Fall of the Knuckles
Everyone was gathering in the library at Sally's villa in the middle of the night; all of Team Sonic, Team Chaotix, and even Princess Sally herself came to see.
"So, who gathered this meeting?" Sally asked.
"Tikal did." Marine replied.
"I've never met her." Sally replied.
"She's been here the whole time since the Chaotix came in here." Marine said.
"This is the first time I've heard of her." Mighty stated.
"I've never seen her either." Vector replied.
"Are you guys callin' me crazy!?" Marine yelled.
"No, I've seen her." Espio commented.
"We've seen her as well." Cosmo pointed out. Then, Sonic looked around.
"Has anyone seen Amy?" He asked. "She was called too." At that moment, Amy came into the room. She was breathing slightly heavier and her eyes were a shade of deep blue. "Now, that you're here we can finally wait for Tikal to show up."
"That won't be necessary." Amy stated, both her voice and Tikal's voice was coming out of her mouth. "She's already here."
"I don't get it." Sonic said. "What do you mean she's already here; I can only see one of you."
"I know that some of who I called are unable to see me." Tikal answered. "Thus I needed to borrow someone that everyone can see."
"Amy's possessed right now?" Sonic asked. "By Tikal!? So, that must mean…"
"I'm just a phantom of who I once was." She continued.
"Well, that explains a lot." Bunny replied.
"You never told me you were dead." Marine answered in shock.
"I thought you would have figured it out." Tikal answered. "But I remember that some mobians can see me while others can't. It is not a sign of being pure-hearted or not, it is just how it works."
"But why are you still here?" Sonic asked. "Why aren't you, well, you know…"
"The memories that surround my demise bring me massive amounts of pain." She stated. "It is time for me to show what I know to you all; so you may be aided on bringing Chaos back."
"What do you mean bring 'Chaos' back?" Knuckles asked. "He hasn't been a good mutant chao thing."
"I have known another side of him." She stated. Amy raised her hands into the air and white spheres came from the hands surrounding all of them. "I must reveal the past to you all." Then, the entire group was engulfed in light.
The group reappeared in a great city made of stone. There were many painted mobians around them.
"What is this place?" Knuckles asked. "This is? What I think this is?"
"This is the great city of the Knuckles clan." Amy stated. "But its name, only known to its people, will be forever lost." She raised her hand and she is pointing towards the door to the city. The party noticed that Tikal was over there with her father, Pachacamac, and four guards.
"Can't you just listen to me, father?" Tikal asked.
"Tikal, we are in the middle of a war." Pachacamac replied. "We have no time for such silly matters."
"You can't just raid the Shrine of Chaos. There are many chao and their guardian, Chaos, lives there. You need to ask him for help." Tikal explained.
"I don't want to hear any of your superstitions. If he was real, why doesn't he just come to this city and speak for himself? We will do whatever it takes to win this war against the Nocturnus clan. Now, leave at once."
"But father…"
"I said… LEAVE AT ONCE!" He shouted. Then, Tikal left.
"Of course, I heard from my father that Pachacamac was the most skeptical out of the coalition leaders." Sally stated. "But I didn't think he was that skeptical."
"He completely denied the existence of the chao." Amy said. "We need to follow Tikal."
"Amy…" Sonic said.
"Don't worry, no one can see us." She stated. The party headed down the road following Tikal until they arrived at the Shrine of Chaos. The shrine itself had seven pillars around the center, each one having a chaos emerald on top of each one and in the center was the master emerald sitting on its pedestal.
"You know for certain what that is Knuckles." Amy said.
"That's the master emerald." Knuckles replied. "And the seven chaos emeralds." The group also noticed that there were several chao dancing nearby as well. Tikal was coming up and they greeted her.
"I need to speak with Chaos." Tikal stated. "This is urgent." There was the sound of a dripping water and Chaos arose from the pool. The chao didn't move his mouth, but spoke telepathically to her.
"Dear Tikal," Chaos said. "What has troubled you greatly?"
