First island is done with. Now for the second level of the game where we pick up some new alies.

Super Sonic soared through the air carrying Takumi. Takumi was wearing his goggles looking at the coordinates provided by Mirei. "Next island should be just ahead!"

"I see it!" Super Sonic said as the island came into view. Then suddenly black orbs of energy flew at him. "Wha!" He started dodging them franticly.

"What's firing at us?!" Takumi asked.

"Don't know! Just hang on!" Super Sonic swerved around them before he heard a roar. A giant black dragon with red wings, gold claws and a cannon on its back flew into him at high-speed knocking him out of the sky. "We're going down!" Sonic and Takumi spiraled into the sand with a boom.

Takumi spat grains out of his mouth as they sat up. "Ugh…That came out of nowhere."

"I noticed." Sonic got one foot on the ground and looked up.

The seven Chaos Emeralds were spinning above them before they flew off in different directions. "Oh, COME ON!" Takumi yelled. "Are you kidding me?!"

"Nah. That's cool. I didn't want this to be easy anyway." Sonic sighed.

"I for one wouldn't mind if things could be easy at least once in a while. Aw man, I'm going to be shaking sand out of my clothes for weeks." Takumi sighed as he stood up. They looked up as they heard a roar. The giant dragon that attacked them flew overhead then vanished.

"I take it that was the next Titan." Sonic said.

"No…that looked like a Imperiandramon." Takumi said.

"Mon, huh? So that's a Digimon?"

"Yeah, but normally they're blue, that one was black…like Omnimon Zwart. Could that be the next fallen Royal Knight?"

"Um, Takumi? That was clearly more of a dragon then a knight."

"It may have been in Dragon Mode, but it was Imperialdramon…" Takumi then had a thought. "The first generation of Royal Knights…Could it be…?"

Sonic looked around. "Wasn't Mirei supposed to meet us here?"

Takumi glanced around him. "Hey, you're right. Where is she?"

"Welp, no point mulling over things here." Sonic stretched out. "Let's look around. We got a map for this place?"

Takumi put on his goggles. "Blank again. I guess we'll need to fill it out like last time."

"More puzzles then. Alright, let's get going." Sonic started running leaving a trail for Takumi to fly on. Then the spotted something bouncing across the sand. "Looks like there's robots here too."

"Which, we probably should have expected to be honest."

"I got it." Sonic jumped and used a Homing Attack, but he bounced off the robot's umbrella-like surface. "Hey!" It then flew up into the air dropping a bunch of smaller bots. "Oh, so it's gonna be like that, huh?" He used his homing attack on the green bots making his way up, but when he hit a red one it exploded on him, and he dropped into the sand.

"Sonic, avoid the red ones!" Takumi said.

"Gotchya." Sonic got back up and tried again. He bounced off multiple green targets while avoiding the red ones. He reached the main body and bombarded it with blows, finishing with a Stomp Attack. "That was easy enough."

"Let's move on then." Takumi fanned himself. "I can't stand this heat."

"Man, sand and heat are on your bad list huh? You'd hate Sandopolis. Or you know, a beach."

"I know how to enjoy a beach thank you very much, but there I can take precautions for those issues, here I can't do much because coming to this world and this island being a desert is about as unexpected as…" Takumi noticed a shadow hanging over him and looked down at it. "What the- Right when he looked up something landed on the back of his head. "Hey!" Something soft then covered his eyes.

Sonic wasn't even looking at him. He was busy dusting himself off. "What's so unexpected about hay?" He turned around to look at him. "Ummm…" A white rabbit creature with a horn and green stripes was perched on Takumi's head wrapping his floppy ears around the teenagers eyes. "Hello?"

"Guess who!" The rabbit smiled.

Sonic remembered seeing this creature from Takumi's memories. "Hey, aren't you-

"Shh! Don't give it away!"

Takumi reached up. "Teriermon?" He took the Digimon off and held him in front of him.

The Digimon smiled. "Hi big bro!"

"Terriermon!" Takumi hugged the small fury Digimon who hugged back with his ears.

"That's another one of your Digimon, isn't it?" Sonic asked.

"He is." Takumi said still holding onto Terriermon. "Sonic, this is Terriermon. Terriermon, this is Sonic the Hedgehog."

"Hi."

"Hey there!" Terriermon waved. "Wait, what's a hedgehog?"

Takumi laughed. "I can give you my world's definition of one, but it would be very, very different from this one."

Sonic grinned. "What can I say? I'm special."

