SonicANIME2010 here with the start of the Angel Island arc. Let's do it
[Unidentified Location]
[BGM: "Act 1 Boss" Sonic and Knuckles (Genesis)]
A noblewoman-like laugh clashed with a cacophonic symphony of machinery as Eggman observed his factory at work. He watched as the machines produced robots with captive animals placed in the cores, one by one. The last few weeks since his last defeat gave the doctor ample time to recuperate his forces and he intended to use every second before his next campaign.
"O~ Ho ho ho ho ho!" the mad scientist cackled, watching the monitors through his goggles with glee, "It took a few days, but my forces are nearly rebuilt."
The genius typed a command into his console and watched the monitor generate multiple live feeds of locales ranging from a tropical jungle to an icy mountain. A radar appeared on another screen, but it was notably empty, causing the doctor to frown.
"Still no sign of the emeralds." Eggman typed another command, changing the monitor display to a dark room, where his more powerful robots were being created, "No matter, I can send out a battalion to search on foot. They will be mine…"
As Eggman paused in thought, he watched as the display looped into a cycle of footage from his previous defeats. Analyzing the data, the doctor would use it in upgrading his robots. To him, there will be no repeats, he will not be made a fool of again.
"Just you wait… Heroes." The doctor sneered and spat that last word, "I will not be made a fool of again. I! The great Doctor Eggman! Will conquer the world!"
Engrossed in his evil schemes, the mad doctor descended into laughter once more. As he did so, he failed to notice a red figure pensively watching from behind. The figure observed the man for a few more minutes before turning away.
'I threw my lot in behind this man?' purple eyes blinked multiple times as the red being thought pensively, 'I'm starting to regret my choice.'
A new battle, one to shape the course of history, was about to begin!
[OP: "Bright Stream" Nana Mizuki. Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha The MOVIE 2nd A's]
Sonic the Hedgehog: Wind of the Night Sky
Chapter 17
Angel Island Phase 1: The Guardian
-March 3rd, 0066-
[Non-Administrated Planet #97 "Earth"]
[Uminari City, Japan]
[Residential: Yagami Residence]
[Time: 0635]
[BGM: "Chiisana Negai" Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A's OST]
An early morning alarm was what stirred Sonic from his nightly slumber. The hedgehog, with a groan, slowly sat up and stretched to dispel the tiredness from his form. Though he could boast many talents, mornings was decidedly not one he was great at. Adding in the fact that the alarm went off so early gave the boy cause for concern.
Turning to his left, the blue hedgehog was only minutely surprised to see a smiling Reinforce seated next to him on the bed. For convenience, the tall silver-haired woman was paired as his roommate in the sleeping arrangements, not that Sonic minded. She was nice and respectful of his privacy, a courtesy he returned. He could do worse for a roommate choice.
"Good morning, Rein." Sonic yawned out, stretching his arms as he sat up.
"Good morning, Sonic-san." Reinforce smiled softly in return.
"The way you're smiling tells me that the alarm was planned." The hedgehog grumbled lightly with no head.
"You're right." The woman nodded, "But let's save that discussion for breakfast."
Nodding, Sonic merely leaped out of bed, brushed his teeth and waited for Reinforce to change before fetching a clean pair of socks and gloves from the dresser. He was too tired to question her just yet and decided to just move on.
When Sonic arrived at the kitchen, he was surprised to see Amy Rose helping Hayate fix breakfast while Tails was busy setting the table. At that moment, he remembered that they had stayed the night for a sleepover the night before. The rest of the room was mostly calm as Signum and Shamal were seated patiently at the table while a grumpy Vita sat across from them. Lastly, a large pot of coffee was being brewed while the portable thermos mugs for the iron knight and himself were close by.
At that moment, the pieces clicked into place: the coincidental sleepover, the alarm, the controlled rush to get everyone fed and ready to go. The final clue was the smile that Hayate had, a similar one to Reinforce.
"Ohayo-gozaimasu, Sonic-kun." The girl beamed as she plated a few eggs from the stove, "You're just in time for breakfast."
"Mornin', Hayate." Sonic let out a sigh, the knowing grin of the brunette told him all, "There's a mission, today. Isnt there?"
"Bingo~!" chimed the girl cheerfully, "I woke up to a message from Limietta-san. Harlaown-san wants us to rendezvous on the Arthra for a debriefing in under an hour."
"Figures." The hedgehog let out a yawn as he seated himself at the table, his attention briefly shifted towards Tails and Amy, "I guess it's no coincidence that these two slept over."
"It kinda is and isn't, actually." Amy spoke up from the kitchen, "I did a tarot reading yesterday and my cards all but told me we should stay over on the mainland."
The conversation continued briefly as Hayate served breakfast. There was a feeling of unease, yet excitement, as they wondered what was in store for their mission. After breakfast, everyone went to change clothes and get ready for work. Remarkably, it took less than an hour to get all members of the household changed, cleaned up and ready to Dimension Transfer to the Arthra.
[Dimensional Space: Earth Orbit]
[Arthra: Bridge]
[Time: 0730]
[BGM: "Board Games of the Apocalypse: Shop" Fate/Requiem x Fate/Grand Order ]
Nanoha Takamachi was unsure how to react at the scene before her. Sonic and Vita were each sipping coffee from cute matching insulated mugs of their respective color. On the one hand, it was rather cute, but on the other, the mental image of the most unlikely duo having anything that matched was borderline absurd and it refused to escape her mind. She wanted to point it out, as the two were often at odds more than an old married couple, but their shared grumpy expression intimidated her enough to keep quiet.
Following her militaristic timing, Lindy entered and took stock of the squad that she had assigned for today's mission: Sonic, Tails, Amy Rose, Nanoha, Fate, Arf, Alicia, Signum, Hayate and Reinforce. From the previous mission, the only difference was the addition of Fate's familiar and her reasoning for making this change would soon become clear.
"Good morning, everyone." The admiral greeted the group as she walked towards the center of the room, "Thank you for coming in early. I'm aware that most of us, myself included, would rather be in bed."
Lindy paused to see if anyone would comment, but the only sounds she heard in response were the somehow synchronized sipping of coffee from Sonic and Vita. Inwardly chuckling to herself, the woman went straight into business.
"As I'm sure we're all aware, the Death Egg fell from Earth's orbit thanks mostly to the efforts of Sonic and the Chaos Emeralds." The admiral began, the display behind her changing to show a recording of Super Sonic destroying the Death Egg Robot and the chain reaction that followed, "We had to leave the planet so as to get emergency medical attention for one of our own."
"Were we finally able to track its descent?" Reinforce asked.
"Thanks to Quint and her resources, we were able to confirm that the Death Egg crashed on this island." Lindy pulled the map of the South Island Archipelago up to the main screen, notating the specific island that the Chaotix had isolated as their target, "According to our sources, this island is known as Angel Island, and it is also likely where we will find the Chaos Emeralds after they fell to the planet."
The hushed breaths of Amy Rose, Tails and the sharp sip of coffee from Sonic immediately drew the admiral's attention. It became clear that the trio of South Island natives were familiar with the island.
