Alright it's been almost ten days since I last updated this but here's the third chapter! Hope you enjoy!
Chapter 3: Evil Reawakens
Two individuals are seen talking with one another, one of them speaking through a phone.
"Sheesh! There always seems to be a lot of police around when you don't need them! Tails any news yet?" the person's voice asked off the phone.
"For some reason, I'm not getting a signal from the six remaining Chaos Emeralds… Maybe Eggman took the emeralds into outer space?" Tails replied.
"Outer space?" the voice next to the yellow fox also questioned. However before they can continue the earth trembled for a bit and a red life form instantly popped out of the ground.
"Knuckles!" the voice shouted.
"Hey guys, long time no see! I must have got lost in the mines! Looking for the Master Emerald pieces was tougher than I though it would be. Where are we anyway?" Knuckles was then pulled out of the hole roughly. "Hey, where are you going?"
"Move aside Knuckles!" the voice answered back.
"I managed to find the transcripts between Eggman and the President in the government computer. I'm following the President's limo right now! If we can get into the limo, we can trace the call to find Eggman!" Tails explained.
"Ok! Let's meet up there!" the voice from the phone said before cutting off. Tails then raced off to complete his objective.
"Hey! Wait for me Tails!" the feminine voice said to the running fox.
…
…
…
"So Knuckles left the island? He just decided to quit his duty of being a guardian?" Tails said to the newcomer in front of him and Sonic. She nodded with hands clasped near her chest. "Yes and you must bring him back here!"
"That's strange for Knuckles to do that. He always talks about the Master Emerald like he's married to it or something. That it's his life duty to protect it and that everything else doesn't matter other than keeping the thing here." Sonic explained.
"It is odd for him to just give up on his task. Maybe he was fed up being here that long? I mean I would since there's basically no one here to talk to." Tails added. Both looked back at the orange echidna. "So what happened? How did he leave?"
"Well from what I can recall I was in a meditative trance within the Master Emerald when I heard my grandmother's prayer being chanted by the guardian. I was able to hear what he was saying since the prayer allowed me to gain my senses such as hearing temporarily and after that he teleported away." the peach-colored girl looked down in sadness. "It has been some time since he left."
"Wait so he's able to do Chaos Control? I never seen him pull off something like that." Sonic said in thought. "Normally it's Shadow that can do that."
"Chaos Control? So your friends from this time call it that?" the female asked them. Both he and Tails nodded. "Yeah, our friend… or somewhat you can say, knows how to do it if he has a Chaos Emerald. Sonic can do it as well but he rarely uses it but it is strange that Knuckles is able to do that. My guess is that since he is guardian of the emeralds he can naturally do stuff like that without them, but we never seen him do it." the fox stated.
"So Knucklehead was holding back all this time in our fights?... Huh well then he is a Knucklehead." the Blue Blur muttered.
"Do you have any idea where he might have gone to." Tails asked the echidna. She replied shaking her head. "No, I do not know where he may have gone unfortunately."
"That sucks, but anyway before we forget we have to introduce ourselves. My name's Sonic!" Sonic began.
"I'm Tails!" Tails said afterwards. The orange echidna smiled and bowed lightly. "It is a pleasure to meet you both. I am Tikal."
"Cool, the name's coming back to me now and sorry that I forgot hehe." Sonic said scratching his head sheepishly. Tikal giggled softly. "It is alright. It has been some time."
"Nice to meet you as well Tikal. So back on topic Knuckles left his duty as guardian and disappeared right?" Tails asked. The peach-colored girl nodded. "Yes and we must find him before it is too late!"
"What will happen if there's no guardian?" Sonic asked. Tikal looked at them with a frightful expression. "The Master Emerald will be completely defenseless and anyone may claim its title of guardian. In the wrong hands its power can be used to destroy the world or enslave it." she explained.
"Basically it'll be like how it was stolen several times before except there won't be Knuckles trying to find it." Sonic sighed before grinning with a thumbs up. "Don't worry Tikal, we'll be temporary guardians until we can find our good ole friend Knuckles!"