Takumi smiled at Terriermon. "Man…It's really good to see you again."

"I hear you." Terriermon grinned.

"And just in time too. I need your help."

"With finding your friends, the Titans, and the fallen Royal Knights, right?"

"Yeah, I- Takumi blinked at his Digimon. "…Wait, you already know?"

Terriermon nodded. "Mirei told me. She said you guy already beat the first knight and Titan and found Nokia."

"Yeah, Rosemon's with her and Amy." Sonic replied. "We were all set to trash the next ones when we got blown out of the sky."

"Yeah, I saw that. That was an Imperialdramon, wasn't it?"

"It was." Takumi said putting Terriemron down. "And we'll have to take it down."

"Well, I want to help but…in order to come here I had to squeeze through a very small hole which meant I had to turn into a Rookie again. I don't know how much use I'll be…"

"Don't worry about that. I have an idea that'll get you back to being MegaGargomon in no time."

"Right. Better look for those Gates." Sonic said. "But first we're gonna need some Gears."

A bunch of the standard enemies appeared. They ran towards them. "More on that later." Takumi said. "I hope you remember how to fight Terriermon!"

"You know it!"

Sonic used a Homing Attack then a combo to finish one. He parried an arm thrust from another then destroyed it. He went for the third, but it turned into a steel cylinder that he bounced off of. "Gah! That thing is solid."

Terriermon spun in place rapidly. "Terrier Tornado!" He sent a cyclone that blew the robot's guard off and destroyed it.

Watching it gave Sonic and idea. He used a Cyloop on another guarding enemy blowing away his barrier so he could finish it off. He then used a Loop Kick on another and Terriermon spun into the last one. "Not bad little guy."

"Thanks! You ain't too shabby yourself!"

Takumi walked over. "Okay, what next?"

"You said you had a plan for me to Digivolve." Terriemron noted.

"Right. But we need Gears that giant enemies drop."

"Giant enemies?" Terriemron looked around. "You mean like that?"

Sonic and Takumi looked at a massive robot with rings around it. A Strider. "…Yup. I think that's one of the big ones." Sonic said running at it. The robot shot rings that floated near Sonic. He jumped on one and turned it blue before it shot upward to another ring. He repeated the process two more times before reaching the larger rings around the body. He grinded across them turning them blue. The robot tried to zap him with a red ray that glided across the rails, but Sonic jumped from rail to rail until they were all blue. A purple floor appeared around the body. He started wailing away at it.

Takumi picked up Terriermon. "Be careful up there." He tossed the Digimon into the air and it spread its long ears gliding on the wind up where Sonic was as he used a Sonic Boom on the core. "Bunny Flash!" Terriermon spat green blasts at the core as Sonic hit it with Phantom Rush. The Strider then pushed them off and threw more rings.

Sonic grabbed Terriermon and put him on his head. "Come on little guy, time for round two!" He started grinding in circles to move upward. Once he got to the bigger rings, sparks started traveling through them. "That's new." Sonic jumped over them and between rails. It took a while but once all were blue the platform appeared again. Sonic jumped up spun into the air and threw Terriermon who used Terrier Tornado on it before he attacked with Wild Rush. The Strider started shaking and exploding before it blew up in a brilliant blast.

Takumi caught a yellow ger as Sonic landed on the ground next to him with Terriermon. "Good job guys."

"So now can I digivolved?" Terriermon asked.

"Patience pal, first we need to find a gate to put this in." Takumi looked up. "Hey, Sonic, didn't we see one of those ships on the last island?"

Sonic looked behind him to see a ship half buried in the sand. "More Eggman tech. Looks like something downed it…Better be careful. Come on." He started moving and Takumi and Terriermon followed. Soon they spotted something. "Hey, look! That looks like the cage Amy and Nokia were in."

They came to a stop and Takumi stepped towards it for a closer look. "It's Arata! And…is that red guy Tails?"

"Red guy?" Sonic narrowed his eyes to see someone with big, spiked gloves inside. "Knuckles!? What are you doing here? Nevermind—we'll get you out. Hang on!"

"And by "we" I assume you mean me." Takumi sighed.

"Less technicalities more hacking "Watson"." Sonic grinned at the cage as Knuckles sat down in it. Takumi opened a monitor and started hacking. The mysterious girl and the masked man watched from a distance. Once Takumi was done the cage burst open. Knuckles and Arata yelped as they fell while the remains flew into Sonic's arm.

