Chapter 15: Restoration
"If I can't have the Master Emerald revealed to me, then I'll find it myself!" Dr. Eggman declared, flying over the trees that outlined the mountains.
On the ground, Sonic blazed through the underbrush with his head turned towards the Egg Mobile which flew just in front of him.
"Hey, Sonic!" Tails shouted, flying alongside Sonic with the Chaos Emerald tracking device in hand. "Apart from the Emeralds that Dr. Eggman's carrying, there's a faint signal coming from the Northwest. Do you think it might be the Master Emerald?"
"I don't know, but it sounds worth checking out," Sonic replied.
After Sonic slowed down a bit to get some distance between him and Dr. Eggman, he veered towards the mountains while Tails followed behind.
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Once they scaled the snow-covered slopes, Sonic and Tails soon found themselves before a large volcano that stood at the center of the island. There they found a dormant lava tube with some ancient ruins built nearby, and decided to go into it. Inside, Tails pulled out a small flashlight from his hoodie pocket, and led the way. Eventually, the two came to a hidden chamber where a large green gemstone was placed upon an emerald-colored pedestal.
"This is it," Tails remarked, noticing the readings on the tracking device grow stronger. "We've found the Master Emerald!"
"Indeed!"
Sonic and Tails turned around to see Dr. Eggman floating towards them in his Egg Mobile. The two dodged him, and soon Dr. Eggman was hovering over the Master Emerald. He pressed a button, and a large claw suddenly dropped down from the Egg Mobile's underside. It clamped down on the Master Emerald with ease and then the claw was raised. With this movement, the Master Emerald was pulled out of its pedestal.
"I'd love to congratulate you boys for making my task easier, but I've got a Death Egg to launch!" Dr. Eggman announced and flew away with the Master Emerald still attached to the claw.
Sonic and Tails followed Dr. Eggman outside, where they witnessed Knuckles gliding towards the Egg Mobile. Dr. Eggman reacted by flying higher, though Knuckles managed to land on the Master Emerald. As he struggled to break the claw, it suddenly emitted a strong current of electricity that pulsed through Knuckles' body and forced him to let go.
"As my grandfather always said, 'Always have a back-up plan in mind,'" Dr. Eggman said.
As Dr. Eggman flew away laughing, Sonic and Tails ran over to Knuckles who was lying on the ground groaning in pain. They helped him up and then from out of his boxer-short pockets the seven Chaos Emeralds spilled. Afterwards, the Emeralds glowed brightly and levitated as they surrounded Sonic, which was then followed by a bright flash before Super Sonic emerged.
"I was going to give the Chaos Emeralds back once I found the Master Emerald," Knuckles muttered, looking up at Super Sonic. "But all I did was lead Dr. Eggman right to it. I'm such a failure."
"There's no point in blaming yourself, Knuckles," Sonic said. "It's Dr. Eggman who's going to pay."
Then Sonic took off into the air as a distant rumble shook the ground. From the heart of the mountains emerged a large spherical space-station that was the size of a miniature moon. On it was a prominent face with laser cannons for eyes, a nose-shaped bridge, and a moustache covering up the docking bay. As it rose steadily into the sky, Sonic flew towards the space-station and into the docking bay. Inside, several robots spotted Sonic and fired their lasers at him. Fortunately, he dodged them and dismantled them, relieved to see there weren't any children inside the robots.
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Once the Death Egg was in space, Sonic had defeated all the robots on every single level of the space-station. He approached the bridge cautiously, but found it already open. Inside was a large hallway covered in glass, which showed the surface of the planet from several miles. At the end of the hallway, Sonic saw the Master Emerald inside a glass chamber with wires attached to it. Then just as he was about to fly to the Master Emerald, Dr. Eggman appeared in a giant robot that emerged from under the floor.
"You may have made it this far, Sonic," Dr. Eggman's voice boomed. "But your journey ends here!"
