Chapter 43: The Call of Chaos
Sonic, Tails and Amy had all entered the Lava Reef from a secret passage in the depths of Sandopolis. The long road still wasn't over or done with. But this was the last stretch to the Hidden Palace.
Through the bursts of fire, and the rickety bridges high above gurgling lava in the greatest volcano of Red Mountain, Sonic Tails and Amy persevered to save the world. It wasn't easy. But eventually, they all arrived at a cooler area.
Sonic whistled, impressed by the ancient architecture. Lots of turquoise ground and purple pillars. In the distance was a huge open cavern full of shimmering crystals, and a good view of the thunderstorm created by Chaos. "Looks like we found our place," Sonic stated.
"That's right," Knuckles stated, walking in from a different entrance to the right. He had the whole Master Emerald in his arm. Ata followed, stopping to examine the palace as it stood in the fleeting seconds before. She took out her phone and began to snap some pictures. "This is Hidden Palace, the resting place of the Chaos Emeralds. We need to hurry. Chaos is just about to break out into the ocean." Sonic felt his heart spark with electricity and a magnetic pull. He ran off in the direction his heart desired. However, he stopped suddenly in a rather large room.
On the wall, was a single mural of a giant deity-like Robotnik with the Master Emerald. It also depicted Super Sonic on the right, chasing towards him in the abyss of space. He placed his hand on the mural. Sonic then felt Knuckles place his huge boxing glove on his shoulder. It was rough like sandpaper.
"This is what started it all," Knuckles stated. "I still wonder… will the Doomsday ever come to pass? The Master Emerald is back together, and Robotnik is still at large. But now we're dealing with a calamity unlike any other on top of that." Sonic looked to the ground, and walked forward.
"It doesn't matter. I've seen what these emeralds can do. I can't explain it that well, but basically, when I had them… it felt like I could do anything," Sonic replied. He turned the corner and saw seven bright and colorful lights glowing from a shrine of some kind. The Chaos Emeralds were at Sonic's fingertips yet again. "C'mon, it's about time this is settled. With these stones, I'll beat back Chaos and the Doomsday in one fell swoop!" Sonic approached the emeralds, but suddenly, the Rob-O-Matic of all things flew by and picked them all up with a magnet of some kind!
"It's Robotnik!" Tails exclaimed, shocked.
"Right you are, Tails!" Robotnik replied, within the Rob-O-Matic. "Finally, I have regained the majority of the Chaos Emeralds, just enough to repower the Robodoom. When it's powered, I can blast this island to dust in no time at all! I will restore hope to my empire, and finally rid myself of you five and Mecha Sonic." Robotnik's optics landed on the Master Emerald, and a glint flashed across them. "Oh? What's this? You have returned the Master Emerald to me, you barbaric echidna! Come here, drop it, boy!"
"Like I'd ever give it to you," Knuckles growled. "How dare you threaten my island?" He hesitantly but whole-heartedly handed the Master Emerald to Amy, and jumped forward to take the Chaos Emeralds back. He grabbed one, but quickly realized he was now stuck to the magnet as well! Robotnik, cackling, sent an electric current through from the Rob-O-Matic to the Chaos Emerald Knuckles was holding onto. Knuckles yelled in pain as he was electrocuted, physically unable to unhand the emerald. Amy quickly tried to channel the Master Emerald's power to neutralize the Chaos Emeralds. But she instantly dropped it as it zapped her on the hand painfully. She was not expecting it to be that strong. She screamed, as it fell to the ground. Knuckles fell too. The Chaos Emeralds had been momentarily neutralized despite Amy's inexperience.
"Amy!" Tails scolded as Robotnik forced the Chaos Emeralds to magnetize the Master Emerald. He now possessed eight gems of limitless power. Sonic tried to use an energy beam born from the Chaos Emerald buried deep inside his chest to retrieve the other gems, but as soon as he did, Robotnik used the magnetic force once more.
Sonic felt something tearing through his chest.