"It's my father." Tikal answered. "He plans to take the emeralds from the temple, even though it was my mother's gift to you for saving our city from raging waters."
"I know that a gift can never be ungiven." Chaos stated to her.
"What are we to do?" Tikal asked. "He demands that you are to speak to him in person."
"Does he not realize that I am unable to speak when I'm away from the master emerald?" Chaos asked in reply. "He has to come, if he wishes to speak to me."
"That's what I am trying to tell him, but he refuses to listen to a word I say to him." Tikal replied to the chao. There was a short pause before Chaos spoke to her again.
"Tomorrow you shall say this to him, 'Chaos is willing to speak to you, please come to the shrine alone and we can negotiate on the situation.'" The chao said.
"My father is very antsy for the Nocturnus clan is approaching our borders and has beaten our patrols." Tikal stated.
"You know, how powerful I am." Chaos stated, but he also placed his hand on the little chao's head. "Yet how gentle I can be as well. I can easily beat the invading Nocturnus clan, but are you going to trust me?"
"I trust you, Chaos." Tikal said. "I only hope that my father will trust you as well."
"Tomorrow, we both will find out." He answered. "For now, you may go."
"Thank you." She said, heading away from the shrine.
The group shifted away from the shrine and into the city once again. It was just after sunset, an echidna soldier came running into the palace calling out.
"Lord Pachacamac!" he shouted. The chief was standing there.
"What is it, soldier?" He asked.
"The Nocturnus Clan's forces had penetrated our borders." The soldier answered. "They are marching towards the city."
"How much time do we have left to prepare?" The chief asked him.
"From the rate they are moving, it looks like they may arrive with the morning sun." the soldier said. The chief growled at him.
"What kind of fool does my daughter think I am?" Pachacamac stated. "I have evidence right here of an attacking force, and my daughter gives me some fairy tale about a mystical super being of power." He became angrier. "Soldier, get your men! We march towards the Shrine and take the chaos emeralds to use against the invaders!"
"But what if there are chao?" the soldier asked.
"There are… no… chao!" He stated. "We shall raze the shrine to the ground. Crush anyone who gets in our way."
"As you wish." The soldier stated. The group watched as the echidna troops prepared their armor, their weapons, and their war machines. They had marched to the shrine. Just as they reached the shrine, they were intercepted by Tikal.
"Tikal, Move Out of The Way!" Pachacamac stated.
"No, I won't let you do this!" Tikal said.
"TIKAL, THIS IS AN EMERGENCY! WE NEED THOSE CHAOS EMERALDS NOW!"
"Please father, you have to reconsider your actions."
"I'VE HEARD ENOUGH FROM YOU!" Pachacamac replied as he slapped her on the face, knocking her to the ground. "HOLD HER DOWN!" Two of the guards placed restraints on her.
"DON'T DO THIS FATHER!" Tikal screamed.
"OPEN FIRE!" The chief roared, ignoring his daughter. Then, the fire throwers had set the shrine aflame. "Oh Chaos, if you're around, Stop the Fire!" But there was no response from Chaos. Then, the chief turned to Tikal. "I'm right, Chaos is nothing but a myth."
"YOU'RE MAKING THE BIGGEST MISTAKE OF YOUR LIFE!" Tikal stated. Pachacamc looked away from her.
"CHARGE!" He roared. The soldiers that were there rushed head long into the shrine. Any chao that were in the way were trampled and slaughtered. The agonizing screams of the chao echoed across the area and their blood was dripping into the water.
"In the chao garden, they are invincible. But they outside it, they are vulnerable." Amy stated. "Should one die, that's the end of their existence: the cost of worldly immortality."
"I trusted you." A voice stated softly to Pachacamac; the chief just ignored it. "It was your clan, who allowed me to live at the shrine. It was your clan that had trusted me with your most precious treasure. It was your clan that I had learn to trust and love. And you betrayed me." The chaos emeralds rumbled on their pillars. Chaos rose at the master emerald and the emeralds merged with him. "Die."
Then, the clouds gathered together swiftly; thunder and lightning that filled the sky. Winds swept across the entire area of the shrine. A mighty and terrifying roar blasted throughout the area. The echidna soldiers stopped in their tracks.
"FATHER, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?" Tikal shouted at him looking about ready to cry, a tear rolling down her face.
"What is that thing?" one of them stated. They saw Perfect Chaos rising up in anger from the pool. Four tentacles slammed on the ground towards them, killing off any echidnas who hit them. They all began to retreat.
"DAMN YOUR SOULS, YOU COWARDS!" Pachacamac shouted at them. "HEAD BACK THIS INSTINT AND FIGHT! ANY WHO LEAVES WILL BE CUT DOWN!" The frightened warriors ignored him. A mighty beam from Chaos' mouth vaporized the echidnas. A few blasts had struck all of the chief's forces down and destroyed the chief as well. Tikal was barely able to get out of the way of the blasts and she was able to break free from her bindings. Thunder rumbled and Chaos let out a loud agonizing scream of anger and sorrow.
"CHAOS, PLEASE STOP!" Tikal pleaded loudly, trying to reach the chao. But Perfect Chaos completely ignored her as he turned to the great echidna city in rage.
Hail slammed down onto the city's buildings; lightning set others ablaze; wind knocked many structures over. Many echidnas checked what was outside.
"IT'S A MONSTER!" One echidna shouted. "RUN FOR IT!" Panic and terror filled the hearts of many echidnas whom ran for their lives at the sight of the beast. Anarchy filled the streets. Chaos used lightning and hail to strike down some of the fleeing echidnas. Some echidnas were accidentally trampled to death from the stampede.
Upon seeing the echidnas heading to the dock, Chaos created a water spout to destroy the boats that would offer escape. Then, a giant tidal wave from the sea came over the city. Every echidna tried to run away, but they couldn't escape the charging waters. The wave crushed some of them from the water pressure, while others had drown from the water. Every last man, woman, and child's life was sweep away from the flood.
"This is horrible." Tikal stated to herself. "If he continues like this, the whole world could be in peril." She stood up from where she was. "I have no choice now." She put her hands together. "Forgive me, Chaos."
Tears came down from her eyes as she unleashed powerful magic from her hands. Chaos pulled backwards to the shrine. He was separated from the chaos emeralds and he was sealed away into the master emerald. The seven chaos emeralds were scattered across Mobius using her magic. Tikal fell down from her weakness. She looked up to the sky on her back as the storm surge had deceased in power until the sky was once again clear. She saw the full moon and stars in the sky.
"I just wish things didn't have to end this way." Tikal stated as she closed her eyes and breathed her last as a flock of ravens flew over the city, arriving for the harvest of the entire clan who recently perished from the wrath of nature's waters.
The entire group was engulfed in light once again; this time everyone returned to the library. Tails uncovered his ears and eyes.
"Is the storm over?" He asked.
"Yeah, it's over." Knuckles stated. They saw Amy laying on the ground and Sonic picked her up.
"Amy…" Sonic said. Amy opened her eyes and the blue blur noticed her eyes were green again.
"Huh?" She asked. "What am I doing here?"
"You must stop Imperator Ix before he acquires the other three emeralds." Everyone heard Tikal say. "If Chaos becomes Perfect Chaos, the world will once again be in jeopardy."
"I thought the guy was a nutcase," Knuckles stated. "But I didn't think he was that insane." Then, the party heard a knock at the door. "Who could that be?" The red echidna went over to the door. He opened it up. "Shade!? What are you doing here!? How did you survive!?"
"I have come on my own accord." Shade stated. "I am Stacy Shade, the sister of Percy. I have heard what Imperator Ix is planning on doing and what he has done to my sister. Thus I have come to offer you a truce and I wish to join your crusade against him."
"But what will your sister think about it?" Knuckles asked.
"I believe this what she would have wanted me to do." Stacy commented. Knuckles looked back at the rest of the party. Sonic and Sally nodded their heads.
"Come in, then." Knuckles answered. "There is room for one more."