"I see this island is known to you." Lindy motioned at Sonic in particular, "Would you like to explain?"
"Not much to say on this one. Angel Island was originally thought to have existed in legends, but you can see it floating above the ocean from South Island." The blue hedgehog took another sip from his coffee before continuing, "The island itself is treated as sacred grounds to us islanders. It's taboo to try to land there and I heard their guardian is strict."
"Also, because the Floating Island actually is floating high in the sky, it will change locations every day. Some days it might be over South Island, other days Never Lake or even the middle of the ocean. It's really unpredictable." Tails added, nervously glancing at the island coordinates on the screen, "So just because the Death Egg may have been tracked to those coordinates, it may have moved along with the island."
"That explains the coordinate shifts that our technicians picked up earlier this week." The admiral mused before explaining herself, "Shortly after tracking the Death Egg, we noticed that its position would move slowly throughout the day. Not alarmingly enough, but enough to throw off the coordinates of where we initially planned on the air drop."
With the informative segment of the debriefing cleared, Lindy went on to explain her plan to the group. A Dimension Transfer would drop the squad, along with the Tornado, several miles off the coast of the floating island's last known coordinates, where they would then approach it from the shoreline. This was planned to account for the island's movement and to avoid drawing too much attention. The only downside of this plan was the unknown defenses the island may hold, but she had confidence in the capability of her mages to defend themselves.
"Your orders will be as follows." Lindy moved on to lay out the objectives for the mission. "First: Investigate Angel Island, I want to know what Eggman has been up to and I want him stopped and arrested. Second: Find and recover the Chaos Emeralds. I have no doubt that Eggman will try to find them, he must not be allowed to claim any of them.
"This last one is not so much of an order, but a request. It is regarding the Guardian of the island." The admiral continued, "Should you encounter him, which I believe will happen, do not engage in any hostilities. He may be able to provide more information on the Island and I would rather keep him on our side."
"What if the Guardian attacks us?" Nanoha asked out of concern.
"I assume we are to hold back." Signum answered for the admiral.
"Indeed." Lindy concurred, "Any questions?"
As she asked, the admiral took stock of the reactions from everyone. Immediately, she could discern the slight hesitation from the South Islanders and understood why. If the island was as sacred as Sonic and the others said, then setting foot on it would be frowned upon.
"Not that I mind the extra head here." Sonic spoke up, gesturing to the orange wolf woman, "But any reason you added Arf to our entourage?"
"I felt it was necessary." Lindy answered, "Arf-san can provide additional defensive support, and she synergizes excellently with her master."
"Alright!" Arf's wild smirk displayed her canines, she cracked her knuckles in a show of excitement, "Finally some action!"
"Just be careful, Arf" Fate, her master, cautioned.
For Nanoha, a lingering question haunted the back of her mind regarding the Floating Island. She had seen a similar phenomenon recently with the Little Planet incident, but previously was unable to form the thought to ask.
"How can Angel Island float?" The twin-tailed orangish brown haired girl questioned
"That's a great question." Lindy turned her attention to the animals as she spoke, "When we scanned the island, traces of energy similar to that of the Chaos Emeralds were found."
"Now that I think of it, rumor has it that the Floating Island could hold a key to the emeralds." Tails opined softly, just as curious, "Something about a controller, but this is mostly in legend."
"We'll probably be able to find out more when we get there." Amy Rose added, her curiosity had won over her hesitation.
"Right!" Hayate and Rein nodded.
"Indeed" The admiral concurred, "Any other questions?"
The silence from the group served as the answer to Lindy's inquiry. She could tell that the spirits were lightened and everyone was ready to go. Nodding, she declared that the mission will start in over an hour, so as to allow the Tornado to be ready. With no further questions or comments to address, the squad was dismissed to prepare for their deployment.
[Earth]
[South Island Archipelago: Skies]
[Time: 0905]
[BGM: "Lightning Assault" Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha the Movie 2nd A's OST]
The mid-air Dimensional Transfer dropped the squad several miles south off the coast of the main island. Tails piloted the Tornado with Amy in the gunner's seat and Sonic firmly seated on the wing, while the rest of the squad used the pull of gravity to build their momentum as they used their devices to transform into their respective Barrier Jackets and Knight Clothing.
With the new Cartridge System upgrading her device from Lucky Star to "Lucky Star Fortune Drop", Alicia saw fit to make some additions to the design of her Barrier Jacket. It still retained most of her original design, but she added fingerless metallic gauntlets, matching boots, and a sky-blue cape. This was based off of the Blaze Form of Fate's Barrier Jacket, so she coined it as "Lightning Form".
Lucky Star's default form was retained as the pistol and paper fan combination, however the pistol now had a magazine that fitted into the loading chamber in a way not dissimilar to a modern pistol. In addition, the handle of the pistol and the fan both gained a sleeker design. This device form was named "Gunner" as the pistol was the main unit for her device.
Immediately after transforming, the mages used the gravity's natural acceleration to incur a boost of speed when they activated their respective flight spells and soared through the sky.
"Nice new threads." Sonic complimented the small blonde with a grin.
"Thank you~!" Alicia beamed happily back before flying close to Fate, "I figured my jacket could use an upgrade and I wanted to match with my sister."
"It suits you." Nanoha added cheerfully, "You and Fate-chan match now, it's so cute!"
"Awe…" the smaller of the Testarossa siblings said as both blondes were blushing from the compliment, "But don't think you'll claim my heart so easily!"
"So cute." Amy Rose and Hayate beamed, the latter flying next to the Tornado to enjoy the scene.
"Pardon the interruption, but we are coming up on our target." Reinforce called out suddenly, "Several miles to the southwest!"
Following the woman's gaze, the rest of the group caught sight of their destination. A massive floating island came into view, from the distance the tall spires could be seen along with scattered waterfalls. The island held signs of habitation, both modern and ancient. Overall it was a sight to behold and it left everyone speechless.
"Wow!" Amy Rose let out a gulp, her breath briefly stolen, "That's Angel Island."
"That thing is huge!" Vita added, "How are we supposed to find anything there?"
"I can sense a strange energy emanating off the island." Signum noted, "Harlaown-san was right, it is similar to the Chaos Emeralds."
"Let's get a closer look." Reinforce declared, "Everyone line up in formation, we're going to land."
"Right!" The others agreed.
With the winds at their backs, the team closed in on the island and the start of their next adventure.
[Angel Island]
[Angel Island Zone: Interlude]
[Time: 0915]
[BGM: "Angel Island (Act 1)" Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (PC General MIDI)]
Tails brought the plane in for a landing along the beachhead, the shore providing a perfect landing spot for the Tornado and the trees served as natural coverage to hide it from sight. After landing, the party progressed further into the mainland. A tropical jungle was what they found with lush green vegetation as far as the eye could see and waterfalls leading into a large lake.
As they slowly began their expedition into the jungle, Signum and Reinforce ordered a pause as the two felt a new strange energy permeating the air and a presence that had begun to follow them. Arf, with her enhanced senses, had also picked up on the energy and settled her body into a neutral stance.