"Yeah! Sonic and I will make sure the emeralds stay safe and guarded, just leave it to us!" Tails added cheerfully. Tikal smiled at the two until her eyes blinked in confusion. "What is that sound?"
Sonic and Tails raised an eyebrow at her until both their ears twitched. "Hey I can hear it too, and it sounds like its getting closer." Tails said as he and the blue hedgehog turned around.
Their eyes widened as an incoming missile was heading straight towards them!
"LOOK OUT!" Sonic yelled, grabbing Tails' hand as he sped towards Tikal and also took her own.
BOOM!
The missile hit the front of the altar as a large explosion shot up into the air, black smoke rising into the sky while the area in front of the Master Emerald was covered in fire and debris. Chunks of the altar rolled down the stairs as several more missiles were seen flying towards it, impacting on other parts of it.
Sonic stopped a few feet away from the altar with Tails and Tikal. The orange echidna watched in fear at the sight. "N-No! NOT AGAIN!"
Tails placed a hand on her shoulder to calm her. "Calm down Tikal, we said we'll guard the emeralds and that's what we're going to do!"
"Yeah! Now stay here where you're safe while Tails and I go out there to beat whatever's throwing missiles at it!" Sonic smiled at her as he and the yellow fox took off towards the burning altar. Tikal simply clasped her hands in worry. "Please be careful!" she pleaded.
The hedgehog and fox duo sped towards the damaged altar, dodging the fires and debris that laid in its wake. They got to the front and looked around to see what caused it. "You see anything Sonic!"
"Not yet bud, but if it's missiles then I have a very good idea who-."
"MWAHAHAHA!" an evil malevolent voice made itself know as Sonic turned his head around, green eyes watching the owner in anger. "And I was right! Just in the nick of time too Egghead!"
Dr. Eggman grinned at Sonic and Tails while he sat in his Egg Mobile high up in the air. "That's right hedgehog and this time I WILL be taking all the emeralds!"
"That won't happen Eggman! That'll never happen as long as we're here!" Tails angrily replied.
"We'll see about that fox, and to ensure that my victory is secured I have created a new invention that not even both of you can defeat! Come forth Egg Armageddon!"
Seismic rumbles rang through the air as Sonic and Tails almost lost there balance. "W-Woah what's going on?!" Tails shouted. Sonic clenched his teeth looking at the evil genius in rage. Behind Dr. Eggman a large silhouette began emerging from below the floating island, several bright lights on its surface indicating that it's mechanical in nature but also displaying strong might by how more of its form continued to reveal itself. The Blue Blur and two-tailed kitsune were not prepared for this, seeing the enormous robot flying in the air at several stories tall.
The robot was slim in design with its mechanical components held together by gravity fields, being a light gray in overall color with red circuitry designs running through it. Large mechanical wings with jet boosters held the titanic machine with all sorts of weaponry mounted on them. Four arms floated on its sides with two on each displaying themselves with large red glowing claws ready to strike. What kept them at bay however was its head which mimicked a certain robotic version of Sonic with large red menacing eyes and slitted pupils.
"S-Sonic… I don't think we'll be able to beat that thing!" Tails stuttered out in fright. Sonic kept a hard gaze on it but then grinned in confidence. "Don't worry Tails, since we have all the Chaos Emeralds here I'll just go super to beat Eggman's mech!"
"Don't be so sure about that Sonic! Egg Armageddon's reactor absorbs chaos energy near its vicinity, meaning the Chaos Emeralds will be useless for you so no super transformation for you rat!" Dr. Eggman mocked.
Sonic growled looking back, seeing his response being true as the Chaos Emeralds had a glowing trail on each of them leading towards the enormous mech. 'Crap this'll be tougher than I thought!'
