"No Hedgehog is an Island, pt. 2"
Sonic and Knuckles run at each other, colliding, before Knuckles swings his arm to push Sonic off. Sonic flips, then spin dashes ahead. Knuckles manages to turn and punches the side of the spinning Sonic, sending him flying against a tree, which Sonic bounces off and slams against Knuckles, who blocks by crossing his arms and sends flying back a couple feet.
Knuckles grabs a handful of vines and pulls on them, when a mat made out of wood springs up and sends Sonic flying backward and into a tree's branches.
Knuckles looks ahead and starts running, passing Sally, as she tries to free herself of the net.
Sonic falls out of the tree, landing, before getting tackled by Knuckles. The two grapple on the ground, before Sonic flips Knuckles off him.
Knuckles lands, uses the spikes on his glove to cut a branch off a tree, then grabs and swings it. Sonic turns and spin dashes in place, cutting through the branch, before he spin dashes forward. Knuckles grabs onto a tree branch and swings up, as Sonic misses him.
Knuckles then jumps off the tree, lunging at Sonic, who spins around and launches a kick.
In the shrine, Naugus reaches for the red Chaos Emerald.
"Finally, you are mine," Naugus says.
Tails uses his tails to propel himself through the air, slamming against Naugus' back, causing him to hit his head against the shrine's wall.
"What in the…?" Naugus starts to push himself away from the wall, when he notices the empty spot in the shrine. "The Chaos Emerald?!" Naugus turns to see Tails at the entrance, holding the Chaos Emerald. "You!"
"Gotta go," Tails says, before he flies out of the shrine.
"Little nuisance," Naugus starts to run through and out of the shrine, as Tails flies into the forest. "You won't get away from me!"
Knuckles jumps up to a thick tree, grabs something in the leaves and pulls down a large net.
Sonic spin dashes up, cutting through the net, with Knuckles managing to leap back to avoid him.
Sally tugs on the net on her, managing to pull it off, before running ahead.
Sonic and Knuckles, several feet away, start to run, when Sally runs out in between of them.
"Wait! Wait!" Sally calls out, with her hands out to the two, with them stopping.
"Sal?" Sonic asks.
Sally turns to Knuckles, "Who are you?"
Knuckles stands straight, "I am Knuckles the Echidna, last Guardian of Angel Island. It is my mission to safeguard and protect the Chaos Emeralds."
Sally starts to relax, "We are here…"
"I know why you're here, to claim the powers of the Chaos Emeralds for yourselves," Knuckles interrupts. "Naugus had already told me as much."
Sonic crosses his arms, "Oh, and Naugus is really a trustworthy type, is he?"
"Almost… almost…" Antoine is struggling with pulling the net off himself and Bunnie, before he spins and falls down, pulling the net off them. "Got it."
Bunnie looks down, with the bola around her, when Antoine tugs on the bola, pulling it off her.
Bunnie raises her roboticized arm, flexing the fingers, "Sorry for being so useless…"
"You are never useless," Antoine says to her.
Bunnie smiles, with a slight blush.
Knuckles watches Antoine and Bunnie, before turning to Sally, "How can I be certain who is telling the truth?"
"Actions speak louder than words," Sally tells him.
Knuckles looks at her, surprised.
"Excuse me, but has anyone seen ol' Nut-gus lately?" Sonic asks, leaning toward the two.
Knuckles looks around, before he sees Snively behind a tree on top of a hill, with Snively becoming startled.
Snively turns and starts to run away. After a few seconds of running, Sonic speeds out in front of Snively, who falls down trying to stop running.
"Going somewhere?" Sonic asks.
"Hedgehog," Snively says, angrily.
"Tell me, where's your current boss?" Sonic asks.
"No one boss me around," Snively says.
"Sure thing," Sonic says, with a grin.
The others are slowly approaching, when Knuckles starts to hold his head, which Sally notices.
"Are you okay?" Sally asks.
"With all these distractions, I didn't realize…" Knuckles says, before looking up. "The island's Chaos Emerald had been moved."
Tails is flying through the forest, staying close to the top of the trees, with Naugus in pursuit.
"You can't escape from me, child!" Naugus calls out. "I will have what's mine!"
Tails looks over his shoulder, carrying the Chaos Emerald, when he flies into a short branch, pulling it back, when a bola flies out of the tree's knothole.
Naugus swipes his arm, with energy surrounding his hand, knocking away the flying bola, "Annoying brat."
"Oh, I can use this," Tails jumps off the short branch, resumes flying. He flies low to the ground, grabs a vine and then pulls it. "Wonder if this does something."
A mat made out of wood springs up, slamming against Naugus.
"Yep, it does," Tails flies off.
Naugus swipes an arm, blowing apart the mat, angrily.
Tails flies ahead, low to the ground, as Naugus falls into a pitfall, before he jumps out, blowing through the wooden bars.
Tails steps on a stump, as Naugus blows through two spears that popped out of trees trying to block his path.
Tails pulls up two vines from the ground, with Naugus blowing apart two wood mats as they spring up on either side of him.
Tails pulls on vines hanging from a tree.