"It appears our landing drew some attention." The magenta-haired swordswoman spoke in the telepathic channel, lightly gripping the hilt of Laevateinn, "We have been tailed since landing."
"Willing to bet it's the Guardian." Arf added, her tail swaying rapidly, "Wonder how he found us so quickly."
"Let's find out." Reinforce spoke aloud and began to call out to the new presence, "Pardon our intrusion, but would you mind revealing yourself? If you had planned to ambush us, I'm afraid you would be at a disadvantage."
"I'll be damned! Found out that quickly!" A pre-teen male voice called from above in the trees, "Alright, I suppose I should give y'all a proper greeting."
[BGM: "Unknown from M.E (Instrumental)" Sonic Adventure OST]
Down from the trees dropped a new figure, a red furred anthropomorphic echidna slightly older and taller than Sonic. The echidna's red fur extended all throughout his body except for a patch of white on his chest that was shaped in a crescent moon birthmark. His eyes, amethyst in color, stared neutrally at the group. He had seven dreadlock-like spines that trailed down his back, leading to his medium sized tri-crooked tail.
For attire, the echidna wore red and yellow shoes with green sock cuffs and metallic sextuple bolted plates on top, white mitten gloves with white cuffs and two spiked knuckles on each hand. Lastly, on top of his head was a wide-brimmed brown cowboy hat that had a blue stripe that was decorated with yellow circles and red five-pointed stars. Judging from the echidna's posture, he had taken great pride in the hat.
"Howdy, partners. I'm Knuckles the Echidna." Greeted the new figure with a somewhat forced drawl, pointing one of his thumbs to his hat, "Look at my cowboy hat."
An awkward silence fell upon the group as they stared at the echidna in utter disbelief. While he was polite, it was increasingly obvious that he was trying too hard to make a bit. More alarmingly was the energy traces that his body was uncontrollably giving off, it felt similar to the Chaos Emeralds, confirming his status as the Guardian of the island.
"Okay, I know you're trying to go for a "new sheriff" bit with that hat and drawl, but to be honest, you're overdoing it too much." Sonic was the first to break the silence. His tone was sarcastic and mostly unimpressed, "Just say what you came here to say and let's get on with it."
"Oi! Ya wanna say that again, blue rodent?!" Knuckles barked back, his fists clenched and raised as he broke character briefly, "Just to let you know, I'm not afraid to throw down, y'all are trespassing!"
"Can we settle down, please?" Rein called out in a calm tone, hoping to break the tension, "We did not come here to fight!"
The Unison Device's calm words briefly dissuaded the hostilities from both sides as Sonic dropped back upon Reinforce's request and Knuckles cleared his throat to regain his own composure. She let out a small sigh of relief, thankful that the situation was saved from escalation, at least for the moment.
"At any rate, I'll say it again. Y'all are trespassing." Knuckles spoke up, "This land is sacred and I won't let anyone defile it. I'm going to give ya a chance to get out of here."
"Unfortunately, we can't do that." Rein spoke up in reply, "We came here on a mission to stop a madman who has committed many crimes in his efforts to attain global conquest."
"He wouldn't happen to be a scientist named "Eggman", would he?" The echidna folded his arms with a huff, "He already told me about y'all being a corrupt sort, out to use the Chaos Emeralds for no good, although he greatly embellished some details."
"He lied to you and spoke of himself." countered the woman, firmly but softly, "He is the one seeking to use the emeralds for his quest of power."
"That's from your point of view. And I don't have enough time to entertain a long debate. Got things to do, so if you'll excuse me…" Knuckles tipped his hat to the group, turning his back towards them, "You should leave while you still can, but if you want to know the secrets of Angel Island, then venture deeper, at your own risk."
Before anyone could do or say anything to stop him, Knuckles launched himself into the trees and disappeared without a trace. There were many questions among the group, especially regarding the next steps, so they decided to discuss their next plan of action.
"So…" Sonic began, shaking his head "That was a thing."
"If you look past his entrance and act, he was reluctant." Nanoha voiced her observations, "If he wanted to hurt us, he would've been a bit more aggressive."
"If anything, he was challenging us?" Amy Rose offered, somewhat hesitantly, as if she was unsure herself, "At least that's what I could tell."
"It was definitely a challenge." concurred Signum with a nod, "I suspect that if we were to follow him, we would find out more."
Reinforce concurred with Signum's analysis as she and the others of the party plotted their next move. With the confirmation from Knuckles that both Eggman and the Chaos Emeralds were on the island, taking on both tasks on the massive island would be the challenge.
"We have a lot of ground to cover." Signum sent the Master Program of the Book a knowing look.
"And multiple objectives along with it." Rein returned the look, nodding in assent.
"We're going to split up again, aren't we?" Amy spoke up nervously. The pink hedgehog's mind flashed back to the first mission, "I thought I said something about this. D 101: Never split the party."
"If you don't like it, you can stay put." Offered Vita with a smirk, her arms folded.
"I'm good." the female hedgehog said no more.
The party divided up into two separate teams: Signum led Team A with Sonic, Tails, Nanoha, Vita and Alicia; while Reinforce took Team B with Hayate, Fate, Arf and Amy Rose. Team A's took the objective of stopping Eggman while Team B would follow Knuckles. With their mission set, the teams took off into the jungle.
[Angel Island Zone: Action Stage]
[BGM: "Angel Island (Act 1)" Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (PC General MIDI)]
The canopy served as something of a fork in the road that branched the path through the jungle into two routes: high and low. Climbing atop the canopy led to an opportunity to catch a glimpse of the ocean among the horizon surrounding the island. Delving below the canopy led closer to the lake among the trees and foliage. Climbable vines could be seen amongst the trees, allowing them to be swung from to traverse deeper into the zone.
Eggman's assault had yet to begin, but there were four types of robots deployed to act as a patrolling party: Rhinobot, Tulippon, Meramora and Saruder. Similar to the Moto Bug, the Rhinobot also had a singular wheel beneath the body, but, as the name suggested, was designed after a rhinoceros, and would charge at any enemy on the ground with breakneck speeds. The Tulippon was a stationary red robot designed after a tulip and would fire off spikey balls to aerial foes. Meramora were blue caterpillar-like robots that floated in the air, generating an electrical ring field around its body for defense. Finally, the Saruder were monkey shaped robots that hung off of the trees with their tail or hands as they lacked proper legs and their primary attack was, like monkeys are wont to do, throwing coconuts.
[POV: Team B (Hayate, Reinforce, Fate, Arf, Amy Rose]
Thanks to a combination of Arf's reaction search and an Area Search sphere cast from Hayate, the team was able to quickly locate the red echidna in the lower route jungle. Much to their confusion, they found the echidna apparently deep into a debate with a fan palm bush of all things. Though they had wanted to approach, it was ultimately requested by Fate and approved by Reinforce that they watch and listen from afar so as to be polite and gain additional information.
