Chapter Four
He sat alone on the alter near the Emerald, eyes closed as the night air filled his nostrils. Knuckles thought of his duty, the task he'd been assigned since his youth. Even then, he didn't fully understand it, even though he understood the Emerald's story and what had happened so many years ago.
As far back as he could remember, he'd been living alone on this dark island, always protecting the Master Emerald from anything that could harm it. Day in and day out, that was all that he did, defend the large green gemstone and all the wildlife on his island.
For him, it was a hard burden he had no choice but to carry for the rest of his life, a long time to come. As far as anyone else was concerned, he was destined to be here forever, despite having friends.
Knuckles heard clanking sounds, accompanied by loud booming and smoke filled his nostrils. His eyes flew open as he shot awake, the red echidna rose to his feet, fists clenched and battle-ready. Knuckles stared at his surroundings, seeing the smoke rising from the trees as something burned. Something was not right.
"What's going on here?" He yelled.
"Target acquired: Knuckles the Echidna!"
E-123 Omega flew in, rockets disengaging, and he landed in front of the island's guardian, weapons systems active.
"Who are you?" The red echidna demanded, "And did Eggman send you?"
"Priority one: Master Emerald." Omega buzzed, "Emerald shall be destroyed, guardian shall be neutralized. EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!"
"No!"
Knuckles charged, his fist flying. Omega opened fire and the ensuing explosion knocked the red echidna back. Gamma joined in, guns primed and ready.
Knuckles got back up, glaring at the two Eggman robots with fierceness in his eyes. This was his island; he was not about to let those battle-ready robots bring any harm to it in any way.
"Did you set fire to the forest?" He demanded, "How many animals did you hurt?"
"Island forest obliterated!" Omega buzzed, "Carnival Night decimated, Marble Garden ruins has been left in shambles. All that remains is the Master Emerald, guardian must be exterminated! You will be annihilated in the name of Doctor Robotnik! Target is confirmed!"
Knuckles flew at Omega, the robot swiped and knocked the echidna off the altar, causing him to smack into a rock at the bottom. Omega nodded to Gamma and, together, they fired on the Master Emerald. A fiery explosion shook the alter with green shards flying everywhere, flaming rubble flew into the air as well.
The red echidna stood back up; eyes wide with horror.
"Target obliterated!" Omega buzzed, "Mission complete!"
A moment later, a blue puddle of water appeared and a creature took form, standing on two legs with three-fingered arms and a clear watery appearance with a visible brain and green eyes.
"Identified." Gamma intoned, "Chaos, God of Destruction. When all seven servers of the Chaos are gathered, Chaos shall assume it's intended form and destroy all! Return to base!"
Omega and Gamma flew away just as Knuckles climbed back onto the alter, the water creature, Chaos, vanished in a heartbeat.
Knuckles observed the ruins of the Master Emerald, horrified by what had happened and unaware of the glowing orb of orange light flying away. He couldn't believe it, he'd been overpowered by two robots and, now, the Master Emerald was destroyed?
Rumbling shook the island and Knuckles fell over; his eyes wide with dread.
"It's happening!" He exclaimed, "Without the Master Emerald's power, this whole island will fall into the ocean and will become immobile. The Master Emerald must be repaired. Wherever the shards are, they must be found, they can't have gone far.
"And whatever this Chaos is, there's no doubt it's related to that dragon in the stories I've heard about."