A net falls on top of an angry Naugus.
"Enough!" Naugus calls out, as a shockwave of energy spreads out, hitting Tails.
Tails is launched into a tree's branches, before falling down, entrapped in a net hanging from the tree.
Knuckles is leading Sonic, Sally, Antoine, and Bunnie through the forest.
"I still don't understand how this Angel Island is possible," Sally says.
"A great… energy is keeping the island afloat," Knuckles claims. "Though it's not perfect. A chunk of the island broke off and floated away a long time ago. Which is problematic, since it houses the… an important artifact."
Sonic and Sally share looks.
The group then stops as they feel the energy shockwave spreading outward.
"What in Mobius was that?" Bunnie asks.
"I never felt such magical power before," Knuckles.
"Naugus," Sonic says, before he speeds ahead.
Tails, with the Chaos Emerald, is struggling in the hanging net, when he sees Naugus approaching him.
"A fox, stuck like a rat," Naugus says. "And now the Chaos Emerald is mine."
"Guess again."
Naugus turns to see Sonic had stopped several feet away from him.
"Neither the Bounty Hunter nor the Guardian was able to get rid of you," Naugus says.
"What can I say, I'm not so easily dismissed," Sonic says.
Sonic speed dashes at Naugus, who swings an arm to swipe him away. Sonic bounces off the side of a tree and continues to speed dash at him. Naugus holds up a hand, surrounding the speeding Sonic in energy, as he stops in midair, albeit still spinning.
"Naugus!"
Naugus looks up to see Knuckles had jumped at him, with his fist ready. Naugus jumps back, with Knuckles missing him.
"You tricked me!" Knuckles calls out.
"It was your own fault, Guardian," Naugus says, before using his energy to send the spinning Sonic flying at Knuckles.
Knuckles punches the spinning Sonic, sending him flying at Naugus, hitting him and sending Naugus back a couple feet.
Bunnie stretches her roboticized legs to reach Tails, before using her roboticized arm to rip open the net, freeing Tails, who uses his tails to slowly descend to the ground. At the same time, Sally and Antoine approach them.
Naugus backs up as he watches Sonic and Knuckles, "One fast, one strong, both useless. You can never beat me." Naugus holds up a hand. "All seven Chaos Emeralds will be mine!"
Sonic starts speeding ahead, running quickly around Naugus repeatedly, creating a cyclone. Naugus looks around, before realizing he is slowly being lifted off the ground.
Sonic continues to speed in circles, "Not now…" Sonic breaks off from the cyclone, charging up a speed dash in place. "Not ever."
Sonic spin dashes ahead.
Knuckles jumps ahead with a prepared punch.
The cyclone starts to dissipate, as Naugus turns to see both the spinning Sonic and punching Knuckles coming at him, hitting Naugus and sending him flying into the distance.
Sonic lands next to Knuckles.
"He's going, he's going, and he's gone," Sonic says, smugly.
Knuckles crosses his arms.
Tails rubs the top of his head, when he sees Sally, "Aunt Sally, I-I'm sorry. I shouldn't have gone against your instructions again, it's just…"
Sally places a hand on Tails' shoulder, "You kept the Chaos Emerald from Naugus, did you?"
Tails looks at the Chaos Emerald in his hands, then nods.
Sally sighs, "You've been growing, a lot, and whether I like it or not, you might actually be ready for some, low risk, missions."
"Really?" Tails asks.
Sally nods with a small smile.
"Yes!" Tails jumps slightly.
Sally takes the Chaos Emerald from Tails, who smiles at her.
Sally turns to the approaching Knuckles and Sonic, "Knuckles, Guardian of Angel Island, I give you the Chaos Emerald."
Sally hands the Chaos Emerald to Knuckles, who takes it, surprised, "You… You are giving it up?"
"We were never after the Emeralds for their powers, but to keep them out of Naugus' hands," Sally tells him. "I think it would be better to keep them all on Angel Island. In fact, once our plane is fixed, we can bring you the one we have already found."
"I accept the Chaos Emerald," Knuckles says. "And your proposal to keep them all here."
Sally smiles, "Hopefully, this will be the start of a good and lasting friendship."
Sonic crosses his arms, "We'll see."
Naugus is walking through the forest, rubbing the back of his head, when he sees Snively on the ground, entangled by a net, "You seem to be having a good day."
"And I'm guessing your bruises are clear signs of your success," Snively says.
"The Guardian proves to be more of a problem then I could've predicted, coupled with the Hedgehog," Naugus says.
"Mmhm," Snively says, crossing his arms, still in the net. "So, what are you gonna do now?"
Naugus holds up a hand, "My magic can't bring us here, but it will allow us to leave. And I'll return in time." He holds up the hand, as he and Snively are surrounded by energy. "To claim all the power the island has to offer!"
The energy continues to surround them, before they disappear.
Knuckles places the green Chaos Emerald into a hole in the wall of the shrine, next to the red Chaos Emerald in its spot.
Knuckles takes a step back, looking at them for a moment, before he turns to leave the shrine, as the ground gives off a green glow.