"Those guys were nothing like Eggman said they were. I know he embellished some details but." The echidna paused and his eyes widened, "Wait, you mean he lied?! I mean, I suppose he did lie about them. But why…
"Why would he lie? What would he gain from it." Knuckles paused, staring at the bush as if it had made an obvious point, "To get me out of the way? I suppose… I did have him cornered and he was rather quick to start blabbering on before I could deck him…"
As the group listened, it quickly became apparent that Eggman had fed the echidna lies in order to turn him against them. Fortunately, it was caught this early, so they would have time to correct the score and hopefully persuade him to join their side. Still, the fact that Knuckles could believe Eggman the first time raised a few questions about his trust.
"I know I'm not the greatest judge of character, up until those three stooges arrived and dragged me into their D …" As if on cue, Knuckles spoke about that, pausing as the bush interrupted him, "Okay, I won't pretend I didn't enjoy it too, but that's not my point!
"My point is, up until then my only company on the island were the animals. They were so peaceful." The echidna's expression soured as his lips thinned in a line, "Now that you mention it, since the old man arrived, the animals have gone missing. Mostly replaced by those robots that have been weirdly aggressive…"
Hayate and Rein shared a look at the last note; taking it as confirmation that Eggman was deep into his next scheme. Considering the old man's track record, it was only a matter of time before he struck. They sensed that Knuckles was soon putting two and two together in his mind.
"Could he be capturing the animals? Possibly, but did he seem evil? I thought he was eccen-." The echidna cut himself off, staring at the bush again, "OK, I get it, I won't pretend I didn't just hear him monologuing earlier this morning before I went out on patrol.
"But, why would he be capturing the animals? What does he stand to gain…" It was as if a lightbulb turned on in Knuckles's head, "Wait, didn't the newcomers claim that he was after the Chaos Emeralds? If so, then he could also be after…"
Arf and the rest of her team stood up at the latest new development. They had already classified the Chaos Emeralds as Lost Logia, but if Knuckles was correct, then could there be another Lost Logia connected to them?
"I should get back, but what should I do about the new visitors? Should I hear them out?" The echidna stood up and fixed his hat, only to freeze in place and stare at the bush one final time, "They're right behind me, aren't they?"
With a gulp, the echidna turned around, hoping that his intuition was incorrect, but alas it was spot on. To their credit, Rein, Amy, Fate and Hayate all had varying degrees of guilt on their faces. Arf's smug expression was another story.
"That fan palm has a point." The wolfwoman had a wolf fang smirk on her face.
"Guh…" Knuckles stared at the bush before staring back with his face aflush, "How long have you been there?"
"Um… Long enough." Fate admitted, "But it would've been rude for us to interrupt, I hope you can forgive the intrusion."
The echidna paused and shook his head, the humans were too polite to stay mad at and again not at all like Eggman had described them. Though he now felt little allegiance to the old man, he was not about to outright trust the new group without testing them first.
"Yosh, let's start to understand one another better since it's clear to me that I can't exactly shake y'all off. I'll let y'all tag along, but only on two conditions." Knuckles grinned, tipping his hat upwards to reveal his amethyst eyes as he listed his terms, "First: Stay out of my way. Second: If'n y'all are tagging along, make yourselves useful."
"We can agree to those terms, but we have two of our own in return." Rein countered back softly, "First: Do not harm our allies, they are our closest friends. Second: We would like you to answer any questions we have along the way."
"Hmmm, I think I'm doing a favor by allowing y'all to tag along already…" The echidna frowned, and then shrugged, "But seeing as these requests are reasonable and y'all are polite enough, I'll allow them."
With the negotiations producing shaky yet common ground, Knuckles tentatively allowed Team B to join him on his mission. Perhaps it was a stroke of luck or some otherworldly power, but as the echidna shook hands with Rein and Hayate to cement their alliance, a huge shadow fell over the depths of the jungle, briefly blocking out the sun.
[POV: Team A (Sonic, Tails, Signum, Alicia, Nanoha, Vita]
While their comrades traversed the lower depths of the jungle, Sonic and Signum's group took to the higher reaches. Tails was the first to observe that the number of robots was smaller than expected. As the fox pointed that out, Nanoha theorized that the mechs were likely a scout party sent ahead to prepare for Eggman's real assault.
Though the conversations were kept to a minimum initially in favor of keeping focus on the terrain, eventually the topic of Eggman and Knuckles came up.
"I'm a little bothered that Eggman-san was able to nearly trick Knuckles-san into fighting us before we could even explain ourselves." Nanoha commented as she blasted one of the monkey robots with Axel Shooter, "We probably shouldn't be underestimating his trickery."
"He always was crafty." Sonic rolled into one of the rhinobots as it charged, "Most of his traps can be effective if you're not careful."
"Also, the red mole seemed like one of those loner types." Vita added as she crushed a tulip mech with a Swallow Flier, "If he doesn't get out much, he'll probably listen to anyone or anything."
"That must be pretty painful, always being alone…" The twin-tailed mage in white frowned in empathy, she could relate to him a little bit in that regard, "And for someone else to prey on that… It's just not right."
Signum and Alicia nodded in understanding but kept quiet as they and the rest of the group suddenly paused in their excursion. Though it was faint, Lucky Star and Raising Heart both detected traces of chaos energy and they were closing in on the source. Sonic, also, was able to tell as he recalled the energy he was exposed to during his previous transformation.
Following the source of the energy, the team located an emerald that was cut in the same way as a Chaos Emerald, only this one was a completely dull gray, as if it had lost all of its color. Sonic and Tails, being the closest, approached it first.
"Confirmed presence of Chaos Emerald." Lucky Star declared.
"Its energy signature is weaker than before." Raising Heart added.
"Could be from when Sonic used them last time." Hypothesized Tails after some thought, "I'm not sure what can recharge them though."
"We'll have to cross that bridge when we get there." Sonic reached for the uncolored emerald, "For now, I think we should hold onto it for safe-keeping."
As if triggered by the blue hedgehog's touch, the emerald began to glow faintly and a small burst of energy exploded and took the form of a giant ring. Sonic let out a gulp as he recalled his first adventure and the giant rings that led to the special stages. Unfortunately, neither he nor Tails could do anything as they were both pulled in by an intense grip of gravity.
"Uwaaah!" Both hedgehog and fox yelped as they were sucked into the ring, which then closed behind them.
"Sonic-kun! Tails-kun!" Nanoha called out behind them to no avail. Quickly, she called to her staff in her left hand, "Raising Heart, can you try to track them?"
"That will be unnecessary, my master." Raising Heart informed its master as the device was able to run a scan of the ring before it disappeared, "The ring is a fixed two-way portal to another location on the island. Though untraceable, our allies will be able to return to the exact location of departure."
"So it's just like the Special Stages from our last mission, then." Alicia let out a sigh, "Not much we can do other than to wait for them to return."
"Feh…" Vita smirked, hoisting Eisen on her shoulder, "Then we can start clearing out the robots here; nothing else, it'll give me a jumpstart on my elimination count with blue boy."
"Mou, Vita-chan…" An exasperated sigh escaped Nanoha's lips, "It's not a contest…"
As the team waited for Sonic and Tails to return, the sky above them darkened as a huge shadow began to descend upon the jungle.