Using the robot's giant metal fingers, Dr. Eggman tried to crush Sonic, but he destroyed every single finger in a matter of seconds. Next, the robot's head detached and flew toward the chamber where the Master Emerald was kept. The wires suddenly detached, and the chamber was opened as a tongue-shaped magnet emerged out of the robot head. It grabbed the Master Emerald and pulled it into the head, which spun around and fired several powerful light beams at Sonic. He dodged every single one, and managed to crush the head by curling up into a ball and hitting it at top speed. Once the head dismantled, Dr. Eggman emerged in his Egg Mobile with the dome over his head and a claw holding onto the Master Emerald.
"That does it!" Dr. Eggman shouted from inside the Egg Mobile. "Now you've forced my hand!"
A button was clicked, followed by an alarm.
"Warning! The Death Egg will self-destruct in two minutes!" a voice said over the speakers.
While Dr. Eggman flew through an escape hatch that led out to space, Sonic was stunned.
"Go after Dr. Eggman! I'll shut down the self-destruct sequence!"
Sonic turned around and saw Tails flying towards him from the open doorway.
"Tails!" Sonic exclaimed. "How did you get on here?"
"I followed you onboard while you weren't looking," Tails responded. "Now get going! We don't have much time!"
"I'm on it!" Sonic said as he flew out the escape hatch.
As he got closer to the Master Emerald, Sonic's fur suddenly changed from gold to white with rainbow-colored sparks emanating from him. His speed also increased, so Sonic was able to catch up to Dr. Eggman in no time. Then after a few hits, the Egg Mobile fell towards the planet though Sonic managed to catch the Master Emerald before it did. However, the Master Emerald turned out to be heavier than Sonic predicted and soon he was plummeting towards the planet as well, but was suddenly saved by an egg-shaped escape pod that appeared below him. He was lowered inside, and relieved to see Tails at the wheel.
"I take it you shut down the Death Egg's self-destruct sequence?" Sonic said as he set the Master Emerald down.
"Not exactly," Tails said. "Watch."
Tails pressed a button on a screen next to the steering-wheel. It showed the Death Egg flying away at top speed away from the planet, with its face turned toward the vastness of space. Then once it was nothing more than a dot, a fiery cloud appeared for a brief second until there was nothing more than debris.
"Nice job," Sonic remarked as the Super Sonic phase wore off.
"What happened out there? For a second, I thought you were faster than usual," Tails remarked as the outside of the pod started to burn once they entered the planet's atmosphere.
"You weren't imagining things," Sonic replied. "I'm guessing that the Master Emerald's energy must have given the Chaos Emeralds an extra boost that made me more powerful and faster. So I guess I went…Hyper Sonic?"
"Sounds about right."
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Back on Angel Island, Sonny gave Chuck the Master Emerald which he was surprisingly able to lift despite its enormous weight. He then placed it on the pedestal at the center of the altar, where it suddenly emitted a faint glow. Next, Chuck placed all seven Chaos Emeralds on each of the seven pillars which glowed as well. The ground then started to shake, causing Sonny, Miles, and Chuck to leave the altar. They steadily made their way down the slopes, through the thick jungle, and found themselves at the beach. There, the waters were receding as the land suddenly rose upwards.
"I think the island is rising," Chuck said. "Just like my parents hoped."
"What do you mean?" Sonny asked.
"According to legend, Angel Island used to be a floating landmass occupied by people who were stronger than normal humans and capable of flight. But then the gods became angry and caused the island to plummet into the ocean. While most of the people died as a result, there were survivors who fled to the nearby islands. My parents were descended from such survivors, and they hoped that one day Angel Island would float again."
"Well, I guess today's the day."
"Guys," Miles abruptly said. "If we don't leave now, we'll never be able to get off the island!"
"Oh, right," Sonny said sheepishly.
After Miles closed his eyes and concentrated deeply, a yellow aura surrounded him. A few seconds later, the aura dissipated and Tails emerged. He flew up into the air, grabbing Sonny's hand. Then he was about to grab Chuck's hand, but Chuck swatted it away.
"What's wrong, Chuck?" Tails asked.
"I can't go," Chuck replied. "Someone's got to protect the Master Emerald and the Chaos Emeralds from Dr. Eggman, or anyone else who might use them for evil."
Sonny was stunned. "But Chuck—
"I'm not changing my mind. This is too important to ignore. Now leave before the island rises any further!"
Before Sonny could protest, Tails lifted him off the ground and they flew away from the island just as the beaches became air-born. Waves lapped at Sonny's feet as Tails grew exhausted, causing him to fly lower. But just before they hit the water, Sonny spotted the South Island pier where a crowd of people were gathering.
"Tails, fly lower!" Sonny commanded. "We don't want to draw attention to ourselves.
"Right," Tails replied.
They flew underneath the pier and landed on a jetty. Before the next wave overtook them, Tails changed back into Miles and then he and Sonny climbed up onto the pier. The crowd was too distracted to notice them as Angel Island was rising in the distance. Sonny and Miles watched until someone tugged at them from behind. They both turned and saw Amelia with an angry frown while behind her the Chaotix Detectives stood.
"Amelia," Sonny said. "What's your problem?"
"You have no idea how worried I was when you two flew away," Amelia responded. "In fact, I actually consulted Amy in my dreams, and she was the only one who made me feel better."
"But Amelia, I thought we agreed that it would be too dangerous," Miles said. "If you really wanted to come along, you could've said so."
"I did, but I didn't know if I would be of any use." Amelia lowered her head, and when she raised it there were tears in her eyes. "But it's good to see you two alive and well."
As Amelia hugged Sonny and Miles, Espen came up to them and said, "So what happened to Chuck? Why isn't he with you?"
Sonny scratched the back of his head. "He, um, got captured by Dr. Robotnik who took the Chaos Emeralds as well. We tried to stop him, but he got away and now the Chaos Emeralds and Chuck are missing."
"I see," Espen responded.
"What about Nik?" Victor asked. "Did you find him? Is he still going to pay us?"
"I don't know," Sonny answered. "I never saw him."
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Later that day, Sonny and Miles told Amelia what really happened. She listened very intensely and didn't interrupt them even once. Then after the two boys were done with their story, Amelia sighed.
"Poor Chuck," Amelia said quietly. "I wonder what his parents will do when they find out he's gone."
"He doesn't have any parents," Miles replied, causing Amelia to look at him in surprise. "Before I came here, I went to see Mr. Chaplain to see if he knew were Chuck lived. Unfortunately, he didn't, so I looked in the phonebook and I couldn't find anyone by the last name of 'Kidman'. So finally I went to the island hospital and after some persuasion I learned that Chuck's parents died a few years ago in a car accident, and he took up residence in an apartment above a boxing gym."
Amelia shook her head. "All the same, poor Chuck. Do you think he'll be okay on that island?"
"I think he will," Sonny said. "Knuckles is with him, after all."
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"Sonny was lying," Espen said once he, Victor, and Charles got back the house. "I followed him and the others when they left, and saw what they saw. While Chuck really did get captured by Dr. Robotnik who also took the Chaos Emeralds, Sonny saw just as I did that Nik was really Dr. Robotnik."
"It's not Sonny lying that bothers me," Victor said. "But the fact that we can't tell anyone about this or we'll get thrown in prison for unintentionally helping a major criminal."
"And I don't think we're getting paid anytime soon," Charles sighed. "Why do you think Dr. Robotnik wanted the Chaos Emeralds?"
"Who knows, Charles," Victor replied. "There have been a lot of strange things happening on this island lately. First Dr. Robotnik, then The Blue Blur, and now it turns out that an ordinary kid is actually The Blue Blur whose friend can also grow two tails and fly based on what Espen told us last night."
"So what are we going to do about rent?" Charles sighed.
"We'll manage," Espen said. "But in the meantime, I think we should investigate these new powers we've been developing lately. They may hold the key to what's really going on."
To be continued…