"What the…" Arata looked around. "Now where are we?" He turned around. "Wait, Takumi?!"

"Sup geek boy?" Takumi grinned.

"Hey, isn't that one of your Digimon? How'd it get here? And what's that blue weirdo with you?"

"They helped me rescue you and the red weirdo next to you from that cage." Takumi replied folding his arms. "You're welcome by the way."

The girl stared at Arata. "That man… Isn't he…"

The masked man nodded. "First Takumi and Nokia, now Arata Sanada…I wonder if all five Chosen Ones are here."

Knuckles looked at his holographic body. "Some rescue. I'm still half-ghost!"

"We're working on it, okay?" Sonic replied as the girl and man watching them left.

Knuckles looked at Sonic, then punched his hand and it went through him. "What's going on with you?"

"Ah, just a little side-effect of the island's weird energy."

"And on that note, Sonic this is Arata Sanada." Takumi said. "He's a brilliant hacker, though a bit of a weirdo."

"You're one to talk." Arata scoffed. "Knuckles, this is Takumi. An apprentice detective with a heart as soft as his head."

Knuckles grinned then looked around. "What are you doing so far from home?" Sonic asked.

"I was investigating some strange ruins when I was transported here. Then got trapped with this guy."

"Never a dull moment with you." Sonic joked.

"Maybe that's why these two were stuck in the same cage." Takumi laughed. "Two of a kind."

Arata rolled his eyes. "Ha, ha, hilarious."

"Just bring me up to speed." Knuckles said.

Sonic smirked as he stepped towards him. "Listen, help me find the Chaos Emeralds so Takumi and I can beat-up some big robots. You two will be free and go back to guarding the Master Emerald and... whatever it is Arata does in no time."

Knuckles put a hand on his chin then nudged his head towards Sonic. "Sounds like a plan."

Takumi stared at the two as they looked at each other with their hands at their hips. "Some sort of history between these two?"

"Beats me." Arata replied. "So, we'll looking for emeralds, right?"

"Yeah, but to get them we need keys, to get the keys we need to find strange alters, to access those alters we need these Gears…" he said holding up the one they found. "…to find these Gears we need to trash big robots."

"I thought you need the emeralds to trash the big robots."

"No, no, those are DIFFERENT robots." Takumi said. "They're called Titans and-

"Hold on a sec." Knuckles walked up to him. "Let me see that gear." Takumi held it towards him. "…This looks just like the one I found back on my island."

"Pardon?" Sonic asked.

"I was helping a Chao get something trapped under some rubble and found one of these and a strange pillar with a hole in it. So, I put the gear in and was transported to some place with weird robots. After trashing a few I got blind sighted by some weird kid and a giant robot and wound up in that cage."

"I think we met your "weird kid"." Takumi said. "So, she's the one who put you guys in there?"

"I can't say for sure. It all happened so fast."

"But what was that Gear and Gate doing on Angel Island?" Sonic asked.

"Beats me."

"Well on the bright side, you already know what it is we're looking for?" Arata asked.

Knuckles nodded. "Yeah."

"Then let's get to it." He turned to Takumi. "Anything else we need to know?"

"Well, you see…"

Arata nodded after the rundown. "Okay, so these fallen Royal Knights are in this world and that Mirei woman dumped us here so you can stop em for her?"

"That's the gist of it." Takumi replied. "We already defeated Omnimon Zwart. Looks like the next one is a black Imperialdramon Dragon Mode. But first we need to Digivolve Terriermon here. And for that, we need those Gates. Think you can help us look?"

"Sure, we're on it." Arata replied. "If we find any robots, Gears, Gates, or emeralds I'll try to contact you."

"Thanks man. I can always count on you."

"I'll take a look into this Cyber Space while I'm at it. Who knows, might find something interesting."

"I'll take Arata here and poke around." Knuckles said. "We'll catch up with you later."

"We should get going too." Takumi wiped his forehead. "The sooner we're done here the better."

"Heat getting to you?" Sonic asked.

Terriermon's eyes lit up. "Wait, I know!" He climbed onto Takumi's head.

Takumi looked at him. "What are you doing?"

"If it's too hot, I'll just give you some shade!" Terriermon rose his ears and they puffed up providing Takumi with a makeshift umbrella. "How's that? Better?"

"Um…yeah, actually." Takumi smiled. "Thanks pal, that's a lot better!"

Everyone just stared at him. Sonic snickered thinking of a rabbit friend of his and what she could do with her ears. "If you say so "Cream". Now try not to fly off while looking for the Emeralds." As he ran off, Arata and Knuckles chuckled.