[Eyecatch #1: Sonic: Wind of the Night Sky bio card #31: Knuckles]
Name: Knuckles the Echidna
Katakana: ナックルズ・ザ・エキドゥナ (Nakkuruzu za Ekiduna)
Age: 11
Gender: Male
Height: 80 cm
Weight: 32 kg
System: None
Device: None
Rank: A-
[Eyecatch #2: Sonic: Wind of the Night Sky: bio card #32: Alicia]
Name: Alicia Testarossa
Katakana: アリシア・テスタロッサ・ ハラオウン(Arishia Tesutarossa Haraoun)
Age: 11
Height: 105 cm
Weight: 20 kg
Color: Turquoise
System: Mid-Childa
Rank: AA (Air)
Device: Lucky Star
[Angel Island: Action Stage]
[BGM: "Act 1 Boss" Sonic and Knuckles (Genesis)]
Knuckles and the rest of Team B scaled the trees until they could find a clearing with a sightline to the outer reaches. Despite their haste, they had arrived too late and could only bear witness as a large gray zeppelin, bearing Eggman's logo in red, descended upon the island. A dangerous sense of foreboding could be felt as they heard the hum of the engines roar.
"A blimp?!" Arf gawked in shock, "The creep has a blimp?!"
"Actually, that's a zeppelin." Amy Rose countered, pausing when she felt the wolf's critical gaze on her, "What's with the look?! My roommate is a tech geek."
"Oi! Enough about whatever it is!" The red echidna barked at the quarreling duo to break them up; his attention focused solely on the looming gray aircraft, "What's it doing?"
The group watched as the zeppelin launched a volley of bombs into the jungle, setting it ablaze. During the bombing, battalion after battalion of robots was launched into the air. The mechs began to lay siege and prowl the land in an aggressive search.
"Oh, dear…" Hayate let out a small gasp in horror.
"Oi, that's a bit much.." Arf clenched her fists.
"How low is he going to go?!" Amy Rose gawked in shock
"Knuckles-san?" Fate's attention was on the echidna, her tone expressing concern, "Are you okay?"
Knuckles was uncomfortably silent, his head hung low to hide face. The echidna broke his silence with an increasingly loud growl and his fists clenched so tight that they began to quake. His growl evolved into a snarl as he raised his head with a sneer.
"Rotten, stinking, moldy-faced Easter egg!" roared the echidna as he punched a nearby wall of boulders, outright shattering it instantly, "This is unforgivable!"
The display of sheer strength briefly surprised everyone else. While feats of strength were far from uncommon, they were often enhanced by magic. It was rare to see such an ability occur naturally.
"Knuckles-san?" Rein collected herself first, addressing the echidna.
"C'mon! There is much to do." Knuckles angrily called as he used his fists to burrow through the wall, creating a shortcut, "Angel Island has defenses that need to be activated. It should help with the flames and the robots. I'll explain more about what we're doing later!"
The echidna's tone left no room for argument and the group followed suit behind him. Knuckles kept his pace quick yet controlled so he could be followed.
[Unknown location]
[BGM: "Hidden Palace" Sonic the Hedgehog 2 OST]
The warp ring took Sonic and Tails to a large castle-like structure consisting of one large altar and seven smaller ones surrounding it. A huge green gem, bearing the same cut as the Chaos Emeralds, was housed in the big altar, glowing faint but constantly. An eerie, mysterious vibe radiated.
"Whoa…" Tails let out a small gasp, "What is this place?"
"Not sure, bud." Sonic shook his head, his focus shifted to the big emerald, "But I think that huge emerald might be a clue. It looks just like the Chaos Emeralds."
"Think it's related to them?" The twin-tailed fox asked.
"Probably." The hedgehog turned his gaze to the grayed emerald in his hand.
Suddenly, the emerald elevated and flew around the giant emerald. The duo watched as it teleported itself onto one of the smaller altars in a small beam of green light. A faint green glow began to emanate from the pedestal.
"What… done…" A soft female voice, one that Sonic felt was familiar to him, could be briefly heard from the giant emerald, "...seven chaos…"
"What in the…" Sonic stared ahead in shock.
Before he or Tails could question what was witnessed, both of them were spirited away by an intense flash of light that briefly blinded them.
[Angel Island: Action Stage]
[POV: Team A (Sonic, Tails, Signum, Alicia, Nanoha, Vita]
[BGM: "Angel Island (Act 2)" Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (General MIDI)]
It was a scorching hellblaze that greeted Sonic and Tails as they had reappeared at the exact spot where the warp ring had originally taken them from. The trip had left the hedgehog and fox with many unanswered questions, but those had to be set aside when they met up with the rest of their team.
"Alright, I'll ask. We were gone for less than a few minutes and. Everything! Is! On! Fire!" Sonic stared at the burning trees, "So what's up?!"
"Just after you left, Baldy Nosefuzz launched a blimp and set the forest on fire." Vita gestured to the retreating zeppelin, "Then robots started to swarm."
"Uh, Vita. That's a zeppelin." The hedgehog, with a nodding fox as backup, corrected the knight immediately, "There's a difference…"
"Whatever…" Growled the knight with a grumpy expression.
"We should probably move on." Nanoha spoke up, moving the topic away from the aircraft semantics, "Where did the ring take you guys to?"
Sonic and Tails summarized their trip through the warp ring as the group progressed through the zone. In summary, the two recalled the eerie glow from the giant emerald vividly. While they were unable to return with the chaos emerald, they came back with information to process. There was one question that stood out: what happened with the emerald?
"From what you described, could the Chaos Emerald be recharging?" Nanoha offered immediately after a moment of thought, "If the emerald we found had lost its power, it would need time to regain its energy."
"That's what I thought too." Tails nodded, "We didn't really have enough time to watch, but the large gem did react to the smaller one…
"And then the voice at the end." The orange-yellow fox glanced at the blue hedgehog, "Were you able to hear what it said?"
"Hard to say. It felt broken up, I could barely make out anything." Sonic furrowed his eyebrows in concentration, "It sounded familiar too, but for some reason, I'm struggling to place it."
"We'll probably have to gather more Chaos Emeralds." Alicia offered, "That might make things clearer."
"Agreed." Signum nodded, her gaze focused on the path ahead, "Let's move on."
Through the burning jungle the team went, leaving a trail of broken robots and freed critters in their wake. As Nanoha had predicted, there were more robots now that Eggman's assault had begun. The flames also cause damage to the natural ziplines and terrain, forcing the ground based Sonic to use a combination of his fast reflexes and the occasional flying assist from Tails.
They soon came to an islet nestled between two wooden bridges. The land was covered in grass that was fed from the mist of the nearby waterfall. Thankfully, this area was less affected by the bombardment that hit the jungle.
Floating in the middle of the island was a robot modeled after Eggman's shape. The robot had a red torso, resembling the doctor's jacket. It had rocket boosters on the back to allow its flight. In its right hand was a cannon. The robot was situated close to its master's egg-mobile.