Tikal saw the trails as well and gasped. "No! He's taking the energy from the emeralds!" she said to herself. "I must get to the Master Emerald and negate them so it won't take their energies!" the orange echidna got out from her hiding spot and ran towards the altar, not knowing of an ominous shadow that crawled its way towards it as well…
"ATTACK EGG ARMAGEDDON! MAKE SURE SONIC NEVER PESTERS ME AGAIN! Dr. Eggman shouted at the top of his lungs. The humongous robot's eyes pulsed rapidly and got into an attack position, leaning down and firing off rockets from its wings.
"TAILS WATCH OUT!" Sonic announced at his best friend as the two moved out of the way to avoid them. However the missiles instead followed their location.
"THEY'RE HOMING MISSILES SONIC! THEY'LL FOLLOW YOU WHEREVER YOU GO!" the yellow fox loudly informed, using his tails to fly in the air as he sped around in the sky with the missiles following him. Sonic looked back at his own barrage and sped away.
WHOOSH!
The Blue Blur ran through the forest with the missiles in hot pursuit. Several explosions rattled behind him with some of the projectiles hitting trees and downing them. Others flew towards each other when they got close to Sonic as the latter jumped up when they almost intercepted him. 'Damn these missiles can keep up with me!'
Sonic did an immediate u-turn, jumping up as a missile flew below him. Another explosion was set off as he weaved around the rest following the same pattern. He saw a large tree up in front and ran up its trunk, leaving a trail of blue behind him and swirling around the base all the way to the top. Reaching the peak of the tree he looked across at the large robot staring at him menacingly.
"Don't get too comfortable Sonic! That was just the start!" Dr. Eggman said.
As the two opponents stared down at one another, Tails was dealing with his own set of missiles. He flew straight towards the giant mech with a grin. "Good thing Sonic's distracting him. Now it's exposed!" he said to himself as he raced across the sky with the sound of the missiles behind him. Reaching a few feet to its metal surface, Tails suddenly went up vertically with some of the projectiles hitting the mech. The Egg Armageddon noticed this and looked down with its large red eyes, seeing Tails heading straight towards it.
"And return to sender!" Once he got close enough, Tails instantly stopped and flew backwards immediately. The barrage dashed below him and struck the robot's head!
"YEAH WE GOT IT!" Tails cheered as he floated hundreds of meters above it. The smoke rising from the impact made it hard to see if any damage was done, but seeing how large the blasts were it was sure to have effectively injured it.
Dr. Eggman turned around to see his invention get hit by the missiles as Sonic below smirked. "How's that Egghead! Hope this is cracking your shell because I know we'll be scrambling you after this!"
…
…
…
"Hey Eggman I just insulted you! Aren't you supposed to threaten me with a comeback or something or you know you're about to lose?!" Sonic said once again. The middle-aged back kept looking back at the Egg Armageddon, his face away from the blue hedgehog's vision.
Tails looked down in confusion to see that the black smoke was still there, hiding the machine's head yet not spreading out or dissipating in the air. "Did the missiles damage it too much or are the electrical components easily flammable?" The yellow fox lowered himself a bit down to get a closer look. His eyes widened however. "Wait is that…"
Tikal gasped for breath as she ran to the altar. 'I must get to the Master Emerald quick-HYAH!' Her thought cut off as she tripped and fell to the ground. Groaning in slight pain he shook her head clear and looked towards her feet, seeing a root tied around her ankle. "H-How did that happen?..." she whispered in shock.
"Heeeey Eggy? Aren't you going to say something back or that brain of yours finally knowing that you'll never beat us?" Sonic said smirking. Dr. Eggman kept his head turned to the robot as the smoke circled around its mechanical head.
Suddenly… a sphere of inverted color began expanding from the center of the Egg Armageddon and spread out towards the scenery in front of Sonic.
"What the…?" Sonic said to himself, witnessing the area inside the sphere change color to incredibly high contrast. Not only that but the stuff inside it began warping in several circles to which they began looking less and less on what's supposed to be.
Tails also saw this happening, the sphere getting closer to his position and the two-tailed kitsune began flying backwards. "W-Woah!" he shouted.
Back to Sonic, his attention shifted to Dr. Eggman. "What's this Eggman! What are you planning?!" he yelled in anger.
His response was the evil genius moving a hand towards his face and taking off his glasses. Lowering them slowly, Dr. Eggman turned around to face the Blue Blur. The latter was speechless…
…
…
…
Black hollow voids looked back at Sonic, a dead expression being aimed at the cobalt hero.
'W-What's going on?! W-W-Why i-is Eggman-?' Sonic shifted his green eyes to the expanding sphere.
A thought came to him however. One from an event that he never hoped would happen again.
'No… WE HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE NOW!' Sonic began panicking and scanned the area for his best friend. Fortunately Tails arrived to his location while shivering tremendously. "Sonic what's going on!"
"No time to explain Tails we have to leave! NOW!" Sonic grabbed the fox's hand and sped away from the sphere which got closer to them and the altar. The Blue Blur thought quickly and scaled the structure to grab all seven Chaos Emeralds within seconds. He went down the opposite side of the altar, looking back in frustration. 'I can't take the Master Emerald with me! I'm sorry… Knuckles… for failing you…'
"Sonic! Tails! Over here!" Tikal shouted as she tried freeing herself from the root that caught her. Sonic noticed and using his speed cut the wood wrapped around her ankle; also grabbing her hand he sped both her and Tails away.
Tikal looked back at the shining form of the large gem. "The Master Emerald! We must get it-!"
"WE CAN'T GET IT TIKAL! IT'S TOO LATE!" Sonic viciously barked. The orange echidna gasped and looked at him, seeing a furious expression as he ran away from his arch-nemesis.
"We have to get to the Tornado!" Tails informed. Nodding the blue hedgehog weaved through the forest and kicked it into high gear. They reached the edge of the island within seconds just in time to feel the earth beneath them starting to tremble.
"W-What's h-happening now!" Tails shouted in fright. Tikal's eyes widened as she looked back towards the direction of the altar. "The Master Emerald's energy… it's disappearing…"
"TAILS THERE'S NO TIME TO EXPLAIN JUST START THE PLANE!" Sonic ordered. The two-tailed kitsune jumped into the cockpit and turned on the ignition. However the trio and the Tornado started to hover a bit into the air, Sonic noticing the situation. "THE ISLAND'S ABOUT TO FALL!" he loudly said.
The three looked back to see the sphere consume almost the entire island in inverted colors. Suddenly a dark purple portal began appearing from where the colossal robot was and glowed brighter, slowly engulfing the scenery around it as it too began to expand.
Tails was flabbergasted on his part. He had seen this before. "S-SONIC I-IS THAT-?!"
"YEAH, GET US OUT OF HERE NOW!"
"WAIT WHAT IS GOING ON?!" Tikal asked loudly.
"NO TIME TO EXPLAIN!" Sonic looked back in anger at the portal. "ACTUALLY SCREW IT THE TORNADO WON'T GET US OUT OF HERE FAST ENOUGH. GRAB ONTO ME BOTH OF YOU!"
Both Tails and Tikal didn't question it as both held onto his arms. Sonic clutched onto the Chaos Emeralds in his hand.
"CHAOS CONTROL!"
Just like that, the three disappeared… within a second of an ominous purple haze swallowing up what was left of the island…
…
…
… while deep inside the ocean below it, a long forgotten entity laid below the sands of the sea… bright red eyes turning on in static…
…
…
…
The soft footsteps of an individual were heard coming off a stone path with walls resembling the scales of a mythical creature. The individual walking upon them looked up to see a set of mountains with several waterfalls coming down its sides. Nodding softly the person felt the incline of their path getting higher and upon reaching the end, was greeted by a small village nestled within the mountain's lower bodies. Several pedestrians ran among them with children playing around flying kites or other toys. Various paper lanterns and artistic designs were prominent in the village with several canals and bridges as the individual smiled, finally getting to their destination while raising their hand.
Clenching it into a fist and revealing two spiked knuckles.
End of Chapter 3
...Well that escalated quickly! Wonder where our boi that's tougher than leather went?
Til next time!