, "So, Knux, whaddya want?"

Knuckles nonchalantly swung his dreadlocks out of his face. "Oh, nothing. Except that you knocked me down and hurt me." He glared at them. "See, I don't forgive things like that. I figured I'd do the same to you. HA! Better get moving, cretins."

He set his shoulder against a monstrous boulder that was sitting at the top of the heap. Sonic realized what Knuckles was doing before Tails did, and his eyes widened in terror. He grabbed Tails's hand and yelled, "Run for it!"

Even as they began to move, Knuckles pried the boulder loose and sent it tumbling after them. Then, his voice nearly drowned in the crashing of the two-ton stone, they heard him laugh manically.

The two tore down the rough slope, trying to get clear of the boulder's path. Its weight and motion jarred loose smaller rocks, and a rockslide was beginning. Sonic kept a tight hold on Tails's hand as he had in Flying Battery, and they steadied each other during their headlong flight.

At last the floor was reached, but the rock was still coming. Sonic had a dim idea that they were running toward the trench in the ground, but could only think of getting out of the stone's path. Each time it bounced and hit the floor he felt his teeth rattle. He risked a glance over his shoulder-it was gaining on them. "Run faster," he gasped to Tails, nearly turning his ankle on a dip in the floor. "It's too close-"

Then the ground yawned open before them, a black ravine with glowing red lava in the bottom. The heat struck them in the face as they skidded to a halt at the edge. "No good!" Sonic cried. "Let's go that w-" They were standing on a spike that jutted out over the chasm. There was no way to go, and going back meant running toward the rapidly advancing boulder. They were trapped.

"Sonic, what do we do?" Tails cried in terror.

Sonic looked over his shoulder. "Jump!"

They leaped into space. The boulder smashed down on the ledge, breaking it off with the impact, and together they toppled into the abyss.

The chasm was deep, and they had an agonizing four seconds to fall. Sonic could see the lava below-a blurred red mass, like blood. He wondered how long it took to melt completely, and if it hurt the whole time. As the lava floor drew nearer, Sonic thought of his sidekick ... he couldn't let Tails die like that. His mind raced here and there, like a rabbit looking for a hole, trying to find some way of escape. The super emeralds! Maybe they could save them ...

In the remaining second before the molten rock claimed them, Sonic dug out the seven super emeralds and flung them away, into the lava. The reaction was instanious.

The emeralds cooled the lava beneath Sonic and Tails, forming a black, hard crust that they hit with bone-jarring force. From the little island, like frosting on a cake, the blackness swept across the lava's surface, meeting both walls and sweeping down the length of the fissure, cooling the lava instantly. Then the coolness worked downward from the crust, solidifying the lava for several hundred feet underground.

Sonic recovered his senses and opened his eyes. He was lying on rough, warm rock. What had happened to the lava? He sat up and looked around. The walls of the chasm stretched up above him, zig-zagging against the background of the high cave ceiling. But there wasn't any liquid lava anywhere. The black crust was steaming in some places, but completely solidified.

His eyes found Tails, lying motionless on the black floor a few yards away. He jumped to his feet and hurried over to his sidekick. Tails was unconscious, but breathing. Sonic cradled him in his arms and rocked back and forth a little, eyes scanning the stone walls for a way of escape. Tails would be able to fly out, but he wasn't sure if Tails could airlift him. They hadn't tried an airlift since Flying Battery, and Sonic hated to ask him. But what if they were trapped down here? That Knuckles ... For the first time Sonic felt real hostility. He had tried to hurt them, before, but this had been an attempt at homicide. Sonic ground his teeth. Knuckles would pay for this next time they met.

Suddenly, all around the rock began to groan and creak. Sonic felt a distinct sinking sensation, as if the rock were settling downward. To his surprise, a short distance off, seven glowing points of light surfaced from the stone and lay on its surface-the super emeralds. He hadn't sacrificed them, after all.

As he looked at the supers, he noticed something else: a passage had appeared in the wall. It had been covered by the lava before it settled. Sonic felt a cool breath of air touch his face. It smelled musty, as if the tunnel had been closed for a long time.

Tails stirred in Sonic's arms and opened his eyes. "Hi, Sonic," he mumbled. "Where are we?" He sat up and shook his head as Sonic explained how the emeralds had saved them.

Sonic rose and gathered up the little supers. They weren't even scratched. He pocketed them and returned to Tails. The orange fox slowly, painfully, climbed to his feet. "Ugh, I thought we were goners. How do we get out of this place?"

Sonic pointed out the passage. "There's air moving out of it, so it can't be blocked. You want to check it out?"

Tails shrugged. "Sure. Might as well see if we can get out of here."

They entered the passage, little dreaming what awaited them at the far end.