- Chapter 33 -

Pyramid Scheme

Master Emerald Shrine

Kat and Knuckles stood before one another, a silence falling over the shrine. Chomps looked between them, then laid down on the ground, as if knowing this would be a tough conversation. Kat then decided to sit down herself, picking up the long stick she was using as the fire poker, prodding her old, burning jumpsuit.

"What do we need to talk about?" she asked, her eyes firmly on the fire.

"More specifically, who," Knuckles clarified. "A human named Dr. Robotnik."

Kat visibly tensed at the name.

"Why do you want to know about him?"

"Because he lied to me," Knuckles said bluntly. "He told me that he was a humble inventor, that Sonic was a villain. And like a fool, I believed him."

Kat perked at that.

"You met him?"

"Before I found you in the jungle, yes."

Kat's hand tightened on the poker and her voice became somewhat quieter.

"Everything he told you, it's nothing but lies. He's a psychopath, a murderer, a kidnapper and enslaver. He's everything evil about humanity condensed into a single entity."

"So I've been told…" Knuckles said after a minute. "What you told me about Sonic, about how he left you and your friends behind on the Death Egg... I thought it meant he was telling the truth. But then I saw Sonic in action. And the truth about how he powers those robots of his."

"The Badniks," Kat recalled. "Yeah, I've seen them up close, but that's not even the worst he's done. With Mobians and humans, he throws them into his Roboticizer. It erases everything about a person, replacing it with cold, unfeeling machinery."

"Sonic mentioned that as well," Knuckles recalled. "He said his uncle was one of Robotnik's victims."

"What? Oh, Aurora…" Kat shuddered. "I don't know what's worse. Watching your family die, or watching them get roboticized."

"Sonic saved my life back in the desert," Knuckles informed her. "He's obviously not the monster you and Robotnik claimed he was."

Kat shook her head.

"He's not. He came back here to try to save me and the others on the Death Egg. I knew all along it wasn't his fault, but... I needed someone to blame. A drive to keep fighting." She curled up, looking ashamed. "He didn't deserve any of the things I said about him, or even a fraction of what I did to him."

"About that," Knuckles piped up. "He wanted me to tell you he's healed up now, and there's no hard feelings."

Kat looked up in shock.

"Really?"

"Really." Knuckles nodded.

She breathed a sigh of relief while Knuckles put the pieces together.

"So, Robotnik said he was the sole survivor of the crash," he remarked. "Obviously, that was a lie too."

"Because he had his Badniks gun down everyone else in cold blood," Kat said bluntly. "I barely got away myself. It's why I never tried to leave the shrine until the Death Egg began rising. I was afraid he'd find me and finish the job..."

The horror on Knuckles' face was soon replaced with rage, and he punched the ground with a roar.

"How could I be so stupid?!" he shouted. "I let a monster, a murderer play me like a damn fiddle! All this time, I've been chasing the wrong threat to my island!"

"Hey, hey," Kat grabbed him, making him face her. "You were tricked. It happens. And if I had come clean sooner, maybe I could have helped."

"Well, what matters now is Robotnik pays for his crimes," Knuckles swore before perking as he remembered something. "If he's after the Chaos Emeralds… Oh, no…"

"What?" Kat asked. "What is it?"
"The Master Emerald!" Knuckles cried. "I need to get to the Hidden Palace right away!"

He grabbed a pail of water, putting out the fire. He then prepared to leave, then stopped.

"You coming?" he asked.

Kat blinked, then quickly scrambled to her feet, snagging Tails' jacket.

"You want me to come?"

"Why not?" Knuckles questioned.

She grinned at that. Knuckles held out his hand and she took it, the two taking off with Chomps hot on their heels.

Sandopolis Desert

Sonic and Tails stood before the massive pyramid, looking it up and down and seeing the door was sealed. Surrounding the pyramid was a large lake of quicksand.

"Think there's a button somewhere in there?" Sonic asked.

"Probably," Tails mused.

They began searching around. Eventually, Sonic found what looked like a control panel literally set in stone.

"I'm gonna go out on a limb and say this is it," he remarked.

"I wouldn't bet against it," Tails agreed. "Just be careful. Knuckles did warn us this place was protected. For all we know, opening the door could alert the guardians."

"I hear ya," Sonic nodded.

He pressed the button, and the sealed gates of the pyramid slowly slid open. Almost immediately, a massive figure emerged from the door. As it stepped into the light, it revealed itself to be a golem made of tan stone, resembling a bulky, large-jawed human covered in blocky armor and wearing a tall hat with flaps covering its neck. It stood about twice Sonic's size as it looked them over.

"Called it," Tails said simply.

"Heretics!" the golem shouted. "You are not worthy to enter the Lost Tomb of Sandopolis!"

Sonic charged at the figure, bouncing off it and knocking off its limbs, reducing it to just a lump of rocks. After a few minutes, however, the golem's limbs floated back on, reattaching as it got up.

"Great, it's self-healing," Sonic grumbled. "Nothing's ever easy."

"It's gotta have a power source!" Tails insisted. "Take it out, and it'll shut down!"

Sonic looked at the quicksand lake surrounding the pyramid. "I've got a better idea."

He got in front of the Guardian, sticking out his tongue and pulling on his eyelid.