"Well, well, well…" Eggman's voice called out from within the robot, "If it isn't Sonic and company. Did you enjoy my little surprise?"
"So you were just sitting here waiting to ambush us?" Sonic asked, rhetorically with an unimpressed tone, "Can't say that's really original."
"Eggman-san, we have to arrest you for the crimes you have committed." Nanoha requested, pointing the tip of Raising Heart in the direction of the robot, "Please stand down and we won't need to use force."
"Oh? Are you really sure you should be out and about?" The robot turned to face the mage in white, its master's voice conveying a mixture of casual condescension, "I seem to recall you getting blown up in space during our last meeting."
With the doctor mentioning the last incident, Nanoha fell silent and stared at the ground. The memories, still fresh, carried with them pain and guilt that had occupied her. Fortunately, Sonic and Vita were both quick to step in to protect her.
"And who's fault is that?!" An enraged Vita snarled, standing in front of the quieted girl; her polo mallet in a defensive stance, "I should smash you into pieces!"
"I'm shaking. I'm shaking." Mockery laced the doctor's tone in his reply, "You don't stand a chance against what I have in store. You'll be the one who's crushed."
"Ha! Big talk from someone who's not even brave enough to show up in person." The small knight retorted, "Are you just going to let your robots fight your battles for you?"
"Why, thank you for asking." came Eggman's cold reply as the robot entered the egg-mobile, "Behold!"
A medium sized robot appeared from within the waterfall, called forth by its master. It was dark blue in color and spherical in shape. Three rocket launchers were placed on the top of its back, plated with metal that gave it the appearance of a fist when they were closed. On its front was a thin nozzle for a flamethrower and on the undercarriage were four rocket boosters that allowed it to fly freely.
"I present to you, the latest of my creations." The doctor's voice emitted from the Eggrobo as it started to float away in the Egg-mobile, "The Fire Breath."
"Laaaaaaaaame!" Sonic shouted out, unimpressed by the naming scheme and the design, "What's this thing supposed to do?"
"You'll find out." The Eggmobile turned on its rocket boosters as it began to ascend, "Goodbye suckers!"
Nanoha and Signum started to give chase but found their flight path caught off by the Fire Breath. The robot could be heard whirring and beeping as it readied itself for combat.
"Damnit." Vita spat out, "He got away!"
"We'll deal with him later." Signum rested her hand on Laevatein's hilt, "Ready yourselves for combat!"
[Boss: Fire Breath]
[BGM: "Act 2 Boss" Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (Genesis)]
The mech fired off a volley of rockets at the group as it withdrew into the waterfall. Most of the rockets were blocked by magic or dodged by the team, but one of them hit one of the bridges, causing it to collapse and fall into the depths below. It shortly re-emerged from the waterfall, appearing to be vulnerable to attack.
"An opening!" Nanoha called out, "Sonic-kun, Tails-kun!"
"Got it!" The duo chimed in affirmation.
Tails took Sonic into the skies and threw him at the robot. While he was in midair, the blue hedgehog curled into his ball form and sharpened his quills, allowing him to score a direct hit on the robot for chip damage. The robot, anticipating a frontal attack, opened its front nozzle and spew out a jet of flame, forcing the hedgehog to backflip in mid-air and withdraw and back to the waiting fox's hands.
"Watch out for the flames!" Tails called out.
Once again, the robot withdrew into the waterfall and out of sight. It quickly fell into a pattern of using the waterfall as a cover before emerging to attack. It emerged once more, but this time, it took the form of a fist and charged straight for Vita.
Vita grunted, anticipating the attack and countered with her crystalline barrier spell. The giant fist staggered as it made contact with the barrier, unable to penetrate the defensive formula. Nanoha exploited the newly made opening with a point blank Divine Buster, blasting the robot into the ground for more damage. But before she or Vita could follow up, the robot descended back into the waterfall.
"Damn it." Vita cursed, frowning as she watched, "We can't hit it when it hits the waterfall."
"Then we must simply wait for it to surface." Signum replied, turning to face Alicia, "Alicia-san, can you bind it next time?"
"Got it." smiled the shorter blonde, "Lucky Star?"
"Lightning Bind!" The device chimed mechanically.
As predicted by its previously established pattern, Fire Breath emerged from within the waterfall one final time. If a robot was capable of feeling fear or desperation, it showed in its actions as it unleashed multiple volleys of rockets. Nanoha, Vita blocked the rockets with their barrier spells while Signum used her scabbard to swat the rest away from Sonic and Tails. Alicia seized on the opportunity to trap the robot's rocket boosters within multiple lightning cubes, effectively trapping it.
"It's wide open now!" Alicia called out, "Lucky Star! Signum, let's end this!"
"Plasma Lancer!" Lucky Star declared, loading a cartridge.
"Explosion!" Laevatein also declared as it loaded a singular cartridge.
Multiple spheres of lighting appeared and floated around Alicia while Signum's blade caked itself in flame. The swordswoman struck first with her signature Purple Lightning Flash, slicing straight through the mech with her sword with one strike. Her ally followed up, unleashing the shocking spears, which used the lightning from the bind to amplify their damage output.
The combination assault worked to perfection, Fire Breath began to whir and spin erratically in place before it involuntarily detonated. A floating capsule was jettisoned and Nanoha was the first to press its button to release the critters within.
[Victory]
[Jingle: "Act Clear" Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (Genesis)]
"Victory pose!" Sonic called out to the rest of the group as he performed his classic finger wag pose.
Tails was the first to follow suit with one hand raised in triumph, perfectly coordinated with Sonic. Nanoha and Vita were next, the former twirling her staff before resting it at her left side while the latter raised her mallet over her shoulder and raised a fist. Alicia and Signum were the last and least coordinated, the shorter of the two had pointed her gun forward while the swordswoman had her blade pointed away from the rest of the party.
"Aaaand we're uncoordinated." The hedgehog stared humorously at the rest of the group with a deadpan expression, "You're killin' me, guys."
"Why are we doing this again?" Vita asked, returning the stare with her own.
Before Sonic could answer, the bridge that everyone else stood on creaked and groaned. To no one's surprise, the ropes holding it began to break due to the pressure from the previous battle. One by one, the logs fell, fully collapsing the bridge. The mages and knights were able to keep from falling thanks to their flight spells while Tails was able to carry Sonic with his flight ability, but the bridge collapse left the team with no clear path forward.
"Well… now what?" Nanoha was the first to ask.
"We could see where the waterfalls lead to." Tails offered as he followed the water downwards, "I think I can see something down there."
"Agreed." Signum nodded, "Let's investigate further."
Using the closest waterfall as a guide, the team dove down into the abyss below the island's jungle. Just after they passed a similar islet further down, Knuckles and his team emerged from a shortcut that he made and caught sight of their retreating figures.
"Should they be really doing that?" Arf asked, glancing around.
"No worries." Knuckles replied with a fanged smirk, "That's our next destination too, what a coincidence."
"So, we're just gonna jump?" Amy asked, her tone laced with concern, "That doesn't seem safe."
