- Chapter 34 -

Feeling the Heat

Hidden Palace

Knuckles led Kat and Chomps through several tunnels, eventually leading them to a massive subterranean cavern populated by plateau-like formations of crystalline rock that lined the floor and ceiling for as far as the eye could see. Before them was a large castle-like structure with more than a passing resemblance to the Master Emerald shrine. As Kat looked up, her expression immediately soured at the sight of the Death Egg sticking through a hole in the ceiling, face down.

"He's right above us…" she muttered before clutching herself, shuddering.

Knuckles placed a hand on her back before leading her along.

"This is the Hidden Palace," he explained. "It serves as a secondary altar for the Master Emerald."

As they went inside, Kat stopped at the entrance, seeing a glint. She picked it up to find the gray Chaos Emerald.

"No way…" she managed. "Another Chaos Emerald."

She clutched it, searching her outfit for somewhere to put it.

"There's a pouch on the belt," Knuckles informed her.

Kat stuck it in said pouch quickly. "Thanks."

"It must have been drawn to the Master Emerald," Knuckles theorized.

As they went in, another thing caught their eye. Kat stopped short at the sight of an ancient woven tapestry on the wall. The tapestry was a menagerie of colors, depicting a strange scene. On the left side was what looked like a giant, one with an all-too-familiar mustache. Small flames surrounded him, as if he was aided by the floating balls of fire. Facing this giant, and dominating the right side of the tapestry, was a creature that did not look like an echidna. It was a blue creature covered in spikes and surrounded by golden fire. Between the two of them, a massive green gem was hovering, several green lines denoting the fact that it was glowing. The two looked at the tapestry for a few moments before it dawned on them who the figures were.

"That's… Robotnik," Kat managed. "And Sonic…"

"Son of a gun, it is," Knuckles pointed to the gem. "That must be the Master Emerald."

"Right," Kat nodded. "You mentioned it earlier. What is the Master Emerald? Is it like the Chaos Emeralds?"

"In a manner of speaking," Knuckles replied cryptically.

He led her to a deeper room, and Kat gaped in shock at the sight of the massive green emerald sitting on an altar.

"Whoa…" Kat managed. "It's huge…"

The Chaos Emerald in her pouch began to glow, reacting to the Master Emerald.

"This is the Master Emerald," Knuckles told her. "Created millennia ago by my ancestors by merging fourteen Chaos Emeralds into a unified whole under the direction of the gods, to serve as a counterbalance to the Chaos Emeralds. He who controls the Master Emerald can control the Chaos Emeralds themselves, and if necessary, neutralize them."

"Whoa…" Kat let out. "That's a lot of power. Power Robotnik will abuse without question…"

She placed a hand on her pouch, clutching it. "We can't let him take it."

"And we won't," Knuckles promised as he crossed his arms in thought. "That tapestry... Maybe it wasn't just a coincidence that Sonic and the doctor came here."

Lava Reef

Meanwhile, Sonic and Tails made their way through a network of tunnels, eventually coming out in the magma chamber of the volcano itself. Above them, lodged in the mouth of the volcano, was the sight of the Death Egg.

"Well, look who decided to drop in," Sonic remarked.

"At least this explains the Swatbots in the pyramid," Tails mused.

Suddenly, the Death Egg's mouth opened up, spilling out multiple humanoid robots with egg-shaped bodies, equipped with jetpacks and laser pistols. They converged around Sonic and Tails.

"Looks like Eggman knows we're here," Sonic said casually.

One of the robots approached.

"How perceptive of you, Sonic," it said in Robotnik's voice. "The eyes of my Egg Robos double as cameras. From the Death Egg, I can see everything. And the next thing I'll see is your death!"

"Just try it, Eggman!" Sonic shot back.

With that, he curled into a ball, launching himself at the robots with a Homing Attack. He bounced from robot to robot, destroying them. Eventually, only one Eggrobo was left, which began jeering in Robotnik's voice.

"You're too late anyway, Sonic. The Death Egg's repairs are complete! All I need is a source of infinite energy to get it moving again."

"We won't let that happen!" Tails swore.

"You're welcome to try and stop me. In any event, the Death Egg is running on fumes at the I have just enough gas for THIS!"

The Death Egg's eyes lit up before firing twin lasers directly into the lava, which began rapidly boiling and bubbling.

"Are you out of your damned mind, Eggman?!" Sonic demanded.

"Whatever do you mean?" Robotnik asked. "I'm just making sure that you and your annoying little fox friend never leave this Lava Reef ALIVE!"

He laughed maniacally as the pathway Sonic and Tails were on began to collapse behind them. They immediately took off running. As they went, the Emerald Radar went off. Tails turned to see the red Chaos Emerald in the center of a path of rocks in the lava.

"Sonic! Over there!"

He took off flying, grabbing the Emerald just before it was swallowed up by the magma.

"Nice work, Tails!" Sonic cheered. "Now we just need two more!"

As they continued to flee, suddenly Knuckles appeared from a nearby tunnel, waving at them.

"Quick!" he shouted. "This way!"

The two saw the Echidna and quickly rushed towards him, the lava closing in behind them.

Hidden Palace

Kat stood at the entrance of the tunnel, watching nervously. She could see an angry orange light beginning to close in, and she could hear the sound of approaching footsteps. She quickly sidestepped when Knuckles came running in, ushering Sonic and Tails into the Hidden Palace. Once they were safely inside, he slammed a massive stone into the tunnel opening, blocking the lava flow. All three of them breathed a sigh of relief as Kat approached them.

"You guys okay?"

