Chapter Seventeen:

The Ominous Black Emerald

Tartarus Rock; an eerie canyon, full of jagged stone edges, and a frightening terrain.

Years ago, an ancient doomsday cult had constructed monuments, dedicated to bringing about the end of all civilizations. Now, it was full of ruins, and dangerous cliffs. And yet, rogue treasure hunters came here to find the ancient secrets hidden within the ominous, abandoned, ancient region.

Word had it, that a dark artifact of power was hidden within the ruins, and it was said that the artifact was not of this world.

A slight gust of wind floated through the dark canyon, as a green hawk on an Extreme Gear board soared through, followed by a purple female shallow wearing white pants, a white top, and a white cap upon her head. And then, there was a big gray albatross, following behind the female and the green hawk.

Jet the Hawk and the Babylon Rogues had come Tartarus Rock to find ancient treasures, and sell them off for money. It was just another day of treasure hunting, and they were sure that things would go very well for their team.

The legendary wind master held up a tracker, studying the screen as a dark-gray dot blinked upon the edge of the outline of the canyon.

"It's here, Rogues." Jet said proudly, "We ain't that far away."

"Uh, y'know these rocks give me the creeps!" Storm quipped in his usual manner.

"Quit your fear-mongering, Storm." Wave told him, "Nothing is going to attack us."

"Yeah, c'mon, Storm!" Jet chided, "You think somethin' is gonna come out of those rocks?"

Without another word, the Babylon Rogues glided around a corner, narrowly avoiding a pile of fallen boulders and a gaping hole. They ducked under spiky rock formations poking out from the sides of the canyon, and raced through the shadowy tunnel ahead, gliding through the darkness. Jet brought out a flashlight and turned it on, illuminating his way through the shadows.

Both Wave and Storm turned on their lights too, allowing themselves to see the path ahead; the path of which the masters of the wind would take to their destination. Jet moved to the side, avoiding a dangling rock spike that could have scratched open his green head if not careful.

Storm yelped, and ducked, just before a spike passed over. The Rogues followed a winding turn right, narrowly evading a large hole that led down into a dark abyss. A light shone ahead, showing them the way out of the dark, treacherous cavern.

Jet, Wave, and Storm picked up speed, and raced through the exit, soaring through the wide canyon beyond the cavern. The Rogues flew up a small hill, passed by a large mountain of jagged rocks, and ancient pillars passed them by, along with tall statues of ominous figures representing the ancient cults that had gathered to conduct apocalyptic rituals.

Oh, how lucky the good people were that those rituals hadn't worked, the apocalyptic cults may as well have been harmless troublemakers.

And whatever was left of them, most of it was here, the rest was lost to time.

Jet held his tracker, seeing that the signal had gone critical. They were close. He nodded to the Rogues, like he had many times before, and they swerved around a couple fallen pillars until they'd reached the heart of the valley; the ruin of the ancient doomsday shrine constructed by the ancient apocalypse cult.

"It's here." Jet said, "Today's our lucky day, gang!"

They slowed their speed, and the Extreme Gear boards hovered to a stop. The Rogues stepped off, and picked up their rides, holding them in their arms. Jet walked forward, stepping over a rock, with Storm and Wave behind him. A cold wild floated through the canyon, rippling Jet's hair, and Storm shivered, despite having warm fur.

Both Rogues treaded cautiously through the ruin, keeping alert for traps that may have been still active, while Jet held onto the scanner as it went wild with the beeping. He tapped the screen, seeing it flicker, as his team moved further, and got closer to the source of the signal.

Dark shadows cast by still-standing statues loomed over, and the Rogues shuddered as they walked underneath them. And then, they looked ahead, seeing an eerie black glow behind a pile of rocks.

In that moment, Jet's tracker was going wild.

Jet turned to Wave and Storm, giving them a thumbs up, and his team nodded back. It was time to get their treasure. They broke into a run, climbing over the rubble in front of them, and they grabbed a pair of rocks, throwing them aside. Jet put away his scanner, and the Rogues climbed over one last bit of ruin, their eyes fixed on the treasure that awaited them.

A black-colored emerald lay upon the ground, surrounded by a black aura. It was less than half the size of the Master Emerald, still resembling the seven Chaos Emeralds. There was a gray Emerald, but a black emerald was unthinkable; unless you counted power-drained Chaos Emeralds.

"Whoa..." Storm remarked, "Can you believe that this has been here the whole time? I sure can't. It's gotta be from another world!"

"You could say the same thing about the Chaos Emeralds." Wave told him with annoyance.