"There's an underground aqueduct system designed to provide water for the rest of the island from here." The echidna gripped the edge of the wooden bridge he stood on, readying to jump, "Just think of this as a giant waterslide. The water should break your fall, just make sure you can swim or support yourself underwater."
The others nodded in agreement and the next course of action was set. Knuckles was the first to jump down, followed by Amy Rose, Reinforce, Hayate, Fate and Arf bringing up the rear.
Shortly after the jungle zone was vacated, a shadowy figure approached the remains of the destroyed Fire Breath mech on the upper islet. The figure let out a sinister laugh, though no one was around to hear it.
[Hydrocity: Interlude]
[Time: 0950]
[No BGM]
Beneath the jungle of the Floating Island was Hydrocity, a series of underground waterways situated in a temple-like structure. Large purple pillars could be seen in the background which had acted as a support of the region. The temple itself was made of light brown, aqua green and gray stone bricks, some of which had a polished texture with no sign of rust despite their age.
Though both teams had used the same waterfall as a guide, their way of traverse had put them on separate starting points. Sonic's group had arrived at the higher reaches while Knuckles' group arrived in the lower depths. Both teams were aware of the other's presence as Reinforce and Signum kept in constant communication via their telepathy, though they kept the channel clear, outside of location updates.
For Team A, Vita had expected the resident hedgehog to have a freakout over the waterways as he had done previously, but was unexpectedly disappointed. Sonic had overcome any issues he had with water by this point and had focused his mind on trying to place familiarity of the voice from the vision.
"I got it! Now I remember!" The hedgehog declared, "That was the same voice from the Chaos Emerald trials from West Side Island."
"Could it be another test?" Nanoha asked, "Or could it be a message?"
"Not sure." Sonic shrugged, "The voice was the same, but the way it spoke was a little different. Hard to place."
"Let's keep that noted for now and progress onwards." Signum declared, "We will have more time to analyze later."
"Right!" Team A confirmed as they got ready to start.
Meanwhile, a different conversation happened with Team B and Knuckles. Despite being informative and somewhat open to questions, the echidna kept himself on guard around the rest of the party and it was slowly becoming a pain point that was best to tackle early.
"Knuckles-san, are you feeling alright?" Reinforce asked first out of concern, "I couldn't help but notice that you've kept your guard up."
"I'm fine." Knuckles said with a tone that implied he was anything but, "Just fine."
"Are you sure?" The woman asked again, her concern growing.
"Look, I know y'all probably mean well with your questions, but I'm not the easy-to-trust type." The echidna replied with a frown, staring at the water below, "Just because I'm not trusting that rotten egg doesn't mean I'm going to automatically trust y'all lot any more."
"That's fair." Hayate responded with an honest smile, "We'll just have to work hard to gain your trust. Thank you."
The echidna could only grunt in response, once again he was unable to find fault with their sincerity. He could only hope that it was more than just an act as he readied himself for the duties ahead.
[Hydrocity: Action Stage]
[BGM: "Hydrocity (Act 1)" Sonic the Hedgehog 3]
The expansive layout of the temple provided multiple paths for traversing both above and underwater. As the lower routes were underwater, they were mainly reserved for the experienced swimmers. The higher routes were dryer but had more traps and obstacles and one false step could lead down into the watery depths.
There were six models of robots in the zone, most fitting the underwater theme. The Jawz was a shark shaped missile mech that exploded on contact. Bunbun were aerial robots modeled after horseflies and flew in threes, two small and one large model which acted as the control. Kapu-Kapu were underwater robots modeled after piranhas with teeth to match. The Yadrin Jet were shaped after hermit crabs with their shell acting as a spiney missile. Designed after pufferfish, the Puff were underwater robots that extended their spikes when they puffed out. Finally, the Ponter were stationary turret robots that fired unaimed shots at anyone under or above water.
Eggman had placed these robots strategically based on their terrain strengths. Bunbun and Yadrin Jets were both situated in dry land to make the use of their mobility. Pufferfish and Kapu-Kapu remained underwater, where they were most vicious. The Jawz and Ponter were just as effective above and below water, so they were placed indiscriminately.
[POV: Team A (Sonic, Tails, Signum, Alicia, Vita, Nanoha)
As Sonic's team progressed through the upper paths, they had to navigate the obstacles and contraptions, which despite their age, were still fully functional. The ground was so old that it crumbled when stepped on, requiring the fleet-footed hedgehog to pick up his speed. Amongst the numerous contraptions were rotating columns that were propelled by an unknown energy and fans that created air currents strong enough to lift fully-grown humans and animals alike.
Traversing the highest routes resulted in an interesting discovery, in between the pillars in the background were statues that had looked almost exactly like Sonic! The resemblance was uncanny in between the shape and default standing posture. It was enough to send shivers up his spine and quills.
"I'm sorry…" Gawked the hedgehog in shock, "What are those?!"
"They appear to be statues made after you." Nanoha replied, matter-of-fact in her tone.
"Indeed." Signum's expression was stoic, though her tone had an underlying hint of humor.
"You're famous now." Alicia grinned teasingly, "I get to say that I know a celebrity!"
"But… how?!" Sonic said weakly, "Why?! I have many questions!"
"They look like they've been here for a long time." Tails observed, tilting his head in thought, "Could be relics leftover from an ancient civilization."
"Yeah, but how did they get Blue Boy's likeness?!" Vita countered with a valid question, "He's never even been here before."
Surprisingly, Alicia had a theory about the statues, though admitted it was a reach. It was possible that the past builders had the ability to peer into the future and made the statues after one prediction.
"Wherever they came from, I think we're going nowhere if we keep thinking about them." Nanoha shook her head, "We should probably move on and save this for later."
"No objections here." Sonic seconded the motion without hesitation.
Trying hard to put the intrusive thoughts regarding the origins of the statues aside, the party progressed further into the upper heights of the aqueducts. The attempts were futile, but there was little more than they could do.
[POV: Team B (Knuckles, Amy, Reinforce, Hayate, Fate, Arf]
With the experience and guidance of Knuckles, Reinforce's team was able to dive deep into the lower caverns of the underwater temple. It was clear that the echidna had many skills under his hat, which somehow he was able to keep on his head despite the torrent of water. In addition to his superhuman strength and breakneck footspeed, he also had the ability to glide through the air with his dreadlock spines and climb walls freely by planting his spiked knuckles into them. And, much to the annoyance of Arf, he too, could curl up into a ball and perform a spin attack.
"Oi oi…" The wolfwoman barked with a twitch in her right eye, "Can all of you anthropomorphic animals curl up into balls?!"
"Actually Arf, Echidnas, hedgehogs and foxes all can curl into balls." Fate pointed out quietly, "The animals we are acquainted with just happen to have the native ability."
"Oh… Well then, I'm surprised." Arf blinked dumbly, and shook her head, before turning to face the red mole, "So what else can you do? You mentioned that we would need to be able to swim or the like around here."
"Well, just so happens, I'm quite good at swimming." Knuckles grinned in pride, "And I can hold my breath for ten minutes."
