Chapter 19: Searchers
While Sonic and Tails decided to chase after Dr. Eggman in The Tornado, Knuckles decided to stay behind. He sensed the presence of several Master Emerald shards in the area, and wanted to find them all. Then when he got to Mystic Ruins, Knuckles was amazed.
"This is same place I saw in my dream," Knuckles exclaimed. "Except it was new, and Tia was talking about the Master Emerald."
As Knuckles searched for the Master Emerald shards, he tried to make sense of the dreams him and Chuck were experiencing. He knew Tia had something to do with them, but the answer wasn't coming to him. About midway through the search, Knuckles decided to investigate the pyramid at the center. Inside the entrance at the top of the steps, Knuckles beheld a large mosaic carved in stone. On the far left, animals with humanlike features were fighting against a faceless animal with a shadowy mass surrounding it. The next image was the world being torn apart with a gigantic multi-eyed and jawed serpent emerging from it followed by the world being reformed by a winged creature wearing a spherical stone on a choker-style necklace. Then the mural showed the Mystic Ruins being occupied by humans, while to the right a large island was floating into the sky with a large green gemstone on it.
"That's Angel Island, and the green gemstone is clearly the Master Emerald," Knuckles said out loud as he stared and the floating island image.
The last series of images showed some of the humans on Angel Island making their way to the Master Emerald while harming small droplet-shaped creatures with wings. Then a monster that looked like Chaos appeared with the seven Chaos Emeralds surrounding it. Afterwards, a gigantic watery monster appeared out of the ocean below Angel Island, followed by a flash of lightning, and Angel Island was falling towards the sea. But then the final image showed Angel Island intact on the ocean's surface surrounded by a bright halo of light produced by a female figure whose features had faded with time.
This must be the story of how Angel Island fell into the sea, Knuckles thought as he walked back over to the image depicting the animals with humanlike features. But what I don't get are the images that came before Mystic Ruins was established. They seem to indicate that the world was destroyed and then reformed.
Knuckles' eyes eventually fell on an animal that was colored by red pieces of glass, with large fists, a pointed nose, and zigzag-shaped tail. Knuckles then looked down at his own fists and tail, which were similar to the animal depicted on the mosaic. A sudden clanking noise interrupted Knuckles' thoughts, forcing him to turn around. At the entrance stood a humanoid robot with red, black, and yellow armor.
"Are you one of Dr. Eggman's robots?" Knuckles said, putting his fists in a defensive position.
"I am, or was," the robot responded. "But I am not here to fight you. These I offer to show I mean no harm."
From a small compartment in its arm, the robot removed three Master Emerald shards.
Knuckles eyed the shards suspiciously. "Where did you find those?"
"Around here while I was searching for my friends," the robot replied.
"Your friends?"
"My fellow robots." The robot then tossed the Master Emerald shards to Knuckles, who managed to catch them. "Allow me to explain."
The robot, who was apparently named E-102 Gamma, told his story to Knuckles who reluctantly turned back into Chuck and listened. He was created by Dr. Eggman as part of a new line of robots called the E-Series, which were intended to be more efficient than the ones Eggman originally used to invade South Island with, and sent on a mission to look for a frog with a tail. After he found it, Gamma brought the frog to Dr. Eggman who now resided on a flying fortress called the Egg Carrier. Once he did, Dr. Eggman was very pleased with Gamma but disappointed in the other robots who didn't find a frog with a tail. In response, Dr. Eggman teleported the other robots away, and told Gamma to fetch a Chaos Emerald from a girl who was imprisoned on the Carrier along with a baby bird.
"What did this girl look like?" Chuck asked.
"She had pink hair and wore a magenta-colored dress," Gamma answered.
"That must be Amelia," Chuck said to himself. Then he said, "So then what happened?"
"I was walking to her cell when I passed by a room where one of my fellow robots, Beta, was being torn apart and rebuilt. In confusion, I left. When I came to the girl's cell, I immediately demanded the Chaos Emerald she held in her hand. She refused to give it up, so I tried persuading her, but then the girl...made me realize that what I was doing was wrong. Out of guilt, I let the girl and the bird go, while I secretly left the Carrier to find the other robots of my series in order to shut them down."
"What did you need to shut down the other robots for?"
"To make sure that they didn't harm anyone in the places they were sent to. So far, I have found most of them. But Beta is still missing, which leads me to believe he is still on the Egg Carrier. I must return there before Dr. Robotnik suspects what I am doing."
"Can I come with you? I have some friends waiting for me on the Egg Carrier as well," Chuck said.
Gamma paused, and then he said, "Very well. Follow me."
To be continued…