"Can the chatter." Jet ordered, he picked up the Black Emerald, "This is going to be worth a lot of money. The sooner we get out of these ruins and sell this on the market, the sooner we'll party back on the airship! Now, let's get out of here!"

Just then, a large shadow loomed over the Rogues, and they looked up, seeing a massive airship with the symbol of the Eggman Empire under it. A hatch opened up, and Egg Pawns dropped down, accompanied by Buzz Bombers, surrounding the group. Just then, puffs of smoke surrounded the Rouges, and tall creatures with red eyes and fangs appeared.

Malevolent laughter echoed through the valley, and Doctor Eggman came down in his Egg Mobile, just as a black-cloaked individual with a face similar to Eggman's floated down.

"Excellent work, Rogues!" Eggman sneered, "You made things all the more easier for us."

"Look who's here." Jet quipped, "It's been a while, Doctor Eggman. And who's the guy who looks like you, is he your twin brother? And these fellas don't look like robots..."

"I am Eggmandorf, Lord Eggmandorf." Eggmandorf said, "Demon King, Lord of Darkness, and soon, I, we, will rule the world and the multiverse. And the Black Emerald is ours, it will be the key to our victory, along with the seven Chaos Emeralds. Now, you will hand over the Black Emerald, if you want to be paid handsomely."

"You want the Black Emerald; you're going to have to go through us!" Storm yelled.

"No one plays the Babylon Rogues like chumps!" Jet added, "We got to the emerald before you got here, and it's ours..." He leaped onto his board, "Babylon Rogues, let's show 'em!"

Eggmandorf looked at Eggman. "We know what to do." He said firmly.

"TROOPS! SHOW THE ROGUES WHAT HAPPENS TO THOSE WHO DEFY THE EGGMAN EMPIRE!" Eggman howled, "TAKE THAT EMERALD, AT ALL COSTS!"

All at once, the robots attacked. Jet, Wave, and Storm were ready. They kicked down the first Egg Pawn that came at them, Wave flipped over a Buzz Bomber, and kicked off its head, freeing a Flicky trapped inside. Storm raised his Extreme Gear board, and smashed an Egg Pawn's head in. Sparks flew, as the battle raged.

Jet looked up at Eggman with contempt, and raced towards him. His board hovered off the ground, and he reared back his fist, aiming for the doctor's face. And, just then, something rammed into Jet, pinning him against a pillar above the spot where the Black Emerald lay.

The hawk groaned, and blinked, finding himself staring into the eyes of Metal Sonic, Sonic's robot double.

Metal Sonic raised his claws, and Eggman laughed. "You may want to hand over that gemstone, hawk boy!" The doctor taunted.

"Over my corpse, fat man!" Jet retorted.

He pushed the robotic hedgehog off of him, then he lifted the Black Emerald in the air as Metal Sonic soared back towards him. Jet swerved around, avoiding the incoming robot, and raced towards one of Eggman's robots. He leaped off his board, and stomped on an Egg Pawn until the robot was in pieces.

Storm smashed more Egg Pawns, and swatted away Buzz Bombers, Wave leaped onto his head, and lunged at one of the fanged creatures. She punched it in the face, kicked another monster in the legs; these things had to be demons. Eggmandorf did call himself a Demon Lord after all.

More robots came down from Eggman's airship, all swarming the Babylon Rogues, and Jet jostled with Metal Sonic. He punched him in the face, punching and punching, until the robot grabbed the hawk's wrist and unleashed his Maximum Overdrive Burst. Jet screamed, and fell over, dropping the Black Emerald from his hands.

"JET!" Storm and Wave cried, then they were knocked over the head by a pair of Egg Pawns, and they collapsed to the ground.

Effortlessly, Metal Sonic picked up the Black Emerald, and flew up to Eggman, handing it over to his creator while the doctor's counterpart Eggmandorf floated next to him. Eggman laughed maniacally, as thunder rumbled in the sky above.

"ABSOLUTELY GLORIOUS!" Eggman proclaimed, "THE BLACK EMERALD IS OURS!"

"I can hold onto it for you, Doctor." Eggmandorf offered with a gleam in his eyes, "You can trust me."

"With pleasure, My Lord." Eggman handed the Black Emerald over to his ally, then he turned to their troops, "All Badniks return to base! Let the Babylon Rogues walk away in humiliation, let them never forget this day! We have a hedgehog to destroy and worlds to conquer! Thank you, Jet, until we meet again!"

Jet punched the ground angrily, watching as Eggman, Eggmandorf, and the rest of their forces, along with Metal Sonic, headed up into the airship and left Tartarus Rock. Jet and the Rogues groaned in defeat, climbed onto their Extreme Gear, and departed the area to recover from their defeat...