Amy Rose paused at that last sentence, finding an odd familiarity, but she hoped it was just a coincidence. Hayate also stopped briefly to hear out the rest for multiple reasons, mainly curiosity.
"By chance you wouldn't happen to have a fine leather jacket to go with that hat, would you?" Asked the wolfwoman to the echidna.
"Uh… Yeah? It's at home." Knuckles shrugged, finding the question random, "I'm not selling it, if that's what you're asking."
"Oh thank goodness." Arf let out a sigh, "Some reason, I almost thought you were a jacket salesman, but you're not."
"Someone hasn't gotten past the swordmaster." The pink hedgehog quipped lightly under her breath, though Hayate was able to hear it.
"U~fufufu." The black-winged brunette giggled into her mouth.
Reinforce could only shake her head but quietly gazed forward. Truthfully, she was still getting used to the idea of her master being able to live a happy life after all the other masters before her.
Suddenly, Rein, Knuckles and Arf all paused as they all felt a faint trace of energy in the air and followed it to a grayed emerald hidden in the brick. It was again cut into the shape of the Chaos Emerald, but had also lost its color.
"That's a Chaos Emerald!" Knuckles called out as he approached it with Amy Rose following him, "SO that's what they look like. I'm aware of their presence, but I've never seen one in person. I always thought they were sealed away."
"It appears to be drained of its power." Rein observed, "They were only recently activated, to my knowledge. Could that be a reason?"
"Definitely." The echidna nodded, "They should be able to regain their energy, but I believe we should return these gems to their rightful place."
Knuckles picked up the gem and held it in his right hand. Similar to with Sonic and Tails, a giant ring appeared above himself and Amy Rose. The duo screamed as they were helplessly pulled into the ring and whisked away.
[Unknown Location]
[BGM: "Hidden Palace" Sonic the Hedgehog 2 OST]
The pair were taken to the shrine that housed the giant emerald and the surrounding seven pillars. Knuckles, though he restrained himself from expressing it, felt an intense wave of nostalgia.
"What is this place?!" Amy asked in awe, curiously scanning the shrine.
"The Master Emerald…" Muttered Knuckles to himself, staring at the large emerald, "Why bring us here?"
Before Amy could ask further, the smaller grayed emerald was lifted from Knuckles's hand and placed on a pedestal in a flash of light. The larger emerald reacted with a glow and the smaller emerald and its pedestal slowly started to give off a yellow glow.
At that point, Knuckles understood the purpose of this visit. He took notice of the second pillar that also had an emerald placed on it.
'Another one has been found already as well.' The echidna thought to himself, 'That makes two.'
The Master Emerald briefly flared brighter before returning to its previously faint glow. A female voice softly echoed from the gem. The inflection was clearer than before, but still felt incomplete.
"What must be done…" The voice echoed, its last words to the duo, "The seven Chaos…"
Much like Sonic and Tails before them, neither Knuckles nor Amy had any time to question or think about the saying before they were sent away by a blinding light.
[Hydrocity: Action Stage]
[POV: Team B (Knuckles, Amy, Reinforce, Hayate, Fate, Arf)]
[BGM: "Hydrocity (Act 2)" Sonic the Hedgehog 3]
Knuckles and Amy returned to the party unscathed but without the Chaos Emerald. While the pink hedgehog was honest and forward about what she experienced, the echidna kept his thoughts to himself. When asked, he simply replied that the trust required to divulge such secrets had yet to be established. Should they prove themselves to be trustworthy, only then would he reveal his thoughts.
The others agreed and pressed onward through the zone. There were fewer robots in the depths, attributed to how difficult it was to traverse, but a few turrets and shark torpedoes were present here and there. Fate and Arf had their spell selection limited due to their affinity for lightning, but Rein and Hayate were able to compensate using ice and non-elemental spells.
They soon emerged from the caverns at a partially flooded plaza. The area was wide open and provided an outlet above the underground realm, at least that was the sense that Amy got when she felt the light of the sun beam down from above.
An Eggrobo was seated in the eggmobile, as if it was waiting for the party to come closer. The robot glanced at the party before its gaze fixed on the echidna.
"Greetings: You must be Knuckles the Echidna, the esteemed guardian of this island." Eggman's voice came from the robot, his tone and inflection portrayed an attempt to sound robotic, "Introduction: I am EggRobo Mk III. A rogue robot that has betrayed its master, the definitely peace loving master of Eggman Enterprises."
"Oi, I was born at night, not last night. Cut the crap!" Knuckles barked in annoyance, "I know you're behind this, I will find and crush you for burning my island."
"Resignation… Ah, you ruined it!" The doctor's natural voice emitted from the robot this time, "Well, at least you saved me the trouble of continuing this act."
"Did you really think that was going to work?!" Arf asked in disbelief, "And were you really going to keep up the act with us here?"
"Would it really be too much of a shock if I said 'yes'?" Eggman's robot turned to face the wolfwoman as the doctor paused for a moment, "Also, I'm sorry, who are you again?"
Arf nearly fell over where she stood in the water. The words that could describe her disbelief were both too much and not enough. Bearing witness, Hayate masked her mouth to hide her giggles.
"Hah?!" the scandalized wolfwoman stared at the robot, "Do you not know who I am? I fought you on Little Planet!"
"You were there?" Eggman's voice echoed his confusion, "I think I would've recalled seeing someone like you."
"Okay, I may have come in a little later…" Arf admitted, her thumb gesturing towards Amy Rose, "It was when you were holding the pink one hostage."
"Wait a minute…" Eggman's voice suddenly had a tone of realization, "You were that scary mangy mutt!"
Without a doubt, that was the worst thing that the doctor could have said. The wolfwoman suddenly had a feral fanged grin as she started cracking her knuckles. Neither Hayate nor Amy could hide their giggles any longer as the scene developed.
"Very smooth…" Hayate said in between her giggles.
"You know what? That's even worse than forgetting!" Arf was incensed, and she had to stop herself from making a run at the eggrobo.
"Eggman-san," Reinforce advised calmly, "You should probably send out your robot and be on your way."
"I"m going to give you a ten minute head start." The familiar smirked.
"I feel like I should be thanking you." Eggman's voice had a hint of concern as the eggrobo maneuvered the eggmobile out of combat range, "And don't you worry. I won't disappoint you this time."
As the eggmobile ascended higher into the sky, the ground began to quake. Soon the light of the sun above was blocked by a descending shadow. Apart from the ambient machinery and Eggman's laughter echoing from the eggrobo, there was an unnatural quietness that exuded a foreboding intimidating aura.
In response, the party slowly settled into a defensive formation. There was little time to prepare for whatever was in store. Will they be able to overcome this obstacle?
[Ending: "Hikaru Michi (The Shining Road)" Aya Hiroshige]
[End of Chapter 17]
Author's notes: Figure I take a few different spins on this arc. Knuckles introduction, I kinda felt it was a bit off that later portrayals have him as easily fooled and outright dumb in some instances. Here I went with a bit of a subversion. Initially fed some lies but then starts to see through them after