"Over here, you overgrown lawn gnome!" he taunted before taking off, the golem lumbering after him.

"Infidel!" the golem roared. "You desecrate this sacred ground with your presence! Now you will NEVER AGAIN SEE THE LIGHT OF DAY!"

"Hey, we're out in the light already," Sonic shot back. "If you're gonna threaten me, do it right!"

Once he was in perfect position, Sonic jumped to the side as it lunged at him. It splashed into the quicksand, rapidly sinking out of sight.

"Enjoy the mud bath!" he mocked before turning to Tails. "Shall we?"

Tails nodded. "After you."

They entered the pyramid and soon found themselves fumbling around in the dark. Groping around, Sonic found what felt like a chain and pulled it, lighting up a bunch of torches and illuminating the room; the duo gaped in shock at the sight of a sarcophagus surrounded by all manner of treasure.

"Whoa…" Sonic managed. "Imagine all the chili dogs we could buy with this loot."

"I'm more concerned about that." Tails pointed at the scrapped remains of numerous Swatbots.

"Good point," Sonic conceded. "Then again, these Swatbots can be taken out by Sticks' crossbow."

"Maybe, but even so, there's something down here."

Tails looked them over, seeing several gold coins clutched in the Swatbots' hands. "Eggman must've found out about the treasure and tried to nab it for himself. The curse may have gotten them."

As they looked around, the light began to dim.

"Lousy cheap Echidna lighting," Sonic grumbled.

"That is what happens when your mechanisms are over a thousand years old," Tails said matter-of-factly.

At that very moment, they saw little white blobs begin to appear around them..

"Oh, boy…" Sonic let out.

"Uh… Sonic?" Tails began nervously. "I don't think we're alone."

The light dimmed even further, and the white blobs formed into ghosts with black eyes, stubby arms, and little horns on their heads.

"We are the Hyudoros. Guardians of the tomb," a spooky voice sounded. "Leave this place... or suffer our curse…"

"Oh great…" Sonic groaned. "More ghosts…"

"Sonic?" Tails squeaked out. "I think we better start running."

"Oh c'mon, Tails," Sonic said flippantly. "They're tiny and cute. What harm can they possibly do?"

It was at that moment the light went out completely, shrouding them in darkness. At that very moment, the Hyudoros underwent another transformation, becoming monstrous white cloaked specters with four-fingered hands, sharp horns, empty black eyes and large jaws with elongated sharp teeth.

"Does that answer your question?" Tails asked.

"Yep," Sonic nodded before grabbing Tails and bolting. The ghosts chased after then, cackling and shrieking all the while.

"Any bright ideas?!" Sonic demanded.

"Bright…" Tails perked. "That's it! They first appeared when the lights went out! They can't stand the light!"

"So we need a way to bring light in here."

Sonic began looking around for a light source. "Not finding anything!"

Before long, Tails saw a small light, and looked to see an orange glow from a crack in the wall.

"Sonic!" he pointed. "Over there!"

Sonic saw the glow and bolted over to it. He touched the wall, instantly feeling a searing heat through his gloves.

"Yeouch!" he yelped, blowing on his fingers. "That's hot!"

Curling into a ball, he slammed into the crack, breaking it open and flooding the area with orange light. The Hyudoros stopped in their tracks, hissing and darting away. Tails pulled Sonic to safety, twirling his tails to keep them above the lava.

"A lava flow!" he exclaimed.

"This must connect to the volcano the Death Egg crashed in," Sonic realized. "We're on the right track!"

The Emerald Radar went off at that. Carefully pulling it out, Tails looked around, and saw the cyan Chaos Emerald laying on top of the sarcophagus.

"We got another one!" he declared.

As they flew over, Sonic grabbed it with both feet. "How many does that bring us up to?"

"About four," Tails replied.

"On a good pace," Sonic mused. "Let's keep it up!"

Tails scanned for the fifth Emerald, before his face fell somewhat.

"According to the readings, it's somewhere down there," he told Sonic, pointing to where the lava came from.

"Well, good thing you ditched your jacket," Sonic remarked. "It's about to get hot under the collar."

Death Egg

As readings finished, Robotnik broke out into a wide grin.

"At long last," he declared. "The repairs are finalized. All that's left for the launch is a power source. And I know just the one."

He typed away on the control panel, bringing up the scanner from before.

"What luck. That massive chaos energy signature is somewhere down here," He pressed a button on his glove controller, and a tall, spiky Badnik with a single red glowing eye appeared.

"Go into the volcano and find that power source," Robotnik ordered. "Bring it to me on the double."

"What of the Echidna?" the Badnik asked.

Robotnik waved a hand, dismissing it. "Now that the Death Egg is fully repaired, I have no further use for him. If he or Sonic interfere, kill them."

The Badnik departed at that, allowing Robotnik to sit back down.

"Your doomsday is approaching, Sonic," the doctor gloated. "My hour of victory is at hand."

Author's Note:

Oh, no! The Death Egg is fully repaired! Say it ain't so!

Anyway, the Hyudoros are the names of the ghosts that haunt you in Act 2 of the Sandopolis Zone in Sonic & Knuckles. The golem Sonic and Tails fought was the boss of Act 1.

Next chapter, things begin to heat up as our dynamic duo enters the Lava Reef Zone.

Please R&R. Until next time!