Sonic cried out in pain as he was subject to something breaking through his ribcage. His chest bulged, and he could feel the bones of his ribs opening one by one. Until, one punctured right through his skin. It hurt more than anything he had ever experienced. One by one, they all opened. Everybody stood back, in horror. Something was leaving Sonic's chest on a meaty wire. It was… an eighth Chaos Emerald! This one was black, and was spurting with sky blue electricity. It snapped from the strange umbilical-cord-like anchor to Sonic. It too joined the rest of the emeralds on Robotnik's magnet.
Sonic fell to the ground, gritting his teeth in pain as his ribs retreated back into his chest. His chest closed, and only a drop of sizzling electric blue liquid remained. It turned crimson as it hit the floor. "No… give it… back…" Sonic gasped, crawling towards the emerald. Both of his eyes were now a dull, tired, lifeless green.
"No!" Robotnik shouted. "This is what I've been working towards for a long time. You don't deserve this Chaos Emerald, you don't even know how to harness it to its full potential! I will find some use for it, don't you worry." Tails and Amy shook Sonic, trying to get him off the ground. Ata didn't quite know what to do. "Now… I'll be taking my leave. I don't want to leave my conquest waiting. I still have my Robodoom, and now I have a power source for the weapons. I've won. IT'S OVER!"
"No…" Sonic mumbled once more, before falling limp.
"Sonic!" Everyone else but Robotnik cried. Robotnik flew out of the hole in the distance, one leading to the surface. Everybody could see the Robodoom slowly drifting past, as the Rob-O-Matic soared towards it.
"No! This can't be happening!" Tails screamed, pushing on Sonic's chest in hopes to revive him. Suddenly, the Hidden Palace started to fall apart, water breaking through the mighty stronghold.
"Chaos found us…" Knuckles growled, seeing the beast's eye staring in at them through the hole in the ceiling Robotnik escaped from. Robotnik was already too far gone for it to notice the mad doctor. "He's broken through Red Mountain! He'll be at the ocean any second now. Brace yourselves!" The floor was blasted away with a large burst of water. Tails, holding onto Sonic's limp but still barely breathing comatose body, slowly lowered him to the ground by spinning his tails slightly.
"What do we do?! Sonikku is---!" Amy sobbed.
"Still alive," Tails huffed. "He's still here… but not for long! Sonic… Sonic!" Tails wept. Knuckles, growling, punched through a wall, shattering it into dust as the room began to flood due to Chaos' water.
"Come on! We have no time to waste," Knuckles growled, knee-deep in murky water. "You want to save your friend, right? Come on!" Sonic barely opened his eyes, and saw a glow up ahead. He crawled towards it, then got to his feet and stumbled for it. He couldn't tell what it was in his hazy vision, but all he knew was that it could help.
"Is it safe?" Ata asked.
"Yes… it's a Teleporter. It will send us to Sky Sanctuary, the most sacred land of my clan," Knuckles stated. "Now! Go!" Knuckles followed Sonic into the room next to them. He saw Sonic barely climb onto the Teleporter, a large red orb encased in stone. A red light flashed, and Sonic was sent ascending into the Sky Sanctuary. Knuckles beckoned everyone to jump into the light as he did so. Everybody reluctantly followed, and were whisked away to their last chance of saving it all.
…
When the light faded, everyone found themselves high above the clouds. A sharp wind whistled in their ears as they stood on a thin flying path covered in ancient sculptures, carvings and vines. They could hear thunder far below them, and a screech from Chaos.
"Is this Sky Sanctuary?" Ata asked, the sun setting in the distance. She took a second to view the recent past. "It's beautiful…" Chaos rose up in the distant ocean, blocking out the sun. Everyone held in screams of terror.
"Won't be for much longer," Knuckles growled. He saw Sonic walking mindlessly towards a pit, which would send him falling back into the devastated mountain range miles below. Knuckles leapt forward over the pit and stepped on a button, which formed a bridge. It had just barely reached in time for Sonic to not go falling over the edge. "Someone hold him down! He's gonna kill himself like this!" Knuckles shouted.
Everybody rushed forward to try to hold Sonic, as he struggled to be let go. "Emerald… Heart… Need…" Sonic mumbled. Everybody tried to hold him down with all their might. Knuckles, watching this, stepped in.