"You're just mad you have to put up with the heat!" Takumi replied as he and his Digimon flew after him on the Cyloop.

They soon came upon a small mountain. Sonic stopped. "Think there's anything up there?"

"Hold on." Takumi took Terriermon off his head and tossed him up. The Digimon floated softly into his arm with his ears. "See anything up there?"

"I saw a weird stone pillar thingy up there."

"Sounds like out Gate." Sonic said. "Let's go then." He bounced off a spring pad and onto a grind in a circle before springing up to the top with Takumi following. They then saw the Gate. "Yup. This is it. You got that Gear Tak?"

"Sure do." Takumi materialized the Gear and put it in the Gate powering it. "Alright, you ready Terriermon? Once we get into Cyber Space, we're going to have a few fights based on our past."

"I may be Rookie again, but I still know how to fight! Let's go!"

Sonic and Takumi put their hands on the gate and entered Cyber Space. The masked man watched them before pulling up a monitor. "They're already diving into Cyber Space. Better tell Sage to start up the Titan."

Takumi and Terriermon looked around. "Shinjuku…and from the looks of it this is during the Digital Shift."

"So, we find enemies and beat em up?" Terriermon asked. "That'll make me stronger?"

"If we find any Digi-Orbs, yeah." Two Dorumon and a Gotsumon appeared in front of them. "Here we go."

"About time!" Terriermon jumped forward.

"Metal Cannon!"

"Rock Fist!" The two attacked with projectiles. Terriermon evaded them.

"Terrier Tornado!" Terriermon spun up a cyclone that wiped the enemies out. "Ha, ha! Too easy! Back when we were here the first time, they put up more of a fight!"

Takumi picked up a Digi-Orb. "That just shows even though you reverted back to Rookie form, you're still far stronger than you were back then." He knelled down to pet Terriermon on the head. "And I'm proud of you."

"Heh, heh! I'm proud of you too Takumi! It's thanks to you we became this strong!"

Takumi smiled and stood up before thinking. "At the end of the path we'll fight something familiar…given where we are right now, my guess is it'll be a copy of an Eater."

"Ugh, again with those things" Terriemron groaned. "Alright. Let's do this!"

Sonic was in what looked like Green Hill over a sunset. He went up and down a hilly track, jumping for the last Red Star Ring before leaping into the portal.

Terriermon headbutted a Tsumemon defeating it. "Oh yeah!"

Takumi looked ahead. "The end is in sight pall. Ready for the showdown?"

"You know it!" The two of them walked towards the subway tracks. A white and black monster appeared. "Gah! It really is one of those monsters!"

"It's not really an Eater." Takumi said. "It's a copy of him conjured from this Cyber Space."

"Well, whatever it is, as long as it's real enough to hit, I can take it down! I may be small again, but I'm still carrying my growth through battle! So, let's go!" The Eater shot a tentacle at Terriermon but he jumped over it. "Bunny Flash!" He struck it with fireballs. The Eater lunged at him, but he pumped to the side. "Terrier Punch!" One of his ears smacked the beast back.

"Try to keep your distance!" Takumi said. "It can only attack you up close!"

"Okay!" Terriermon jumped back. "Bunny Flash!" He spat more projectiles at the Eater. It stumbled as it tried to slither towards him then fell to the ground. It laid there motionlessly until its eye gazed at Takumi and got up panicking him. "Oh no ya don't! Terrier Tornado!" Terriermon spun in place sending a cyclone at it from behind. Just as the Eater jumped at Takumi it was caught in the tornado and perished.

"Yikes that was close." Takumi breathed. "Thanks for the save partner."

"Anytime!" Terriermon smiled proudly.

Takumi spotted a Digi-Orb on the floor and picked it up. He then looked at Terriermon. "Feeling any stronger yet?"

"Sure am! Don't think I can Digivolve yet, but a few more of those and I'll be rocking firearms in no time!"

"Sounds good." Takumi looked up and saw a portal. "And there's our exit. Come on buddy." They walked into the light.

The vision showed Takumi and Arata in Shinjuku. "Takumi! You're alright!"

"Yeah, and you?"

"What, me? I'm fine as well, as you can see."

After that conversation it then it showed them in Shinjuku again looking at a weird purple light at the subway entrance. After entering it, the area around them seemed like it was thrown in a state between physical and digital. "Is this place real?" Arata asked. "Or digital?"

After wondering and catching up the two boys stopped when Arata noticed they were being followed. "Show yourself! Come out!"

"Oh my, I've caught your attention!"

After meeting Suedou and learning of the Eaters, Takumi and Arata ventured further and saw the "ghost of the white boy" followed by the Eater. After taking it down the Digital Shift vanished.

"Reality is pretty dull stuff, no doubt about it. But this? This is something else. But getting back to business… I'm going to dig into these Eaters a little more. Maybe help out with Suedou's research."

Then they saw the whole case Takumi forcefully received from Date ending with one of Arata's friends being assimilated by an Eater. "Your avatar…your mental data, is devoured by an Eater in EDEN, but your physical body remains in the real world. That's what EDEN Syndrome is!"

Arata and Knuckles blinked. "...Arata, what was that?" The Echidna asked.

The boy looked down. "...Deja vu. And not the fun kind."

Sonic, Takumi and Terriermon appeared in front of the Gate. Keys landed in Sonic's hand. "So... that was a thing."

"Yeah..." Takumi murmured.

"By the way, I've been wondering something Takumi?"

"What is it?"

"We saw in one of the visions how you Nokia and Arata met in the Digital World when you were kids right? How did you guys end up forgetting it? Seems like something that would be hard to forget. When you met them in EDEN it was like you guys never met, or just forgotten each other. The vision sort of cut off after Nokia met Agumon and Gabumon, but did something happen over there?"

"Well, you see..." Takumi paused. "Actually, if we see more of these flashbacks you'll see." He turned to start walking away.

Sonic ran up and grabbed his arm. "Or you can just not be Mirei and straight up tell me. Nobody likes being left in suspense man."

Takumi pulled his arm free and turned to him. "It's not that easy to talk about!" He stared at Sonic's surprised face and deflated a bit. "...Sorry."

"It's cool. If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine."

Terriermon heard something and looked up. "Uh, guys, we got company."

Sonic and Takumi looked up at the floating girl. "Oh great." Takumi muttered.

"You again." the girl said. "Do not interfere with my work."

"Ah… I don't even know what work we're interfering with!" Sonic groaned.

"Listen kid, I don't know what it is you're trying to do, but don't you think all this can be avoided?" Takumi asked. "Just tell us who you are, what's going on, and why whatever you're doing requires you trying to smite us with absurdly powerful robots the size of skyscrapers!"

"That is irrelevant. Knowing. Not knowing. It will change nothing." The girl looked away. "There is nothing you can do." She then vanished.

"Who the heck was that?" Terriemron asked.

"Just some strange floating kid who says crazy stuff before vanishing." Takumi shrugged.

"Stranger then Arata?"

"Well…maybe not that strange."

The masked man was sitting against a tall tower. His hood was down, and his mask laid near him as he panted and fanned himself. The girl appeared next to him. "What is wrong?"

The man took a deep breath before putting his mask and hood back on. "What's wrong is that this place is a desert! Couldn't the Ancients have tried settling on a nice cool, grassy plain or something!? If I didn't find that oasis over there, I'd be a prune right now!"

"Observation: You're dry and overheated due to the heavy clothing you are wearing. If it is making you uncomfortable, perhaps you should remove it."

"No. I'll definitely be recognized without this. It'd be easier for Arata and the others if they don't find out about who I am…or my story…It's for the best." The man sighed thinking to himself. "Still, you're lucky you can't feal this heat!"

The girl looked at her hand. "Correct. I cannot…" She then looked around. "I am given to understand that people avoid desert due to the increased heat and the large volume of sand."

"You're understanding is correct." the man groaned.

"But I also am given to understand that people do enjoy a beach. Even though it is also hot, dry and filled with sand."

"That's different."

"Different how?"

"Well…" The man stood up and gathered his thoughts. "I've been to beaches before and none of them are this hot… Also… there were more enjoyable things there. This is just a wasteland. Umbrellas, a nice ocean to swim in, stands for drinks and ice cream, the works."

"Those simple pleasures make such an environment enjoyable? I do not understand."

"I might not be explaining everything right." the man said holding up his hands. "If you want a more detailed and accurate description, try asking the Doctor. I mean, let's be honest, that guy is WAY smarter than I am."

"Correct. The difference in your IQ and the Doctor's is-

"Okay, maybe let's not be quite THAT honest. Still, I'm surprised he wasn't the first person you went to for an answer."

The girl hesitated before she spoke. "…Would that be appropriate?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"I am expected to be working on bringing him safely from Cyber Space. These thoughts are irrelevant to my mission."

"Well, yeah, but you can't help curiosity. I'm sure a scientist of all people would understand that. You're allowed to have your own thoughts, Sage."

"Why? I am a A.I. I am not truly alive."

"What?"

The girl sighed. "Nevermind. Forget I said anything. I must go prepare the Titan."

The man fished into his pocket. "Then you'll be needing this. I found it in the sand over there." He tossed the Purple Chaos Emerald. The girl held her hand out and it floated in front of her palm. "Use it to kickstart the thing like you did the last one."

"Understood." She then vanished.

The man leaned against the tower. "She doesn't think she's truly alive? I mean, sure she's a A.I., but…I guess she doesn't fully understand herself." The man looked up. "She reminds me of…"

Sonic and Takumi stepped on two circles and the glowed blue. "Nothing's happening." Takumi said. He looked at a pile of black discs nearby. "Maybe that thing is a third switch, and we need to push it down?"

"I got it." Sonic bounced on it repeatedly until it went down and glowed with the rest. A digitalized flash flowed around them.

Takumi put on his goggles. "Good. That's more of the map."

"There you guys are!" Arata walked up to them with Knuckles and they waved to each other. "You guys sure seem to know what you're doing."

"Yeah, have you been here before?" Knuckles asked. "You're navigating the island like it's nothing."

"Oh, no." Sonic pointed to the sign nearby. "See, when we interact with things marked with this symbol, Takumi learns the layout of the land."

"It's like there's a GPS inside my Digivice." Takumi said. "It was put in when I came here somehow."

"I'm willing to bet that has something to do with these "Ancients" that once lived here." Arata said.

Knuckles nodded and looked at the sign near the puzzle. "I wonder what that symbol means in their language?"

"Come to think of it, you don't actually see it printed anywhere in the village. I guess the true meaning is lost to time." Sonic replied.

Takumi looked away from the sign to Arata and Knuckles. "So, you two feeling any better?"

"Does it look like it?" Arata asked. "Though this is a step up from being in that cursed cage, I'll admit that."

"Amy and Nokia said their Cyber Cage wasn't a fun time." Sonic said. "How was it for you?"

"Miserable. It was a living nightmare."

"Yeah, it was the most alone I've ever felt even with the kid in there with me." Knuckles said. "At the same time, I was drowning in terrible visions and emotions. Arata said it best, nightmare."

"Those visions…were they like the ones we've been seeing whenever Sonic Terriemron and I clear a gate?"

"Not quite." Arata said. "But if they start picking open our old wounds, I'd say it could become just as bad."

"They weren't like what Takal showed us way back when either, were they?" Sonic asked. "Do these ruins sync up to when your ancestors were wiped out?"

"Takal?" Terriemron asked.

"Long story."

"I don't think so." Knuckles replied. "But if you're right, and that prison was bringing back those memories? That's cruel. If I find out who designed it, they're gonna pay!"

Takumi looked at the echidna after deciding it was best to change the subject. "Say, Knuckles, I've been wondering something. Sonic mentioned something called the "Master Emerald". He said you're its guardian or something?"

"That's right. The Master Emerald is located in a shrine on Angel Island."

"Is it anything like the Chaos Emeralds?"

"Pfft. The Chaos Emeralds don't even compare. The Master Emerald holds more power than any Chaos Emerald. In fact, the Master Emerald is so strong that it can control them."

Takumi put a hand on his chin. "I wonder how these emeralds came into existence..."

"You got me." Sonic shrugged. "All I know is that they've been around for a very, VERY long time."

"Huh..."

Arata shook his head. "Anyway...I tried taking a peek into the network on this island." He pulled some screens in front of him. "Having a hard time getting into the systems of this place. Probably because I'm only part way into the system. That being said, this is pretty advanced stuff for a race that died out millennia ago. Don't you think it's strange?"

"Yeah. What caused such an advanced race to go extinct in the first place?" Takumi asked. "Besides this obnoxious heat I mean…"

"Any luck finding the Emeralds?" Sonic asked.

"Not yet. But I think I found one of those Gates you're looking for." Arata replied.

"Great. Where is it?" Takumi asked.

Arata turned around and pointed. "That way. It's on a tiny island though, so I don't know how you're going to reach it."

"Hey man, when there's a will, there's a way. Let's look for more giant robots on the way. We'll need more Gears."

Sonic stretched out. "Alright, let's move it."