"Things got a little heated," Sonic remarked. "I'll live."

He turned to Knuckles with a questioning look.

"Kat told me everything," Knuckles told him. "I know who and what you really are, and what Robotnik really is. I'm sorry I didn't believe you, and I'm sorry I tried to kill you."

"I'm sorry too, Sonic," Kat added. "You didn't deserve what I did to you."

"No hard feelings," Sonic assured before looking around. "Where's this?"

"The Hidden Palace," Knuckles answered. "The secondary shrine of the Master Emerald."

"Master Emerald…" Tails perked. "Relic mentioned that to us. It's here?"

"Yeah…" Knuckles nodded. "It's up ahead."

They walked along, before Tails saw something glowing in Knuckles and Kat's belt pouches.

"Do you have the last two Chaos Emeralds?" he questioned.

"We do," Knuckles confirmed. "I assume you two found the others."

"We have all seven?" Kat asked.

"Yep," Sonic confirmed. "And that saves us the trouble."

They entered the shrine. Sonic and Tails gaped at the sight of the Master Emerald.

"Wow…" Sonic managed. "I wasn't expecting it to be so... big."

"It's made of fourteen Chaos Emeralds," Kat told them. "Pretty cool, right?"

Sonic just nodded.

"Relic gave us the cliff notes," Tails said. "According to her research, the Master Emerald was made to counter the Chaos Emeralds. In her words, the Master Emerald is to the Chaos Emeralds what a nuke is to a bow and arrow."

"Apt comparison," Knuckles agreed. "It's powerful enough that it can influence the power of the other Chaos Emeralds. It's why the ones we have are reacting the way they are."

As if on cue, the Chaos Emeralds began to glow, reacting to the Master Emerald's presence. They watched in shock as the Emeralds came flying out of pockets and pouches, circling around the Master Emerald and glowing a bright white before doubling in size. All of them stared, watching as the Emeralds settled themselves onto large columns surrounding the Master Emerald, quietly humming with power.

"Holy…" Sonic let out. "It's turned them into some kinda Super Emeralds!"

"Okay… that was cool," Kat remarked.

Before they could do anything else, suddenly something burst through the ceiling. An Eggrobo flew in alongside the mysterious Badnik Robotnik had been conversing with earlier. Kat screamed at the Egg Robo, Knuckles immediately putting himself between it and her. However, both Sonic and Tails were just staring at the Badnik. It was a far sleeker version of Silver Sonic, this time painted blue and with actual claws for hands. It was twice Sonic's height, and the red bar that served as its eyes glowed menacingly.

"Another robot me?" Sonic said flatly. "Really?"

"What can I say, Sonic?" Robotnik admitted through the Egg Robo. "Even though I utterly despise you, I acknowledge just how much we could accomplish together. Since I know you won't join me, I went for the next best option."

Knuckles whirled on the Egg Robo at that.

"You lying rat!" he roared. "You're no humble inventor! You're a murderer and tyrant! You've been playing me all along!"

"Guess the cat's out of the bag," Robotnik admitted with a dark chuckle. "You were a perfect pawn, Knuckles, but I'm afraid your usefulness has ended."

The Robo then noticed Kat, who flinched under its gaze.

"Oh my. Seems a rat managed to escape the exterminators. No matter. I'll just finish you off with the rest of these pests."

The Mecha Sonic grabbed the Master Emerald, tearing it from its pedestal with relative ease. Knuckles went wide-eyed at this.

"NO!"

In desperation, he jumped, latching onto the Master Emerald as it flew. The Egg Robo aimed its blaster, shooting a taser beam that electrocuted Knuckles and knocked him off, allowing Mecha Sonic to get away without any further resistance.

"Farewell, Sonic! Next time you see me, my almighty Death Egg will have all of Mobius running for the safety of their mommies!"

He laughed maniacally, which was only cut off when Sonic smashed the Egg Robo. With the bot down, Kat rushed over to Knuckles, trying to help him up.

"Knuckles! Are you okay?"

She was hyperventilating, shaking as she tried to get him to respond. Knuckles stirred, slowly sitting up, getting a relieved sigh from Kat.

"Damn it…" the echidna cursed. "He got the Emerald."

"There's still time!" Sonic insisted. "Even if he gets it to the Death Egg, if we can get onboard before it breaks orbit, we have a chance!"

Taking that in, Knuckles nodded as Kat helped him to his feet.

"Our best bet is through the Sky Sanctuary," he informed them. "We need to move."

"How do we get there?" Tails asked.

"Follow me," Knuckles replied. "We'll-"

All of a sudden, everything began to shake.

"Aw man, what now?!" Knuckles shouted.

Tails looked up, seeing several chunks in the ceiling beginning to crumble away.

"Eggman weakened the Hidden Palaces' structural integrity!" he exclaimed. "It's gonna come down on top of us!"

"Which way's the exit?!" Sonic demanded.

Knuckles pointed and Sonic grabbed Knuckles under one arm, then Kat in his other.

"C'mon, Tails! Move!"

They ran, finding only a big, glowing, crimson marble orb with a small ring-shaped structure around it.

"A Warp Point," Knuckles explained. "Our ticket to the Sky Sanctuary. Jump on!"

One after another, they leapt onto it, and were warped away on a pink pillar of light…

Author's Note:

Things are beginning to get crazy, aren't they?

The Master Emerald's origin is taken from Archie Comics, pre-Worlds Collide.

Next chapter, Sonic and co. rush to catch up to the Death Egg and stop it once and for all. Are they up to the challenge?

Please R&R. Until next time!