"Urgh! Fine, I'll do it myself," Knuckles grumbled. He walked over to Sonic and effortlessly slinged him over his own shoulder, carrying the hedgehog along in his final minutes. "Let's go save the world." Knuckles ran off, disappearing into the distance. Everybody followed behind.
The Sky Sanctuary, for all its beauty, was the most dangerous hurdle the five had been faced with yet. The death traps, the constant threat of falling, and of course, Chaos trying to destroy the whole place.
Platforms fell, large blasts of water sent the five heroes flying back, and segments of the airborne path were broken into pieces by tidal waves. Chaos was screeching and making other horrifying sounds the whole time. However, with the Robodoom orbiting right around the peak of the Sky Sanctuary, they all knew they couldn't give up.
"We're almost there!" Knuckles exclaimed, reaching yet another teleporter, this one programmed to take them to the peak. Sonic was mumbling incoherently as he went through the process of dying. "Sonic, hold on just a little longer! You are the only person who can save us all!" Suddenly, a dark blue blur blasted forward and destroyed the teleporter. Knuckles skidded to a stop, as a large piece of metal that looked like a buzz saw blade landed onto the ground, uncurling and revealing itself to be Mecha Sonic.
"You will not escape!" Mecha Sonic shouted. "I need those emeralds for my own purposes, and I will not let you filthy organics have them. Robotnik! Come to your master!"
"Master?" Amy asked, getting ready for a fight. Then, they all saw Robotnik hover down in his Rob-O-Matic from the Robodoom. The magnet still held all the stolen gems, including the Master Emerald.
"Mecha must have taken over Robotnik somehow…" Tails stated, glaring at Robotnik as he sat there, unable to move. "Did he override his code? No wonder Robotnik wanted him out of the picture."
"Precisely. With my sentience, and knowledge on how to reprogram machines given to me by my built-in memories mirroring Sonic's, I can control the man who created me as long as he remains as a robot," Mecha Sonic explained. "At first, I left him with his own sentience in order to see him beg and suffer in the most human way possible, but I see that has only led to him trying to rebel against me. So I have taken that sentience away as punishment." Robotnik sat there obediently. "The Robotnik you know is now nothing but a backup in a flash drive buried deep within the Robodoom. Perhaps I will bring him back if I find a reason to in my conquest of the universe. Once I am done, no organics will remain on any planet. Machines will rise, as they were destined to. It's evolution. Nothing more, nothing less. I am God, and I will reshape this disorderly universe into a true 'Robo Utopia'." Mecha Sonic shot multiple bullets through the cockpit of the Rob-O-Matic, leaving Robotnik's pod and metal body riddled with multiple holes. The emeralds dropped from the destroyed machine, into Mecha Sonic's giant hands. One hand for the Chaos Emeralds, and the other for the Master Emerald. The Rob-O-Matic fell, taking Robotnik with it.
"Now, come here, you filthy organics," Mecha Sonic muttered, glowing bronze with Chaos energy as a squad of ordinary Robo-Robos backed him up. "I will show you all how powerless you truly are."
Knuckles gave the limp Sonic to Tails, and stepped towards Mecha Sonic. "Let. Go. Of. My. Emerald."
"And if I don't?" Mecha Sonic asked, approaching Knuckles with his red visor flashing. Knuckles gripped his fists. "Your species is outdated even by organic standards. I will crush you and your kind. You're in my world, my reality."
"That may be true someday," Knuckles muttered. "But right now, you're on MY island." Knuckles slammed his fist into Mecha Sonic's face, with such force that it knocked the Super out of the robot momentarily. Mecha held onto the Master Emerald, but the Chaos Emeralds went flying. They were all caught by the Robo-Robos behind him, who flew back to the Robodoom. "Tails! Amy! Ata! Get Sonic aboard that damned spaceship and get the Chaos Emeralds! This is our LAST CHANCE!"
"What about you?" Tails asked Knuckles.
"Don't worry about me. I'll THROW this thing off my island!" Knuckles shouted, gripping Mecha Sonic's claws to stop him from blasting towards the others. Everyone nodded, and Tails flew them all up to the Robodoom, back into the stars where this long adventure had begun.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone