The Epic Adventure
______________________________________________________________________
By K. M. Hollar
______________________________________________________________________
		* * *
		Part 1
		* * *
	Chapter 1: The Destruction of the Master Emerald
		* * *
	
	Sonic  was restless.
	There was nothing new about that--his friends and neighbors would 
have worried about him had he acted content--but today he was more 
restless than usual.
	He stood at the southern window of Knothole's community hut 
(conveniently near the cooler vent), and watched the sun slip from 
sight beyond the trees to the right. The blue hedgehog's eyes closed 
part way, and he watched the southern horizon, one foot tapping idly.
	An attractive female squirrel approached and stood beside him, 
following his gaze into the fading southern sky. After a moment she 
slipped her small hand into his big one and asked, "What's the matter, 
Sonic?"
	The hedgehog didn't answer for a moment, his narrowed eyes still 
fixed on the horizon. Then he said quietly, "I can't get Mecha out of 
my head."
	A month earlier, Sonic and Metal Sonic had had a run-in while 
both were attacking a monster that had dared them to do so.
	"What about him?"
	"Well," Sonic said, "he said to keep my eyes open and watch the 
Floating Island and the southern cities. We don't have any contact 
with the bands down there. I have no idea what Mecha meant, but ..." 
he turned and looked at Sally, who returned his gaze. "Sal, I've gotta 
figure out what he meant." He brushed past her and walked away, 
bouncing a little on the balls of his feet. He was going stir-crazy with 
no Robotropolis to burn his energy.
	The blue hedgehog crossed the room to a bookcase and took a 
rolled paper from the top shelf. This he carried to a table and spread 
out. Sally walked up and looked at it.
	It was one of the maps Sonic had picked up during his 'exile' 
the winter before. It showed cities, towns and roads that were too 
far south for the Freedom Fighters to know much about. Sonic placed 
his hands on the table and leaned over the map, studying it closely. 
After a while he drew Sally's attention with a single muttered word. 
"Humans!"
	"What?"
	He tapped a large meeting of roads with a forefinger--it was the 
only large city on the whole map. "This city is populated mainly by 
humans. Sapphire City. Population eighty-thousand. Warm climate. 
Mountains all around, some so high as to have snow year round ... 
like the Ice Cap range, up here." Sonic's voice was sharp and robot-
like as he rapped out the facts. "Mobians welcome. No reservations 
necessary. Open during business hours."
	"The city?"
	"No, their office." Sonic stood and turned toward the window, 
chewing his upper lip thoughtfully. "Humans. You know, I've heard about 
the big Overlander settlements. Some people hate 'em and some have no 
prob."
	Sally saw the glint in his eyes and felt her heart sink. "You've 
got that itch again."
	"Oh no, Sal," Sonic said innocently. "The powder took care of 
that."
	She gave him a squint that was smaller than a smile. "Ha."
	He looked out the window again. "It's a big city. You know, 
Robotnik saw to it that he slaughtered his own kind during the Great 
War ... that's why there aren't any Overlanders around here anymore. 
So, if I were a mad scientist who wanted to be a dictator, I would 
try to wipe out my kind--they'd have the most chances of stopping me--
and take their city along the way. After all, I HAVE lost MY captured 
city ..."
	Sally felt a chill run down her back. Sonic had a point.
	The hedgehog leaned his elbows on the windowframe, but continued 
to speak aloud. "I could take Tails and run down there ... It'd be 
just like old times. I can't bear to be around here, anyway, with 
Knux gone and nothing to do. Maybe if I get into some good old-
fashioned trouble I'd feel better."
	"Go ahead," Sally replied. "Take a couple weeks and make a 
vacation of it. I can hold down the fort here."
	He turned and smiled at her, then dashed for the door.

					* * *

	"Hey Tails, I'm gonna go on a trip, wanna come?"
	The young golden-furred fox pulled his head out of the bi-plane's 
engine housing and looked up at the hedgehog. His fur was matted with 
grease and oil, and he looked happy. "No, 'fraid I can't," Tails said 
with regret, shaking his head. "I've almost got the Tornado working 
and I can't leave it. Where you going?"
	Sonic's spines drooped. "You DON'T want to come?" he asked in 
disbelief. "I was thinking it'd be just like old times ... you and 
me ..."
	"Where you going?" Tails repeated.
	"Sapphire City," Sonic replied glumly. "About a hundred and 
twenty miles from here. You sure you don't want to come?"
	"Positive," Tails replied with a half-grin. "I've got stuff to 
do. I can do stuff on my own now."
	Sonic flinched inwardly. He didn't want to have his sidekick 
grow up and away from him. It hurt. He turned away to hide the pained, 
betrayed look he knew he was wearing. "Okay, suit yourself," he said, 
trying to sound cheerful and failing miserably. "I'm leaving tonight. 
See you in a few weeks." He vaulted over the junkyard fence and was 
gone.
	Tails knew he had hurt his friend's feelings and was sorry. 
Well, he would give Sonic a two-day head-start, and then surprise him 
by showing up in the repaired Tornado. Sonic had given up all hope of 
it ever flying again--Tails would show him!

					* * *

	As a blue hedgehog set out at a run toward the south, in the 
southwestern sky, over the sea, hovered a chunk of earth and rock 
known as the Floating Island.
	It was far from its usual territory. The guardian had broken up 
with the Freedom Fighters a month before over a misunderstanding that 
had flared up into an all-out war. Knuckles and Sonic remained edgy 
toward each other, and tonight Knuckles had decided that a change of 
scenery was in order. But that was not the only reason for the move.
	Knuckles had been out exploring the Marble Garden ruins the 
previous day. One of the island's five inhabitants, a young anteater 
named Talon (of whom Knuckles was fond) had reported seeing a sort of 
shrine or alter, covered with vines and crumbled with age. It looked 
as if it had been used for holding the Master Emerald. This had 
caught Knuckles' attention. He had known for some time that the Master 
Emerald had not always been enthroned in Hidden Palace, far beneath 
the ground. It had been moved there for protection after the disaster 
that had closed the the elegant Palace to all but the Guardian. What 
that disaster was Knuckles was not sure, but he knew it had led 
directly to the disappearance of his ancestors.
	After a lengthy search of the area Talon had indicated (it was 
heavily overgrown with brush and vines), Knuckles at last located the 
shrine. It was built like a small pyramid, forty feet tall, with a 
flat top. In this area was a low stone pedestal with an indented top, 
obviously made for seating the gigantic gem. It had once had a roof of 
some kind--there were the stumps of support pillars around the top of 
the shrine--but it had crumbled long ago. The edges of the pyramid 
were flanked with what had been elaborate fountains, with the higher 
bowls pouring into the lower ones, but the water had long since dried 
up. As Knuckles examined the stonework and carvings, something dawned 
on him. The elements alone had not wrecked this place. It had been 
destroyed. Many of the stone walls were blackened, as if burned. In 
the grass around the foot of the pyramid Knuckles found pillars--
obelisks--that he guessed had encircled the pyramid from a distance. 
Each had been cracked and thrown down by some terrific force. Perhaps 
from a war ...?
	Despite the carnage the area seemed to have suffered, Knuckles 
decided to return the Master Emerald to its original pedestal. It 
would be easier to direct the island that way, with a clear view of 
the sky and horizon.
	This was why the island was so far from familiar ground that 
fateful evening. If something went wrong, Knuckles had no wish for 
his former friends to learn of it.
	Moving the Master Emerald about was not a task to be taken 
lightly, as it weighed close to a ton and was an awkward shape to 
lift. But Knuckles and the Chaotix managed to lift it from its bed 
in Hidden Palace, lug it through a teleporter (which set them down 
on top of the pyramid), roll it to the dent and shove it in. The gem 
settled into the groove as easily as a door into a frame, obviously 
made for it. It had a kind of elegance sitting there in the weathered 
stone, the sky overhead ...
	It made Knuckles nervous.
	So unprotected, so vulnerable to attack ... it had been stolen 
once. The horror of the memory returned to him as he stood there 
looking at the gem.
	Which was why the next evening, as Sonic made tracks for Sapphire 
City, Knuckles sat a few steps down from the top of the pyramid, 
back to his precious Emerald and face to the sunset. He had promised 
himself to let the Master Emerald stay put for a week, then return it 
to Hidden Palace. His friends had worked too hard to move it back so 
soon. Until then, he would stand guard over it ...
	His red head nodded, dreadlocks drooping. He dozed for a moment, 
then shook himself awake. There was a breeze in his face. It would 
drift the island over the mainland, if it hadn't already. He needed 
to secure the stationary-hover mechanisms ... he drooped again. In a 
minute. He would do it in a minute.
	He was awakened by a boom like the firing of a cannon and a 
colossal crack and smash of breaking glass. He leaped to his feet 
and whirled. Most of the twilight was gone and the breeze had grown 
to a respectable wind, but Knuckles could care less about his 
environment. His stunned eyes were fixed on what was left of the 
Master Emerald; a fractured shell, shards sprinkling the ground. 
There wasn't much left of it. To the right of the shattered gem a 
shadowy creature stood in silence.
	It was vaguely humanoid in form--two arms, two legs, a head. 
But its head was oval-shaped with two--horns? Feelers?--protruding 
from the back and extending down to its waist. It had no face to 
speak of, but had two large green gem-like eyes, without pupils or 
lids. It was perhaps five feet tall.
	"Hey!" Knuckles yelled, leaping up on the platform with it. 
"Did you do that?"
	As he drew closer, he saw that its body was translucent; he could 
see through it in places. Its skin was rippling and wavering in the 
breeze like water. Or WAS it water? It had no insides, save a blob 
between its eyes that was probably its brain. Bubbles rose inside 
its feet and arms, as if it were carbonated. It was weird, and it 
had smashed the Master Emerald. Knuckles swung at it.
	His blow was blocked by an out-flung arm; his fist splashed 
through it. The other arm dealt him a smack to the shoulder and chest 
that sent him flying. 
	Knuckles bounced and rolled down the hundred steps of the 
pyramid to the ground. He righted himself at the bottom, bruised and 
furious. "All right, that's it!" he raged, charging back up the 
stairs. He arrived in time to see the thing melt into a large puddle, 
then seep through the cracks in the brick and vanish.
	Suddenly, from all around him, Knuckles felt the island groan 
and tremble. Its support was gone, and the super emeralds alone could 
not keep it airborne for long. They were going to crash. Another 
thought came to him, one that chilled his blood; ten to one the wind 
had pushed them over the coast, as well. If the island hit the ground, 
it would splinter and kill everyone on and under it.
	The echidna threw himself to his hands and knees, gathering up 
the shattered pieces of the Master Emerald. Maybe he could rebuild it
before the reserve power was used up. He tossed the pieces randomly 
into the shell, and they immediately fused in. By the time the guardian 
had picked up every piece in sight, only a quarter had been replaced. 
"Where's the rest?" he panted, looking about frantically. He leaped 
from the pyramid and searched about on the ground, but in the darkness 
could find nothing. Again the island shifted beneath his feet, like a 
kite when the wind has died. It wouldn't be long now--
	He returned to the top of the shrine, genuinely afraid. If only 
there was enough left of the emerald to steer the island! He lifted a 
fragment that he landed on the pedestal, held it out at arm's length 
westward, and waited.
	The island shifted imperceptibly and began to drift west. But it 
began to descend as well, like a balloon with little helium left. 
Knuckles bit his lip, feeling the dizzy sensation of dropping in an 
elevator. If only he could make it out to sea--if only he were not 
above the mainland as his instincts told him he was--the island dropped 
faster, faster. Knuckles felt as if his feet would lift from the 
ground. "C'mon, move, baby, move!"
	The distant silvery line of the ocean on the horizon was rising. 
If he could just make it--falling, falling--
	With a shock that sent the echidna to his knees and swayed every 
tree in the forests, the Floating Island touched down--in the water. A 
tremendous tidal wave swept away from the base, then swept back with a 
thunderous boom of breakers. The island rocked slightly from end to end, 
and then was still.
	Relieved, Knuckles stood, tossed the fragments into the shell of 
the Master Emerald, then turned for a look at his distance from the 
coast. He stiffened and drew a sharp breath in shock.
	The coastline was not five hundred feet from the edge of the 
island. He could see the mountains, trees and rocks there, and the 
high cliffs along the beach, their tops on level with him. Even now, 
the base of the island probably rested on the continental shelf.
	He had escaped instant death by perhaps two seconds.

				* * *
		Chapter 2: Encountering Humans
				* * *
 
	That fateful night had just begun.
	The region the Floating Island had been overshadowing when the 
emerald exploded was none other than Sapphire Bay, which adjoined the 
city on it's coast. The island had traveled a good eight miles during 
its descent, and had landed near the sub-tropical forested area known 
as the Mystic Ruins. The ruins of a great (but extinct) civilization 
were buried somewhere deep in the jungle, hence the name. The jungle 
also sheltered a few scattered Mobians, some of whom frequented the 
city by means of the train station on the cliffs. But most kept 
largely to themselves.
	One of these was a cat named Big.
	He was curled in a furry ball on his bed, eyes closed. He batted 
an ear at a resounding boom in the distance as a million tons of rock 
hit the ocean, but did not awaken. The bed was built of rough wood, 
sheltered by a framework of the same, with palm fronds laid across 
the top as a roof. The back wall was provided by a huge hollow tree 
stump, broken off twenty feet above the ground. Nailed onto this and 
extending out to form a sort of wall on the right was a carefully 
constructed rack with three fishing poles resting in it. Set neatly at 
the foot of the rack was a tackle box.
	The night deepened, the stars burning down with unearthly light. 
The cat slept without moving, perhaps twitching an ear or tail-tip 
once in a while. He had nothing to fear in his home, and his enormous 
size discouraged all possible attackers, anyway.
	The sky began to lose its blackness and fade toward blue, and a 
fresh breeze stirred the warm air. For the first time there came 
movement from the shelter, and from under the bed hopped a frog.
	It was a large frog, but dwarfed beside the cat above it. It sat 
for a moment, yellow bulging eyes gazing at the world, unblinking, 
front toes turned in. Then it hopped down the slight hill to the stream 
that flowed below.
	Unexpectedly the waters of the stream bulged and flowed uphill 
onto the bank. It formed into a huge water drop and rose into the air, 
solidifying into the same creature who had attacked Knuckles. The frog 
faced it, goggly-eyed, and croaked curiously.
	The creature returned to a puddle, oozed forward and surrounded 
the frog. It held it for a few moments, who kicked and struggled. The 
water released it, flowed back into the stream and vanished. The poor 
frog sat still, bewildered. From its hind end protruded a tail, where 
one had not existed since its tadpole days.
	Up in the shelter, the cat's yellow eyes opened. He sat up and 
stretched. His fur was a violet blue with black tiger-stripes, and his 
furry chest was white. He yawned and pulled on his sandals, size 25, 
and stood. "Froggy?" he called, looking about in the pre-dawn gloom. 
His voice was very low, to match his size. His cat-eyes spotted the 
frog near the stream, still dazed. "Froggy," Big called, "you're 
looking kinda weird, buddy."
	The frog turned and hopped rapidly up the hill toward Big, but 
leaped past him, grabbed a yellow jewel off a hook on the rod rack and 
swallowed it. "Hey," Big protested. "You just swallowed my lucky charm!" 
Froggy was not about to stop there. He jumped away down the hill and 
disappeared in the direction of the beach.
	By this time, it had occurred to Big that his friend was not 
well. The cat scrambled up to the rack, selected his favorite pole and 
three lures, then set out after the truant frog, calling, "Don't worry 
Froggy, I'm coming!"

					* * *

	As the sun rose, a small blue and orange bi-plane hummed through 
the sky toward Sapphire City. Tails sat in the cockpit, the wind 
blowing his eats and forelock about. The engine's hum was of a different 
pitch than before because of the new machinery, but the Tornado's body 
was the same and handled beautifully. Tails had built in a few new 
things with Rotor's help, such as an entire new body mode, but that 
was for battles, not everyday flying.
	The young fox turned his head and looked at the city in the 
distance. Time to see if they had an airport. He picked up his radio 
and said, "Skyfox to tower, Skyfox to tower, come in, please."
	After a moment of static, a reply crackled, "Tower to Skyfox. 
We have you on radar. What is your destination?"
	"Requesting clearance to land."
	"Are you Mobian?"
	Strange question. "Yes."
	"I'm sorry, but you can't land here. Proceed to the airstrip 
in Mystic Ruins, 107 North, 255 West. Tower out."
	"Rats," Tails muttered. "Where the heck is 'Mystic Ruins'? I 
knew all humans were jerks."
	He flew on, navigating for 107N, 255W. His spirits were deflated. 
He had not expected discrimination. At least he still had enough fuel 
to get him there.
	The city slid by below, houses, freeways and more. Tails saw 
that a large amount of the buildings were built several miles inland, 
on a sort of mountain range a mile from the coast. He also noticed an 
odd highway built among the tops of the skyscrapers. "What a cool 
place," Tails thought. "Maybe one day we can make Mobitropolis look 
like that."
	Another hour of flight left Sapphire City behind. The countryside 
became rolling and hilly, stretching up toward the snow-capped 
mountains in the distance. Tails couldn't see anything that looked 
like a 'Mystic Ruins', but began to notice the trees below were 
becoming more and more tangled, and the air smelled green. Perhaps it 
was a jungle.
	"Skyfox to Mystic Ruins, come in, please," he said into his 
radio. If they wouldn't clear him here, he didn't know what he would 
do. His fuel gauge was closer to empty than he liked.
	"Mystic Ruins to Skyfox. Destination?"
	"Requesting clearance to land."
	There was a brief pause, then, "Clearance granted. I'll open 
up the strip for you."
	Tails checked his coordinance and realized he was too far inland. 
He cruised toward the coast. The coastline was broken into jagged 
cliffs and looked dangerous. There was a slow train winding its way 
over the mountain, and in an open area on top of a cliff was a station. 
A little beyond that was a landing strip that extended out over the 
ocean.
	Tails circled twice and landed, taxiing to a stop before the single 
small hanger at the end. As he cut the engines and unbuckled himself, a 
human exited the hanger and strode out to meet him. Tails watched him 
suspiciously. The man was about five and a half feet tall and dressed 
in faded jeans and a denim jacket. He had black hair and black eyes, 
and a piercing, no-nonsense look about him. Tails received the 
impression that if this human were a Mobian he would be a fox.
	The human didn't bat an eye at Tails' fur, and shook his hand. 
"I'm Mac. Welcome to my airstrip. Nice plane." His sharp eyes fixed on 
the Tornado. He walked around it slowly, examining it from all angles. 
	"I'm Tails," the fox said warily. "This is the Tornado's first 
flight in about five years."
	Mac whistled, kicked a tire and looked into the cockpit. "She 
been in storage?"
	"The junkyard."
	"Oh really." The man looked at the fox. "Just get her out of 
the shop?"
	"I rebuilt her, if that's what you mean."
	Mac's eyebrows lifted. "You don't say. You must be quite the 
mechanic."
	"Sort of," Tails replied. "Why wouldn't they let me land at the 
airport?"
	Mac shrugged and walked toward the hanger. Tails followed. 
"Because," Mac said over his shoulder, "they only handle big jets. If 
they handled smaller craft, it would slow them down--it's a small 
airport. They asked for your nationality so as to let me know there 
was a Mobian coming in a bi-plane."
	"Oh." Tails still felt as if he had been redirected because he 
wasn't human.
	Abruptly the man turned and looked at the young fox. "You gonna 
refuel?" 
	Tails realized he had no human currency with him. "Will you take 
Mobiads?"
	"Not here. They're useless. You from up north or something?"
	Tails nodded and looked back at his plane. What would he do 
without fuel?
	He must have looked downhearted, for Mac relented a little. "Look 
kid," he said, "I've got a couple planes in there that need some work. 
If you'll get them to fly, I'll fill your plane for free."
	"Cool!" Tails exclaimed, his spirits lifting with a rush. "Sure 
thing!"

					* * *

	Sonic's arrival in Sapphire City was much smoother than Tails'.
	With considerable forethought (for him), he first checked in 
with the customs office and exchanged his money for the currency they 
used, then made his way to Sunset Resort, a gorgeous hotel on the beach. 
Their rooms were expensive, but clean and ritzy, and they had a special 
for Mobians. Sonic checked in, then headed down to the beach.
	The area he was staying in, he learned quickly, was called 
Station Square. The reason for this was the train station catacorner 
from Sunset Resort. This and more he learned from talking to passersby.
	It was odd seeing and talking to humans. They were polite and 
even friendly. Nobody seemed a bit startled at seeing a blue hedgehog 
in red sneakers. Sonic was more surprised at them than the other way 
around. He had always imagined humans would be like Robotnik and 
Snively--always looking for a way to exploit and hurt others--but they 
were not. There were tall ones and short ones, young and old, boys 
and girls, friendly and no so friendly.
	Sonic spent the morning amusing himself in this fashion, then 
went in search of lunch. The sun had grown quite hot, and there was a 
mild breeze coming off the mainland. Time to explore Station Square.
	The hedgehog gnawed a chilidog as he wandered about the square, 
looking at the cars, people and buildings. His sense of culture-shock 
was mild, as he had not forgotten Robotropolis, but it was much different 
being in a city that was actually inhabited. Diagonal from the hotel 
was the train station, and across from the hotel was a small 
elevator-lift that customers used to enter an indoors amusement park 
called Twinkle Park. Next door to that was a 10-story building with a 
closed  garage-type door. Both led to mysterious places, and both 
were closed. On the forth side of the square was the ocean, with a 
dock leading from the pavement out over it.
	Around 2 PM, the humid heat grew too great for Sonic, and he 
retired to the air-conditioned hotel. Bored, he sat on a chair in 
the lobby for a few minutes, wondering if there was anything to do. 
Maybe he should ask around to see if anyone had seen Robotnik or 
hostile robots. After all, he was here on a mission, not a vacation ...
	The clerk in the receptionist booth noticed him and called, "Can 
I help you, sir?"
	"Is there anything to do around here?" Sonic responded.
	"Why, yes," the clerk said, pointing to the elevators. "Take the 
lift to the top floor. That's our chao playroom."
	"Chao?" Sonic asked curiously, rising to his feet. "What's a 
chao?"
	The clerk smiled. "You've never seen one? You'll be occupied for 
the rest of the day, then."
	Sonic stepped out of the elevator and found himself in a single 
room that took up most of the top floor. A skylight shed a large patch 
of sunshine on a grove of real coconut palms in a real planter. In one 
corner was an elaborate fountain in a wide, shallow pool. Scattered about 
the room were human children and chao. Sonic curiously approached a 
little girl who was holding one of the creatures.
	The chao was about eight inches tall. It had an onion-shaped head 
with a point on the top, and a soft, pudgy body. It was a light blue. 
The little girl noticed Sonic looking at her and held the chao up for 
him to see. "This is Patricia," she told him. "She's a girl. Wanna hold 
her?"
	"Uh, sure." Sonic gingerly took the chao, afraid of hurting it, and 
at the same time afraid to hold it close for fear of looking like a 
sissy. The creature looked at him with big blue eyes and made a purring 
sound. "She likes you," the girl said, giggling.
	Sonic's first impulse was to drop the chao and run for it, but the 
girl said, "Hold her for a minute. I'm going to get a coconut. Pat 
loves coconuts." Reluctantly, he obeyed, and was startled to feel the 
chao snuggle its soft head under his chin and sigh blissfully.
	The clerk had been right; Sonic spent the rest of the day in the 
chao playroom, feeding Patricia, and teaching her to walk and swim. She 
had hatched only a few days before. The girl, who seemed to own the chao, 
was named Mary and was staying in the floor above Sonic's with her 
parents and two older brothers. 
	By the time night fell and the chao were put to bed for the night, 
Sonic and Mary were friends. As he rose the elevator back down to the 
lobby, he thought, "Humans aren't as bad as I had 'em figured for."

				* * *
		Chapter 3: Clamor, Sirens Wailing
				* * *

	Sonic, although amused all afternoon, had spent it mostly 
without moving. His pent-up energy was clamoring for release; he 
wouldn't be able to sleep until he had exercised a bit. At least, that 
was the excuse he gave himself for stepped out into Station Square 
under the glare of the streetlights.
	Nothing of consequence followed during Sonic's two-hour run, 
other than he ran sideways on storefronts to avoid cars and encountered 
the Speed Police on the freeway. He managed to shake the sirens and 
flashing lights by ducking into a fast-food restaurant and eating 
dinner as the motorcycles screamed by.
	Thus refueled and feeling frisky, he made his way back to Station 
Square, running along the tops and fronts of the buildings. He arrived 
on top of the ten-story garage-door building facing the Sunset Resort, 
drew a deep breath of the cool night air and exclaimed, "Oh yeah, this 
is great!"
	As he stood on the roof, gazing at the swarming cars and 
pedestrians in the square below (a late train had arrived), sirens and 
the screech of tires on pavement reached his ears. He rushed the the far 
side of the building and looked down. Had the Speed Police tracked him 
down? No, these were ordinary squad cars, all of which were going 
somewhere in a hurry. Cool, maybe it was a bank robbery or some other 
crime they had in big cites. Sonic vaulted from the roof, dropped to a 
soft grass margin below, and sprinted after the cars.
	The police had parked in a semicircle about the front of City 
Hall two blocks from Station Square as Sonic jogged up. A helicopter 
hovered overhead, searchlight trained on the scene. Sonic could see the 
humans dressed in black and white uniforms kneeling behind their cars, 
rifles aimed at ... something. "We have you surrounded!" an officer 
shouted. Sonic craned his neck, but was too short to see over the cars. 
If there was a shootout he would miss it! Thinking quickly, he leaped 
lightly to the roof of a squad car and watched from there.
	A creature was standing in the courtyard of City Hall. It was 
about five feet tall and built much heavier than a human. It had no 
face, but had two large green eyes which gave it an alien appearance. 
It was a liquid blue and shimmered in the searchlight.
	"Ready men, fire!" the officer ordered. Sonic flinched at the 
sudden reports of the guns, but kept his eyes on the monster. Its 
skin rippled as the bullets struck it, but it otherwise seemed 
oblivious to the attack. A second later, the spent shot fell from 
its chest and arms and plinked to the sidewalk.
	"Our weapons are useless!" the officer shouted, sounding 
afraid for the first time. "All personnel, fall back! Retreat!" They 
fled, and were followed a few minutes later by the helicopter, 
leaving Sonic alone with the Thing. "These cops are smarter than 
SWAT-bots, anyway," Sonic muttered to himself. He fixed his attention 
on the monster. "Okay, mister invincible, it's you and me now!" He 
jumped from the car and circled the creature.
	Although it had ignored the police, it seemed threatened by 
Sonic. It whirled to face him as he circled, then lashed at him 
with an arm. The arm extended ten feet and nearly caught Sonic, but 
he ducked. "Tricky, aren't we?" he taunted. He zipped in close, 
curled into a spin and struck its head.
	Instantly the creature's shape dissolved into a wide puddle 
on the ground. It oozed rapidly to the opposite side of the courtyard 
and re-solidified into its former shape. "So, you're made of water?" 
Sonic said, watching. "Well, I'll be darned! That's cool! Not cool 
enough, though." He darted in for another strike, but was met with a 
slap that sent him reeling. He recovered his wits and balance, leaped 
high in the air and shot himself like a blue missile at the monster. 
Again he struck it, and again it melted. This time it oozed toward 
the street. "Hey, where ya going, ya big drip?" Sonic challenged, 
following it.
	The water composing the monster poured over the asphalt, then 
gushed into a sewer grating and was gone.
	Sonic stepped to the edge of the grating and stood looking down 
into it. For the first time the area was completely silent--no cars, 
no yelling, nothing but a quiet drip dripping from far below the 
grating. That THING was in the sewers somewhere ...
	The hush was broken by a harsh, triumphant voice from a nearby 
rooftop. "You know nothing, fool! It's Chaos, the god of destruction!"
	Sonic recognized the voice and whirled, but the speaker had 
retreated from sight.

			* * *
	Chapter 4: Culture Shock
			* * *

	Tails awoke, sat up and rubbed his eyes. He had worked late on 
Mac's planes, and in exchange the human had set up a cot for him in 
the corner of the hanger. Even now Tails' eyes fell on the grey 
biplane (his current project), and he sprang out of bed, eager to 
get to work again.
	Both of the engines were strange prototypes that could run on 
both liquid fuel and an outside power source. Mac said he had bought 
them dirt-cheap from a retired inventor, but claimed he wasn't enough 
of a mechanic to get the planes in working order. Tails was intrigued 
with the engine designs, seeing at once that the 'outside power source' 
was a chaos emerald. The knob in the center of the propellers was 
insulated for this purpose.
	The grey bi-plane was in the worst shape of the two. Tails was 
sure he could fly it, but many of the engine parts were dirty or worn 
out. Its emerald power converter was in the best condition of the two, 
however. The red and white plane had an engine in fair shape, but 
the converter appeared to have caught fire at one time, and the 
cockpit controls were rusted over. Both planes could fly in a pinch, 
but ...
	"Hey kid," Mac called. 
	Tails poked his head out of the grey plane's cockpit. "Yeah?"
	"I just got a call from my sister in Sapphire City. I have to 
go out there for a few days to watch my nephews. I'm gonna leave you 
to watch the hanger."
	Tails straightened and stared at him. "Really? But you don't 
even know me!"
	"Oh yeah I do," Mac said, folding his arms. "I ran an identity 
check on your pilot license. You're a member of the Knothole Freedom 
Fighters and a friend of the infamous Sonic the Hedgehog. I'd say 
you've got the qualifications to watch an airplane hanger for a few 
days."
	Tails blinked. Was it really that easy to find all about somebody? 
"Okay," he said slowly. "Can I fly your planes while you're gone?"
	"If you can get them in the air, I don't care what you do," said 
Mac as he picked up a dufflebag from the corner and slung it over his 
shoulder. "I'll expect you to still be around when I get back."
	"I wouldn't run away!" Tails said indignantly.
	"See that you don't," Mac said with a wink, and strode out the 
door.
	Tails watched him vanish in the direction of the train station 
(which was just visible from the hanger windows), then flew to his bag, 
unzipped it and dug around. At the very bottom was a cloth-wrapped 
object he had brought from home with special permission--the village's 
blue chaos emerald.

	* * *

	As dawn brightened the sky, a culture-shocked echidna sat on a 
bench and stared about numbly.
	Knuckles had entered the city at four o' clock that morning to 
search for the pieces of the Master Emerald with the aid of an 
instinct he brought with him.
	He had spent the last 24 hours training himself to find fragments 
by instinct alone. He had always been able to sense power sources; he 
could, for instance, tell by standing anywhere in Lava Reef exactly 
where Hidden Palace was. He could feel, in a way, the power radiating 
from the stones therein. But now he had a real use for this ability; he 
needed it to track down Master Emerald shards. To sharpen this, he had 
had his friends on the Island hide a fragment for him to find. At first 
locating it was very difficult, but it grew easier as his sensitivity 
increased. Confident he would find the missing fragments, he took a 
knapsack and glided toward Sapphire City.
	But now, as he sat on the bench, he wondered what insanity had 
kept him from taking the train. He was weary from his two-hour glide 
and had no idea where he was. He sensed the presence of a few pieces 
in the area, but at present was too tired and bewildered to find them.
His culture-shock was staggering. Here he was, an echidna used to a 
largely uninhabited island in the sky. All of a sudden he was in the 
midst of a bustling city, cars whizzing by on the road before him, 
walled in by hundreds of buildings, surrounded by humans!
	Early as it was, there were perhaps three people within view, 
and the cars were a minute apart, but it overwhelmed Knuckles just 
the same. There were no Mobians in sight--just humans. His prejudice 
against them was as great as Sonic's was; he assumed all humans were 
evil from long association with Robotnik. Perhaps they would leave him 
alone if he ignored them. He had better get moving before he was 
questioned--his fatigue would probably wear off, anyway.
	The crimson echidna stood and turned his head from side to side. 
He could hear a faint ringing in his head; an emerald piece was 
making it. It seemed to be coming from somewhere to his left. He slung 
his empty knapsack over his shoulder and walked slowly along the road, 
watching and listening. It was getting fainter now: he had passed it. 
He doubled back. It seemed to be coming from the area before a grocery 
store. He walked up to it. Closer, but no cigar. It was off to his 
right now. He turned and walked. The ring grew louder, but his way 
was blocked by an eight-story office building. He circled it and walked 
on, but soon returned to the building's foot. Was it INSIDE the 
building somewhere? Would a human have picked it up? No ... maybe it 
was on the roof. Yes, that was it. It must be on the roof. He jumped 
at the cement wall, dug in his knuclaws and started up.
	Several people heard the noisy grating and scratching of his 
climbing and exited the building. Some called for him to come down, but 
he ignored them. What did they know? It wasn't until he had nearly 
reached the roof that he happened to glance down and realized that his 
claws had torn dark holes in the plaster all the way up. Too late to 
worry about that now--though maybe next time he would take the elevator.
	The emerald fragment was six inches long and lying in plain sight. 
The echidna put it in his sack and took a bearing on the next one 
from his new vantage point. His task wasn't so hard, his hopes were 
rising, and the effects of his prolonged flight were wearing off. He 
could get something to eat, later, too.
	The next shard was smaller than the last, and its sound was much 
softer. Knuckles pinpointed its location by gliding in ever-shrinking 
circles--it was in an alley. He dropped into it and found to his disgust 
that the sound was coming from a dumpster. The dumpster was nearly 
full, and it took a bit of digging to unearth the shard. It was hardly 
as big as his thumb, and if not for the energy coming off it he would 
have thought it was a piece of broken glass. So much for 'easy'.
	The sun slowly rose over the mountains as Knuckles hunted. A 
breeze from the ocean freshened the air, and the sky brightened. Cars 
filled the streets and pedestrians became more numerous. Knuckles did 
his best to pay them no attention, but as his work wore on him he began 
to wonder what food was available in a city of humans.
	By eight o' clock the echidna had found five fragments and could 
detect no more pieces in the area, so he rewarded himself with donuts 
and coffee, eaten in the sanctuary of a rooftop above the highway. As 
he sipped his coffee--a rare treat for him--he noticed a small silver
 bi-plane in the distance, smoke trailing it its wake. At first he 
thought it was a stunt plane, but decided otherwise when the plane 
went into a nosedive and vanished from sight behind the cityscape. 
"Hope the pilot's okay," he thought indifferently.

			* * *
		Chapter 5: Together again
			* * *

	Sonic was lying in a deck chair near the hotel's pool, wondering 
idly if the chao playroom was open yet, when the hum of an airplane 
reached his ears. Lazily he opened his eyes and looked about. A grey 
biplane was just coming into sight around the corner of the hotel, 
smoke pouring from the engines. Sonic sat up and watched. He had flown 
malfunctioning biplanes and remembered the helpless terror of careening 
earthward. The engines sputtered and coughed, the plane tilted, and 
Sonic glimpsed the pilot. "What? TAILS?" he exclaimed aloud, leaping 
to his feet. He lifted a hand and cried, "Watch out--you're gonna crash!"
even though there was no way Tails would hear him.
	The plane swerved toward the coast in a last-ditch effort to land. 
It vanished from sight behind the corner of the hotel, and there came a 
distant crash. Sonic flinched, spines leaping erect and falling limp 
again. "Oh Tails," he muttered, and made for the beach at an alarmed 
run.
	The plane had come to earth on a tiny peninsula a good distance 
away from the Sunset Resort. Sonic paused for a moment, scanning the 
coast for the quickest way to reach his friend. A dash along the beach 
would force him to detour around the wharf and docks further down, 
and he would have to walk--he shuddered at the thought--through the 
crowds of tourists there. A short distance away was a wooden boardwalk 
and floating bridge that connected several small islands with the beach, 
the last of which was twenty or thirty feet from the end of the 
peninsula. Sonic made for it, sand spraying from his flying feet.
	The hedgehog was so concerned with getting to his friend as 
quickly as possible that he did not see the tall black fin knifing 
through the water a short way off the coast. Once on the floating 
bridge, however, he DID notice when a killer whale--twenty-five feet 
long from snout to flukes--leaped out of the water, passed right over 
him and plunged into the water on the other side of the bridge. The 
waves from the splash passed under the bridge, tossing it up and down 
and Sonic to his hands and knees. "Stupid fish," he muttered under his 
breath as he continued running.
	He came to the first island, turned right and was on the next 
boardwalk. The whale, who had vanished for a moment, suddenly 
reappeared at Sonic's heels, smashing the wooden boardwalk with its 
black and white head, pale jaws wide. It gained on him with each 
massive leap, tearing the boardwalk to splinters. Sonic ran without 
daring to look back, half afraid and half angry at the beast. Why was 
it doing this? Was it trying to eat him?
	A sharp turn in the boardwalk. Sonic's small size and agility 
allowed him to take it almost without slowing; the orca, on the other 
hand, was forced to swerve wide, unable to keep up with its land-borne 
prey. Sonic leaped off the dock, splashed down in the shallows and 
threw himself ashore on the peninsula, seeing in his head nature 
videos where orcas came up on shore to grab baby seals. He whirled 
about and stood, but the defeated orca's dorsal fin was just vanishing 
underwater. Good riddance.
	Sonic now sprinted to the fallen biplane. The nose was crumpled 
and smoke rose in a thin plume from the engine, but it wasn't damaged 
too badly. Sonic stood on tiptoe and peered into the cockpit. It was 
empty.
	After a frantic search, Sonic found his sidekick lying under 
the tail section. The fox must have leaped clear at the last second 
and the plane had nearly landed on him. Tails was just beginning to 
come around.
	Tails groaned and sat up, rubbing his head. It took a moment 
for his eyes to refocus, but when they did, he found himself staring 
at a pair of red sneakers. Slowly he looked up. There stood Sonic, 
one hand extended to help him up. The hedgehog flashed a smile. Tails 
returned one of his own, took Sonic's hand and stood.

	* * * 
	A short distance away from the peninsula, underwater, floated 
a pair of large, lidless green eyes, without a body to frame them. 
Chaos was made of water and when in the sea had no need of form. The 
orca had already departed for deeper waters. It had tried to carry 
out its strange order to devour the blue hedgehog, but had failed--
the hedgehog could move much faster than its usual prey, and it had 
found itself outmatched. Chaos had thanked it for the attempt and 
sent it on its way. Now he watched the hedgehog and fox with cold 
hatred. Obviously they had sided with his enemies. Chaos would 
confront Sonic himself once he was stronger.

	* * *

	Tails rummaged around in the cockpit of the wrecked plane, 
produced a toolkit and set to work removing the propeller. Sonic watched 
him, one eyebrow lifted. "What are you doing?"
	"Taking the converter off," Tails replied promptly. "It was 
the engine that caught fire, not the converter. I can still use it."
	"For what?"
	"For using a revolutionary new power source!" the fox exclaimed, 
pulling off the hub and showing Sonic what was inside. 
	"Whoa!" he hedgehog exclaimed in surprise. "A chaos emerald! 
You bring that from home?"
	"Straight up," Tails replied proudly. "If I can get this 
prototype to work in a plane, it'll make our Tornado look like a 
paper airplane. It'll be the fastest biplane in the galaxy!"
	By now Tails was up to his elbows in the engine, unfastening 
wires and unscrewing bolts. He finally emerged, smudged and greasy, 
holding a gizmo that looked like a glorified coffeepot. "There," he 
said triumphantly. "Let's go back to the airstrip in the Mystic Ruins. 
That's where I've been working."
	The hedgehog and fox set out at a trot along the peninsula 
Sonic pointed to the splinters floating in the water and told of the 
mysteriously hostile killer whale. "You don't see nothing like THAT 
at Seaworld," he added.
	In return, Tails told Sonic of his flight to Sapphire City and 
how he was redirected to the Mystic Ruins. He told about Mac letting 
him take care of the hanger and airstrip. "He was really nice," Tails 
concluded. "I always thought humans were jerks."
	"I guess not," Sonic replied with a shrug. "Everyone I've met 
at the hotel so far have been cool. Oh yeah ... except for the monster 
I saw last night."
	"Monster?"
	Sonic described the weird water-beast, throwing emphasis on the 
fact that HE had defeated it when the police couldn't.
	By this time the two had made it back to Station Square. 
"I'll have to show you the chao," Sonic said as they walked through 
the hotel lobby to reach the street. "They're like a cross between a 
cat, a teddybear and a baby. Maybe later, though."
	"Cool." Tails thought they sounded wimpy and wondered how 
Sonic had swallowed his ego enough to notice them.
	Neither had yet been inside the train station, and found it a 
bustling place with concession stands, a gift shop and rows and rows 
of benches for waiting. The roof was made of glass to let in sunlight, 
and the train tracks ran in one giant doorway and out the other into 
a covered glass tunnel.
	Sonic bought tickets for them on the next train, which was due 
in twenty minutes. "Twenty minutes!" he complained to Tails as they 
walked away from the ticket booth. "That's half a lifetime! What am I 
gonna DO until then?"
	"Let's look at the gift shop," Tails suggested sensibly.
	The shop was small but jamb-packed with everything under the 
sun, from toys to T-shirts to pencils to shoes. Sonic wasn't interested 
in the toy rack, as Tails was. He was drawn to the expensive specialty 
shoes under the counter. One of these was a pair of blue sneakers with 
a white strap--the same make as his--but embedded in the heels were 
what looked like large yellow taillights. According to the tag, they 
made you run faster. "Excuse me," he said to the clerk, "do you have 
these in red?"
	"Red, green and blue," the clerk replied.
	"Cool," Sonic said, but noticed the price tag for the first time. 
250 bucks. The clerk must have seen his enthusiasm fade, for he 
commented, "Expensive, aren't they?"
	"Just a little," Sonic agreed. "Can you hold a red pair for me, 
size eight and a half? I can scrape up some cash somewhere."
	"Okay," the clerk said, punching it into the computer. Then he 
hesitated and looked at the hedgehog. "Are you the hedgehog who 
battled that monster last night?"
	"News travels fast," Sonic said, grinning. "Sure am. I'm 
Sonic."
	Now it was the clerk's turn to grin. "Well, I'll be a monkey's 
uncle! No wonder you're interested in those shoes. Nice to meet you, 
sir."
	"Ditto," Sonic replied good-naturedly. "I'll probably be back 
in a day or two." He turned to go and nearly tripped over Tails, who 
was standing unnoticed at his elbow.
	Sonic regained his balance and apologized, but Tails didn't 
seem to notice. He was staring at the specialty cabinet. "Sonic, 
look at those!" he murmured, pointing. Sonic looked. A few spaces down 
from the speed-shoes were what at first looked like bizarre watches; 
two rectangular things with vents on them, and with long, thin straps 
like watchbands. "They're jet anklets," Tails half-whispered. "Strap 
'em on you shoes and they shoot you forward. Imagine how fast I could 
fly!" There was one small problem--they cost four hundred dollars, 
almost twice as much as Sonic's.
	The two left the gift shop and sat on a bench, wondering where 
they could earn some money. Neither had come up with any ideas when 
in the distance, a train whistle shrieked. "Know what's the most 
exciting sounds in the world?" Sonic asked.
	Tails, who was inhaling the aroma of hot french fries from the 
food stand, replied, "Breakfast is served, lunch is served, dinner 
is served."
	"No, no," Sonic said with a smirk. "Train whistles, plane 
engines and anchor chains."
	The train whizzed into the station with a roar and clatter. The 
engine pulled out into the tunnel, and the doors to the passenger 
cars were slid open. A handful of people got off-not many people 
rode the train at ten o'clock in the morning. Sonic and Tails entered, 
had their tickets punched and sat down.
	After an endless wait--fifteen minutes--the engine gave a 
deafening whistle, the cars jerked, and they were off. The two 
gazed out the windows as they passed through the glass tunnel. "Look!" 
Sonic said suddenly, pointing. "There's a casino! Right next door to 
the Sunset Resort!"
	Tails looked. Sure enough, taking an entire cul-de-sac was a 
brightly painted, towering casino--it was probably a mass of neon 
lights at night. "Oh no, Sonic," Tails said. "We only have a little 
money as it is. I know how those things are. Once we get started 
there's no stopping!"
	"Aw c'mon," Sonic said with his don't-be-a-wimp voice. "We went 
to that other casino when we were just pups--we didn't know how to 
act. This is different. Besides, there's things to do besides slot 
machines." He settled into the padded seat as the train rounded a 
bend and the casino was blocked from view. "Maybe we can check it 
out later. Maybe win enough to get those shoes!"
	"Maybe," Tails said darkly, stowing his power converter under 
his seat and pulling his tails into his lap.

	* * * 

	No sooner had the train pulled out of the station than another 
customer entered the gift shop; a six-foot tall purple cat with yellow 
eyes and fishing pole over one shoulder. The cat gazed at the rack of 
graphite rods for a moment, then approached the counter. "Hello Big, 
what can I do for you?" the clerk asked.
	"Can I have some crickets, Bob?" Big asked. "Froggy don't like 
my lure."
	The clerk lifted a Styrofoam box from beneath the counter and 
pulled out a lantern-like cage of crawling, chirping crickets. 
"What's the matter?" the clerk (Bob) asked as Big dug into the moneybag 
hanging from his belt. "I thought you caught that frog ages ago."
	The cat handed him a few soft bills and said, "I did, but 
Froggy ran away. He's in a pond in that building across the street." 
He sighed and shook his head, long ears drooping. "I donno what I'm 
gonna do."
	"Well, good luck," Bob said, handing him the crickets, "and 
catch a few big ones along the way."
	"Thanks," Big said, and padded out.

		* * *
		Chapter 6: E-102 Gamma
		* * *

	
	Miles distant, in a fortress hidden deep in the Mystic Forest, 
a robotic creature in a construction chamber came to life.
	The first thing its visual circuitry registered was the room 
directly in front of it. A large, circular room with railing around 
the hole in the center. Automatically its head swivelled to the left. 
More of the room and a large glass tube containing a burly blue robot 
with red eyes. Its head swivelled to the right. Another tube, but with 
a heavily-built silver hedgehog inside.
	"Ah, it works!" exclaimed a coarse voice. "Look at me!"
	The robot's head tilted downward slightly, bringing the round 
figure of a mustached human into view. "You are E-102 Gamma," the 
human said with a motion to the robot's chest. He gestured to himself. 
"I am your master, Dr. Robotnik. You now obey only me."
	These two commands were dutifully registered in the robot's 
computer. Self unit = E-102 "Gamma". Master registration = Dr. Robotnik. 
"Yes, Dr. Robotnik," the robot droned.
	Robotnik began to pace up and down as Gamma watched and listened. 
"You are one of the elite E-series, built to obey me. You have the 
ability to learn and program yourself with minimal input from me." 
Which was why Robotnik was telling the robot all this--it was easier 
than programming it manually. "Your body design is basic, yes, but your 
brain is a special creation of my own. You are the second of my five 
prototypes. If you turn out successfully, the world may see more of 
your kind." Robotnik walked away. "Take a look around, Gamma. Move 
about."
	The robot stepped out of the pillar of construction machinery 
surrounding it and stood a moment. It was an ugly thing to the casual 
observer. Its body was short and round, its head little more than a 
flat panel on top. It had two moveable lenses in its head for eyes. 
Mounted on its head was a small tag laser. On its red-painted chest, 
above and to the left of the sign '102', was a thick headlight. Its 
right arm tapered in hydraulic sections to a fairly articulate hand. 
Its left arm was somewhat bulkier, and instead of a hand it bore a 
blaster cannon. Its long legs bend backward in the knees like a bird's, 
and its long black 'feet' were equipped with wheels in the backs.
	Gamma began to slowly stroll about the room, computer taking in 
how it felt to move and what the limits of balance were. After a few 
minutes he was quite good at walking and did not stagger or bump 
into things. Mission accomplished. He swiveled his head about until 
his visual sensors located his master in the corner. He approached 
Robotnik and stopped before him.
	Satisfied that Gamma worked properly, Robotnik pressed a 
button on the wall to open a sliding door to their left. "This leads 
to the training course," he explained gruffly. "You are to shoot 
all the targets as quickly and accurately as your programming allows. 
Your big brother, E-101 Beta, is in there practicing. You are not 
as advanced as Beta, but you'll do fine."
	Gamma turned, bumped into the wall, backed up and made it 
through the door successfully.
	Robotnik strode to the computer terminal in the corner to view 
Gamma's progress through the eyes of the video cameras inside the 
course. As he did so, a soft, loathing voice said, "Yes master, no 
master, as you wish master. The E-series sickens me."
	The small, lightly-built blue robot advanced to the edge of the 
terminal and leaned one arm on the edge of the control panel. 
Robotnik did not even give him a glance. "So you've said time and 
again, Mecha."
	The robot hedgehog fixed his black and crimson eyes on the 
screens. "They are so stupid. Their body design is so ..."
	Robotnik flashed Mecha a dark look.
	"... extravagant."
	The robot knew he was treading on thin ice. The quickest way 
to land on Robotnik's blacklist was to insult his projects, 
particularly new ones. But Mecha was jealous of these mass-produced 
newcomers--they had the size, strength and weaponry he lacked--and 
so never missed a chance to point out their few shortcomings.
	"And they have PILOTS!" This last was the bitterest shot of 
them all. Mecha had no pilot animal in his hull to give him 
personality and reflexes. He deeply resented every other robot that 
did, particularly if it gave signs of outdoing him.
	"You're being a pain," Robotnik told him. "I've put too much 
effort into you to remodel you so quickly. Activate the Sonic doll 
machinery. Beta deactivated it with a chance shot."
	The blue robot strode away furiously, whining and grumbling 
to himself, "I wish they were using the REAL hedgehog for target 
practice. Why must _I_ contribute to the training of these 
primitive ..." he searched his databanks for a suitable term. 
"... adding machines! Oh, if only they would do something deserving 
of punishment so I might rend them limb from limb!" He wrenched the 
levers down and slapped the power button on the control console, 
then retreated sullenly to his quarters in the arena below.

					* * *

	E-102 Gamma found himself in a simple series of rooms with 
targets that popped up on poles as he drew near. The 'targets', were 
red echidna-dolls and orange fox-dolls. He swept them with his tag 
laser. In his eyes, these tagged targets were now circled by orange 
3D boxes. Automatically his left arm lifted, aimed and fired, 
hitting each with pre-programmed accuracy. The dolls disintegrated 
in puffs of sawdust.
	The course also taxed his maneuverability. He was forced to 
jump over boxes, duck through narrow openings and walk a narrow 
ledge over a deep pit. His confidence increased with each overcome 
obstacle. He was learning.
	Without warning a target dissolved to his right before he 
could tag it. This did not make sense. He stopped and looked about, 
trying to understand. 
	Then from behind a large crate stepped another robot like 
himself. It was slightly bigger, bore rocket cannons on both arms, 
and was painted black with white trim. The two scanned each other. 
"E-101," Gamma noted. "Beta." His superior. He stood aside 
respectfully for Beta to pass. Beta did so, eyes fixed on this newcomer 
as he passed. Another of the E-series. "Welcome, E-102," Beta said 
in his flat monotone, then walked away to continue with the course.
	Gamma went on his way and found all the targets already blown 
up. He proceeded until he entered a vast room with a slider arm 
across one wall. Dangling from it was a blue hedgehog doll. Gamma 
tagged it and shot it, but it did not blow up. Instead the arm began 
to slowly move the doll along the wall. Gamma walked closer, tagged 
and shot the doll again, but with more difficulty. He shot it once 
more before it finally dropped from the arm and hit the floor with 
a thump.

					* * *

	"Well done, Gamma," Robotnik said as the robot exited the 
training course. "You surprise me. Well, we'll see what you're really 
made of." He beckoned to his creation and led the way down the stairs 
into the arena in the center of the room. Gamma had a bit of trouble 
navigating the steps with his long feet--they were not meant for it--
but he managed to reach the bottom still erect.
	"The Egg Carrier is a magnificent vessel that needs a good 
crew," Robotnik announced to Gamma; and someone else. Gamma looked 
about and saw E-101 Beta standing quietly in the corner, listening. 
"Therefore," the human said, dwarfed between the two tall robots, "I 
am pitting the two of your against each other. Personally, I am placing 
my bets on Beta, but I own Gamma at least a fair chance. Whoever loses 
their feet first loses the match." Then Robotnik flew up the stairs 
and leaned over the railing to watch.
	"Loses their feet? What does that mean?" Gamma wondered. Perhaps 
it meant shoot at Beta's feet. 
	Beta had already stepped forward and swept Gamma with his tag 
laser. He knew that all he must do to win was knock his opponent 
over. He aimed and fired.
	Gamma Was sweeping Beta's feet, trying to lock on target, 
when his laser struck the oncoming rocket. It locked and he fired 
instantly, thanks to the defensive reflexes of the creature in his 
hull. The missile exploded in mid-air. Gamma made note of that; rockets 
could be detonated before they reached their target.
	The robots circled like boxers in a ring, each trying for a 
lock. Gamma secured his first and fired. His weaker cannon fired a 
projectile too small to be targeted, although Beta tried to. It 
struck the black robot's left ankle and sent him sprawling.
	"I don't believe it!" Robotnik exclaimed from above. He descended 
the stairs as Beta climbed dejectedly to his feet. Robotnik ignored 
him and faced Gamma. "I didn't think you had what it takes! You have 
permission to come aboard the Egg Carrier."
	Beta thrust his way between Gamma and Robotnik like a dog 
pleading for attention. "What?" Robotnik questioned in surprise. 
"You want to come, too?" 
	Beta sidestepped a little to block Gamma completely from view and 
nodded his whole body. He knew quite well what happened to robots 
Robotnik had no use for.
	"Oh, all right," said Robotnik, throwing up his hands. "I guess 
we could always use a spare set of parts. Mecha!"
	The blue robot appeared from his quarters in a sulky slouch. 
"Yes sir."
	"Take these two to the Egg Carrier," Robotnik said, checking his 
watch. "I have a train to meet in fifteen minutes."
	Mecha gave the E-series a withering look. "Of course, sir."
	"Oh, and Mecha," Robotnik said over his shoulder as he started 
up the stairs, "you may have Beta to remodel as you wish."
	Gamma knew little about the small blue robot before him, but he 
knew he didn't like the predatory way Mecha gazed at Beta.

				* * *
		Chapter 7: Enemies old and new
				* * *

	 A hedgehog and a fox disembarked from the train and found 
themselves on a high wooden platform. To their right were a flight 
of wooden stairs leading to the ground below. Sonic sniffed as they 
trotted down the steps. The air was thick with humidity and the odor 
of green leaves and muddy water. At the foot of the train station 
there was a wide dirt area that sloped in a gentle hill to meet the 
high cliffs roundabout. Standing at the foot of the stairs was a human 
dressed in khaki shorts, boots and pith helmet. Strapped to his back 
was a fully-outfitted pack. He looked ready to charge off into the 
forest and explore, and yet stood where he was, looking downcast.
	"Hey man," Sonic said in greeting. "What's up?"
	The man looked at him, faintly startled at being addressed in 
such a way by a Mobian, than said, "I wanted to be part of the first 
expedition that went into the jungle. They're looking for the lost 
ruins. But I get lost easy, so they left me here."
	"Too bad," Sonic said, trying not to sound as disinterested as 
he felt. "Nice talkin' to ya. C'mon, Tails."
	As they walked off under the raised tracks, Sonic said softly, 
"He can't even carry a compass? What idiots humans must be!"
	"I feel sorry for him," Tails said with a small shrug. "He looks 
so friendless ..." He looked ahead and changed the subject. "The 
airstrip is up here." The fox led the way toward a flat-topped hill 
with stone steps built into its side. "See, the hanger and strip are 
off on that side," Tails explained as they trotted up the steps, "and 
over here is a big flat space for parking extra planes."
	As they stepped onto the flat, they were greeted by a rough 
voice chuckling, "Well well, if it isn't my old friends, Sonic and Tails!"
	The two whipped about to see a small round hovercraft with huge 
engines and side extensions rise into the air from below the cliffs. 
Leering at the two through the spotless windshield was a short, fat, 
bald human with a gigantic mustache. He had gained considerable 
weight since they had last seen him, and his belly gave him the odd 
shape of an egg (pointy end up) with arms. "Hey look," Sonic said 
scornfully. "It's a giant talking egg!"
	"Silence!" their enemy barked.
	"Like we take orders from you," Sonic sneered. "Whaddya want, 
ya big loser?"
	"I want any chaos emeralds you have," the human replied. "I 
have big plans for them."
	"Coming from you, those are the worst kind," Tails said, 
taking his friend's cue and acting scornful. He had already laid his 
energy converter and precious emerald safely out of sight back down 
the stairs.
	"Hand them over, or else," Robotnik warned, revving his 
craft's engines. 
	"Or else what, Eggman?" Sonic challenged, stepped between his 
enemy and Tails.
	"Or else I'll take them from you the hard way!" Robotnik yelled, 
swooping forward.
	Sonic and Tails fled in opposite directions and spun to face 
Robotnik's attack. The doctor pulled up, circled out from the cliff's 
edge, then hovered for an ominous second. There came a series of 
flashes from the nose of the ship, then a whoosh as several missiles 
appeared and streaked for their targets. "Fly, Tails!" Sonic 
hollered as he dodged sideways and back. The rockets struck the ground 
with an explosion of earth and flame. Sonic ducked through the 
curtain of falling debris to make sure Tails was unhurt. Yes, the 
fox was hovering fifteen feet from the ground, making faces at 
Robotnik. "Way to go, little bro!" Sonic cheered, then gasped and 
yelped, "Duck!"
	The ship swooped in like a giant hornet, two spinning drills 
emerging from the side-wings. Tails squeaked and dropped like a stone, 
barely escaping one of the metal bits. The Egg Hornet swerved toward 
 Sonic (who leaped backward), drills ripping into the ground. The 
hedgehog's blood was quite warm by this time, as was his temper at
seeing Tails nearly dismembered. He leaped into the air, somer-saulting 
over and over, whirling spines becoming a dangerous weapon. He hurled 
himself into the exposed engine intake on the right wing's top panel, 
spines splitting wires and plugs before he bounced off at an angle. 
When he recovered his feet, he saw that the right wing was smoking 
and the drill bit no longer turning. "Try that again, Eggman!" he 
taunted as the Egg Hornet roared away into the air.
	"Yeah, chicken!" Tails added from across the arena, then 
flapped his arms and cackled like a hen. He had regained his nerve 
at seeing the Hornet's weakness.
	Robotnik, ego affected by their taunts, grimly took another 
dive at Sonic, moving so fast the hedgehog almost didn't sidestep 
soon enough. Sonic tore into the left wing with a fierce yell. 
Tails, seeing the end was near and not wanting to be left out, 
ducked in low and struck the rocket launcher with his tails by 
spinning in a circle like an ice skater.
	The Egg Hornet took to the air one last time, then slowed and 
shuddered. Robotnik pulled a lever in the cockpit, and all the outer 
equipment loosed and fell from their places with a metallic crash.
 Sonic and Tails looked on smugly as the round, defenseless 
hovercraft beneath sputtered and jolted against the ground, almost 
falling, but not quite.
	"He's defeated," Tails thought, already anticipating work on 
his biplanes. "He'll leave in a minute. I'll take the emerald and 
converter to the hanger now, while Sonic sees him off." The fox 
darted away down the steps, picked up the emerald in one hand and 
the converter in the other, then trotted up toward the hanger.
	"Tails, lookout!" Sonic yelled. Tails turned, startled, just 
in time to have the blue stone snatched from his hand by a 
mechanical clamp extended from Robotnik's ship. It retracted and 
placed its prize in its master's hand. He laughed triumphantly and 
stood in his seat, waving the emerald aloft. "Aha! The first of the 
emeralds!"
	"Give that back!" Tails cried furiously, moving as if to 
attack, but Sonic grabbed his arm and held him still.
	"A wise move," Robotnik chuckled. "You shall see the crux of 
my plans. Chaos, come forth!"
	"Chaos?" Sonic exclaimed, remembering the name from the 
previous evening.
	A large wet patch appeared in the soil near Robotnik's craft. 
This grew wetter and wetter until a large, deep puddle had seeped 
out of the ground, then rose, moulded itself and congealed into a 
humanoid figure with featureless green eyes. "That's the monster I 
saw last night!" Sonic said in surprise.
	"M--monster?" Tails stammered, staring at the thing and 
shrinking behind his hero.
	Robotnik threw the blue gem at the beast. It turned and 
caught it with one hand. There was a brilliant flash and glow from 
that arm. When it faded, Chaos' left arm had grown and thickened, 
a heavy cartilaginous skeleton within the arm and fingers. Embedded 
in the cartilage in the back of his wrist was the blue emerald.
	"Yes!" Robotnik said in delight, feasting his eyes on Chaos 1. 
"It's just as the stone tablets predicted! Chaos' strength increases 
every time I feed him a chaos emerald! When his strength is perfected, 
he will be invincible ... and work for ME! With his power I will 
destroy Sapphire City and construct Robotropolis the second ... and 
he will take care of all resistance efforts for me." This last was 
aimed with a nasty grin at Sonic.
	Sonic stepped forward, intending to attack this fragile water 
creature and show "Eggman" that it wasn't so powerful, but Robotnik 
said, "Come, Chaos, lets find some more emeralds!" He threw something 
at the ground, which exploded in thick white smoke. When it cleared 
five minutes later, Robotnik and the monster were gone.

			* * *
		Chapter 8: Exploration
			* * *

	Knuckles stood in the bright sun on the roof of the train 
depot in Station Square. His hunt for emerald shards had brought him 
this far. Unfortunately, the signal he was receiving was so faint he 
couldn't locate the source; it must be very low.
	With a sigh he glided off the roof, circled and dropped to the 
pavement in the square. What a job. Now the sound was even fainter. 
Maybe inside the station?
	The echidna trotted up the steps, pushed open the door and 
strode in. There were only a few humans about, and the train tracks 
were empty. Good--he liked it better empty.
	He cocked his head and listened for a long moment. Little 
change. The fragment could be anywhere, and of any size.
	"Hello there."
	Knuckles turned, startled. Behind him stood a human in a 
clerk's uniform. One hand was in his pocked, and the other held a 
Pepsi. "Lookin' to catch a train?"
	"Er, no," Knuckles replied edgily. He was ill at ease among 
humans. "I was just ... looking around."
	"Tourist, eh?" the clerk remarked good-naturedly. "We don't 
get many Mobians through here. It's a shame, really. I grew up with 
Mobians and like 'em better'n most humans 'round here."
	"Wow," Knuckles replied. "Can I ask you a question?"
	"Ask away. It's my job to help people."
	"Well ..." the echidna drew a nervous breath. "Have you seen 
any green things--like glass--laying around?" 
	The clerk thought for a moment, then shook his head. "Can't say 
that I have. You break something?"
	"Sort of," Knuckles replied, dropping his eyes. The last thing 
he wanted was to let the world know the Master emerald was broken.
	The clerk seemed to sense the echidna's discomfort, for he 
stopped asking questions. "Why don't you come over to the gift shop 
sometime?" he asked. "I've got a list of free tour brochures you 
could use." He took a drink of his soda. "Well, I'd better be getting 
back to work. Nice talking to you."
	Knuckles watched him suspiciously as the human walked back to 
the gift shop in the corner. Why was he so friendly? What was his 
motive? Surely he couldn't be kind for kindness's sake ...
	After a few minutes the crimson echidna wandered into the 
giftshop, one ear tuned to the emerald hum. No change. Discouraged and 
stumped, he drifted about, looking idly at the displays and racks of 
items without really seeing them. He found a brochure, flipped through 
it, put it back, took it out again and glanced into the glass display 
case under the counter.
	His eyes locked on a pair of shiny trinkets near the end. After 
a second of staring, he moved closer. They weren't trinkets; they 
were steel knuckles. A loop of steel was welded to long, broad double 
claws, thick and sharply-bladed. Shovel-claws for Mobians, the tag 
read. $150.
	Knuckles had seventy dollars worth of cash with him (he had the 
sense to leave home reasonable financed), but where in the world he 
could get another eighty? The longer he looked at the claws the worse 
he wanted them. Not that his natural claws didn't work quite well, 
but ...
	It wasn't until he was standing outside in the square that he 
looked at the brochure again. The word 'Casino' leaped out at him. A 
casino, one black from where he stood. Dangerous dangerous, that's 
what casinos were. Good thing it didn't open until that evening; he 
would have time to talk himself out of the shovel-claws. He didn't 
really need them, anyway, he told himself.

	* * *

	Tails sat on the doorstep of the hanger, ears drooping, head in 
his hands. The converter lay beside him where he had dropped it. His 
chaos emerald had been stolen. He couldn't work on the biplanes. He 
was on the verge of tears.
	After a while there came the patter of sneakers on the stone 
stairway below, and a blue hedgehog came jogging up. "This place is 
cool!" Sonic exclaimed, seating himself beside his sidekick and 
pretending to ignore Tails's brimming eyes. "There's a bunch of 
explorer-dudes down there. They sent a whole 'nother party out into 
the woods, but they haven't come back yet. These guys are really 
worried about 'em. Then they kept pointing to this mountain down the 
coast and saying it hadn't been there a few days ago. I figured they're 
nuts--I mean, mountains don't just up and walk around. Oh, and there's 
this one cave that's so windy it almost lifts you off your feet. A 
big tunnel goes straight up. No telling where it goes."
	Sonic paused for breath and glanced at Tails to see if his chatter 
had helped any. Not much. He sighed and put an arm around the young 
fox's shoulders. "Ah Tails ... we'll find another emerald."
	Tails broke down completely and sobbed into Sonic's shoulder. 
"No we won't! There's no way we'll ever find another one! Now my 
planes won't work, and all because Robotnik has that monster!"
	Sonic held him and patted him comfortingly on the back until 
the sobs subsided to sniffles. "Lighten up, kiddo," he said gently as 
Tails dried his eyes and wiped his nose. "Look, this area is supposed 
to radiate a weird energy, like all the emeralds are here somewhere. 
One of the explorers showed me. It makes compasses wacky and does 
weird things to Geiger counters. That's why ol Eggman's here instead 
of off harassing the Freedom Fighters. He knows they're here."
	Tails looked up at his friend, glassy-eyed, but trying bravely to 
smile. "I guess," he sniffed, "I guess we can try to beat Eggman to 
them, huh?"
	"That's the spirit!" Sonic exclaimed, rising to his feet. "C'mon, 
I want to look at the windy cave again." 
	The cave was tall and dark, with a terrific inflow of air 
roaring up the shaft, like a natural vacuum cleaner. Sonic and Tails 
stood under the shaft, spines and tails whipping about in the wind. 
"Look at this!" Sonic shouted above the noise. He pointed. Tails saw 
a small stone platform in one corner with a stone post standing erect 
beside it. The two walked closer. Indented in the platform was a square 
hole, as if something were meant to fit in it. Engraved on the post 
was a funny-looking spiral, like the symbol of a hurricane. "Weird!" 
Tails hollered. "Let's go outside!"
	As they emerged panting from the chamber, they were met by one 
of the khaki-clad humans. "Oh, hello," he said in surprise as they 
walked by. "What were you doing in there?"
	"I was showing Tails here the windy cave," Sonic said obviously, 
jerking a thumb in the fox's direction. "What are you doing?"
	"Oh," said the man, looking down, "I uh, found an artifact ..." 
He reached into the bag hanging from his belt and pulled out an object 
resembling a trophy. It had a square stone base, and instead of a 
statue, it had an oval-shaped glass dome on it. The glass was green, 
and inside it was a flat, paper-like cutout of the same hurricane 
symbol they had seen in the cave.
	"Hey," Sonic said, staring, "doesn't that go to that thing in 
there?"
	"Well," the human replied, "I think so, but I'm afraid of what 
will happen if I put it in."
	The hedgehog nearly knocked him down in his haste to take the 
wind stone and tear into the cave. "Sorry!" he yelled over his shoulder. 
Tails, embarrassed, said, "He gets really enthusiastic sometimes. 
Sorry about that. We'll tell you what happens when we come back."
	"Oh," replied the startled human. "Okay, thanks."
	Tails entered the cave, intending to reprimand his friend for 
his rude behavior, but never got the chance. Sonic had just slipped 
the wind stone into its socket. Instantly the wind strengthened, 
ripping at their fur, dragging them toward the black shaft. Tails 
felt his feet leave the ground, gasped a ragged lungful of the speeding 
air about him, then was sucked into the mountain like a leaf.

			* * *
		Chapter 9: A Tornado
			* * *

	The Egg Carrier was docked in the bottom of a large valley deep 
in the jungle. The trees roundabout all but hid it from view, which 
was how Robotnik had planned it. The Final Egg ground base (also well 
hidden, all above-ground structures carefully closed up), was only a 
short walk from the landing pad.
	A short blue robot led two tall, gangly machines toward the 
monstrous craft. E-102 Gamma swept the side with his visual sensors. 
It was so big his computer could not grasp what he was seeing. All he 
could tell was that it was painted a dark red. A good distance further 
off, through a stand of trees, Gamma saw what he thought was a copy of 
the Egg Carrier, parked in the same airfield, but undeployed and 
resting under a vast tarpaulin.
	The ground was rough with roots, rocks and tall brush. Metal 
Sonic moved along quite easily, but Beta and Gamma slipped, stumbled 
or snagged on twigs. Once Gamma tipped completely over and clanked 
into Beta's side. Surprisingly, Beta stopped and pushed him erect. 
Another odd instinct of the creature within the robotic hull. Twice 
more during their trek Beta steadied Gamma. Mecha plodded on ahead of 
them, oblivious to their troubles.
	At last they were clanking up the gangplank and into the cool, 
dim interior of the Egg Carrier's belly. Gamma looked about. They had 
entered a giant cargo hold, with crates and cannisters piled in rows 
as far as he could see. Directly ahead of them, across the paneled 
floor, was a steel staircase leading to a door near the ceiling. There 
was a mechanical hum of unseen fans.
	Metal Sonic stopped and turned to face the two, his red eyes 
glowing like candles in the gloom. "102," he commanded, "go up to the 
subdeck and report to 103. He will show you to your tasks. 101," he 
said to Beta, voice dropping to a hungry purr, "you will come with me 
to the upper construction bay." He turned and walked away. As Beta 
moved to follow him, he shot one last look at Gamma, as if to say, 
"Goodbye, I am going to my doom." Gamma watched until they were out of 
sight among the cargo. He would never again see Beta in that shape.
	The stairs were many and steep, but built for robots. Gamma 
managed them easily. He opened the door at the top and stepped through. 
Inside was yet another cargo hold, but smaller and with a higher 
ceiling the sun peeped through. Parked in neat rows were hundred of 
fighter-jets painted like sharks, green and white, fierce looking. 
Another E-series robot was standing off to the left, supervising a 
troop of droids working on a fighter.
	Gamma approached. The other robot heard him and turned about. 
E-103. He was blue and white, and carried two blaster rifles instead 
of hands, but otherwise differed little in build from Gamma. 
"Greetings, 102," the blue robot said in his flat monotone. "I am 
103, codenamed Delta."
	"I am Gamma," the red robot replied.
	"Gamma, then," Delta replied with a wave of a gun barrel. "Is 
Dr. Robotnik on board?"
	"No. Metal Sonic brought self-unit and E-101 Beta here."
	"Mecha-bot two," Delta said in a genuine tone of disgust. "His 
programming is faulty." It was the first time Gamma had heard anyone 
say anything against Mecha, and it would not be the last. The 
E-series cordially hated the blue robot as much as he hated them.
	Delta turned back to the droids. "You may proceed about your 
duties, Gamma."
	That did not compute. After a moment of blank incomprehension, 
Gamma said, "Self-unit has no duties. Please assign."
	Delta swivelled his head about to look at Gamma. "Master did 
not connect you to the Egg Carrier mainframe? This must be remedied. 
Proceed to construction bay 4 and summon E-104 Epsilon. He will 
install the necessary hardware."
	"Affirmative."
	Thus the E-series welcomed their brother, last of all to board 
but certainly not least. And even as Gamma had programmed himself to 
respect Beta and wonder what Mecha would do to him, he programmed 
himself to like Delta. Delta had already done so and proceeded to take 
Gamma under his wing. It was important for Gamma to be fully trained 
by the time Master returned, or he would not last long.

	* * *

	The wind tunnel shot up at a steep angle, a roaring chimney of 
black rock. Sonic doubled into a spiked ball for protection, arms over 
his face. He struck the wall several times, bruising his head and 
knees, gasping for a meagre amount of air. He had no time to worry 
about Tails--or anything, for that matter. There was nothing but 
darkness, tumbling, wind like a wall, and being constantly beaten 
constantly by blowing particles.
	Suddenly there was light; Sonic sensed it through his eyelids. 
Something struck him sharply on the right knee, and the wind abated 
and he hit the ground with a thump. He opened his eyes and saw a 
thick carpet of grass under his nose. Shaken, he slowly uncurled his 
bunched muscles and lifted his head. He was lying on a grassy ledge 
on the edge of a deep canyon. The wind was still blowing, but much 
softer than in the tunnel. Carefully he climbed to his feet--gee, 
his knee hurt! What had he hit? He could barely stand on his right 
leg--an ugly bruise was already forming under his fur.
	"Tails!" he exclaimed suddenly. He was alone on the ledge; 
where was his sidekick? Surely he had to have come out of the tunnel--
Sonic spun about to see the mouth of the monstrous tunnel, twenty 
feet across. Just inside it was a giant fan, pulling the air up 
through the tunnel, blades a blur. Sonic stared at it in horror. He 
must had caught his knee on it as he came through. But Tails--
	At that instant an orange body shot out of the fan and slammed 
squarely into Sonic, throwing him to the grass. Tails groaned, "Ooh, 
I feel like I'm gonna barf!" He lifted his head and saw what he had 
landed on. "Oh, hi Sonic." He slid off and sat holding his side.
	Sonic sat up and grinned. "Some fun, huh?"
	Tails hung out his tongue in disgust and discomfort. "Not MY 
idea of a good trip. Did that hurt you as much as it hurt me?"
	Sonic shook his head. "Naw, not much. I hit the fan." He 
pointed, and the fox looked. Tails' mouth dropped open. "Now I 
really WILL throw up."
	Sonic showed him his knee and received the appropriate sympathy. 
"Serves you right for putting in that stone!"
	The two looked about and discovered a narrow path leading down 
from their ledge, along the jagged cliff face. Limping, the two set
off to explore.
 	A sign was discovered, bearing the words "Windy Valley". 
"Original," Sonic commented, running a hand through his spines. He 
then discovered that his spines were practically standing on end from 
the wind, and spent a few minutes combing them down with his fingers.
	As they hiked along the grassy trail, they saw that the valley 
was practically a wind-power center. There were windmills with 
helicopter-like rotors everywhere; built out over the narrow places 
in the canyon, extended from the walls, floating on hover-devices, all 
with blades turning in the wind. Only a few were turned vertically in 
the usual windmill fashion.
	Sonic and Tails hiked along, marvelling and pointing out various 
items of interest to each other. The air was clear, the sun warm, 
colors brilliant, the wind fresh and wild like a living thing. It 
teased their hair and met them with surprise gusts as they rounded 
corners. It tossed leaves and dandelion fluff about like confetti, 
then went in to chase the windmill blades around and around.
	After a bit the two came to a wide gap in the trail, as if a 
landslide had torn it away years ago. There had once been a wooden 
bridge extended across the gap, but it was broken and dangling at 
both ends, swaying in the wind. 
	"Gosh, wonder what did that," Sonic said, kicking at the support 
posts. The ropes were not old enough to have worn through.
	"Maybe a rock fell on it," Tails suggested, looking up the cliff 
wall as if another might come bounding down at any moment. 
	"Could be," Sonic shrugged. "It probably happens all the time 
during storms. Fly me across."
	"What do you say?"
	"'Do it or else'?"
	"Try it again, Eggman."
	"Please?"
	"Better." The fox spun his tails and rose into the air like a 
little helicopter. Sonic locked wrists with him, and Tails lifted him 
off his feet, carried him lightly across the gap, and set him down on 
the far side. Tails landed, himself, and the two walked on.
	The canyon began to widen, the far wall veering away at an 
angle. The valley floor was hidden in low-lying clouds--no telling how 
far below it was. The wind remained steady, just strong enough for 
them to lean into.
	After a bit they began to see more and more gaps in the trail. 
"Does the wind get really strong here?" Sonic questioned as Tails 
airlifted him across a gap for the fourth time. 
	"Who knows," Tails replied. "It's starting to creep me out. I 
want to go back to Mystic Ruins."
	A cloud dimmed the sun for a moment. The pair looked up and saw 
a vast, dark cloudbank billowing across the sky. "Uh-oh," Sonic remarked. 
"Looks like we're in for a storm."
	That was the understatement of the year.
	Within twenty minutes the entire sky was dark, and--even more 
ominously--the wind dropped. Sonic and Tails stood and gazed first at 
the sky, then at the valley. All the windmills had ceased turning. All 
colors had faded to dark greys and browns. Everything seemed to be 
holding its breath, waiting.
	"Let's get out of here," Sonic said, voice loud in the stillness. 
	"Can we get back through the fan?" Tails asked worriedly.
	The hedgehog shook his head. "I doubt it, but there's got to be 
another exit somewhere. Somebody maintains these fans."
	They set off at a fast trot down the path, almost cowering beneath 
the threatening clouds.
	Windy Valley was a micro-climate. Warm air from the ocean collided 
with cool air from the nearby mountains, and the canyon acted as a 
giant vacuum that sucked the volatile mixture right over it. The valley 
was known for its violent storms that built out of nothing and ripped 
through without warning.
	The air was rapidly becoming humid and oppressive, and the two 
began to sweat and pant. "Sonic," Tails said between breaths, "you're 
green."
	"So are you," Sonic replied. "Look, everything's green!" 
	The light had become a grass-green. washing everything in its 
sickly color. They paused for a moment and gazed about. Neither had 
ever seen a storm that turned everything green before. "What's up?" 
Sonic breathed, looking first at the motionless windmills above them, 
then at the sky.
	Lightning flickered in the distance, then ripped across the sky 
above, crooked fingers of white that flashed, spread out and vanished 
a full second after they appeared. It was followed by a rolling growl 
of thunder that shook the earth beneath their feet. "We're sitting 
ducks up here," Sonic said, his hand closing on Tails'.
	They began to jog through the weird green twilight, eyes scanning 
the cliff face for some hollow or crack they could use as shelter, 
but there were none. 
	Tails halted, pulling Sonic to a stop with him. "Listen," he 
whispered, ears pricked.
	Sonic cocked his head, but could hear nothing. "What?"
	"That!" Tails exclaimed. "It sounds like a train. Can't you 
hear it?"
	Sonic listened again. Yes, now he could hear a distant roar. 
"What IS that?" he muttered. They could not see far ahead, as the 
cliff wall bulged out and blocked their view. "Stay here a second," 
Sonic said. "I'm gonna take a look around the bend."
	"Be careful!" Tails implored. That sound frightened him 
without his knowing why.
	Sonic advanced to the bend and peered around it. At once he 
started violently, the spines on his back leaping erect. He whirled 
and ran back to Tails, grabbed his hand and fled up the trail. "It's 
a tornado!" he cried.
	The roar grew louder and the funnel came into sight, a 
whirling pillar of destruction. It was probably forty feet across. 
It moved through the canyon parallel to the walls, sucking earth 
from the ground far below and ripping loose objects from the cliffs; 
bridges, rocks, chunks of trail, windmills, anything.
	Sonic and Tails fled along ahead of it, trying to outrun it. 
On a straight stretch they might have made it, but the path curved 
and twisted along the cliff, and the highest speed Sonic achieved at 
a stretch was thirty miles an hour. The tornado was moving considerably 
faster than that.
	Tails looked over his shoulder, squinting against the flying 
dust in the air. He saw the funnel not a stone's throw away, debris 
and dust whirling in its outer wall, the inner wall a transparent, 
delicate tube of water vapor. The suction tore at his face and body--
the wind, no longer playful, had become a visible monster intent on 
swallowing them up. Tails clung to Sonic's hand as his feet were 
lifted off the ground, pulled toward the tornado. As long as he 
didn't let go--
	But not even Sonic could fight the strength of the storm. "Don't 
let go! Don't let go!" the hedgehog cried hysterically as his feet 
left the path. Then they were whipped aloft and sucked into the 
twister, along with most of the trail they had been standing on.
	Gravity did not exist. They were whipped around and around 
the funnel, ascending ever higher in the storm-darkness. The hideous 
roar of the twister was all about them, mingled with a thousand other 
sounds that did not belong to wind at all; the sound of voices 
talking or screaming, as the tornado used the debris in its funnel to 
create a symphony of discord.
	Sonic slammed into something solid and clung to it. He pried 
his eyes open. It was an enormous section of cliff, suspended in the 
storm. Tails was nearby, clinging to the base of a windmill with one 
propeller, which was spinning crazily. Somehow they were both unhurt. 
They stared at each other helplessly, unable to lift a finger without 
flying off to their doom in the twister. Already they were doomed, 
for where would it drop them?
	Sonic tilted his head back and looked up. Far, far up the center 
of the tornado was a speck of light. The walls of the tornado swirled 
around it, one nearby turning slowly, almost lazily, and the one beyond 
it whipping by at high speed. They were nearly in the center of the 
tornado.
	The hedgehog's eyes dropped to the windmill again. It would 
probably fly wonderfully if torn loose from its moorings. Carefully he 
pried loose one hand--
	--And was ripped free from his hold and smashed into the 
windmill's base. He clung to it mechanically as his senses righted 
themselves, the wind attempting to scour the spines from his body. 
Tails was a few feet away, eyes closed against the wind. Sonic drew a 
breath of powdered sand and rocked his weight against the windmill's 
base. It didn't budge. Tails was looking at him now. Sonic motioned 
upward with his head. Tails looked up at the top of the tornado, then 
at the windmill. Immediately he shifted his hold, inching up toward 
the one blade. He managed to hook one knee through the framework and 
looked at Sonic again.
	Afterward they decided that a flying chunk of rock must have 
struck the base of the windmill. Neither saw it happen, but suddenly the 
windmill was free and flying about the tornado.
	Both had little memory of what happened next. Perhaps they were 
stunned by the force of the blow. At any rate, the next time Sonic 
opened his eyes, they were flying out of the top of a cloud, blinded by 
the sun. Tails was still wedged in the framework of the windmill. The 
one propeller was still spinning, but was winding down. One blade did 
not provide enough lift to support them without the fury of the tornado; 
they slowed, tilted and began to drop. They were falling back into the 
storm!
	"Bail out!" Sonic croaked, and let go without further thought.
	Tails caught him by one leg as he began to fall. Sonic looked up 
to see the young fox's tails spinning, holding them aloft. "Going 
somewhere?" Tails asked, his voice a hoarse whisper.

			* * *
		Chapter 10: Casinopolis
			* * *

	The flight back took an hour. The two were shell-shocked and 
exhausted, and didn't speak much. Tails simply parachuted them down 
until the familiar airstrip and train station appeared below them. "Let's 
go to the hanger," the fox suggested. "We can rest there."
	So they did. The two slept the rest of the afternoon in the warm, 
safe hanger as their bodies recovered.
	Sonic awoke late that afternoon, thirsty and sore all over. He sat 
up and looked about. He had slept on a pile of tarps in the corner, and 
Tails had taken the cot. But the cot was empty, and Tails was tinkering 
with a tired-looking red and white bi-plane across the room. Sonic 
stretched and yawned. Tails's head appeared between the wings. "Hi 
there, sleeping beauty! It's about time you woke up."
	Sonic climbed to his feet. "I'm parched."
	"There's a water dispenser over there," Tails said, pointing.
	Sonic limped up to it (his knee was stiff and aching), took a 
paper cup from the rack near it and drank like a camel, refilling the 
cup over and over. "There," he said, wiping his mouth and dropping the 
cup into a trashcan, "I feel like facing the world again! What say we 
go back to Sapphire City? We could eat and stay in the hotel tonight."
	"Sure," Tails replied from behind the plane. "See if you can get 
some tickets for the evening train. I'll finish up here in a second."
	"Okay."
	Sonic left the hanger and trotted down the stone steps to the 
area where they had battled Robotnik, limping a little on his knee. The 
gear from the Egg Hornet was still scattered about, and parked nearby 
was the unpainted bi-plane Tails had crashed. It had been towed back while 
they had been in Windy Valley.
	The hedgehog paused as he entered the flat. He was closer, at 
this point, to the windy cave than the station. What had happened to 
the cave? Was the fan still on? He trotted toward the cave.
	The wind inside it, while blowing a bit, was obviously not pulled
along by the fan. There were two reasons for this, he found. One was 
that the stone 'trophy' had been taken from the stone platform, which 
had turned off the fan. The other was shown by the debris and fan 
blades scattered about under the shaft. The tornado must have reached 
the fan high above and destroyed it.
	The hedgehog kicked at the wooden blades in slight contempt. 
What was the fan for, anyway? To suck up hapless victims? His 
scuffing feet turned over a blade that had part of the center joint 
attached to it, and something red glinted in the darkness. What in the 
world ...? He knelt and turned the joint over. To his surprise, 
embedded in the wood was the red chaos emerald. He touched it 
cautiously--the red emerald had been known to become flamingly hot 
without the presence of the other emeralds. But the gem's smooth 
surface was cool to the touch. Did it power the fan? Wow, no wonder 
it was so strong! Tails would be so happy--now he could work on his 
bi-plane. Maybe their trip to the Windy Valley had not been for 
nothing after all.
	Sonic pried the emerald free and carried it to the safety of 
the hanger, then headed for the train station.
	Tails was already there, waiting for him on the platform. He 
suggested that they eat dinner in Station Square before going 
anywhere else, as he was starving. Sonic agreed, bought two round-trip 
tickets, and settled back to wait for the five o' clock train.

	* * *

	As the orange sun sank into the ocean, a crimson echidna sat in the 
Station Square diner, munching fruit salad and watching the door of the 
Casino, just a few doors down the street. It opened at five-thirty.
	Knuckles had failed to talk himself out of the shovel claws, and 
was intent on winning enough cash to buy them. He also had another 
motive  for going into the Casino--he had discovered that the emerald 
sound was coming from inside.
	As he gazed out the window at the busy rush-hour traffic, a small 
figure caught his eye. A Mobian. He looked closer--was a relief to see 
a Mobian in the sea of humans. It was a girl hedgehog with pink fur and 
a red dress. He spines were very soft-looking and hung about her face 
like human hair. She was running along the sidewalk as if in a hurry 
to get somewhere, ducking through the crowd. Knuckles watched her 
idly. She ran to the hotel doors on his far left and disappeared 
inside. He shrugged and returned to his meal. It had been a good while 
since he had seen a hedgehog. He thought of Sonic with a twinge of 
regret. They had been estranged through a misunderstanding a couple 
months back, and Knuckles missed him in a quiet sort of way. Too bad 
Sonic wasn't here. He'd think Sapphire City was fun.

	* * *

	Sonic and Tails arrived in Station Square at quarter 'til six, 
famished. Sonic was all for heading to the Casino and eating there, 
but Tails changed his mind by pointing out how expensive food would 
be. So they ate in the hotel dining room (Tails reserved a room for 
himself, next door to Sonic's), receiving a discount for being guests. 
Then, full and rested, they headed for the Casino.
	The first thing to strike them as they walked in were the lights. 
There were lights everywhere; along the walls, bordering the carpet, 
all over the slot machines and car tables. The main room was circular 
with a high ceiling. Steps led down to a center dais with a statue 
that reached almost to the ceiling. The carpet was a rich red with 
gold borders. Spread evenly around the room were the vast entertainment 
displays. To their left was a huge elaborate fountain built into the 
wall, then rows and rows of slot machines. To their right was a vault 
for storing cash winnings, with slot machines beyond it. On the other 
sides of the slot machines were odd-looking booths that Sonic and 
Tails couldn't see much of. Their view of the opposite wall was 
blocked by the statue's base. It was a gorgeous place that breathed 
of money.
	The two began to walk along the path, footsteps muffled by the 
lush carpeting, ears full of the babble of voices and music, eyes 
full of the colors and sparkling lights. It was difficult to take 
in all at once.
	After a bit they came to a booth built into the wall. Signs 
around it proclaimed it to be '3-D Card and Pinball'. "Hey, this 
looks like fun," Sonic said. He had always had a weakness for pinball. 
He would have stepped into the booth, but Tails tugged at his arm. 
"Let's see what else there is, then come back."
	"Okay." Sonic stepped back to read the advertisement on the wall, 
and tripped over something on the floor. "What the heck?" he muttered, 
climbing to his feet. It was what looked like a giant metal arrow 
with a rope tied to a loop at one end. 
	Tails identified it. "It's an anchor." 
	They followed the rope upward with their eyes, then gasped in 
wonder.
	The anchor was attached to a full-sized clipper ship with all 
the rigging, suspended thirty feet above their heads. A bit of moving 
about bright the pirate flag into view. There was also another ship, 
higher up. There was an entire second floor up there. "Oh man," Sonic 
exclaimed. "Oh man!"
	They stood and stared at the ceiling until a human boy walked 
up to them, looked at them closely, then walked away, shaking his 
head. Sonic realized how odd they looked and elbowed Tails. "C'mon," 
he murmured, "they think we're nuts."
	"Oh," said Tails said faintly, tearing his eyes away. "I guess 
we do look kind of silly, huh?"
	But as soon as they walked away, a figure leaped from its perch 
on the statue's head and glided, arms outstretched, to the deck of 
the pirate ship. His red fur and white crescent was plainly visible 
from below.
	Knuckles had not seen Sonic and Tails. He was exploring the 
Casino in his own way, climbing walls, dodging anamatrons, watching 
humans play at the gambling tables. He had already had a turn at the 
slot machines and earned ten cents. It wasn't much, but he had felt 
the lure of gambling creeping up on him, so he had left the games to 
look about a bit.
	He could not pinpoint the emerald shard's location. It was in 
the building somewhere, he was sure of it--but where was a mystery. He 
had already checked all the trash bins and cigarette trays, with no 
luck. Now, as he climbed to a precarious perch in the rigging of the 
ship, he gazed down at the crowded lobby with dismay. There were so 
many people, so many places a little fragment could hide! It rather 
stifled him. At least he was alone up on this display.
	"Hey you!" a harsh voice snapped. 
	Knuckles looked about and saw a man in a dark green uniform 
standing on the deck below. 
	"You aren't supposed to be up there! Get down or out you go!"
	The echidna glided neatly to the wide balcony of the second floor 
and landed. The human climbed down after him. "Act up any more and 
you'll find yourself facing the Boss," the security guard growled. 
"Stay off the displays!"
	"All right already!" Knuckles snapped. "I get the picture. I'll 
stay off."
	It wasn't until the guard walked away, however, that the echidna 
noticed the Keep Off signs posted everywhere. 
	Oops.

	* * *

	Sonic and Tails followed a short hall off the lobby and found 
themselves in a lower room, filled with just as many lights, but 
considerably more noise. It didn't take long to figure out that this 
was the kids' casino, where the parents dropped them off. Everywhere 
were kids, playing with the numerous displays and roaring arcade games, 
all talking at the top of their lungs.
	"Hey Tails," Sonic shouted above the bedlam, "you could stay here 
while I go earn some cash."
	"Okay," Tails hollered back, "I'll come find you in a couple 
hours."
	Thus the two parted temporarily.
	Tails walked up to the counter where all the prizes were kept, 
to buy some tokens. He knew how these things worked; every time he won 
a game it spat out tickets. You used the tickets to buy the prizes. The 
more games the more tickets, and the more tickets the better a prize 
you could buy. As the clerk counted out twenty tokens, the fox's sharp 
eyes roamed the prizes, searching for one he would like. There were 
many flashy, albeit cheap, toys under the counter. He looked at the 
back wall. There were bikes, skis, and other sports equipment. As he 
took his tokens, a glint caught his eyes. He looked harder, then 
gasped--mounted on a shelf was the white chaos emerald! His eyes 
flashed to the price--3000 tickets. They must have known what it was 
or it wouldn't be there. Tails made for the skeeball course at a run.

	* * *

	The evening passed in a whirl of colors and lights. Sonic 
immersed himself in the slot machine/card/pinball games. Luck was 
with him that night, for he earned more cash than he spent. It was 
addictive. Even after he had earned enough to buy his shoes and Tails' 
jet anklets, he kept going, telling himself that he would stop after 
the next round, and the next ...
	Knuckles' luck was not as good as Sonic's. He lost thirty-five 
of his seventy dollars at the roulette table. Embarrassed and 
discouraged, he stalked up to a slot machine and kicked it. To his 
surprise, out of the slot poured coins in handfuls, bucketfuls.
	As it turned out, two hundred dollar's worth had been bestowed 
upon him. He placed it in the vault proudly, secretly glad he wouldn't 
have to gamble any more. It made him uncomfortable, somehow.
	Tails played games like a maniac. He soon found which machines 
gave the most tickets, how many points gave how many tickets, etc. He 
wore tickets draped around his neck, carried wads in his palms, 
leaving two fingers free to manipulate game controls, everywhere he 
could possibly carry some.
	Finally his watch beeped. 8:00. Time to take a break and find 
Sonic. First the young fox sat down and counted tickets. He had so 
many this took half an hour, counting by twos as fast as he could,
 but finally found that he had 3048 tickets. Not bad!
	Tails swung by the counter as casually as a walking ticket 
display could and heaped them on it. "I have three thousand forty-
eight tickets," he told the girl behind the counter. 
	"Wow," she said, eyeing the pile, "you worked hard tonight!" 
She took the tickets and put them in a basket on a scale. The screen 
blinked and read, '3045'. Close enough. "What would you like?" she asked.
	Trying to sound casual and bored, Tails pointed to the chaos 
emerald. "That big white diamond."
	She raised an eyebrow at him, but shrugged and took the emerald 
from its shelf, put it in a bag and gave it to him. Tails took it, 
fingers clumsy with excitement. He did it! He had won an emerald! He 
turned to leave, and as an afterthought turned back. "Can I have a 
soda?" He paid for it and departed, sucking at the straw thirstily. 
Now to have Sonic.
	The hedgehog was immersed in a 3-D pinball game when Tails 
finally found him. "Sonic!" he said in greeting.
	Sonic cocked an ear but didn't turn. He was wearing the headpiece 
strapped across his eyes and both hands gripped the flipper controls. 
"Hiya little bro. What's up?"
	"Fine! I won the white emerald!"
	Sonic's head turned toward Tails that time in surprise, and he 
lifted the headpiece from one eye. "You're kidding."
	"Nope! Spent all night doing it! How have you done?"
	Sonic replaced the headpiece. "Got seven hundred in the vault," 
he replied, jerking the paddle controls, "and another hundred scattered 
among the card tables."
	"Cool! Is that enough?"
	"Think so. You ready to go?"
	"Yeah. I'm bushed, and the noise is getting on my nerves."
	"Okay, just a minute."

	* * *

	As Sonic claimed his money, Knuckles climbed up on the base of 
the brass statue in the middle of the room. Now that he had enough 
cash to buy the shovel claws, he was after the emerald fragment. He 
cocked his head as he stood on the base. It was definitely louder here. 
He examined the top of the base, turned up nothing, and began to look at 
the statue itself. There was a large crack in one of its feet, and--was 
it just the light, or was something glowing inside?

	* * *

	Sonic and Tails were just stepping out the doors into the warm, 
quiet night, when from behind them came a colossal cracking sound. 
The two whirled and looked through the glass doors to see the brass 
statue crack, crumble and fall into a huge pile of rubble on the high 
base.

	* * *

	Silence descended on the casino as every eye focused on the 
wreckage. Knuckles stood in the midst of the rubble, visible to 
everyone. He hadn't known it would break when he tried to widen the 
crack a bit. Now he stood, hotly embarrassed, face cherry red, 
wishing he could melt through the floor.
	Security guards converged on the scene.

	* * *

	"Hey, isn't that Knuckles?" Sonic asked, squinting. "I think 
it is!"
	Tails stood beside him, trying to see, the emerald forgotten 
in one hand.
	There was a sudden whirr and a hot rush of exhaust, and the two 
were knocked off the pavement into the street. The gem went flying from 
Tails' hand. The two righted themselves in bewilderment, and found 
themselves facing Robotnik, sitting smugly in his little hovercraft.
	Tails realized his hands were empty and spied the white emerald 
lying on the pavement a few yards away. "The chaos emerald!" the 
exclaimed, diving for it. Sonic followed him, afraid Robotnik would 
see the emerald.
	But alas, they were too late. The hovercraft zipped between Sonic, 
Tails and the emerald. The two nearly smacked into the metal hull. As 
they caught themselves, Robotnik roared, "Oh no you don't!" A purple 
gas sprayed from the vents in the front of the hovercraft, giving the 
hedgehog and fox a lungful. At the same time, a tiny beam appeared 
from the belly of the craft and sucked up the emerald.
	"I feel funny," Tails murmured, reeling to the curb and sitting 
down. Sonic remained standing, watching Robotnik defiantly through 
dimming eyes. "Eggman," he groaned, then toppled slowly to the ground. 
In a moment, Sonic and Tails were both snoring heavily.
	"Fools," Robotnik laughed at them. "Fortunately for you it was 
merely sleeping gas and not one of my compounds! I have a date in the 
hotel ... sleep well!"

			* * *
		Chapter 11: Knuckles and Tikal
			* * *

	Knuckles was clapped in handcuffs and dragged by burly guards 
through a small side door, down a surprisingly dingy hall and into a 
spacious, luxurious office with a roulette table in the corner.
	A human dressed in a black suit and tie was seated at the desk, 
reading a paper which he laid face-down as they entered. He stood. He 
was tall, had shiny black hair, black eyes and a hooked nose. His 
features could have been chiseled out of stone for all the emotion they 
displayed. Knuckles felt himself shrink under the glare of the 
glittering eyes.
	One of the guards barked out Knuckles' crime. The man listened,
 motionless and expressionless, gazing always at the echidna. "What 
should we do with him, boss?" the guard finished.
	Knuckles half expected the Boss to suggest something like a long 
walk off a short pier. Instead, the man deliberately reseated himself, 
waved a hand and drawled, "Throw him in the trash."
	The garbage chute was long, dark and slippery. After a fast slide 
and a short drop, Knuckles found himself on a heap of trash; rotten 
food, greasy paper, empty cups, old beer cans and other nasty things. 
The smell was remarkable in it's potency.
	Knuckles slid off the heap and looked about. He stood in a vast 
circular room full of garbage, chutes entering it every few feet. On 
the far wall was a large closed door, probably where trucks hauled 
away the rubbish. Here and there were a few weak light bulbs, and 
around them clustered every species of fly and gnat ever invented. 
There seemed to be no way out.
	"That guy was a crime lord if I ever saw one," Knuckles said into 
the thick air. "I wonder if I'm supposed to die down here." He had too 
much fight in him for that--he would dig out through a wall.
	Suddenly it dawned on him--the emerald sound was very loud down 
here. Of course--it was in the trash like everything else! The statue 
must be directly overhead. Almost laughing, he moved toward the sound, 
kicked aside a thin layer of trash and picked up a green chunk as big 
as his fist.
	As his fingers curled around it, a small pink ball of light 
appeared out of nowhere and flew right into his face. Thinking it was a 
firefly of some kind, he swatted at it. Then the light dazzled him, and 
he shielded his eyes.
	Just like that he was no longer in the casino. He was standing on 
a high green wall under a blue, cloudless sky. Blinking and bewildered, 
he stared about him. Before him, towering into the sky, was a huge step-
pyramid with large carved stairs running down it's four sides. To the 
left and right of it were other stone buildings, but they were not as 
impressive as the pyramid. Here and there burned great fires, screened 
by trees. Around the great paved foot of the pyramid were echidnas, 
running to and fro, frantically busy.
	"I'm in the past!" Knuckles exclaimed. This was his people in their 
prime, as they had been a thousand years ago. Was it a dream? Could 
they see him? He climbed down the wall to find out.
	As he neared the hurrying echidnas, he saw they were not just 
civilians; these were warriors, strong and heavily built, decorated with 
white warpaint that set off their red or magenta fur. Some wore belts or 
necklaces of jewels and gold. All carried some weapon--spears, bows and 
quivers of arrows, swords. To his shock, some even carried firearms. 
The technology of gunpowder had not been lost, it seemed.
	They could see him. They glared at him, sneered or bared their 
fangs. One advanced up to him--a warrior not much older than himself--
and punched him in the chest with the butt of his spear. Knuckles, 
unprepared, stumbled backward, gasping. The warrior laughed. "Where's 
your armor? Are you afraid to join your betters, or are you too young 
to leave mama?" 
	Breath or no breath, that was an insult. Knuckles landed an 
uppercut that knocked the warrior to the pavement.
	Instantly a ring of onlookers formed around them. The warrior 
leaped to his feet, spear in hand. "Prepare to defend yourself!"
	"I'm gonna give it to you, jerk!" Knuckles snarled, and the fight 
was on.
	Knuckles had not had such a battle since Hyper Sonic. The young 
warrior had all of his peers watching and a reputation to maintain. 
Knuckles had only his honor and possibly his hide to worry about. But 
Knuckles won anyway.
	He stood over the young warrior, spear in hand, the head poised 
just over the warrior's chest. A hush fell over the onlooking crowd. 
Should he kill this upstart to show them he was one of them? He glanced 
at the wall of eyes and realized what he was doing--he was making a name
 for himself among his own ancestors. How foolish could he be?
	Knuckles drove the spear into the ground at the warrior's side and 
turned away. The echidnas parted respectfully to let him pass.
	Knuckles stalked away toward the far side of the pyramid, wiping a 
bit of blood from his lip as he went. Echidnas were every bit as 
argumentative as himself. No wonder they were all warriors.
	Abruptly a thought came to him. Were they preparing for a battle? 
Was that why all the warriors were about? He stopped and looked about him. 
Yes, those fires were burning on altars--pre-war sacrifices. Obviously 
they had stopped worshipping the One God and worshipped the god of 
snakes and chaos. Was the the civilization that had vanished? Maybe 
he could find out.
	A few more minutes of walking brought him to a park-like area 
leading to the front of the pyramid. Standing off at a distance were two 
echidnas, dressed quite differently from the warriors. They seemed to be 
talking. Knuckles approached, at once cautious and curious. 
	It was a young girl echidna, and a tall, old chief. The chief 
had a long scar that ran down the side of his face, and was decked 
with elaborate jewelry and furs. He wore a ceremonial mask, but this 
was shoved back on his head. His face glistened with sweat--it was hot 
under all those clothes. The girl was dressed in the skirt-and-jewel-bedecked 
blouse of a princess, and wore a blue gem in a band around her 
forehead.  She was not very old--perhaps twelve or thirteen. She was 
speaking earnestly as Knuckles approached.
	"Father, killing and stealing isn't right! It will never lead to 
peace! They are our brothers!"
	The chief replied gruffly, "You are a young girl, Tikal. What do 
you know of affairs of state? It is our born right to access the 
palace and all it contains. The guardians have no right to hoard it 
from us. They think that we are outsiders, just because they have 
the Island and we don't."
	"But father," Tikal said, clasping her hands together, "we have 
no right to invade their holy grounds. Can't you just talk to the 
guardian?"
	Knuckles watched and listened to this, pondering. What time 
period was this? What was going on?
	He blinked and looked around. The ancient afternoon had faded 
away, and he was standing on the sidewalk in front of the casino. In 
one hand he held the Master emerald shard. Had it been a dream? And if 
it had, how had he gotten out of the basement?
	His train of thought was interrupted as he noticed two figures 
lying asleep on the asphalt. "Sonic?" he exclaimed, trotting toward them. 
Sonic was lying with his head pillowed against the curb, and Tails was 
lying beside him, curled up in the gutter. Both were snoring softly.
	Knuckles thought of the bar he had seen inside the casino and felt 
immediate disgust. Were they passed-out drunk? He had never thought it 
of them! He whirled on his heel and stalked toward the hotel.
	As an afterthought he detoured and climbed the wide back stairs 
that led to the train station. He needed to return to his island and put 
the fragments back in the Master emerald, but before then, he had a 
little present to buy himself.
	The gift shop was still open, although it would close in an hour. 
A different clerk sat behind the counter, head bent over a novel. He 
looked up as Knuckles approached. "Good evening. What can I do for you?"
	Knuckles tapped the glass case. "I'd like to buy the shovel claws."
He watched with anticipation as the man pulled them from behind the 
counter, tore off the alarm beeper and rang it up. Knuckles paid for 
them proudly, took them and trotted out to the street.
	The claws fit neatly over his knuclaws, the straps lashing across 
his palms. He cinched them tight, walked out to the beach and dug in the 
sand. Boy howdy, were these handy! In four seconds flat he had excavated 
a three foot hole and struck the water under the sand. He kicked dirt 
back over his hole and swung his fists a few times. This would be fun!
	He had left his knapsack with his emeralds in the hotel behind 
the counter for safekeeping. He walked back to the hotel, shoved open 
the doors--
	--and froze. Walking toward the elevators was the round, squat 
figure of Dr. Robotnik. Knuckles had not seen him in several years, but 
there was no mistaking that walk.
	Something glinted in Robotnik's fist. Knuckles blinked; it must be 
one of the Master emerald fragments. No doubt the doctor had gotten wind 
of the Floating Island's crash and was after the shards, just like last 
time.

			* * *
		Chapter 12: Shadows of Dark Creatures
			* * *

	The doctor stepped into the elevator and the doors closed behind 
him. Knuckles stalked up and watched the floor lights blink up to 3, 
then jumped into the other elevator.
	The third floor was the hotel's restaurant, and it was quite busy. 
Knuckles looked about the elegant room and tables, and spied his 
quarry striding toward a large stage in the center of the room. 
Knuckles hurried after him.
	The stage was used for plays and orchestra productions, but at 
the present it was empty. A perfect place for a confrontation. 
"Robotnik!" Knuckles barked.
	The doctor turned and regarded the echidna coolly. "Well, hello 
Knuckles! How nice to see you again."
	"Cut the pleasantries," Knuckles growled. "Hand over the 
emerald piece."
	"Oh," said Robotnik innocently, "this isn't what you're after." 
He held up the white chaos emerald, recently stolen from Tails.
	Knuckles looked at it in surprise and realized for the first time 
he could hear no ring coming from it. "Uh, I guess you're right." 'Not 
what you're after'? How did Robotnik know what he was looking for?
	"That's okay, though," the doctor said, turning away. "I can use 
you as a guinea pig to test it. Chaos, come forth!"
	As an astonished Knuckles watched, a large puddle seeped up 
through the bricks and formed into the same creature who had smashed 
the Master Emerald. This time, his right arm was much thicker and had 
a cartilaginous skeleton inside it. He glared at the echidna with his 
blank green eyes as Robotnik said, "Here's a snack, Chaos!" He tossed 
the white gem at the monster. Chaos lifted a hand and caught it, then 
promptly melted into a puddle. A few seconds later he re-emerged, this 
time with both arms reinforced. His head was now out and down on a 
thickened neck, and his horns, which had before extended down his back, 
stuck out to the sides, like the head of a hammerhead shark.
	"Bravo my friend!" Robotnik applauded. (His applause was echoed by 
the patrons of the restaurant outside the stage, who thought it was 
some sort of skit.)
	"Huh!" Knuckles snorted at the monster. "Changing shape won't 
scare me! I'll bet you're not so tough."
	"Sic him, Chaos," Robotnik replied, and promptly backed off the 
stage. It was just the echidna and the beast.
	Chaos 2 stumped forward on his short legs, a hot pink light 
encircling his brain, visible through his watery flesh. Knuckles circled 
the stage, on his guard and wondering if the shovel claws could be used 
as weapons. It looked like he would get the chance to find out. Chaos 
turned with him, green eyes always following his prey. Suddenly he 
stopped, whirled in a half circle and whipped out with one arm. It 
stretched fifteen feet in a curve toward Knuckles, the three fingers 
glowing with the hot pink energy of the brain. Knuckles ducked it and 
ran at Chaos, who remained with his arm out for a moment. Knuckles 
aimed a terrific punch at the monster's big head, and his claws splashed 
though his forehead and struck the glowing brain.
	The energy that held the water in the beast's shape gave out, 
and Chaos melted into a wide puddle. Knuckles leaped and glided to a 
dry spot a few feet away. The water had a greasy, unwholesome feel.
	Chaos slowly pulled his molecules back together and re-formed 
into his original shape. Knuckles, aiming for another hit at his head, 
dashed forward and punched. This time Chaos blocked the blow with 
upflung arms. Knux retreated out of reach, and the beast growled, a 
sort of, "Grr-un!"
	"Ha!" Knuckles replied. "You're not as strong as Doc makes you 
out to be!"
	The monster blew himself up like a ball, his shape melting into 
a huge sphere of water full of bubbles, with his two emeralds floating 
above him. He began to bounce in slow motion, each blow sending out a 
small shockwave of electricity. "Pitiful!" Knuckles snorted. He leaped 
and shoved the ball with all his strength. It smacked into the ceiling 
and fell to the floor, not quite losing its shape, and shrank back 
into Chaos. Again he growled at Knuckles, and Knuckles growled back 
mockingly.
	Another lashing arm. The echidna dodged and homed in for another 
blow to the head. This time Chaos did not have enough energy to reform 
himself. He socked into the floor and vanished, although the chaos 
emeralds remained floating in the air, showing he was nearby.
	Knuckles was surprised by a round of applause and a few whistles. 
He looked about and saw that everyone in the restaurant had been 
watching his fight. Some people were even standing beside their chairs 
to see better.
	Robotnik stepped back up on the stage. "Chaos' strength is not 
yet perfected," he told the echidna. "So what if you defeated him now? 
Soon he will be unstoppable."
	"Yeah?" Knuckles said with a smirk, flicking water off his 
shovelclaws. "That still doesn't faze me, you hear?"
	Robotnik turned and began to stride away. "I know something that 
might," he said over his shoulder. "It's about Sonic."
	"What about Sonic?" Knuckles asked.
	Robotnik stopped and turned. "He's after the pieces of your 
emerald, too."
	"Now, why would Sonic be after the Master emerald?" Knuckles 
asked, eyes narrowing. He didn't know what was harder to believe--that 
Sonic was against him, or that Robotnik was telling the truth.
	"Listen, fool," Robotnik said, beginning to sound irritated. 
"You're not the only one on a wild goose chase. Sonic knows about the 
power of the Master emerald. He wants it for himself; to battle my 
little pet, of course." This was followed by a ghastly grin.
	"I don't believe it!" Knuckles exclaimed, although the tone of 
his voice proclaimed almost the opposite.
	"Belive it," Robotnik affirmed. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have 
some business to attend to." He tuned and made for the elevators. 
Knuckles let him go. The story was almost believable ... Sonic COULD 
be after more power to help him defeat Chaos. That aspect didn't bother 
Knuckles too much--Chaos was an evil beast who meant nothing but harm. 
But for Sonic to be after the Master emerald shards without asking ...
	Knuckles retrieved his knapsack from the lobby, bought himself a 
ticket for the midnight train and returned to his island for the night. 
Tikal, Chaos and Sonic were a bit too much to handle all at once. He 
would return tomorrow.

	* * *

	Sonic awoke to a world of ghostly shapes and white mist. He sat 
up stiffly and shivered. Where in the world was he? He was freezing 
cold, and water had condensed on his fur, soaking him. He stood and 
looked about. After a few minutes he remembered the casino, Robotnik 
stealing the emerald, being gassed. He and Tails must have slept out 
all night. So they were still in Station Square, on a foggy morning.
	He looked about for Tails and realized for the first time the 
fox was gone. His stomach lurched. What if Robotnik had kidnapped 
him? What if Chaos had come along while they were asleep and ...
	His fears were assuaged by a familiar voice calling, "G'morning,
Sonic!" The hedgehog turned to see Tails come walking out of the mist 
with a Styrofoam cup in either hand. He handed one to Sonic and 
warned, "Be careful, it's hot."
	"What is it?" Sonic asked, popping open the lid and sniffing 
the steam.
	"Hot chocolate," Tails replied.
	The two stood on the damp sidewalk, sipping the rich, dark 
liquid and feeling the warmth spread through them. "Oh, that's good," 
Sonic sighed, wiping his mouth. "How you feel this morning?"
	"Not bad, considering I got my emerald stolen right off the bat." 
Tails's blue eyes flashed in fury.
	"At least the other one's safe," Sonic said, thinking of the 
emerald hidden in the hanger in the jungle. "Eggman must really be 
desperate." He blew a cloud of haze into the chilly air. "I feel 
better now. Let's go get breakfast and figure out a battle plan 
for today."
	The two read tourist brochures over a large breakfast of 
syrup-soaked waffles, with bacon and eggs on the side. The two decided 
unanimously to spend the day in the snow-capped mountains, checking for 
chaos emeralds, and come back that evening to go to Twinkle Park.
	Sonic found a newspaper lying on the next table and read Tails 
the headlines: "Killer Whale Smashes Docks." :Tornado Demolishes Wind 
Power System." "Hedgehog Foils Monster."
	"That's us yesterday," Sonic grinned. "Windy Valley. More like 
Tornado Alley!"
	It was not until the two had bought tickets for the mountain-bound 
train that Sonic remembered the reason for their extra cash. He winked 
at Tails, and the two moseyed in the direction of the gift shop.
	The clerk from the day before was there, and greeted them as they 
entered the store. "Hello there! Come to claim your shoes?" Sonic 
grinned and nodded.
	Tails put in, "I'd like the anklets, too."
	"All right, just a minute." The clerk vanished into the back 
room for a moment, and returned with a shoebox in one hand. This he 
gave to Sonic, and to Tails he gave the anklets.
	Sonic lifted the lid from the shoebox and breathed the fresh odor 
of clean leather. He pulled aside the layer of crinkly tissue paper and 
lifted out the red sneakers. Their lining was soft and smooth to the 
touch. He removed his dusty, faded shoes and slipped his hot feet into 
the new pair. They were cool inside, and conformed to the contours of 
his feet with comfortable precision. He pulled the tongues tight and 
latched the whit straps, then stood. The heels were perhaps a quarter 
of an inch higher than his old shoes, and a hair heavier. The large 
yellow air chambers in the heels were a nice touch, as well. He walked 
about the gift shop, admiring his feet in a tilted mirror along the 
wall. The crimson and white were fresh and clean compared to his old 
shoes--he hadn't realized how dirty they were. His new shoes felt so 
good he couldn't wait to get out and run. 
	Meanwhile, Tails had clamped the anklets to his heels. He paced 
about the shop a few times, trying to figure out how to activate them, 
then as an afterthought picked up the instruction sheet. It turned out 
that the insides of the anklets had a small switch. All he must do was 
slap his feet together to turn them on. He did. His feet shot forward 
with a whoosh and he landed hard on his tails.
	"Whoa, whoa, not in here!" the clerk warned.
	Tails swiftly shut them off. "Sorry," he said, blushing to the 
ears under his fur. "Sonic, got the money?"
	"Right here." The hedgehog had already dished out his hard-earned 
cash. The total came to 650 dollars, which left them with fifty dollars, 
plus the modest amount Sonic and Tails had brought from home.
	"Not bad," Sonic commented as they left the store. "Let me put 
my old shoes back in my room, and we'll run around a bit. We got an 
hour before the train gets here."
	The beach in front of the Sunset Resort witness quite a show as 
the two played in the slowly clearing fig and learned about their toys 
at the same time. Tails decided it was best not to activate his 
anklets at all while running, as he inevitably fell over backward. 
Flying was another matter--he could fly as fast as Sonic could run, 
which was really something.
	Sonic could find nothing special about his sneakers at first. 
If anything, their extra weight slowed him down. But a chance spindash 
revealed what those special heels were really for; a spindash created a 
tremendous amount of energy, which was captured in his shoes. This was 
released in the form of a speeding dash that was dangerous in its 
strength. "Awesome!" he announced to Tails. "Watch this!" He promptly 
dashed himself into a palm tree that was hidden by the fog. "Good going, 
graceful!" Tails called.
	A train whistle drew them back to the station. This train was bound 
for the White Tip Mountains, directly east of the city. The ride was two 
hours long, and once they stopped to take on an extra engine. Then up 
they went, puffing up the mountain in a series of switchbacks and 
tunnels. The passengers found their ears popping from the ascent.
	Gradually it grew colder, and patches of dirty snow appeared in 
the shade of the evergreen trees. Tails spied more snow on the north 
side of a ridge above them. Then they plunged into a black tunnel. For 
half an hour they could see nothing but the inside of the train, hear 
nothing but the amplified train noise around them. They began to climb 
steeply.
	Suddenly they popped into brilliant sunlight. "Wow!" Sonic 
exclaimed, gluing his nose to the window. There were ascending a steep 
mountainside, and all about them was snow and rock. "Wow!" Tails echoed, 
pressing his face to the window as well. "Look up there! A skilift!" 
Sure enough, in the distance rose a line of what looked like telephone 
poles with tiny chairs suspended from the wires. "Sonic, can we ski?" 
Tails exclaimed.
	"Sure, if they have a rental place," Sonic replied. "I haven't 
skied in years--or snowboarded. Yeah, that's what I'M gonna do." He 
chuckled in anticipation.
	At last the train pulled into the station and the attendants
opened the doors. Sonic and Tails charged out. It was not terribly 
cold--perhaps thirty-five degrees Fahrenheit, and the sun was shining. 
Sonic drew a deep breath of the thin air and blew it out in steam. 
"C'mon, let's find the lodge!"
	"Weren't we gonna look for emeralds?"
	"Sure, but we're gonna need boards to do that. C'mon!" The 
hedgehog led the way off the wooden platform, along an icy path and up 
the hill toward a sprawling, snow-roofed building with smoke rising from 
its chimney.
	All-morning lift-tickets were 10 bucks apiece, and equipment 
rentals were another twenty. "This had better be worth it," Sonic 
grumbled as he shelled out his remaining cash. "Sixty bucks! Outrageous!" 
	"No kidding," Tails muttered. "This'll break us if we're not 
careful."
	They hung their lift tickets around their necks, then picked 
out their equipment. Sonic selected a bright yellow snowboard with red 
and blue designs on it. Tails picked out a pair of sparkly silver 
ski-boots and silver skis. Then the two headed for the hills.
	Just below the lodge was the 'bunny hill', where all the rookies 
learned to ski and ride the lift. There were lots of kids and 
instructors, and once in a while an expert would skim by like a 
low-flying bird. Sonic tore down pell-mell on his board, nearly mowing 
down two struggling youngsters. Tails began at a gentler pace, half 
afraid he had forgotten how to ski. To his relief it all returned as 
soon as he began to descend. Before long he was 'stemming Christy' 
like a veteran, relishing the creak of the snow beneath his skis.
	Sonic, scorning the bunny hill lift, went on down the mountain in 
search of the expert runs. He fell several times on the slope, as is the 
way with armature snowboarders, but fortunately Tails was too far behind 
to make snide comments. Sonic was up and waiting at a big lift when his 
sidekick finally showed up, panting and snow-flecked.
	The lift was the tripe-chair kind, and the two rode up with a 
human skier. It turned out his name was Jeff and he worked as a ski 
instructor. They talked about skiing, snowboarding, the disagreeable 
icy crust on the snow and which runs were the most challenging. "I'd 
advise you don't go down the south side of the mountain," he told them 
as they neared the top. "All of those are black diamond expert runs, 
and they get really dangerous in the afternoons, when the sun has been 
on them all day. Avalanche trouble." Then they were at the top. Jeff 
glided away down the hill and they didn't see him again.
	They played all morning, Chaos and Robotnik driven clean out of 
their heads. They stopped for hot chocolate at eleven-thirty, then 
decided to ski one more slope before their lift tickets expired. Sonic 
made for the black diamond runs on the southern slopes. Tails, of course, 
went with him.
	The air was unusually warm and still, they noticed. The run was 
in the bottom of a canyon most of the way down, then passed through an 
icy tunnel and emerged in a wide, rocky slope. "This is the longest 
one, according to the map," Sonic remarked as they stood at the top, 
gazing down. "We'll have quite a ride."
	"I don't like the way it feels," Tails replied dubiously, 
shifting a little on his skis. "I'll bet we start an avalanche or 
something."
	"Ah, don't be such a scaredy fox!" Sonic scoffed. "Nothing'll 
happen. Last one down is a rotten eggman!" He leaped off the edge with 
a "Yee-ha!" Tails hesitated a split second, then followed.
	The small pressure of their passing dislodged a few crumbs of 
snow that rolled down the slope a little way. These knocked loose 
bigger chucks, which tore loose slabs, which launched half the 
mountainside downhill.
	Sonic heard an odd rumbling behind him and looked over his 
shoulder. His yell of fearful surprise alerted Tails, and the two began 
to pour on the speed like never before.
	The slope was nearly vertical in places, and panicked skiers and 
snowboarders could achieve extreme speeds in seconds. This they did, 
tearing down the mountain with the avalanche consuming all at their 
heels. The thunder of the falling snow and rock filled the canyon, 
shaking the snow beneath their feet.
	Ahead the run vanished into a wide blue tunnel. "Don't stop, 
Tails!" Sonic yelled. "C'mon! C'mon!" They plunged into icy dimness. 
The snow was frozen into ice, and they could get little traction. The 
two simply slid down it, trying to avoid the walls and stay erect. The 
tunnel was long and straight, but such was their speed they shot 
through it in perhaps ten seconds.
	Blinding sun on white snow. Sonic cast a glance over his shoulder 
and realized the avalanche had stopped at the tunnel mouth. "Whoo-hoo, 
we made it!" he whooped to Tails. "Race ya!"
	"What do you think I've been doing?" Tails yelled back.
	Now the danger was past and the canyon had receded into an open 
slope dotted with rocks and trees, they began to play. They pulled 280s 
off rocks and 360s off small cliffs, wherever they could manage a jump. 
"Nah nah, I'll beat you down!" Tails yelled, leaping into the air and 
spinning his tails. His momentum shot him away down the hill. 
"Cheater!" Sonic yelled after him, cutting a long curve in the white 
crust.
	Suddenly, from out of nowhere it seemed, a squadron of small 
fighter planes appeared, swept low over the hillside and dropped a 
curtain of bombs. Sonic and Tails were travelling so fast they barely 
glimpsed the jets, and the bombs and explosions missed by a mile.
	"What the heck was THAT?" Sonic hollered, not daring to look 
back at his speed. 
	"I donno!" Tails yelled back. "We're almost to the bottom. Hey--!" 
The fox's ski snagged on something and threw Tails completely off his 
feet. He fell and rolled in a cloud of snow, skis and tails flying. 
Twenty feet later he came to a stop, lying stunned on his back.
	Sonic swept by him, turned his board sideways and grated to a 
stop. He unlatched one foot and hopped back up the hill, toward his 
sidekick.
	Tails sat up and brushed the snow from his fur. He had lost
 both his poles, and both skis had come off. One ski was a good ways 
down the slope, near Sonic, and the other was up the hill where he 
had snagged it. Tails stood in his cramped boots and trudged up the 
hill to recover his gear.
	"You okay?" Sonic called.
	"Yeah," Tails called back. "Can you grab my ski?"
	"Sure."
	It was very quiet and still now that they had stopped. The only 
sound was their feet crunching in the snow and their panting breath. 
Tails wondered why ski boots were so comfortable while skiing and so 
uncomfortable while walking. Now that he had time to notice it, his 
feet were freezing. His entire front half was freezing from the wind of 
speed, and tingled with his racing blood. He grabbed up one pole and 
used it to climb with, then the other. Now only his ski ... It appeared 
to be caught on a rock of some kind. He lifted his ski clumsily and 
kicked the rock. To his surprise it came loose and rolled a few feet. 
A green, shimmering rock.
	Sonic thought Tails had been shot from the way he yelled. Sonic 
jumped and looked toward his sidekick to see Tails dance around, waving 
his poles and yelling incoherently. "Tails, what's wrong?" Sonic exclaimed.
	The fox ran and stumbled down the hill toward him. "An emerald! 
An emerald!" he was gasping. "I tripped over it! Look!" He thrust it 
into Sonic's hands.
	Sonic stared. "It's the green chaos emerald, all right! Whoa! 
What luck!" He tilted it, letting the multiple facets of the gem catch 
the sunlight.
	"Do you think those planes knew this was here?" Sonic said 
abruptly, gazing up the mountain toward where the bombers had gone. 
Tails turned and looked uphill apprehensively. "Eggman," the two 
murmured.
	A moment later the two had re-donned their gear and were flying 
down the slope. No more fun and games--they expected at any moment to 
be attacked by a certain hovercraft.
	But at last they reached the bottom of the mountain, and nothing 
had happened. Sonic breathed a sigh of relief as they hitched a ride on 
the lift for the last time that day. "Well, we got an emerald," he told 
his sidekick. "Now let's go get lunch and see when Twinkle Park opens."
	"Sounds good to me," Tails agreed. "I wonder what those fighters 
were for?"
	They puzzled over it as the lift bore them upward, through trees, 
over rocks and snow, and at last to the lodge at the top. Neither had 
any real ideas, other than maybe Robotnik had taken a potshot at them. 
(Or Metal Sonic, perhaps.)
	They turned in their skis and tickets, picked up their shoes and 
headed for the train station. "Boy, I'm froze," Tails said, folding his 
arms and shivering. "I'm all wet from falling down."
	"It'll be warm on the train," Sonic assured him. "Just a second. 
Our tickets were two-way." He left Tails standing in the sun and walked 
away toward the ticket booths. Tails waited, wondering if his wet fur 
would smell on the train as it dried.
	Sonic returned, an odd look on his face. "Um, Tails," he said, 
"the train's on strike."
	Tails stared at him. "What did you say?"
	"The train's on strike," Sonic repeated, as if he couldn't believe 
it himself. "Just started a couple hours ago. Nobody's gonna work until 
they get higher wages and better conditions." He stamped a foot 
resoundingly on the wooden platform. "What about US, those jerks? What 
about all the other people who need the trains to get around?"
	Tails turned and looked down the empty tracks. "How're we gonna 
get back to Station Square?"
	"Walk, I guess," Sonic replied. "Mystic Ruins is closer, though." 
He jerked a thumb in the direction of a beaten path curving away into 
the trees. "People are supposed to hike up here all the time. We'll 
take the trail."
	They headed down the mountain without ado. Tails, wanting to warm 
himself somehow, airlifted Sonic and activated his anklets. The two 
shot down the mountain, Sonic whooping with delight. After several 
minutes Tails landed to catch his breath, then did it again.
	Thus they made it back to Mystic Ruins at one-thirty in the 
afternoon. The trail approached it from the south, so the two swung by 
the hanger and had a late lunch before going any further.
	Sonic pulled out the chaos emeralds, red and green, and looked at 
them as he ate. "Haven't seen these suckers in years," he muttered. 
"Tails, I got an idea. How about we show these to those explorer guys 
and see if they've found any?"
	"Okay," Tails replied. "But when you're done, I'm gonna put 'em 
in my plane, and we'll fly back to Station Square."
	"Cool."
	The leader of the Mystic Ruins group was busy working on a small 
cart on tracks that wound into a cave in the mountainside. He looked at 
the emeralds and shook his head--he hadn't seen any gems like that. 
Sonic thanked him, shrugged at Tails and turned to return to the hanger.
	Barring their way was Knuckles.
	The echidna had been up since dawn, wandering in the bottoms of 
the Windy Valley canyon. The canyon, at its far end, broke into stands 
of rock, pillars and cliffs, some of which spouted fire and sulphur. 
For this reason the area was known collectively as Red Mountain. The 
wind tore through it at vicious speeds, and there were only a few of 
the biggest windmills here and there, all turning steadily. Knuckles 
had fought the wind, gliding from clifftop to clifftop, watching hawks 
soaring above him and wishing he could hover like they could. He 
recovered a grand total of four small fragments in the course of the 
day. Weary and beginning to despair of ever repairing the Master emerald, 
he glided back to Mystic Ruins, heard voices--
	--And saw Sonic with something green glinting in his hands.
	Dr. Robotnik's words returned to Knuckles in a rush. "He's after 
the pieces of your emerald, too." The echidna harbored just enough 
suspicion in his heart to believe it.
	"Knuckles!" Sonic exclaimed, forgetting all about the emeralds 
in his hands. "Man, it's good to see you again! How are you?"
	The echidna leaped forward and swung a fist that would have laid 
the hedgehog out if it had connected. Sonic dodged and retreated a few 
steps, wary once again. "What's up, Knux? Something bugging you?" His 
eyes lingered a second on the gleaming shovel claws. He had better watch
out for those. Too bad he couldn't show his former friend his shoes.
	"No time to explain, Sonic," Knuckles growled. "Hand over the 
emeralds you have, right now!"
	Sonic was instantly on the defensive. He and Tails had worked 
hard for those. "I'd like to see you take 'em!" he challenged.
	A battle ensued. Tails stood back and watched, half wanting to 
join in and half wanting to hide. Sonic spindashed, leaped, ducked and 
dodged, biting his tongue against the insults that rose to mind. To 
taunt an already angry Knuckles was to welcome still more punishment. 
Knuckles struck at Sonic again and again, aiming his blows at the 
hedgehog's head and hands. Although riled, his mind was clear. In the 
bottom his his heart he had no wish to hurt the hedgehog--at least not 
seriously. But if Sonic wouldn't relinquish his handful of shards, then 
he must be pounded until he did.
	A cruise-missile punch and a spindash connected, and both opponents 
his the ground, stunned. The emeralds flew from Sonic's hands and 
bounced to a stop several feet away. Tails ran to pick them up, was 
something struck him in the back and knocked him sprawling. He lifted 
his head and saw with horrified anger that Robotnik, in his little 
hovercraft, had knocked him down and was picking up the emeralds with 
a small tractor beam.
	Tails leaped to his feet. Sonic and Knuckles were climbing 
groggily to their feet, blinking at Robotnik in disbelief.
	"Like taking candy from a baby!" Robotnik laughed cruelly, holding 
aloft an emerald in either hand. "You three performed wonderfully! It's 
a good thing for me you're so gullible."
	Sonic looked at Knuckles, mouth open. "Don't tell me he tricked 
you again!"
	"Me?" Knuckles exclaimed angrily. He saw plainly that Sonic had 
only had two chaos emeralds and not Master emerald fragments at all, 
and felt rather ashamed. "What about YOU?"
	"Way to go, Knucklehead," Sonic said sarcastically.
	"You're all idiots," Robotnik chuckled. "Looks like we shall have a 
bit of fun here in a moment. Here Chaos, here boy!"
	Sonic, Tails and Knuckles watched with disgust as a huge puddle 
seeped out of the grass, rose and solidified into Chaos, both arms 
reinforced, head down and eyes glaring. "Time to eat, Chaos!" Robotnik 
called, and tossed them emeralds to the monster. Chaos caught them in 
his hands, then melted into a puddle. Slowly more water was pulled out 
of the ground, deepening and widening the size of the small puddle. Then 
Chaos rose again and congealed.
	"Look, he's changed again!" Tails cried.
	"Nobody ever cuts us any slack," Sonic agreed.
	Chaos was now a fifteen-foot shark with a knife-like tail-fin. 
He stared at them for a second with eyes that had more shape and depth 
than before, then leaped away on his fins and plunged into the nearby 
pond at the foot of the cliffs.
	"Just you watch, Eggman!" Sonic yelled, shaking a fist. "We'll 
beat him! C'mon Tails, we'll whup that sorry fish!" He wheeled and 
pelted for the pond, Tails hot on his heels. Knuckles stood and watched 
them go, undecided whether to help them or walk away.
	"Don't worry," said Robotnik's voice close at hand. Knuckles 
jumped--he had forgotten about him. "After Chaos has four emeralds in 
him," Robotnik continued, "he can devour flesh. You need not worry 
about those pests again."
	Knuckles gave him a fiery look. "Eggman," he spat, deciding that 
it was a good nickname after all. "I ain't no coward."
	"Then why are you cowering back here while Sonic and Tails give 
Chaos battle?" Robotnik sneered.
	Chaos 4 found the pond only a feet feet deep, but as Sonic and Tails 
were up to their necks in several places, he decided it was deep enough. 
	The surface of the pond was covered with a mat of lilypads and 
slime, and Chaos could swim beneath it without a ripple. He preferred to 
come up behind the hedgehog and try to knock him senseless with a furious 
tail-slap. The fox he simply ignored, deciding him neutral.
	Sonic leaped clear of a lashing tail, gave a yell and spindashed 
at Chaos. There was a huge splash, and Sonic found himself standing in 
muddy water up to his waist. "Missed!" he exclaimed. 
	Tails leaped into the air and looked into the pond from above. 
"There he is!" he yelled, pointing to a far corner of the pond. Without 
waiting for Sonic, the youngster dropped and lashed the water with his 
tails. He felt them connect with something solid, then was thrown 
backward as the water beneath him exploded upward. Chaos' head appeared 
above the water--the disturbed water was too murky for even his eyes.
	"Hit his brain!" someone yelled. "Now! Now!"
	Sonic leaped into the air, spun himself and crashed into the 
beast's forehead. His whirling spines struck the glowing brain, and 
Chaos' form vanished with a mighty splash.
	Knuckles landed on the muddy bank nearby. "He loses energy when 
you hit his brain!" the echidna called. "Watch out, here he comes 
again!"
	Sonic whirled in time to duck a fearsome blow that would have 
split his skull. He dove across the pond, panting, hoping to get enough 
space to turn and attack again, but Chaos snarled and gave chase, 
moving through the water with the swift grace of a manta ray. Tails and 
Knuckles leaped into the fray.
	Tails struck another glancing blow, attracting the monster's 
attention momentarily. Chaos reared himself out of the water, brain 
glowing so brightly he seemed to radiate light from his whole body. 
Tails cowered down, momentarily unable to think of what to do. Suddenly 
Knuckles leaped between the terrified fox and Chaos. "Back off!" he 
yelled, and dealt the monster an uppercut that splashed through the 
lower jaw and upwards into the brain. Again Chaos melted.
	"Way to go, Knux!" Sonic applauded from across the pond.
	"Don't look now," Knuckles replied, "but now he's after me. Get 
him, you two!" The echidna leaped and glided across the pond, a pink 
blur following almost in his shadow. Sonic and Tails gave chase.
	It was a strange picture they made. The three appeared to be 
yelling, jumping and splashing in some sort of game. "Tag, maybe?" one 
human asked his companion as they gazed down at the pond. They watched 
as the three bounded, splashed, fell and got up again, yelling 
incoherently all the while. The second human shrugged and circled his 
ear with one finger. "Mobians. They're nutty. C'mon, let's go."
	Tails dealt the last blow, finally landing one to the head as 
Chaos was about to pounce on Knuckles. The monster melted for the last 
time and sank from view.
	The three stood up to their knees in muddy water, mud-splattered 
and dripping, but triumphant. "We did it!" Sonic whooped suddenly. "We 
whupped that lousy shark!" The three cheered wildly, and Sonic led the 
way in climbing out of the water and swaggering up to Robotnik's ship.
	"I think you picked the wrong critter for a weapon, Eggman," 
Sonic told him. "I've had more challenge fighting you!" He punctuated 
this with a scornful, "Ha!"
	Without warning the sun vanished, as if it had been snuffed out 
by a cloud. The three looked up at the sky and gasped, momentarily 
stunned. Floating overhead and seeming to fill the sky was a monstrous 
aircraft. It was shaped like no machine they had ever seen, but it had 
Robotnik's style written all over it. Aside from a quiet rumble of 
engines, it made no sound.
	"Behold my floating masterpiece, the Egg Carrier!" Robotnik 
said grandly, encompassing the craft with a sweep of an arm. "It is 
incredibly powerful, but it pales in comparison to the power of Chaos." 
As he spoke, a bright turquoise beam appeared from the ship high above 
and lifted his hovercraft into the sky. "Adieu, until we meet again, my 
friends!" he laughed, then vanished into the ship above. At once the 
beam shifted to the pond and lifted several hundred gallons of water 
out of it. This, too, was pulled into the Egg Carrier. Obviously 
Robotnik was taking Chaos with him.
	As they watched, the ship slowly turned and crept in the direction 
of Sapphire Bay, accelerating until it was out of sight.
	"Tails," Sonic said, breaking the silence, "go warm up your 
plane! We won't let him get away that easy!"
	"Right!" the fox replied, eyes brightening with hope. "No, not 
the Tornado," he taught to himself as he pelted for the hanger. "I 
want to try out Mac's other plane first. Good thing I hid the Tornado ... 
Sonic hasn't seen it yet ..."
	Sonic started after Tails, but was stopped as Knuckles spoke his 
name. He paused and turned back. Knuckles slowly approached, eyes 
downcast. "Sonic, I want to apologize. I shouldn't have thrown you off
 my island that day, but it's a long story and there's not time now." 
The echidna looked into his friend's face and saw the quiet joy in his 
eyes. "Do you think they'll let me rejoin the Freedom Fighters?"
	"Knux," Sonic said, placing a hand on his shoulder, "we've missed 
you so much its pathetic. Of COURSE you can come back! The sooner the 
better. Really, as far as I'm concerned, you were back in when you 
pitched in to Chaos." He slapped the echidna's shoulder. "Now, I gotta 
go."
	"Have fun," Knuckles said as Sonic turned to run. "I have some 
unfinished business of my own."
	Tails was just opening the hanger doors as Sonic jogged up. "Wait 
here a minute, Sonic," the fox said, slipping inside. Sonic waited 
obediently, gazing at the dirt strip in front of the hanger and wondering 
if it were possible to take off in the rain, when it was a sea of mud. 
The minutes ticked by. Sonic tapped his foot idly. Every minute the 
Egg Carrier was getting further away. Where WAS that kid? He started 
forward, intending to find him--
	--and was stopped as the ground beneath his feet jolted. Before 
him the dirt strip split down the center and slid apart, revealing a 
painted asphalt runway beneath that lifted to the level of the ground 
and locked. At the same time, the scattered palm trees tilted sideways, 
leaning away from the runway, turned by underground machinery. Sonic 
watched, agape.
	The double doors slid open, and a red and white bi-plane emerged 
from the hanger, Tails seated proudly in the cockpit. "Hop on, Sonic!" 
he called as he taxied onto the runway. Sonic, still amazed but 
recovering, leaped lightly onto the tail section and sat down. There 
was no space for wing-riding on this plane.
	Tails revved the engines, took off down the runway to gain speed, 
then pulled up the plane's nose. The black expanse of runway flashed 
by beneath the wings, then it was gone and there was only blue space. 
Sonic's head was snapped back as they ascended, but he managed to 
retain his balance. "Hang on, Sonic!" Tails yelled. "We're outta here!"
	"I don't have anything to hang on to!" Sonic called forward 
against the wind.
	"I can fix that," Tail replied, pressing a button.
	A panel opened just in front of Sonic, and up popped an 
anti-aircraft machine gun. "Extra rounds are looped around the base!" 
the fox yelled as Sonic grabbed the gun's stock. "Make 'em count! We 
don't have many!"
	"This ain't gonna be like chasing Wing Fortress," Sonic called. 
"We'll do him some damage this time!"
	By this time Tails had circled and gained five thousand feet. 
Deciding it was enough for the time being, he set his course for 
Sapphire Bay in pursuit of the big ship.

	* * *
	part 2
	* * *

	Robotnik strode out of the entrance hall, still chuckling to 
himself. Behind him came Chaos 4, waddling on all fours like a lizard. 
The doctor entered an elevator, called Chaos to come in with him and 
rode the lift down to the belly of the ship, just behind the rear 
engines. "Welcome to the Hot Shelter," he said to his pet. "Make yourself 
at home.
	It was his first mistake. Chaos' green eyes took in the vast tanks 
of tropical fish and underwater plants, and into the monster's head 
entered the first inkling that his master had no love of the sea. Why 
else would he imprison these fish on board his flying city? Slowly 
Chaos moved to the biggest tank, then melted, poured up the glass and 
into the tank. "Enjoy yourself," Robotnik said, grinning at the 
formless eyes that now looked out at him. Chuckling, he strode back to 
the lift.
	Metal Sonic met him as he stepped out at the top. "All Carrier 
systems are on-line," the robot said, falling into step beside his 
master. "E-Zero has captured another dozen small birds for use in units. 
They are in holding bay four. I have begun re-construction of E-101 
Beta in construction bay fifteen."
	"You have been busy," Robotnik said approvingly. "Good job."
	"Thank you, sir," Mecha purred. He rarely received praise for 
his work and appreciated it. Another item in his memory list came to 
the top. "Oh, and sir ..."
	"Yes?"
	"There is ... ah ... a visitor to see you."
	Robotnik stopped and looked at the robot from under one raised 
eyebrow. "A visitor? Not an enemy?"
	"No ... she is not an enemy. She came on board shortly before 
takeoff, claiming she desired your assistance."
	"What species?"
	Mecha hesitated. "Mobian."
	"Yes, but what kind?"
	"I'm not sure, sir. My databanks do not contain her ... species." 
He pronounced the last word as if reluctant to use it. "She is in the 
main hall."
	"Armed?" asked Robotnik, turning aside to take another lift to the 
main hall in the top floor of the ship. Mecha entered it with him. "I 
don't believe so, but I shall accompany you just in case."
	They stepped out of the elevator. Robotnik glared about the grand 
room for this 'visitor' and spotted a dark creature seated on a bench 
in the corner. He strode up to her.
	It was what appeared to be a female anteater. Her fur was such a 
deep brown it was nearly black, but matted with mud and grime. She wore 
no shoes, and her hands and feet were sharply clawed. A single orange 
stripe traced down her forehead to the top of her nose. What was left 
of her clothing hung about her in rags. Her left arm hung at her side, 
useless, fingers curled into claws. Her left knee had no fur on it at 
all, and underneath was exposed a robotic knee joint, complete with 
bolts and wires.
	She looked up and asked quietly, "Are you Doctor Robotnik?"
	"Yes," he replied. "What do you want?"
	"Your help, if you please," she said. "I am an android in desperate 
need of repair. I have journeyed far to find you."
	He gazed at her with new respect. No wonder Mecha had been unable 
to identify her species. "What makes you think I can help you?"
	"You built this ship," she said, gesturing to the room about them 
with her good hand.
	"What is your construction data?"
	She proceeded to reel off a list of numbers, abbreviations and 
decimal points Mecha recognized as a list of her parts. She was far more 
complex than himself.
	Robotnik listened intently, impressed. Whoever had built her was 
a genius. "All right, I'll repair you," he said, "but you must do 
something for me."
	"Anything."
	"Kill Sonic the Hedgehog and bring me proof you have done so."
	She looked at him a moment. "My first objective is to kill Knuckles 
the echidna and his ward Talon," she replied evenly, "but that will be my 
alternate objective."
	"Very well," Robotnik smiled. "Mecha, take her to construction bay 
ten. I will be along momentarily."
	"Well!" he thought as his robot led the strange android from the 
room. "Whoever she is, she's my kind of girl! Out to get Knuckles, 
indeed. Well, I'll see to it I embed a tracking device in her so I can 
find her again."
	First Robotnik dropped by holding bay four, where Zero had 
deposited his prisoners. Zero had been his first try at creating the 
E-series and was quite primitive as robots went. The thing couldn't even 
speak. But it was very quick-moving and excelled at catching small 
animals.
	The robot was busy shoving birds into cages as Robotnik entered. 
"Hello, Zero. Catch me another batch?" 
	It made a beeping sound--yes, it had.
	"I'll be around for them at 1800 hours," Robotnik said, and 
closed the door as he left.
	Zero thrust the last bird into a cage and set it on the shelf. 
He had one cage left over. Funny, he had been certain he had had twelve 
birds. Where had it gone? He rolled across the floor to the door and 
opened it, only to see a small green shape flit down the hallway. How 
dare it escape! Enraged, Zero gave chase.

			* * *
		Chapter 13: Steel clouds floating in the air
			* * *

	Meanwhile, back in Station Square, a young hedgehog was strolling 
along the sidewalk, a grocery bag in her arms.
	"Gee, I'm bored," she muttered aloud to no one in particular. "Every 
day it's the same old thing. Same place, different day." She thought glumly 
of her home back north. Although much more dangerous, it had never been 
boring. Of course, she did not remember the constant fear of being captured 
and robotized, which was why her family had moved to Sapphire City. She 
had been too young at the time to understand.
	Amy Rose ran a hand through her short, soft spines. They hung about 
her face like human hair. She wore a light cotton dress, bright red. Her 
shoes were thick-soled and also red. She wore a red ribbon in her hair, 
and was the very personation of cute, if she had known it.
	But she didn't know it. All she could think of was how hot the 
afternoon had grown and how bored she was. She had run out to do a bit 
of grocery shopping for her mother, and even that was commonplace. 
Exciting things happened to other people, like that guy in the newspaper 
who had defeated that monster a few days earlier. Never to Amy. 
	"Things weren't boring when Sonic was around," she thought. "Ah, 
Sonic ... my hero." She thought dreamily of the blue hedgehog on whom 
she had developed a terrific crush. "Chasing down bad guys ... and 
blowing them away!" She remembered being attacked by a blue robot with 
red eyes and screaming for help; then from out of nowhere Sonic had 
appeared. He had freed her from the robot, tucked her under one arm and 
run like the wind. The robot had pursued them a short way, firing rockets, 
but at least gave up and fell behind. Another time she had followed 
Sonic on one of his missions, determined to prove herself of some worth 
to him. Instead she had blown his cover, and once again he had had to 
save her from the robots. This had only intensified her feelings for him.
	Then her family had moved away, and she hadn't heard of Sonic since. 
She sighed. "Now he's gone, and there's nothing left to do."
	Suddenly the city was plunged into shadow. "What's going on?" she 
said aloud, looking around. "Nobody forecast a storm or anything--is 
there an eclipse or--" The pink hedgehog looked up as she spoke, and her 
words died away in a sharp gasp.
	Filling the sky above the buildings was a monstrous airship. It 
passed slowly overhead, engines rumbling softly. Traffic screeched to a 
halt, people got out of their cars and stared upward, mouths hanging 
open in shock. It was too big for Amy to grasp. She saw dark red curves, 
long yellow strips, grey metal trim, blue and green flashing lights, 
more brick fuselage, and finally blue flames spurting from the rear 
jets, leaving a trail of white smoke in their wake.
	Amy stared, unaware that the grocery bag had dropped from her 
lifeless hands. How could something that big fly? From a great distance, 
she recalled something about a Robotnik, who built robots and huge 
aircraft. Could this be something of Dr. Robotnik's, this far south?
	As the monstrous aircraft slowly faded into the distance, something 
glinted in the sky above her. Amy glanced up and saw what at first she 
mistook for a piece of paper fluttering down. Presently she realized it 
was not a scrap, but a little bird. She watched it a second, then gazed 
after the Egg Carrier. When she looked for the bird again, it was to 
see a flash of color as a hard little skull cracked into her forehead.
	"Ow!" she cried, stumbling to her knees and holding her head. 
"Watch where you're going, buddy!" She looked around for the bird and 
saw it lying on the sidewalk a few feet away, eyes closed and tiny body 
heaving. It had probably been hurt worse than she had. "Are you okay?" 
she asked in a softer tone. "You look kinda hurt." She climbed to her 
feet and picked the bird up. He blinked and looked up at her. He trembled 
like a leaf in her hands, too frightened yet to make a peep. "It's okay," 
she assured him, holding him to her chest and stroking his green 
feathered head.
	Suddenly there came a metallic thud from down the street. Amy 
looked up and gasped. There stood a six foot tall black and green garbage 
can with arms. The upper half of the can was divided into sections, and 
a pair of electronic green eyes stared out expressionlessly. It rolled 
toward her, arms outstretched.
	Amy flattened herself to the side of the building as it went past, 
clutched the bird protectively. The robot whirled and faced her, puzzled. 
It had not expected her to dodge. "Watch where you're going, creep!" Amy 
said shrilly. "You almost ran me over!" In reply it again charged. The 
young hedgehog whirled and ran.
	She knew she couldn't outrun it--she was not much of a runner--she 
had better hide somewhere. On impulse she ducked into a store called 
Burger Shop, vaulted over the counter and crouched behind it. The clerk 
looked down at her in surprise. "What's up, Amy?"
	"Mark, don't let that robot know I'm here!" she replied in an 
urgent whisper. He shrugged. "Okay ..."
	A mechanical whirr passed by the open door, passed again, then 
again as Zero searched for her. Finally his sound faded into the 
distance.
	"It's gone," Mark said. "You can come out now." 
	Amy stood and breathed a sigh of relief. "Whew! Stupid robot."
She climbed back over the counter and sat on a barstool. "Thanks Mark. I
 guess I owe you one."
	"No problem," the human said with a smile. "Hey, why was that 
robot after you?"
	"He wants Birdie," Amy said firmly. She looked down at the bird 
and thought of something. "I'll bet you were on that big ship! They 
captured you, and somehow you got away, right?"
	The bird nodded, liquid eyes fixed on his young guardian's face. 
	"Don't worry, Birdy," Amy said earnestly. "I'll stand by you all 
the way!"
	Amy didn't know it, but she held in her hands a Class A Flicky. 
Royal Flickies lived only on Flicky Island, while their larger cousins 
lived on the mainland. Class A's were not as sophisticated as their 
relatives, but were usually quite intelligent and most could speak. 
Robotnik prized them, for their size and IQ made them excellent for 
badnik pilots.
	The pink hedgehog stepped out of the shop and looked sharply 
about for robots, but Zero had departed. "He's gone," she announced 
to the flicky. "Oh my gosh, the groceries!" She flew to her dropped 
bag and picked it up, thankful to see that nothing had been harmed. 
"I've got to go home," she told the bird. "You'd better go home, too." 
She held him out. He fluttered his wings and took off, but flew in a 
circle and returned to perch on her head. "Aw, you're lost," she said 
compassionately. "Well then, I guess you can come home with me. I'll 
take you to the beach tonight so you can get your bearings." The 
pink hedgehog turned and trotted down the street, the green bird 
flying along just over her right ear.

	* * *

	A burst of orange spurted from the barrel of the machine gun, 
tearing the clear air with a ratta ratta ratta. Sonic swung the gun 
sideways, following the motion of a fighter jet painted like a green 
and white shark. The fighter jolted and screamed sideways in a spiral,
flame and smoke pouring from its side. "Got 'im!" Sonic announced.
	The red bi-plane was bearing down on the Egg Carrier like a 
sparrow pursuing a hawk, Tails holding a steady course. When they had 
closed the distance to three klicks (kilometers), the shark fighters 
appeared, screaming out to meet their prey. Sonic was ready for them 
and tallied seven already.
	Now the scattered fighters were flocking back to their 
mothership to regroup, and Sonic and Tails had a breather. "Hey, you 
know what the gunner's death rate is?" Tails hollered to his gunner.
	"Believe me, I don't want to know!" called Sonic, who had already 
seen more tracer bullets than he cared to think about. "Are we gonna 
try to land on the thing?"
	"Of course!"
	The Egg Carrier was slowly growing larger ahead o them, a winged 
monster of malice. It stood out darkly against the dazzling afternoon 
air and brilliant white clouds. A series of grey specks appeared near 
its underbelly. "Hold on to your hat, 'cause here they come!" Tails 
announced. Sonic adjusted his grip on the firing controls of the gun.

	* * *

	Except for the bridge, where Metal Sonic was gleefully coordinating 
attack patterns, the interior of the Egg Carrier was fairly quiet. Its 
master was not worried about a single-fighter attack. In fact, Robotnik 
was standing on the raised platform in the amphitheater/main hall, 
preparing to brief his pet E-series robots.
	Gamma, Delta, Epsilon and Zeta stood in a row, gazing at their 
master respectfully, awaiting his orders. Robotnik flicked on his 
microphone, cleared his throat and spoke into it. "Ah, testing, one,
 two, three." His coarse voice filled the room nicely. He spread his 
arms and began. "You, the elite E-series machines, have been gathered 
here today for a mission, a mission on which you will prove your worth." 
He clicked a remote control, and on a screen behind him appeared a 
rotating 3-D picture of a green frog. "Behold, a tailed frog!" Robotnik 
said as the robots scanned it. "Very unique. Bring it to me. I don't 
care what it takes, but I want that frog! The one who brings it to me 
will be highly favored." He paused and looked at the robots, who faced 
him dumbly, four pairs of identical green eyes. "What are you waiting 
for? Get going!"
	As one, they turned and clanked away toward the elevators.
	Gamma had been hooked up to the Egg Carrier mainframe and had 
settled easily into his role of mindless servant. His brother-robots 
were quick to correct him and aid him as he went about his duties, 
but none more than the blue droid, Delta. Although Zeta was technically 
the boss of the four (as Beta had been removed), Delta had the stronger 
personality. It was he who saw to it that Gamma was taken care of.
	Now, as they trooped aboard the elevators, Delta instructed Gamma 
in a soft monotone. "Your sector is Station Square. Do not be afraid of 
the humans. Act peaceably and they will aid you. But do not fire upon 
any of them! Dr. Robotnik would dislike it if he had to hunt you down 
and rebuild your charred hull."
	"Affirmative," Gamma replied, taking all this down in his memory 
like notes. "Humans are not hostile except in defense. What date are 
we to report in?"
	"Tomorrow at 0800 hours. The Egg Carrier will be docked in the 
Mystic Ruins base."
	"Affirmative."
	The elevator doors opened, and the four trooped toward the 
shuttle bay. Their first real mission!

	* * *

	As the E-series departed from one side of the Egg Carrier, Sonic 
clung desperately to his machine gun on the other side, unable to shift 
a finger to the trigger--Tails was weaving sideways in loops, trying to 
avoid the lethal anti-aircraft missiles that were whistling at them 
from cannons on the Carrier's wing. Sonic could do nothing but hang on 
for dear life and watch.
	A shark fighter appeared out of nowhere and screeched down upon 
them on a collision course. "Sonic!" Tails yelled. Sonic, fighting 
centrifugal force, wrenched the gun about and sent a spray of bullets 
into the sky. The fighter burst into flames and whistled past, 
scarcely missing them.
	Tails nosed the plane down, and they dove under the Egg Carrier's 
belly. His idea was to come up in front of the craft, circle back and 
land on one of the airstrips. If he had known more about Robotnik, 
that would have been the last thing in the world he would have 
attempted, especially in that plane.
	Sonic stared up at the monster above them, like a vast ceiling. 
They were perhaps seventy feet from it, and he could see all the 
paneling and rocket launchers clearly. On impulse he jerked the gun 
up and fired it at the launchers. They dented and exploded quite 
nicely.
	By the time they emerged from beneath the Egg Carrier, Sonic was
almost out of ammo and there were three intact rocket launchers left. 
"We did it!" Tails yelled into the wind.
	"Yeah!" Sonic yelled back, punching a fist into the air. 
	The plane swept skyward, swung around and back toward the 
oncoming monster.
	Suddenly the long red snout of the Egg Carrier split open and 
slid apart, revealing an enormous glowing green lens. Loudspeakers 
crackled from the ship--Robotnik's voice, garbled by wind and distance. 
But Sonic and Tails heard clearly the words, "Egg Cannon ready--FIRE!" 
The lens flashed white.
	For a second there was a strange electronic hum in the air around 
them; then a laser beam the size of their biplane flashed by to their 
right, blinding them and scorching their fur. At the same time the 
plane shrieked and jolted sideways. "We're hit!" Tails wailed. Sonic's 
eyes flashed to the right wing--and was baffled to see that it wasn't 
there. The entire wing pair had been sheared off six inches from the 
side of the plane.
	The plane whirled in a circle and began dropping, spiraling 
faster and faster toward the ocean far below.

		* * *
		Chapter 14: Modern and Ancient Cities
		* * *

	Knuckles stood silently on a wide rock shelf that jutted out of 
the mountainside. Behind him was a little trolley on a pair of tracks 
that wound into a tunnel in the rock, bearing testament to how he had 
gotten there. Just ahead of him, at the edge of the cliff, was the top 
of a ladder.
	But the echidna's eyes were not on any of his immediate 
surroundings. They were focused on the landscape at the foot of the 
mountain, and partly inward, in his memory. The landscape was blanketed 
thickly with trees and brush, hiding the ground from view. But further 
out, perhaps a quarter of a mile from where he stood, the crown of an 
ancient pyramid poked above the trees. The 'Mystic Ruins'.
	As he had dismounted from the trolley, that same little pink 
light he had seen in the casino had appeared and circled him. A voice 
had come from it that said, "Use this statue with the pyramid you see 
there. The other is nearby. Hurry!" It vanished, and Knuckles had 
found a small statue at his feet. It was about a foot tall. It was a 
sculpture of an echidna in weathered silver on a square stone base, 
much like the Wind Stone in the windy cave. Had it been there before 
that light appeared? He wasn't sure ...
	Knuckles was now holding the statue in one hand, staring off 
over the valley, the wheels in his head turning. The dream of whatever 
it had been had taken place in the past, he was sure. The echidnas 
had been very numerous in their long-ago prime. There had been a 
brief period when their civilization had spread to the mainland, 
and the groups had been divided between the mainland and the island. 
That chieftain echidna had said, "It is our born right to access the 
Palace and all it contains. The guardians have no right to hoard it 
from us." Could he have witnessed the beginning of the civil war 
that had led to the hiding of the Palace and all those laws being made,
 most of which he still observed?
	And if so, could that pyramid he was looking at be the same one 
he had seen in his so-called dream? What did that pink light have to 
do with it?
	Too curious anymore to simply stand there, he slipped the statue 
into the bag he carried emeralds shards in, leaped off the ledge and 
glided smoothly out toward the pyramid.
	Looking down, he could see the glint of water beneath the tree 
canopy, and piles of rotting stonemasonry here and there. He passed 
over the ruins of a wall, then entered a large clearing that circled 
the foot of the pyramid. He circled once, then dropped to the grassy 
turf. He was struck instantly by the smell of warm earth and the 
chirping of crickets. He looked about. The jungle was held at bay by 
the crumbling wall, but already gaping holes had been torn in it--it 
was only a matter of time before the forest reclaimed this, as well. 
He gazed up at the pyramid, shading his eyes from the afternoon sun. 
It had to be the same one. It had the same sets of stairs running up 
the sides, the same carvings and statues of echidnas, although now 
faded and stained with age. He circled it slowly, looking for the 
entrance, then stopped in dismay. The entryway, a carved snake's jaws, 
was closed. The entire top section of the pyramid had collapsed in on 
itself, sealing the entrance forever. The top of the snake's head 
rested flat on the first tier, instead of looming above it.
	So what was the statue for?
	The echidna climbed the many stairs to the first level and 
slowly followed it around the circumference of the structure, gazing 
at the carvings of his ancestors and trying to decipher their meaning. 
Why had everyone vanished? He had never read of an actual battle; 
only impending disaster, then some vague event that was so terrible no 
one had ever named it. Perhaps now he would find out.
	He came to the western side of the pyramid and stopped. Here was 
something new. On either side of the staircase were two stone pedestals, 
one with a yellow echidna head etched on it, the other a white. Gold 
and silver. Before the pedestals were two square indentations, as if 
something fit in them.
	Understanding at once, Knuckles stepped up to the silver one, 
dug the leaves out of the niche and set the silver statue in place. 
It fit exactly. "There," he said aloud, placing his hands on his hips. 
"Now to find the gold statue."

	* * *

	Sonic was falling--falling through empty space, unable to stop, 
unable to save himself. Then he was riding a bucking, jerking biplane 
through a sea of deadly missiles as a giant tornado gobbled up 
everything behind him. He looked back at it and saw Chaos' green 
eyes staring at him from the side of the twister. "He'll eat us!" 
Sonic was screaming. "Tails, fly faster! He'll eat us!"
	Sand. He was lying on sand. Someone was shaking him gently. 
"Are you okay?" He thought it was Tails' voice. Where was he? C'mon 
brain, wake up. "Tails?" he said groggily, lifting his head. Sand. 
Soft, powdery, damp sand. The beach. Emerald Coast. His eyes slowly 
focused. It was late afternoon. He was lying on the shore, just 
above the waterline. Hadn't he landed in the water? "Tails?" he said 
again, rolling over and sitting up. It wasn't Tails--it was a young 
human girl with large eyes staring at him through a pair of glasses. 
"Are you okay?" she asked again, seriously.
	The hedgehog looked around wildly. "You're not who I'm looking 
for. Have you seen a two-tailed fox around here? Maybe a red bi-plane?"
	The girl shook her head. "No ..."
	Sonic climbed to his feet, brushing sand from his fur. His shoes 
were soggy--he HAD been in the water. How had he gotten to shore? 
Where was Tails? "Tails!" he called frantically, looking around. "Oh, 
I hope he's all right ..."
	"I saw those dolphins push you ashore," the girl said soberly. 
"I thought you were dead."
	"Yeah, cool," Sonic said absently. "Thanks. I gotta go." He ran 
a few steps and stopped. Station Square was the other way. His head 
didn't feel right. Had the plane crashed? All he remembered was losing 
his grip on the plane's tail fin. Maybe he had fainted in mid-air, 
like they say people do. Where the heck was Tails? He had a sick 
feeling in his gut as he turned back toward Station Square.

	* * *

	Amy Rose sat on a bench in the hotel's chao playroom, licking an 
ice cream cone and giving the chao in her lap bites. Birdie sat on the 
bench a few feet away, pecking at a bowl of bread crumbs and 
occasionally chirping his approval.
	Amy's chao was a light pink, and from its head protruded soft 
spine-like things that looked remarkably like her owner's hair. Amy 
had named her Rachel, after another girl the chao reminded her of. 
Now she pawed at Amy's dress and trilled for another bite. Amy held 
out the ice cream cone, and Rachel sliced off a bite with her sharp 
front teeth. "You're a little pig," Amy told her affectionately.
	Rachel had missed her something terrible. Amy had spent the 
previous day at the mall, and arrived back in Station Square three 
minutes after the chao playroom had closed for the night. Today, Rachel's 
feelings had been so hurt she wouldn't even look at Amy for at least 
ten minutes. She didn't forgive the hedgehog until Amy offered to 
share her ice cream, thereby winning the chao to her side once more. 
	Another of the chao bounced up, sniffed at Birdy's bread crumbs, 
snorted and trotted away in disgust. Amy gazed after it oddly. It was 
a deep blue with long, hedgehog-like spines protruding from the back
 of its head. It looked like Sonic.
	Amy knew a thing or two about chao. If handled enough, they began 
to look like whomever took care of them. All the chao in the garden 
looked like someone, and you could tell immediately who each belonged 
to. But if this one looked like Sonic, that would mean it had been 
handled by him very recently. No other hedgehog on Mobius looked 
exactly like Sonic.
	The pink hedgehog's heart leaped. Sonic--here? Could it be?
	She was so ecstatic she gave the rest of her cone to Rachel and 
set her on the floor. The chao showed her teeth to two others to warn 
them away, then settled down to her treat with a happy purr. Amy 
patted her head, told her goodbye, picked up Birdie and his food, and 
skipped toward the elevators.
	She stepped out of the elevator in the lobby and dashed up to 
the manager's desk. "Excuse me," she said, standing on tiptoe to see 
over the edge of the desk, "Have you seen a blue hedgehog around here? 
A really CUTE hedgehog."
	The manager looked down at her and smiled knowingly. "As a matter 
of fact I have. He came in about ten minutes ago, and went out that 
door." He pointed to the doors that faced the casino.
	"Oh, thank you!" Amy exclaimed, clasping her hands together. "I 
can't believe I finally get to see him again!"
	She dashed for the doors, the green flicky in hot pursuit.

		* * *
		Chapter 15: You drive me crazy!
		* * *

	No one had seen Tails, no one had seen a red bi-plane. Sonic was 
half sick with worry. Where would he go if he made it ashore? What if 
was hurt? What if he hadn't ... hadn't survived the wreck? Sonic gulped 
down the boulder in his throat. Going to pieces in the middle of the 
street wouldn't help anybody. He had to keep his head. He wiped his 
eyes with the back of one hand and headed for the casino. Maybe Tails 
would go there.
	"Hey Sonic!"
	He stopped in his tracks. Suddenly all his worry was replaced 
with dread. He knew that high, insistent voice. "Please, not Amy," he 
prayed as he turned.
	It was Amy.
	She skipped up the pavement to him and stopped, puppyish adoration 
shining in her eyes. "Sonic!" she squealed. "Long time no see!"
	Sonic backed away a step. "A-Amy! Uh, hi." She had grown a lot 
since he had last seen her. She had lost the little kid look and was 
on her way to becoming a beautiful young hedgehog. She wasn't there 
yet, though, and her personality had not changed. And, he saw grimly, 
she still had a crush on him.
	"What's the matter with you?" Amy asked. She had expected him to 
be glad to see her, but he clearly was not. She held up a hand, and 
Birdie landed on it. "This little bird seems to be in trouble," Amy told 
her hero matter-of-factly. "So you can be his bodyguard for a while."
	"What!?" Sonic almost shouted, his spines stiffening on his back. 
He had a vision of carrying that bird around with Amy at his elbow. 
'Hedgehog jumps off dock to escape girlfriend wannabe.' "No WAY!" he 
yelled, really yelling it this time. He didn't add that Amy had made 
his life miserable before and he didn't want it to happen again. He 
whirled and fled from her with all the speed he could muster.
	"Oh, don't run away!" Amy cried. "Ohhh!" She ran a few steps after 
him, but she was no match for a hedgehog who had spent his life pushing 
the sound barrier. He ducked into the hotel and vanished. Amy, with all 
the persistence of a starry-eyed hero worshiper, followed.

	* * *

	Two hours later a weary, beaten Sonic slumped into a chair in the 
hotel lobby. Amy sat down beside him and swung her feet happily. Sonic 
had hidden from her all over the hotel, but was finally drawn out of 
hiding by aching hunger. He crept to the dining room and slouched in a
 back booth, which was where she found him.
	Too hungry to care, he wolfed his dinner, then grudgingly bought 
hers and waited for her while she ate. It was a date, to all 
appearances, if Sonic had not sat and stared at the world with the 
wild eyes of a caged animal.
	He still had this look as he sat in the lobby, but now it was 
tempered with a full stomach and resignation to his fate. Maybe she 
would go home if he told her to. He sideyed her and found her eyes 
fixed radiantly on his face. Maybe not. He really needed to get going 
and find Tails ... He opened his mouth to say so, when the hotel 
manager said, "You know, they're having a special for couples at 
Twinkle Park tonight."
	Sonic flashed him a look that could have incinerated him on the 
spot, and Amy leaped to her feet. "Oh goody! C'mon, Sonic! I've never 
been to Twinkle Park--it'll be dreamy!"
	Sonic climbed slowly to his feet, teeth clenched. He could blow 
up now and break her heart, or be a gentleman and go to the Park with 
her. He thought despairingly of Tails. Maybe the fox was looking for 
him, too, and they kept missing each other. He could leave a message 
with the manager. After all, he and Tails had planned to go to Twinkle 
Park, anyway.
	It took more maturity than Sonic thought he had to walk out the 
door and say (cordially!) to Amy, "I think Twinkle Park is open." She 
squealed and clapped her hands together in delight.
	The sky was awash with orange and red, and the streetlights were 
on as the hedgehogs crossed the Square and walked up to the entrance 
of Twinkle Park. Sonic looked at the elevator and glass tube that led 
into the main building, and was about to say something about whether 
they were going to a park or boarding a plane, when Amy pointed down 
the street. "Look, that robot is on the loose again!"
	Sonic turned and saw the garbage can with arms that had pursued 
Amy earlier. It was just turning the corner a block away and was 
proceeding slowly, as if looking for someone. "Zero," Sonic said, 
seeing the 0 on the thing's chest. "Don't worry about him--he's just 
a chunk of cheesy hardware."
	Amy grabbed the flicky off her shoulder and held him against 
her chest fearfully. Sonic could protect her from the robot, but he 
couldn't protect Birdie. She looked about for some place to hide, 
and noticed a sign next to the elevator doors. "Ooo!" she cried, 
"Look Sonic! Cute couples get in free!" Zero vanished from her mind 
at once. "C'mon!"
	"Amy!" Sonic called after her, but she was already in the 
elevator. "Oh, that girl is such a pain." He looked back toward Zero, 
but the robot had crossed the street and was rolling on toward the 
beach, not harming anyone. Growling in his throat, Sonic stalked into 
the lift.
	He caught up to Amy at the Park's inside entrance. She was 
waiting at a guard booth, talking to the guard, who was a teenage 
human girl. "See, there he is," Amy said as Sonic walked up. "Isn't 
he adorable?"
	"You two DO make a cute couple," the guard tittered. "Better 
hang on to him!"
	Sonic felt the heat creeping into his cheeks. Why did this 
stuff always happen to him?
	Amy took off her glove to have her hand stamped, and Sonic 
awkwardly did the same. "Have a nice date," the guard called as 
they walked into the lobby.
	"Hey, leave your glove off," Amy said, noticing Sonic starting 
to pull it back on.
	He looked at her sharply. "Why?"
	"I've never seen your hands before," Amy said, taking his hand 
in hers and turning it over. "Wouldn't it look good with a ring on 
this finger?"
	"I wonder what would happen if I slapped her," Sonic thought, 
knowing he was blushing again. He jerked his hand away and yanked 
his glove on. "Forget it," he said angrily. "I like my hands just 
the way they are, thank you very much. Now, where are we gonna go?" 
This would be a bad night--he just knew it.
	Amy, giggling to herself about how cute Sonic was when 
embarrassed, looked at the two doors, then at the map mounted between 
them. "Twinkle Circuit!" she announced. "We'll miss it if we go 
straight to Pleasure Castle."
	"Fine, lead the way," Sonic said, folding his arms.

	* * *

	Twinkle Circuit began in a huge circular room where the 
multi-colored cars hummed about and bashed into each other. They all 
hovered about a foot off the ground and were padded on all sides; 
fancy bumper-cars. Amy took a pink car, and Sonic grabbed a light blue 
one, as the dark blue was taken. Then off the two roared onto the 
main floor.
	At first Sonic worried about Amy being jostled and hurt by the 
other drivers, and tried to stay near her. Then he was rammed by several 
cars at once and was flung spinning into the wall. As he backed out 
and turned around, yet another car hit him so hard he nearly flew 
from his seat. He glared about and saw with astonishment that it had 
been Amy who hit him. She whipped her car about and hummed off, 
laughing.
	Sonic fell into the light-hearted spirit of the thing after a 
few minutes, smashing himself into all comers and trying to nail Amy 
as squarely as she had hit him. At this he never quite succeeded.
	Unexpectedly a voice boomed over the loudspeakers, "All drivers 
ready for the Twinkle Circuit?"
	"Yes!" everyone yelled.
	"I thought this WAS the circuit," Sonic muttered.
	"On your marks, get set, GO!"
	The wall opposite the entrance grated and lifted into the 
ceiling, revealing a track beyond that curved into darkness. The 
gang of bumpercars revved their engines and made for it, jostling 
each other for position.
	Sonic found himself on a track that was lit only with rows of 
flashing lights in the center and sides, with a huge expanse of stars 
and galaxies glowing down on him. There was no time to look, however, 
for he was still fighting the other drivers for the lead. They had 
ceased to be people to him--they were now only hostile shapes to 
escape or ram. He floored the gas and hugged the left wall, driving 
like a maniac. Suddenly his car shot forward--he had passed over some 
sort of speed booster in the road. The others fell behind him at once. 
"All RIGHT!" Sonic yelled into space.
	Alone now, he had a chance to look about him. A spinning planet 
in its rings, a vast billboard advertising a videogame system, 
twinkling stars, spaceships, comets, asteroids--all flew by at 
dizzying speed, appearing just long enough for him to recognize their
shapes. His car hummed smoothly, vibrating around him, gliding around 
turns like something alive. He began to feel euphoric, as if he were 
floating through space ...
	A very real thud and jolt returned him to his senses.
	"Hiya, Sonic!" a familiar female voice called.
	"Amy!" Sonic yelled back. "You scared me!"
	"Isn't this track great?" she replied, pulling her pink car up 
beside his. He heard the hyper enthusiasm in her voice. He wasn't the 
only one having fun. "What happens if you fall off the track?"
	"You wind up in the hospital," Sonic told her calmly. "Whoa!"
	The track dropped straight down ahead of them. Their cars sailed 
off, flew, floated through a mass of stars--what if they missed the 
track completely?--and struck the track with a gruntch of metal on 
cement. A ramp ahead. Sonic struck it and again left the track, pinned 
to his seat by the speed, nothing beneath him to land on. Falling, 
down, down--would he really end up in the hospital, or was he really 
in space? For one wild instant Sonic had a vision of falling forever 
and ever through nothing--then his car struck the track. A second later 
Amy's car came down behind him.
	"Was that freaky or what?" she yelled as she pulled up to him 
again.
	"You said it!" he gasped, trying to restart his heart again.
	More speed blocks. First Sonic shot ahead, then Amy. "I'll beat 
you!" he yelled, pulling abreast of her. 
	"Oh no you won't!" she yelled back, and slammed her car sideways 
into his.
	"Hey!" he yelled, striking the wall and losing speed. "I'll get 
you, girl!"
	"Let's see you try!" she yelled from up ahead. He heard her car 
strike still more speed blocks, and struck them himself a second later.
	A sneak jump! He shot into the air, seeing nothing beyond the 
nose of his car but stars and galaxies. This time he fell but a short 
way before he was back on track. Lights! Color! People! He hit the 
brakes too late and slammed into the car stopped ahead of him. Amy's 
eyes glared back at him. He had finally got her back for that jolt 
she had given him back in the rink.
	He drew a deep breath and let it out. "What do we do now?"
	"I think we get out," she said, unbuckling herself.
	Sonic unstrapped himself as well and followed her in staggering 
onto the terminal. His sense of balance had been disrupted by that ride. 
It felt odd to move at a walking pace instead of dazzling speed.
	Before the two had recovered their senses, a string of rollercoaster 
cars whizzed into the other side of the terminal. "All aboard for 
Pleasure Castle," a loudspeaker crackled.
	"Oh boy!" Amy exclaimed, running to the first car. "C'mon, Sonic, 
get in here!"
	Sonic's respect of her had rises quite a bit, and he hardly had 
to swallow his pride at all to climb into the seat beside her and gaze 
out the darkened exit tunnel.
	They waited a good ten minutes as the other bumper-car drivers 
straggled into the terminal and boarded the rollercoaster. Finally, 
when all of them had been accounted for, an attendant walked by and 
clapped the safety bar over their laps, warned them to keep their hands 
and feet inside the car at all times, then retreated to the control 
booth. The cars jerked and rattled out of the terminal.
	Sonic had noticed that there were jet-like things on little wings 
attached to the sides of the cars, but had thought them for show only; 
after all, the whole chain was painted to look like a rocket ship. But 
now, as they exited the dark tunnel and saw the track dropping away 
before them, the jets ignited with a blue flash. The cars shot earthward 
at seventy miles an hour. A chorus of thrilled screams rose from the 
passengers, one of which came from Amy. Sonic clung to the lap bar and 
whooped at the top of his lungs, spines and ears blown back, body 
driven against the seat, stomach somewhere back in the station. The 
cars struck the bottom of the hill, curved up and shot around in a 
circle, rockets roaring. Sonic glimpsed castle turrets, spiked fences, 
grass and a pond, then they were hurled skyward again. For an instant 
Sonic looked at the stars, so close he could almost touch them, and 
realized he could see brush-strokes and lightbulbs in them. It was the 
ceiling. "They're faaaaaaake!" Sonic called to Amy, which lengthened 
into a yell as again they shot earthward.
	Suddenly the screech of the jets was gone, the track had leveled 
out, and they were gliding into the exit station. "Whew!" Amy gasped. 
"That was fun, Sonic!"
	"Yeah!" he agreed as attendants walked by and unlatched the 
safety bars. Amy's hair was frazzled and seemed blown away from her 
face permanently. He ran a hand through his own spines as they climbed 
from the cars--only standing up slightly. The windy cave must have been 
more violent than the rollercoaster
	Amy's bird had rode the whole way in the pocket of her blouse. 
Now she took him out and set him on her shoulder. He wobbled back and 
forth a second and shook his head. Sonic grinned--poor thing wasn't 
used to amusement park rides. Perhaps it was the glaring lights, but 
Sonic also noticed something Amy hadn't--the bird was wearing a tiny 
locket and chain around its neck.
	He started to say something to her, but Amy darted off with a 
squeal. "Sonic, look at the games!" He followed her.
	They had entered Pleasure Castle, the carnival-area of Twinkle Park. 
Here abounded food, drink, people, games, small rides and dozens of 
other things. It was rather crowded--Sonic noticed most of the people 
were boy-girl pairs. He was part of a pair himself, he thought wryly.
	It appeared that cute couples didn't only get in free, they also 
had free run of all concessions. Sonic and Amy got free sodas and food 
this way. Sonic watched Amy wolf a box of cheese fries and wondered 
how she could eat like that so soon after dinner. Come to think of it, 
those fries smelled awfully good ... To his amazement, he found himself 
consuming a large box of fries a moment later. Having fun was hungry
 business.
	Amy wiped her hands and mouth on a napkin, threw her trash in a 
nearby bin, and looked brightly at Sonic. "What should we do now?"
	Sonic tossed a glance about the area. "Oh, I don't know. You pick." 
She wanted to come, let her navigate.
	The pink hedgehog looked around thoughtfully, lips pursed. 
"Let's see ..." Suddenly she gasped and her eyes widened. "Zero!"
	Sonic jumped up and whirled, searching. "Where?" Good grief, 
the robot was _right there_, perhaps ten feet away and rolling in 
their direction. "Run Amy!" Sonic commanded, and jumped in the robot's 
path.
	It looked down at this blue hedgehog with robotic disgust. 
Robotnik had never intended Zero to go up against Sonic, and so had 
neglected its anti-hedgehog programming. Zero had no idea who Sonic was. 
Its goal was to get the bird away from the girl. It swung a heavy arm 
and knocked the hedgehog out of its way, then rolled on, pursuing Amy.

	* * *

	Tails was lost in the mist of a dream. He was four years old and 
Sonic was teaching him to run. "C'mon, you can do it!" a much younger 
Sonic was cheering. "You can do it! Spin your tails and run at the same 
time!" Tails tried, but the lift from his tails threw him flat on his 
face. Sonic helped him up. "You almost had it! One more time, then 
we'll go get lunch."
	The dream faded away, and the young fox found himself staring 
up at a clear, starry sky, surrounded by the friendly chirping of 
crickets. Still in the mood of his dream, Tails murmured, "I owe so 
much to Sonic." Where was Sonic, anyway?
	He sat up and saw the twisted wreckage of the red bi-plane, and 
suddenly remembered the crash. Abruptly his stomach twisted. He climbed 
to his feet and staggered to the plane's side. The wing pair on the 
right side was completely gone, cleanly as if cut with scissors. The 
remaining wings had been bent at an angle from the impact. The nose, 
engine housing and cockpit were twisted and smashed, fuel and oil 
dripping into the grass like the blood of a wounded animal. This plane 
would never fly again.
	But where was Sonic?
	Tails stood with a hand on the maimed machine's side and looked 
about him. The sun had set about an hour before, leaving only a soft 
greenish glow in the west. Outlined against the western sky was a 
building of some kind. What was it? Tails searched his memory. Oh yeah, 
the train station. He must be in the Mystic Ruins, in about the spot 
where Sonic and Knuckles had fought. But that didn't explain where 
Sonic was. If Sonic were here, he would have been nearby, asking it 
Tails were all right. What if Sonic were hurt, lying in the darkness 
somewhere?
	"Sonic!" Tails called into the peaceful night, a rock settling 
into his stomach. He dashed here and there over the uneven turf, 
calling, straining his eyes to see through the darkness. Crash victims 
could be thrown a long distance, he had heard. A dark shape lying in 
the grass. Tails touched it in cold terror, then relaxed--a rock. 
"Sonic!" he called again, a lump of tears forming in his throat. He 
sat down on the rock and cradled his head in his hands. Think straight, 
he told himself. You can't find Sonic if you keep running around in the 
dark like this. He might not be able to hear you. You're shaken up from 
the crash. Calm down. The fox drew several slow, deep breaths, calming 
himself. An idea popped into his head. A flashlight!
	Tails darted toward the train station, hung a left, climbed the
stone stairs and reached the hanger and airstrip. The hanger was empty 
without the two planes. He hoped Mac wouldn't mind too much. He 
snatched up the powerful Mag-lite from its holder, clicked it on and 
pelted back down the stairs toward the bi-plane.
	Aided by the mag-lite, Tails searched the area with a fine-
toothed comb, but found nothing. Sonic was not there.
	Tails walked slowly back to the hanger, head and tails drooping. 
Sonic must have bailed out before the crash. He could be anywhere, 
dead or alive. Tails put away the flashlight and stood a long moment 
in the dark, echoing hanger. What should he do now? The answer came 
from his growling stomach. Eat something.
	The solid reassurance of a bologna and cheese sandwich and 
carbonated orange juice revived his spirits and washed away the lump 
in his throat. As he ate he found his head clearing. Robotnik was four 
emeralds ahead, and there were three left. There was a good chance those 
emeralds were somewhere in the Mystic Ruins. If Tails found one, he 
could put it in the Tornado and resume his pursuit of the Egg Carrier. 
It was what Sonic would do.
	Feeling confident again, Tails shouldered the mag-lite and 
stepped out into the night.

	* * *

	Sonic shook his head and stood up. "Yes, I'm okay!" he told the 
worried crowd gathered around him. "Somebody stop that robot! Robotnik 
sent it!"
	At this a stunned hush fell over the people, as everyone stared 
at the hedgehog. "Is that what that thing was that flew over today?" 
someone said.
	"Yes! The Egg Carrier!" Sonic said. "Get outta my way! I've got 
to make sure he doesn't hurt my friend!"
	Behind him they whispered, "Who's his friend? Tails the fox?" "No, 
I saw her--a girl hedgehog." "I didn't know he has a girlfriend!"
	Sonic bit back the hot words that rose to mind and fled out of 
earshot.

	* * *

	Amy ran through Pleasure Castle, Birdie held tightly to her chest, 
his little heart beating frenziedly against her own. Zero had knocked 
Sonic said like he was made of straw and came straight for her. She 
could weave through the crowds and escape for a while, but she was 
sure the robot wouldn't give up so easily. How had it gotten into 
Twinkle Park in the first place?
	Birdie gave a strangled squeak, and Amy loosened her grip 
remorsefully. "Sorry, Birdie," she whispered. She slowed to a walk, 
panting, and gazed about her. She was in a sort of courtyard of grass 
adjacent to the back of the main castle. Off to her right was a sort of 
pond stocked with live fish, for those who wanted to try their hand at 
fishing. She didn't know that the previous day a large cat had fished 
there, but for a frog, not a fish.
	Amy stood where she was, mechanically stroking her flicky's head 
and breathing, "It's okay, I won't let him get you." The bird slowly 
calmed, and so did she. "I wonder where Sonic is," she wondered aloud, 
turning toward the castle. She was just in time to see a cylindral 
shape with arms leap over the fence to the left, land with a muffled 
clang and race toward her, arms outstretched. She let out a shriek and 
ran blindly, terror overcoming her senses.
	The pink hedgehog's flight carried her around the pond in a 
circle, Zero gaining steadily. As she rounded it and ran back toward 
the castle, she saw several people walking out the back doors, 
laughing and chattering. She made for them as fast as her legs would 
carry her, ducked through the doors and slammed them behind her.
	There. Those were exit-only doors, and Zero couldn't follow her 
once they were shut. "Whew," she breathed, slumping against the wall 
and patting her hair down. "That was close, Birdy." The flicky turned 
his large, fearful eyes on her and said his first word. "Yes." She 
gazed at him in surprise. "You can talk?" "Yes," the bird chirped 
again.
	"What's your name?"
	The flicky struggled to put it into speech, but ended with a chirp. 
	Amy sighed, "It must be tough having to learn a second language. 
C'mon, let see what's in here."
	She strolled down the dimly-lit hallway. The carpeting was a 
rich red, and swallowed the sound of her footsteps. The only light 
came from lit candelabra that jutted from the walls in places, and 
it was perfectly silent. "This is creepy," Amy whispered, half-expecting 
Zero to appear around the corner at any second.
	She stepped out of the hallway into a maze of mirrors. A 
thousand Amys stared back at her, all with mussed hair and pale, 
frightened faces. "Oh, these things are hard," the hedgehog said, 
placing the bird on her shoulder again. "You have to feel your way 
through. Maybe you can help me." She walked up to the mirrors, touching 
each. Sure enough, there was a passageway. She walked down it, 
found a glass wall instead of a mirror one, walked around it, turned 
several times, came to a dead end, doubled back, took another passage.
	Suddenly Birdy's claws dg into her shoulder, little body 
drawing up as skinny as a stick. "What?" Amy exclaimed, looking 
around. She gasped. Mirrored around her was the green-eyed reflection 
of Zero. Where was he?
	He moved, obviously seeing her as well. Amy whirled and ran, 
hands outstretched. Mirror wall, open to her left. She ran again, 
seeing the robot's reflection, but this time bigger. Wall left, all 
ahead, nothing right. It was like a nightmare. Amy could hear nothing 
above her own troubled breath and pounding feet, yet the image of Zero 
was everywhere. Was he behind her? Ahead of her? Confusion, fear, 
hateful solid mirrors, her own wide-eyed reflection staring back at 
her. Where, oh where did it end? Was she going in circles?
	A colossal smash somewhere behind her announced that Zero had 
pounced on a reflection. "Seven years bad luck," Amy panted with what 
humor she could muster. "Birdie, we're lost!" Her breath was beginning 
to catch in her throat. Humor aside, she would lose it completely if 
she didn't escape soon.
	A mirror gave under her touch. Thank heaven, an emergency exit. 
She burst through into the darkness of Twinkle Park, gasping, almost 
sobbing with relief. Forget about Sonic, she was getting out of there 
and going home. She plodded toward the park exit, too spent to run 
another step.

		* * *
		Chapter 16: Unexpected Aid
		* * *

	Tails crunched down a jungle trail, flashlight sweeping from 
side to side. "Yeah right, like I'd just find an emerald laying in 
the middle of the road," he muttered to himself. The night was full 
of the chirping of crickets and other insects, and his feet trampled 
the underbrush with a loud, healthy crunching.
	Like Knuckles, Tails, had taken the trolley to the stone shelf 
in the jungle, but in the darkness could not see the pyramid. He did, 
however, see the ladder, which was how he reached the valley floor. 
Getting lost was the furthest thing from his mind, because all he 
must do was locate the high cliff and walk toward it.
	The young fox's thoughts roamed far and wide, from Sonic to 
Knothole to the Tornado to Chaos. He was not thinking about the jungle 
about him. So it was that when the beam of his mag-lite caught 
something moving, his heart leaped into his mouth and he stopped dead. 
Were there wild animals out here? Would it attack him? He stood for 
a long time, light pointed at the thing. A pair of red eyes glinted 
back at him, blinking in the beam.
	At last a familiar voice snapped, "Can you please point that 
somewhere else?"
	"Kn-Knuckles?" Tails stuttered, lowering the flashlight.
	"Aw, man," the echidna fussed off the in the darkness, "I can't 
see a thing now! Get over here and let me use your light. I can't 
do this in the dark."
	Tails advanced timidly. Knuckles was standing over a 
vegetation-covered hill with a hole dug in the top of it, earth 
dimming his silver shovel claws. "Point it where I'm digging," the 
echidna commanded. Tails did so. "Thanks, Tails." Knux plunged into 
the hole like a dog digging for a bone, claws flinging dirt between 
his legs, eyes determined. "What're you doing here, anyway? I thought 
you and Sonic were off irritating Eggman."
	Briefly the fox explained about being shot down, Sonic's 
disappearance, Tails' hunt for a chaos emerald. Knuckles listened, 
digging industriously, the hole rapidly deepening. "Sounds like 
you've had quite a day," he remarked as Tails finished, voice 
softening. "Tell you what. In exchange for the use of your light, 
I'll help you find a chaos emerald."
	"Cool," Tails said, perking up. "What're you doing out here 
anyway, digging?"
	"Looking for something," the echidna grunted. "In fact, I 
think I've got it." He clambered down into the hole and Tails held 
the light higher for him. Knux clawed, dug, yanked, dug some more, 
and finally lifted aloft a small statue of an echidna. He scraped 
the mud off it, and Tails saw the yellow gold glinting in the 
flashlight beam. "Treasure!" the fox gaped. "How'd you know it was 
there?"
	Knuckles gave him an odd look. "Um, somebody told me to look 
here."
	"Who?"
	"Oh, just somebody."
	Knuckles lifted his bag from where it lay in the grass and 
shoved the statue inside. "There," he said, dusting his hands off. 
"Now for your emerald. I saw one earlier, but I didn't touch it. 
C'mon."
	Tails trotted along at the echidna's side, glad for his solid 
companionship, holding the beam at the ground ahead of their feet. 
"What color was it?"
	"Purple, I think. It's not far."
	They walked in silence for a few minutes, Knuckles watched the 
forest about them for landmarks and nodding to himself. Finally the 
trail swerved off to the left. The echidna halted and pointed. Tails 
aimed his light in that direction and saw a glint of magenta. The 
emerald was lodged solidly in the fork of a tree--if not for its soft 
glow it would have been invisible.
	"There you go, kiddo," Knuckles said amiably. "Can you find your  
way back to the coast?"
	"I think so," Tails said. He pointed westward. "That way?"
	"Yep, you've got it. Well, I've got some stuff to do. I'll be 
seeing you."
	"Thanks, Knux," Tails called as the echidna walked away into 
the night.
	Now to get the emerald out of the tree. The fox spun his tails 
and jumped lightly up into the branches, set his light to point 
toward the emerald, and tried to lift the stone out. It wouldn't 
budge. On closer examination, Tails saw that the tree had actually 
grown over the edges of the emerald with time, sealing it tightly into 
the bark. He kicked his heels against the bark, chipping loose flakes, 
and tugged again. It still wouldn't budge. Tails looked around for 
Knuckles, thinking to call him back and ask him to use his claws, but 
the echidna was long gone. Tails would have to do it himself. He 
stamped on the emerald, jerked it back and forth, feeling the wood 
beginning to crack and give way. Certain he almost had it, he grasped 
it, set he feet against the branches, and pulled.
	With a snap the emerald broke free. Tails fell backward out 
of the tree, hit the ground with a thump, then was struck on the 
forehead by the falling stone. "Ow!" he yelped, holding his head. 
Presently the pain faded to a dull ache, and the fox shook his head 
and looked around for the emerald. It was lying on the path a few 
feet away. Tails pulled his mag-lite out of the tree and stooped to 
pick up his prize.
	To his surprise, something flashed under his hand and seized 
the purple gem--a large, golden-eyed frog. It looked at Tails for a
 second, then hopped away down the trail, gem in its mouth. "Hey, 
give that back!" Tails yelled, giving chase.

	* * *

	Sonic stood on the pavement outside Twinkle Park, looking 
around at the streetlights and people milling about. Amy was nowhere 
to be seen. "Great, I've lost her, too," Sonic muttered. "I'll bet 
that robot hauled butt after her. What a night this has turned into." 
He was at once glad Amy was gone and unhappy, too. He was sick and 
tired of being razzed for a 'cute couple', but at the same time 
worried about her. He had had to save her from robots for years 
before she moved away. He would probably have to do it again.
	The blue hedgehog wandered down the sidewalk, his color 
blending with the darkness, wondering what he should do. He moved 
up to the tall building next door to Twinkle Park and gazed at the 
garage-type door. What was behind it? He looked at the access screen 
mounted on the wall beside it. Employees only. Access card required. 
"Probably some boring warehouse or something," Sonic thought to quell 
his curiosity. "I wonder if I could spot Zero from up above the 
street. He's about as big as a car."
	Bored, worried and tired, the hedgehog crossed the street and 
moped toward the hotel. Nothing had gone right today. The train went 
on strike, Knuckles made them lose their emeralds to Chaos, they lost 
the biplane to the Egg Carrier ... now he had lost Tails and Amy. 
Sure would be nice if he FOUND something for a change.
	Something chinked under his shoe. He looked down. A credit card? 
"Who would be stupid enough to lose a credit card?" Sonic thought as 
he picked it up. No, not a credit card--Employee card, Speed Highway,
 Mario Andretti. Well well, an access card to that weird building!
	The hedgehog raced back across the street and slid the card 
into the slot. The screen blinked, "ID recognized. Welcome." The large 
door slowly lifted into the ceiling, revealing a large, darkened room 
beyond. Sonic entered cautiously; what was here and what was it for? 
His shoes clanked on the metal floor. In the light from outside he saw
 a small control panel on the wall. Squinting, he approached it. It 
appeared to be elevator controls. Experimentally he pressed floor 9.
	He jumped as the door rolled shut again, shutting out the light. 
"Uh oh," Sonic said. "I've done it now." A whirring hiss of machinery 
starting up, and the floor jolted under him. He sensed he was moving 
upward. The entire thing was made for lifting vehicles far, far above 
the city's streets.
	A bewildered hedgehog arrived at the ninth floor and found 
himself stepping onto a paved highway suspended between the skyscrapers. 
The roar of traffic met his ears. He had entered Sapphire City's Speed 
Highway.
	Sonic broke into a glorious run. Oh, the joy of having an entire 
highway to himself! This was much better than building-hopping. Maybe 
he could spot Zero from way up here.
	Two onramps, four offramps and a cloverleaf later, the screech 
of sirens tore the air. Sonic looked back and saw his old friends the 
Speed Police were once again on his tail. What were they doing up here, 
where it was OKAY to speed? Well, he would lose them.
	He leaped from the road to a rooftop, scurried across it and 
leaped to the road on the other side, not daring to look at the ten 
or so stories that separated him from the ground. Several Speed Police 
motorcycles roared after him, jumping the gaps as easily as he had. 
Sonic ran for it, streaking along the highway, red sneakers a blur, 
eyes roaming the highway for somewhere to jump to. Ah ha, a high building 
rearing up on the right. Sonic leaped, whipped himself sideways in 
midair and shot along the front of the building horizontally, leaped 
from the edge, landed on an onramp and headed up it, putting a large 
chunk of space between himself and the police.
	For a while Sonic jogged along, the wind blowing his spines about. 
It smelled of exhaust and the ocean. Every so often he stopped, looked 
over the railing and scanned the traffic below for a robot, but without 
success. Even if he could spot Zero in all that, what could he do? 
Jump on him? He could try it once, and his remains would be strewn 
across the headlines the next morning. "Fantastic suicide attempt by 
unknown hedgehog!" Yeah, right.
	Suddenly he was almost run over by a Speed Police car. It had 
appeared out of nowhere, and was followed by a squadron of cars and 
motorcycles, a mass of red and blue flashing lights, megaphones 
commanding him to halt. "I'll never surrender, Overlanders!" Sonic 
shouted in rage, and fled away, once again the quarry. He would have 
to try something unthinkable to shake them this time.

	* * *

	Knuckles climbed the steps to the pyramid, hands sweating through 
his gloves. This was it. Now he would see whatever it was that that 
light wanted him to see. Carefully he lifted the gold statue and set 
in in the slot.
	Something clicked in the stone beneath him--he felt it through 
his shoes. The statues were keys that activated ... something. 
	The square space between the two statues lit with a crack, 
yellow lightning playing through the chinks between the bricks. The 
bricks and mortar crumbled before Knuckles's eyes, leaving a gaping 
hole in the tier before him. He walked to the edge and looked in. It 
looked like a mine shaft, dropping away into nothing. It could be a 
trap; he knew how crafty his ancestors had been. Then again, would 
that pink light have showed him this if it WERE a trap? After all, 
it WAS an entrance into the pyramid.
	The echidna drew a deep breath, swung in backwards, and began 
climbing down, metal claws grating on the stone bricks.
	A few yards down all light vanished, and he descended in pitch 
darkness, cautiously securing each fisthold before moving down to 
the next. The bricks were dry and cold to the touch, laid in even, 
geometric rows to form a nearly smooth wall. There was no sound 
other than what he made himself, from both above and below. "I'd be 
worried if there WAS a sound," Knuckles thought. What would he do 
when he reached the bottom? He wouldn't be able to see anything. He 
supposed he could feel if there WAS a bottom, then borrow Tails's 
flashlight or something.
	The air slowly became musty and damp, and wall slippery and 
beaded with moisture. The echidna began to slip, claws shrieking on 
the stone. He guessed he had descended several hundred feet--the top 
of the shaft was a dim grey dot high above him. How deep WAS this 
darn shaft?
	Abruptly the sounds he was making echoed, as if he had descended 
into a large room. Knuckles paused and listened. There was a hint of 
sound on the edge of his hearing ... like water running a great 
distance away. "Hello?" he said, and it reverberated back at him 
from the four walls. It was pitch black. Where was he? Should he go 
back? Maybe he should climb a little lower and feel for the floor. 
After all, he would feel pretty silly if he found he had chickened out 
two feet above the ground.
	He climbed a few fistholds lower, listening to the sound it 
made, feeling his way down. Suddenly there was no more wall below his 
feet. What? Empty space? He inched a bit lower, feeling the wall with 
his toes. The bricks ceased. He pawed at the smooth wall for a hold, 
but there was none. He was dangling by one fist. He tried to pull 
himself back up, to reach above the smooth area (probably ornamental 
tiling) to secure a better hold, but his claws couldn't support his 
weight long enough. They pulled loose, scraped across the wall, then 
nothing. He was falling.
	Splash. Knuckles hit the water and gasped in terror. Would he 
drown? He pulled himself upright in the water and felt his feet touch 
the bottom. It was only three feet deep.
	The echidna remembered reading a story once about some guy who 
fell down an eight-story well and was stuck there for a week, and ended 
up frost-bitten and hurt and other things. Maybe he would be stuck 
inside this pyramid for the rest of his life. Maybe he would die down 
here in the pitch dark.
	For a moment Knuckles stood in the water up to his chin, 
fighting paralyzing fear of the dark unknown. Slowly he calmed. This 
place had been built by echidnas. He would be able to find an exit. 
There was always an exit. He drew a deep breath and let it out. First 
things first. Get out of the water.
	He waded forward, hands extended. His ripples were obviously 
lapping some shore or bank nearby--he could hear it. The water's 
depth decreased. There-- a square edge, as if he were in a swimming 
pool. He climbed out. Cold stone floor. What in the world was this 
place? WAS it a swimming poll?
	Suddenly, all about him, torches blazed into life on the walls, 
filling the vast room with clear light. Blinking with surprise, 
Knuckles looked about. It was a huge square room, bordered on two sides 
with water. Everywhere he looked were doorways; in the wall, near 
the ceiling, scattered across the walls at varying heights. In the 
ceiling was a single dark ventilation shaft, probably the one he had 
fallen out of. Under his feet was an impressed turquoise panel that 
had activated the lights. It was the same technology used in the 
Sandopolis pyramid, and the secret of its operation was long lost.
	But which doorway led to the outside was a mystery.

	* * *

	"Give that back, you stupid frog!" Tails yelled. He made a grab 
for its hind legs, but it jumped out of the way just in time. "Ribit," 
it commented, hopping toward a nearby stream. "Oh no you don't!" Tails 
snarled, thoroughly angry by this time. He spun his tails and activated 
his anklets. He shot over the frog's head, landed and pounced.
	The frog kicked and struggled, then did what all frogs do when 
picked up, but Tails knew all about catching frogs and how to hold 
them. "Give it back!" the fox growled, holding the amphibian under one 
arm and pulling at the stone in its mouth with the other. After a 
fierce tugging match, Tails won. He stood, panting, frog under one arm 
and chaos emerald in his hand. "Ribit," the frog said again. "Ribit 
yourself!" Tails snapped, still irked about the chase. "What would a 
frog want with a chaos emerald, anyway?"
	The fox walked back along the trail, retrieved his flashlight, 
and trained it on the frog. It was a bright green with a white belly, 
and had brown dots and stripes on its back. It also had a long tail 
with a knob on the end--rather un-froglike. "Weird!" Tails exclaimed, 
examining it. "You must not have lost your tail when you were a 
tadpole! Good thing I caught you before you got in the water. You're 
probably a great swimmer." The frog blinked its golden eyes. "Tell 
you what," Tails said, tossing the chaos emerald up and down idly, 
"I'll take you back to the hanger with me, put you in that old wire 
crate, then put it in the runoff from the hydroelectric generator. I'd 
like to show you to Sonic."
	Suddenly a small pink ball of light appeared out of nowhere, 
swooped around Tails' head, then buzzed right into his eyes. "Whoa! 
What's this?" the fox exclaimed.
	He blinked and looked around, startled. He was no longer in the 
Mystic Ruins. He was--he didn't know where he was. He was standing on 
a paved path leading toward a towering pyramid a short distance away. 
To the right and left were other stone structures screened discreetly 
by trees, and smoke rose from fires of some sort here and there. The 
sun was clear and bright. It was about 8:00 in the morning.
	Bewildered, Tails walked forward. The frog, the emerald and his 
light were all gone. How would he find them again? Had he been 
teleported?
	A voice murmuring caught his attention. Tails saw a young 
echidna girl standing under a tree nearby, a faraway look in her eyes. 
He moved closer. She was saying softly, "The servers are the seven 
chaos. The unifier is the one who controls the chaos. Chaos is power 
enriched by the heart."
	"Excuse me," Tails interrupted her, "but that's not what chaos 
is. Chaos is complete disorder."
	She turned and looked at him. "I know it is. That's why I'm 
trying to figure out this saying. My grandmother taught it to me, and 
I'm never to forget it." She paused and tilted her head to one side. 
"All I know is, the number seven is the same as the number of chaos 
emeralds there are." For an instant her face clouded, as if some dark 
thought crossed her mind. It vanished as quickly as it came, and she 
extended a hand to Tails. "Are you for the Guardians or the 
Mainlanders?"
	Tails stared at her. "Huh?"
	The echidna looked at him, then said understandingly, "You must 
be new here. I'm sorry. Do you have any special abilities?"
	Tails frowned. "What do you mean? I can fly." He demonstrated.
	She nodded, then said, "I was thinking more of fight moves. 
You see, our nation is about to ... to go into battle," she stumbled 
over the words, "and all males must have some method of attack."
	"Well," the fox said thoughtfully, "I can do this." He stepped
back, then whirled about on his toes, tails cutting the air in a 
circle.
	"That's good!" the girl approved. "Can you do it longer? Spin, 
I mean?"
	"Nope," Tails said. "I get dizzy and fall down."
	"You would be more dangerous if you could spin longer," the 
echidna said thoughtfully. "You need to develop a rhythm to spin to, 
like how ceremonial dancers move to music. Let's see if you can beat 
one as you spin." 
	Tails practiced for what seemed like hours, the echidna girl 
cheering him on. He had never thought much of his spin attack and had 
not developed it. But now, somehow, it seemed urgently important.
	Then he had it. A certain angle to lean into, a certain one-two 
tap of his toes, a certain tilt of his arms, and he found himself 
spinning for two, three minutes at a time without tiring.
	"You've got it!" his instructor cheered, clapping her hands.
	"I've got it!" Tails grinned. He spun in several circles, 
saying, "If I --knew a song--that fit this--beat I--could sing it!"
	"You sure could!" the echidna said. "Wait a minute." She dug 
into the pockets of her dress for a moment, and pulled out something 
and held it out to Tails. He took it. It was a small purple diamond 
shape with a blue rim, and attached to the bottom half were three 
short, curly feathers. It had a clip on the back, which the girl 
helped fasten to the fur on his chest. "This is a rhythm badge," she 
told him. "It's to remind you of your new move." Abruptly she gave 
him an odd look, then laughed. "I'm sorry! We've done all this, and 
I don't know your name. I'm Tikal."
	Suddenly she was gone, and the sunny morning with her, as if it 
had been a projected image someone had switched off. Tails was 
standing in the Mystic Ruins, a purple chaos emerald in one hand, a 
flashlight under one arm and a frog under the other. But it had not 
been a dream, for he was standing near the wrecked bi-plane within 
view of the ocean, while before he had been on the other side of the 
mountain. And clipped to his chest was the little purple badge.
	The fox blinked and looked around, confused. "Tikal?" he said 
into the night. "Where did you go?"
	"Ribit," said the frog under his arm.
	"Shut up," Tails replied. He turned in a circle, his light 
sweeping the area, but the girl was not there.
	Someone else was.
	"Hey! You've got my little buddy!" a low, slow voice called 
from down the hill. Tails turned and saw an enormous cat thundering 
toward him with a fishing pole in one hand. He looked as big as a 
charging elephant to Tails, who backed up and fell over a rock. The 
cat kept coming, getting larger by the second. Then he tripped and 
fell almost on top of Tails, who was too frightened to make a sound. 
Tails loosened his arm, freeing the frog, who, taking immediate 
advantage of this, gave a mighty leap, landed on the cat's head, 
leaped off and bounded away down the hill.
	The cat slowly sat up. He looked as if he were about to cry. 
"Aww, now what am I gonna do?"
	Tails sat up, fear ebbing. "You wanted the frog?"
	The cat nodded.
	"I'm sorry. I didn't know."
	"Didn't mean to scare you," the cat said, standing up. He was 
taller than all the humans in Sapphire City. "I'm Big. See you later."
	It took Tails a moment to realize that that was the cat's 
name, and not merely a statement of fact. By the time he made the 
connection, Big was already walking away down the hill.
	"I'm Tails! Bye!" Tails called. "Weird," he added under his 
breath. "What was I doing?" He looked down at the gem in his hand and 
remembered. "Oh yeah! I was gonna put this in the Tornado! Time for 
liftoff, yah-hoo!" He bolted for the hanger, waving his flashlight 
and emerald above his head crazily.
	One of the explorer humans looked out of his shack and saw the 
young fox tear by. He checked his watch. 2:00 AM. "Another of those 
loony Mobians," he muttered.

	* * *

	The night grew old. Knuckles explored, Tails worked, and the 
stars began to dim above Speed Highway, where Sonic was tiring rapidly 
of the Speed Police's eternal pursuit.
	He had lost them for a while when the news came around to check 
him out, although he didn't know it at the time. All he knew was that 
the helicopter ahead of him was about to take off, and he could hitch 
a ride on one of the skids.
	Sonic had leaped and grabbed ahold of the retreating skid, 
then jeered triumphantly at the police cars as they screeched to a 
halt below him. He was lifted up, up into the night sky, the rotors 
a blurred, noisy circle above him. He had held on, looking down at 
the streets a mile below and knowing if he let go, that would be it.
	He became aware of voices in the chopper above him. He looked 
up and saw the side door was open and several humans and a camera were 
leaning out, looking down at him. He grinned at them and hollered, 
"Thanks for the lift!" Their faces registered shock an amazement. He 
returned his gaze to the cityscape below him. Ah ha, a rooftop coming 
at them, presumably to drop him off. In another second the cement 
expanse stretched below him. The hedgehog dropped, landed on his feet, 
ran and leaped off the edge, caught the edge of the nearby highway 
with his fingertips, scrambled up and was away.
	That had thrown the Speed Police for a couple hours. Sonic nearly 
forgot about them in that time as he amused himself with running 
through the vast city. But now, as the east began to brighten and the 
city's roar dropped to a sleepy murmur, Sonic turned back toward Station 
Square. He needed to rest for a while.
	The hedgehog had discovered a mounted rocket of some kind with a 
handle on it, and was looking it over when sirens split the air and 
four police cars bore down on him "The pest brigade is back," Sonic 
muttered. He was sick of them. He grabbed the rocket's handle and 
pulled it down.
	He was yanked off the highway and shot almost straight up, the 
rocket roaring above him. A tall building was fast approaching. Was 
it set for the roof of that sucker? Sonic didn't think he could hold 
on for that long--his fingers were being slowly dragged from the 
steel handle by the intense force. He couldn't breathe. Closer, closer--
	Sonic lost his grip and curled into a ball almost at the same 
time. At his speed he wouldn't stop anytime soon. He shot toward the 
building--smashed through a window, rolled to a stop and lay stunned 
for a moment.
	After a moment he regathered his wits and sat up. He wasn't dead. 
He couldn't believe it.
	He seemed to be on some sort of an observation deck--there were 
huge glass windows on all four walls, and lots of telescopes and 
maps mounted here and there.
	Sonic stood and brushed bits of glass from his fur. Aside from 
a few small cuts on his right arm, he was unhurt. The window he had 
come through was in sorry shape, thought. Thoughtfully he laid a 
ten-dollar bill on a table--it wouldn't do much toward paying for 
it, but he only had twenty left--and walked toward the all-glass 
observation room.
	He pushed his way through the metal posts and cordons, 
thinking they simply blocked the room off during the night, and 
stepped into the glass room that overlooked the city. It was like a 
glass box stuck to the side of the building. The lights of the city 
below were like a multi-colored christmas tree, blinking or flashing. 
Sonic looked down through the glass floor to the street below ... 
and saw the large cracks snaking away from his sneakers.
	He burst through the floor with a terrific crash and free-fell 
toward the street thirty stories below.
	Sonic's mind was blank the first few seconds--he was dropping 
like a ton of bricks, feet first. He tilted forward. His feet struck 
the building front, moved automatically--and just like that he was 
running straight down the skyscraper. His mind cleared. He was back 
in control. This might even be fun.
	Avoid the windowsills, dodge the powerlines, duck the helicopter 
hovering beside the building--what in the world is it doing, anyway?--
everything a blur but the street below, growing bigger and more 
definite every second, cars moving, headlights--don't watch the street, 
stupid--the lobby coming up, weave through the decorative pillars, 
watch out, that one almost got you, glass skylight, feet first feet 
first!
	The speeding hedgehog smashed through three skylights in a row 
and hit the lobby floor in a roll, arms over his head. Glass fragments 
rained down, most from the skylights, others from the broken 
observation deck high above. For a moment it sounded like a heavy 
rain as they plinked and shattered on the hard tile floor. They 
slowed and ceased after a few moments. Sonic uncurled and opened his 
eyes. He had challenged a sky scraper and lived to tell about it. 
Jubilant, he sat up--and found himself facing three shocked humans 
behind the reception counter, all staring at him openmouthed.
	Sonic stood up, coolly dusted himself off, nodded to them and 
said, "The name's Bond. James Bond." Then he turned and strutted out 
the door.
	The sky brightened as he hiked back to Station Square, turning 
the scattered clouds orange and gold. He couldn't see the sun when it 
rose at his back, but he saw it touch the highest buildings with warm 
color.
	It was six o' clock by the time he reached Station Square. He 
had just enough energy left to check into the hotel, eat a weary 
breakfast and fall into bed.
	He missed the news broadcast of a blue hedgehog who had been seen 
travelling the Speed Highway without a vehicle (which was illegal), 
and who had actually hitched a ride on the Channel 6 helicopter. There 
was also a report of that same hedgehog wantonly destroying the 
lobby skylights of the Twin Seeds observation tower.
	"Oh, isn't he a dream!" Amy exclaimed, watching the television 
in her living room with eyes alight. "I have to find him today!"
	Someone else was also watching the newscast--a tall, red and 
white robot with an energy cannon for a right hand.
	E-102 Gamma had travelled and searched the coastline, but without 
success. No one had seen or heard of a tailed frog. If ever a robot 
could be discouraged, Gamma was. Rendezvous time was only a few 
hours off and he had turned up nothing. Master Robotnik would not be 
pleased.
	Gamma stopped and watched the morning news in a shop window, 
along with a few early-rising humans. He recognized the blue creature. 
It was in his databanks to hate and kill him on sight. But this 
conflicted ever so slightly with the mind of his pilot, who was 
curious about why it should want to kill this creature. 
	"Them Mobians," a nearby human snorted at the newscast. "They're 
crazy."

	* * * 

	Knuckles sat despairingly in one of the doorways twenty feet 
above the floor. He had explored, walked and crawled all over this 
place, and every single passage circled back to the main room. The 
only way out he could see was the shaft in the ceiling--the only 
opening he couldn't reach. He was discouraged, tired and hungry.
	"Whatever that darn light wanted me to see," the echidna 
said aloud to the four walls, "I guess this room is it. Now I've 
seen it and I want out."
	As if in response, that same pink ball of light appeared out 
of nowhere, circled his head, then shot down to floor level and 
into one of the doorways. Startled and relieved at the same time, 
Knuckles slid to the floor and followed it. It was waiting for him 
just inside the doorway, and again streaked away as he approached.
	It led him a merry chase along the same passages he had seen 
before, then showed him a trick wall, a flight of stairs leading 
down, a maze of passages, and finally into a long, high room. It 
flew to the end of the room and waited for him, but Knuckles took 
his time. The path lay between two pools of water, flanked with 
carved pillars. Each pillar was set with gold, silver and jewels, 
and all were different. Some were engraved with snakes, lizards and 
evil demonic faces--others were life-like figures of echidnas that 
stared at him from the past with eyes of obsidian. Still others were 
non-echidna people, some of extinct species, that Knuckles knew 
must have befriended or helped the echidna clan in some way.
	Slowly he approached the waiting light, gazing at the 
pillars in wonder. Was this what it had wanted him to see, this 
shrine or temple or whatever it was? He looked at the light, then 
up at the wall. A mural.
	The lone echidna suddenly found himself face to face with the 
reason his ancestors vanished.
	A second later the light flew into his face and blinded him. He 
stood quietly, knowing what was happening. He was going to see 
something weird.
	Sure enough, suddenly he was standing on a rocky hill under 
open sky. "Man, wish I could take notes on this," he muttered as he 
looked about. With a start he realized where he was. He was standing 
in the Marble Gardens, and only a few hundred feet away was the 
shrine where the remains of the Master emerald was located. But this 
was obviously not his time--the shrine was intact, seven obelisks 
surrounding it at a distance, the fountain full and flowing. He 
moved closer.
	Poised on top of each obelisk were the chaos emeralds, shining 
in the sun. On top of the pyramid/shrine, under the intact canopy, 
was the Master emerald. He squinted. Standing near it was the same 
girl--Tikal--that he had seen before. He crept up on tiptoe to see 
what she was doing.
	Knuckles had not been inside the Sunset Resort's chao garden, 
but he had seen pictures of chao and knew what they were. About 
forty of them were clustered about Tikal's feet, all gazing up at her. 
She was saying to them, "I've tried everything, but my father won't 
listen. His heart is hard--he thinks of nothing but power. Oh, you 
have to do something!" Here she seemed to be addressing the Master 
emeralds itself, as if it could hear her. Knuckles watched her 
closely. She seemed to be waiting for an answer. Finally she sighed 
and said, "You can't leave here. If only--if only I could take the 
emeralds myself--"
	At that there came a strange sound, as if the water in the 
fountain had growled in disapproval. Tikal shrank together and 
appeared frightened. "I'm sorry!" she said to the water. "I meant to 
hide them where my father could not find them, but I can't even do 
that." She looked down at the anxious chao and said, "Don't worry my 
little friends--I'll find some way to fix this." She walked down the 
pyramid steps, murmuring, "I must do something ..."
	Knuckles blinked and looked about. That morning had been 
replaced with the one of his time. It was quite early--the sun 
had barely peered above the eastern mountains. He was standing at 
the foot of the shrine, the broken Master emerald at the top. He 
was out of the pyramid. "I'm back," he said, not quite believing 
it. Under his arm was his bag of emerald shards--he distinctly
remembered leaving them outside the pyramid. This was getting 
quite freaky.
	He climbed the pyramid steps thoughtfully. That mural had been 
a real eye-opener, and so had that vision or timewarp or whatever it 
had been. So Tikal had tried to keep the disaster from happening. 
Why had she spoken to the Master emerald? It was a non-sentient 
power gem, manufactured in the distant past. It responded to basic 
commands, like a computer, and acted as a power hub to the Floating 
Island's teleporters. If the thing could think and communicate he 
would have discovered it ages ago. Maybe Tikal had not been familiar 
with it. After all, she wasn't the guardian.
	The echidna stepped onto the platform on top of the pyramid and 
saw someone in a sleeping bag curled against the base of the 
fractured emerald. He grinned and knelt beside the figure. "Talon, 
what are you doing out here?"
	The anteater rolled over and looked up sleepily. His fur was a 
mouse brown, but his eyes were encircled with white, and a black 
stripe ran down between them to the tip of his nose. "Hi, Knux," the 
youngster said. "I wanted to be sure I caught you before you left 
again." He sat up and yawned.
	"You little creep," Knuckles said affectionately. He liked this 
kid a lot. He stood, opened his bag and turned it upside down over the 
Master emerald. The four fragments clinked out and fused into the stone. 
To Knuckles' surprise, there was a lot more of it there than he had 
thought. Only perhaps two large pieces were missing.
	Talon stood up and smiled shyly. "The Chaotix and me found a 
couple pieces laying around here and put them back. Hope you don't 
mind."
	"Mind?" Knuckles said roughly, grabbing the anteater in a 
headlock and giving him an indian burn, "of course I don't mind!" 
Talon struggled, laughing breathlessly, and Knuckles let him go. 
	"Seriously though," Talon said, "I wanted to give you these 
before you left." He turned away, dug around in his sleeping bag, 
and produced a pair of yellow gloves. Knuckles looked at them closely 
as Talon explained, "They're fighting gloves, real leather. We put 
our money together to get them for you. Nice metal knuckles, by the 
way."
	Knuckles slid off his shovel claws and gloves and pulled on the 
new pair. They were much thicker than his old ones, but soft and 
flexible. He strapped his shovel claws on over them and took a few 
practice air swings. "Hey Tal, stand still for a minute."
	"Drop dead, sir," Talon grinned, backing away.
	Knuckles advanced in mock ferocity. "If you don't want your 
face pounded in, I suggest you get me something to eat. I haven't 
had anything since breakfast yesterday."
	Talon's eyes widened in instant seriousness. "Oh! I'm sorry, 
I didn't know that. I'll be right back." He dashed away down the 
stairs.
	Knuckles gazed after him, grinning. Talon idolized him, perhaps 
even looking to him as a father, as his own had died tragically 
several years earlier. He was a good kid.
	Knuckles sat down and gazed glumly at the Master emerald. Now 
that he was alone his previous, melancholy thoughts returned. With 
his luck, those missing pieces were somewhere in the bottom of the 
ocean.

	* * * 

	Amy strolled along the street into Station Square, eyes 
roaming the area for a blue hedgehog. Her flicky sat on her head, 
feathers fluffed against the cool morning air. She reached up and 
patted him. "We'll find Sonic and hang out with him today. How's that 
sound?" Birdy said nothing, and Amy smiled to herself at the 
thought. Sonic on Speed Highway! How brave of him! She would have been 
frightened to death.
	The pink hedgehog stood near the pier for a moment, gazing out at 
the tranquil blue ocean. Far, far out, along the horizon, was a dim 
blue line she knew was the breakwater that helped form the bay. "Hey 
Birdy, why are seagulls called seagulls?" Amy asked. Birdy shrugged his 
wings and chirped he didn't know. "Because if they flew over a bay, 
they'd be called bagels." Amy laughed at her own joke, then turned 
toward the Sunset hotel.
	A shadow fell over them. Amy glanced about, then looked up--and 
scrambled backward with a shriek as Zero hit the pavement where she had 
been standing. Before she could so much as take a step, one of the 
robot's huge hands closed around her and lifted her off her feet. The
other hand grasped the flicky. Amy screamed in terror, but it was one 
of those intervals when the street was completely empty. Not even Metal 
Sonic could have planned a better time for a kidnapping.
	The big robot rolled up the train station's steps, burst through 
the doors, jumped up the stairway to the train platform, and rolled 
down the tracks into the glass tunnel that led toward the Mystic Ruins. 
Amy struggled helplessly--her arms were pinned--and happened to glance 
down at the street. "Sonic!" she screamed.
	The blue hedgehog jumped and looked around wildly. "Sonic, help 
me!" Amy shrieked again. There, he had seen her at last. She caught a 
glimpse of him running toward the station, then the buildings blocked 
her view.
	Sonic tore into the station, heart thundering in his chest. He 
raced up to the ticket booth and asked the guard, "Are any trains 
running today?"
	"Yes, the strike ended this morning," the guard replied. "A 
train is due in five minutes."
	"I can't wait that long!" Sonic exclaimed. "See ya!" He dashed 
for the tracks. If Zero could get through, then so could he.

	* * *

	Five minutes later, the train pulled in and the doors opened. A 
large green frog hopped out with a plop, gave a croak and hopped down 
the stairs, out the station doors and out toward the beach.
	A moment later a large purple cat disembarked, looked about 
despairingly, shouldered his fishing pole and walked out into the 
Square.

	* * *

	Sonic pelted along the train tracks. They were remarkably hard 
to run on, but in many places it was either them or lose ground finding 
a way around impassable terrain. Zero had set his wheels to the tracks 
somehow and had zipped ahead at eighty miles an hour, while Sonic was 
limited to a measly sixty-five to avoid wrecking his ankles. Why oh 
why was this the first thing that had to happen this morning? He had 
awakened feeling hung-over from eating too heavily right before bed, 
and so had eaten nothing when he got up. Now here he was, an hour later, 
wide awake and with nothing inside him. Curse that Amy, she was always 
getting into trouble. Let Robotnik robotize her for all he cared. No, 
no, he took that back. He DID care about what happened to that silly 
girl and her silly bird. He wouldn't be here, risking his neck to run 
along the treacherous railroad ties, if he didn't.
	Panting and limping on a twisted ankle, Sonic arrived in the 
Mystic Ruins. He sensed something above him and looked up to see the 
Egg Carrier's monstrous underbelly hanging quietly in the air. Oh 
great. Oh great. Sonic dashed for the station platform and looked 
toward the ground below. Zero was rolling slowly up the hill, still 
carrying Amy and her bird. "Hold it right there, bolt bucket!" Sonic 
yelled.
	The black and green garbage can turned and looked up at Sonic 
scornfully. "Sonic!" Amy cried. She was sobbing with fear and stress, 
tears streaking her face. 
	"Let her go!" Sonic commanded, vaulting from the platform and 
stalking toward the robot.
	A turquoise beam appeared around Zero and lifted him in the air 
toward the distant Egg Carrier. Sonic jumped for his feet and missed,
 landing on his hands and knees inside the beam.
	"Sonic, help me!" came Amy's tearful voice once more--then she 
and the robot were gone and the beam switched off.
	"No! Stop!" Sonic hollered futily. "Oh man, oh man ..."
	The Egg Carrier turned and began to drift off in a southerly 
direction. Sonic watched it a moment, paralyzed with indecision. He 
could looked around for Tails--but if he did, he'd lose sight of the 
Carrier.
	With a gulp Sonic headed after the steel cloud. He hoped it 
was the right choice, and forced himself not to dwell on the image in 
his mind of an orange-furred body lying motionless in the grass.

	* * *

	E-102 Gamma strode into the Station Square hotel and walked up 
to the manager. "Good day," he said in his electronic monotone. "Have 
you seen a large, tailed frog recently?"
	After looking the robot up and down, the manager decided not to 
ask questions. "I think so, sir. A large frog went toward the beach 
about twenty minutes ago."
	"Affirmative," Gamma replied. "Thank you." He turned and clanked 
toward the doors that opened on the beach.
	The big robot stepped onto the deck that surrounded the swimming 
pool and was instantly the center of attention as all the early swimmers 
stared at him. "Greetings," he said to them. Have any of you seen a 
large frog recently?"
	After a short silence, a human girl floating on a raft in the 
pool said, "You're the second person today to ask about that frog. 
It went hopping by here a little bit ago--it went thataway." She 
pointed toward the beach.
	"Affirmative, thank you," Gamma said, and strode toward the 
beach. 
	Behind him, the girl tittered to her sister, "He walks like a 
chicken! What a funny looking machine!"
	Gamma's visual sensors swept the beach. A few humans here and 
there, but no frog. He walked toward the water to gain the support 
of the hard sand, then walked along, scans sweeping from side to side. 
There were lots of waterlogged boards on the sand, and further out, 
the boardwalk over the water stood here and there in fragments, wood 
floating beneath the existing sections, as if a tidal wave had hit. 
Sitting alone at the end of the broken pier was a cat with a fishing 
pole. Gamma stepped onto the pier and watched the cat cautiously for 
a moment. He had never seen a creature sit so still for so long.
	Suddenly the cat jerked his rod, lowered it and began reeling 
something in. Gamma stood silently and watched as the cat let out 
line, reeled it in, let it out, reeled in more. Presently he reached 
down into the water and lifted--a tailed frog! Gamma's video sensors 
zoomed in on it, at the same time comparing it to the picture Master 
Robotnik had displayed. A perfect match! This must be the frog he was 
searching for!
	Big removed the hook from the exhausted frog's mouth and 
hugged him. "Oh Froggy, I found you!" he crowed, then laughed out 
loud. He had finally caught his straying friend. "Now I'll take you 
home where you can get all better again." 
	Gamma's approach to the situation was simple. He walked up to 
the cat, took the frog out of his hands, and walked back up the beach 
toward the hotel.
	"Hey!" Big cried. "Give my froggy friend back!" When the robot 
did not listen, Big gave chase. "Please, give him back, I'm beggin' 
ya!"
	The two vanished in the direction of the train station.

	* * *

	Tails was slumped against the nose of the Tornado, a wrench 
held limply in one hand, sound asleep. He didn't hear the hanger 
door slam, or the tramp of heavy boots. A rough hand shook his 
shoulder. "Hey kid ..."
	"Okay Sonic, I'm coming," the fox mumbled.
	"Hey kid, wake up," the voice said again.
	Tails' half-focused eyes opened. He blinked and sat up. It 
wasn't Sonic, it was Mac, owner of the airstrip.
	The fox straightened with a jerk. "Oh man, I didn't mean to 
fall asleep! Look, I'm sorry about the other two planes, but one 
got shot down by the Egg Carrier and the other one's engine blew up--"
	"It's okay, calm down," the human said amiably. "Those planes 
were hunks of junk anyway. That you flew them at all is a surprise."
	Tails stood up and stretched. "So you're not mad?"
	"Naw." Mac strode across the empty hanger and slung his 
duffelbag in the corner. "Sure is good to be back. My sister's kids 
all need a good hiding. I was about to go crazy." He paused and 
looked at Tails. "Is the Egg Carrier that thing that flew over the 
city yesterday?"
	"Yeah," Tails replied, tightening the bolts that held in the 
chaos emerald and converter. "I was going after it again as soon as 
I finished."
	Mac watched Tails out of the corner of his eye as he filled 
the coffeepot in the corner. The fox was working busily, now tightening 
bolts with a power drill, now welding something into place, watching 
from behind the protective dark mask. The kid had been going at it 
hard all night; Mac could tell by the rings around his eyes. Tails 
was in no condition to be flying. "Could I talk you into knocking 
off work and getting some rest?" Mac asked.
	"Nope," Tails replied without turning. "I just had some sleep, 
and I need to catch that ship before it's too late."
	A few minutes later Mac brought Tails a chipped mug of steaming 
black coffee. "Drink this, then," he said, sipping one himself. 
"You'll need to be awake."
	Tails took a drink and gasped. "Gosh, that'll put hair on your 
chest!"
	"Strong enough to lift a safe," Mac grinned. "Drink up. I have 
to tell you something after you finish."
	Tails gulped the coffee, feeling its searing heat warm him to 
the core. Mac opened a paper sack he had brought in, and handed out 
donuts. Between the coffee and the donuts, Tails felt wider awake 
than ever, and ready for action. "What'd you want to tell me?" he 
asked, setting down his still-warm cup and licking his fingers.
	"The Egg Carrier flew over about twenty minutes ago," Mac said.
	Tails shot to his feet. "Ohmigosh, why didn't you say so? I 
gotta get moving!"
	"That's why I didn't," Mac said calmly, sipping his coffee. 
"It went southeast."
	Tails flung the tarp off the Tornado, kicked the blocks from 
under its wheels and jumped into the cockpit. "Good luck, kid," Mac 
called as Tails taxied for the automatic hanger doors. "Kick 
Robotnik's tail for me!"
	Tails gave him a thumbs up and headed for the wild blue yonder.

	* * *

	Knuckles sat in the sun next to his broken emerald. He had eaten 
like a famine victim, tried out his new gloves, and had returned to the 
Master emerald. Talon had sensed that he wanted to be alone and had 
prudently departed.
	Where were the missing pieces? It was the foremost thing on the 
echidna's mind. Behind it seethed questions and thoughts about Sonic, 
Tails, Chaos, Tikal, the Floating Island, Chaos, the Mystic Ruins, 
his ancestors, and Chaos.
	He stood, leaned his elbows on the Master emerald's edge and 
gazed into its green depths. His troubled breath clouded the cool 
polished surface. From inside this thing, somehow, Chaos had come ... 
perhaps from another dimension through which the emerald was the 
only exit. If he repaired it, would Chaos be put back in?
	With a sick feeling in his stomach, Knuckles realized that the 
Master emerald would never be whole--it was missing the pointed tip 
which Robotnik had sawed off years ago. It had been lost when the 
Death Egg went down. Perhaps it set in motion a slow process that 
eventually gave Chaos a means of escape. If so, even if they managed 
to put him back inside, he would break out again in a few years ...
	"Where ARE the missing pieces?" Knuckles sighed.
	Something changed within the green stone. The light concentrated 
on a few areas, a few dark patches appeared ... and Knuckles found 
himself looking at a picture of the Egg Carrier. He stared in 
astonishment, then laughed out loud. Of course! The emerald would 
know where its pieces were. He could have asked it to display their 
locations long ago and saved himself the trouble of searching. 
Hopefully, he added, "Where is the missing piece Robotnik took?" 
The image of the Egg Carrier faded, but nothing else happened. Knuckles 
drooped a little. Not even the emerald knew where it was. It must 
have been destroyed.
	Well then, he must find the Egg Carrier and get the missing 
pieces. But how was he to find, much less board, the Egg Carrier?
	As he stood there pondering this and wondering how Sonic always 
managed to reach difficult places like he did, a distant clang drew 
his attention. Striding along the cliffline adjacent to the island 
was a red and white robot with something in its hands. "Bingo," 
Knuckles muttered. "This is a little too convenient--I'd better be 
careful." He headed for the rope bridge he had set up earlier to link 
the island with the mainland.

	* * *

	Gamma was confused, spooked and making for the docking bay as 
fast as his legs could take him. As he had disembarked from the 
train in Mystic Ruins, a bright reddish light had overwhelmed his 
video sensors. When it cleared and his sensors had readjusted, he 
found himself standing on a low hill, looking toward a shrine-like 
structure in the distance.
	"Searching for location," his computer had said. His video 
sensors focused on a distant mountain, the placement of the sun, 
and the strange structure. "No data found," his computer had said. 
"Location unknown." Gamma stood still for a moment as the 
implications of this worked through his brain. "This presents a 
problem."
	Mindlessly the robot strode toward the shrine. Perhaps he 
hoped to find something that his databanks would recognize. He had 
no reason--he simply moved. His feet clanked on the cobblestone path, 
announcing his presence to the entire area.
	As he neared the foot of the shrine, his audio sensors 
detected a sound--several dozen small creatures singing in harmony.
He slowed and looked about for the source of the sound. Chao. A 
crowd of little blue creatures stood on the pyramid steps, one seeming 
to lead, the others following. Innocent and harmless, they did not
notice the hulking robot watching them.
	Gamma knew what they were. His databanks listed no record, but 
the memory of the creature in his hull was alive and active. Chao. 
He had seen them before.
	He made as though to move forward, but a voice called 
suddenly, "Stop! Don't go any closer!" Obediently he stopped and 
swivelled his head around to see who was talking. A young female 
echidna was hurrying up. She wore strange clothing and a blue gem 
in her hair. She looked up at the robot fearlessly, then at the 
chao. "I'm sorry, I guess you're not one of them," she said. "You're 
not a chao inside. But that's okay." She clasped her hands behind 
her back and watched the singing chao. "Do you see the presence 
guarding these little ones?" As she spoke, the water in the fountain's 
pool rippled, although nothing visible had disturbed it. Gamma's 
video sensors fixed on it. "He is a gentle and loving creature," 
the echidna went on softly. "Even I was startled the first time I 
saw him. But without his protection, these chao would be unable to 
sing in peace. My father wants to take their home and its contents 
for himself. He wants to be the Guardian of this island, and he is 
willing to fight a war to get it. I have spoken to him, but his heart 
is hardened toward us all. I only hope that someday I will be able 
to understand him." Her voice had taken on a sad note.
	Then Gamma had found himself back on the train platform, the 
frog still in his hands. What had happened? The whole thing was 
fresh in his memory banks, but--had it really happened? It was so 
illogical, so unlike anything the robot had ever experienced in his 
short life, that he bolted from the platform and hightailed it for 
the Egg Carrier. His robot system was unable to feel fear, but the 
creature in his hull was terrified.

	* * *

	A jet of flame and sulphur burst from the rocks and roared 
into the blue sky. Sonic fell back against the rough cliff face and 
shielded his face from the heat. A moment later its ferocity abated, 
the jet shrinking back into the crack in the rocks. Sonic inched 
around it and scrambled away.
	"Red Mountain, five thousand feet. Warning--seismic activity," 
the sign had said. Sonic had paused to read it, then gazed anxiously 
at the Egg Carrier. It would fly quite close to the top of the highest 
peak. If he could get there first, he might be able to hitch a ride 
somehow.
	If he could get there first.
	Sonic vaulted over the fence, shuddering at the barbed wire as 
it touched his hands. As long as he lived he would never be able to 
stand barbed wire, having been seriously injured in it once. "Seismic 
activity," he scoffed to himself. "This is the bottom of Windy Valley. 
How bad could it be?"
	Bad, he had discovered. The entire area was active 
volcanically, spewing lava from great vents in the hillside, 
pouring gas from fissures in the earth. Cinder cones stood here 
and there, some trailing black smoke in the air. A path had once 
wound its way up the mountainside, but it had not been maintained 
in a long while. In some places it had been buried under lava floes, 
still warm to the touch. In others it had simply crumbled off the 
side of the mountain. Sonic was hard pressed to make any sort of 
progress upward, let alone keep up with the Egg Carrier.
	The sun climbed into the sky. Sonic struggled and panted and 
tried to avoid treacherous steam vents that appeared under his 
sneakers, but was not always successful. Once he was blasted from 
thirty feet by accidently stepping in one. He was frightened, but 
unhurt.
	Fire, smoke, ashy ground that gave beneath his feet, gas, 
steam, intense heat. The one cold thing Sonic discovered was a pool 
of water created by runoff from a steam vent. It tasted strongly of 
rotten eggs, but Sonic was so thirsty he didn't care. "I could use 
the sulphur in my diet, anyway," he thought wryly.
	At last his stumbling feet gained the summit of the mountain.
He shaded his eyes and looked around. Down below, on the east side 
of the mountain, was the caldera, working alive with lava and 
clouding the air with steam. In the west was the distant ocean, a 
low cloudbank forming on the horizon. "Rain," Sonic thought 
subconsciously. But in the south, the sky was empty.
	He looked about wildly, spinning in all directions. The Egg 
Carrier was gone. He had missed it.

	* * *

	"Ah-ha," Knuckles muttered, watching E-102 from behind a screen 
of philodendron. "You led me right back to your nest, Eggman."
	The valley of the Mystic Ruins ended sharply in a sheer cliff 
on its eastern side, dropping away for a hundred feet into a still 
deeper valley clothed thickly in jungle growth. Extended to the top 
of the cliff was a glass tunnel, like the one used for entering 
Twinkle Park. It led downward to ... something ... obscured by the 
trees. A city--out here? It couldn't be a city. There were no roads. 
It must be a base of some kind.
	E-102 walked straight up to the entrance of the glass tube. It 
opened, and the robot strode in.
	The echidna slunk out of hiding, cast a wary glance about the 
area, then slipped up to the doors. They opened automatically, and 
Knuckles leaped inside as if scoring a touchdown. "Ha," he breathed, 
then stalked down the glass tube after the robot. Behind him, the door
 opened and shut again as a large cat entered. He, too, had a reason 
for trailing the robot.
	E-102 Gamma unwittingly led the two into the Final Egg ground 
base, through it and into the Egg Carrier loading bay. Knuckles looked 
up at the monstrous ship for a second before sneaking aboard. It 
would have complimented the Death Egg immensely. It was about one-third 
of the size of the Death Egg, and probably packed about the same 
firepower, or he didn't know Robotnik He had better be careful once
on board--Metal Sonic or Robo Knuckles might be aboard, and neither 
liked him much.
	He was hidden securely among the crates in the cargo hold when 
Big the cat climbed aboard. Knuckles stared as the cat fearlessly 
advanced to the exit stairs and climbed them. Who was THAT? He must 
be working for Robotnik or he wouldn't dare go up there. Knuckles 
stroked his shovel claws and felt the vibration of the monstrous 
engines as they warmed up. He would have a bit of exercise once this 
monster took off.

	* * *

	The Egg Carrier's jets lifted its nose off the ground first, 
then its midsection and tail. Slowly it rose into view from behind 
the trees, the wind from its jets tossing them about frantically. 
Birds scattered for cover as the hulking ship rose into the air. 
Once it had enough altitude, the giant thrust rockets in the tail 
fired up, and the battleship moved forward and up into the late morning 
sky.

	* * *

	Sonic, standing forlornly on the top ridge of the volcano, saw 
the Egg Carrier in the distance, flying westward, toward the sea. 
"Ooo, what I wouldn't give to have the Tornado about now," the hedgehog 
moaned, thinking of the neat little bi-plane in the junkyard in 
Knothole. He and Tails could both fly it--it was Sonic's plane, after 
all, and he used to bestow upon it the affection some men give boats. 
If only he had been wrong and it COULD fly again ...
	As he stood, watching the hazily distant ship and wondering if 
he could make it to the bottom of Red Mountain alive, a small sound 
made itself known behind him--the friendly hum of a distant plane. 
He had heard so many planes fly over during his stay in Sapphire City 
he didn't notice it at first. But it grew louder and louder, as if 
the pilot were flying hazardously low. Sonic turned with a concerned 
frown and saw the blue and orange biplane flaying almost on level with 
him. The pilot waved to him wildly. Sonic waved back cautiously, 
wondering who that nut was. Then he caught sight of the orange fur and 
remembered that the Tornado was no longer red--Tails had repainted it 
blue and orange to represent their combined colors. "Tails!" Sonic 
yelled in exhilarated relief.
	The plane flew by, circled and dropped a wing. Sonic ran forward, 
leaped and landed on the wing. "Tails! You're okay!" he yelled over the 
noise of the engine, looking back at the fox whom he had missed so much.
	"Ditto!" Tails called back, grinning hugely. "Geddown, you big 
galoot! I can't fly with you up there!"
	"Where am I SUPPOSED to sit?"
	"On the tail, dummy! I've got a seat built there for you!"
	Sonic climbed from the wing, stepped into the cockpit and 
back onto the tail, where sure enough, there was a thing like a metal 
saddle. He sat in it and found a pair of metal loops on either side 
his feet could fit through. "Much better than that other plane!" Sonic 
shouted forward against the wind.
	"Count on it!" Tails hollered back. "You can't believe the 
weapons I've got on this baby! In the meantime, hang on!" The fox 
opened the throttle, and the biplane leaped ahead like a wild horse 
given its head. "We've got a ship to catch!"

	* * *

	E-102 Gamma, still shaken by his 'vision', was the last of the 
four robots to arrive in the main hall. Delta, Zeta and Epsilon were 
standing in a row as they had for their briefing. Dr. Robotnik stood 
on the raised platform, and Metal Sonic stood behind him like a little 
dark shadow.
	"My frog is the right one!" Zeta proclaimed proudly. 
	"No, mine is!" Delta contradicted.
	Gamma strode up and took his place meekly at the end of the line, 
Froggy lying limply in his one hand. What if this wasn't the right 
frog after all? The others each had a frog in their hands. Perhaps he 
had scanned the image incorrectly.
	Robotnik stepped down from his platform, and he was not pleased. 
"Dummies dummies dummies!" he roared. "None of you have the right frog! 
We must find the frog with Chaos's tail!" Furious, he stamped down the 
line of robots, finally coming to a halt before Gamma, whose frog he 
had not yet examined. He glanced at it, then looked again. "There it 
is," he said, pointing, "right there! I knew you wouldn't disappoint 
me, Gamma!" He took Froggy from the robot's hand and stroked it with 
uncharacteristic gentleness. "The rest of you, begone! Mecha, dispose 
of them. Gamma is the only successful prototype among them."
	"Yes sir!" Mecha said. He strode to a control panel in the corner, 
cackling evilly to himself Three down, one to go, and he was sure he 
could get his master to discard Gamma once Mecha showed him newest 
addition to the robot clan.
	Teleporter beams formed around the three unfortunate roots. 
First Zeta disappeared, then Epsilon, then Delta, bound for 
destinations known only to Metal Sonic. Before Delta vanished, his 
head swivelled to look at Gamma for the last time. Gamma looked back 
and recorded it. He had lost his second 'friend'.
	Metal Sonic approached Robotnik again, his task completed. 
"Take the frog to the Hot Shelter," Robotnik commanded, placing 
Froggy in the robot's claws. "He will die soon without water, and 
I do not want him dead. Put him in the small number 4 tank."
	"Affirmative," Mecha purred, casting a possessive look at 
Gamma before turning away. The last of the E-series would soon be 
his, he was certain.
	Now Robotnik and Gamma were alone in the main hall. "I have 
another assignment for you, Gamma," Robotnik said. "Don't worry--this 
one's easy. Go through that door. You will find a girl and a bird. 
Bring me the bird." Suddenly the doctor lifted a hand to his radio 
earpiece he always wore while aboard the Egg Carrier. Gamma, hooked 
to the system as he was, also heard the announcement. "Hostile bi-plane 
spotted, carrying Priority Hedgehog. Approach run: Five o'clock at 
eighty miles an hour."
	Robotnik said a few words in what Gamma took to be a foreign 
language, then bolted for the stairs that led to the bridge. "Bring 
me the bird, Gamma!" Robotnik called over his shoulder. "I'm counting 
on you!"
	The robot obediently walked to the doors at the far end of the 
room and hesitated before them. There were three doors. Which was he 
to go through? Uncertain, he entered the one on the left.
	Construction Bay 15 was emblazoned on the wall in large black 
letters. Gamma scanned it, then stepped forward, curious. His black 
feet knocked against something. He looked down. An E-series arm, 
painted black and white. Nearby was the other arm, two legs and 
various parts Gamma recognized as the E-series torso. Beta had been 
black and white.
	Gamma slowly looked up. The construction chamber was at the 
end of the room, and something was inside. Hesitantly, almost fearfully, 
he crept up to it and looked in.
	The chamber was enclosed in a huge glass tube to keep out dust. 
The thing inside was held in a monstrous vice, and fifty mechanical 
arms inside the tube were working busily, welding, placing parts, 
screwing bolts, inserting internal controls, working, working. The 
thing they were working on was about 3/4ths finished--was missing 
an arm--and Gamma recognized it. "Beta?"
	E-101 Beta had been transformed from a fairly boring-looking 
robot to a hulking, ferocious-looking monster. Only his head and upper 
torso had remained unchanged. Mecha Sonic had added long, airplane like 
arms with two deadly claws at the ends. Instead of hands, there were 
laser lenses attached to the insides of the arms. Beta had no legs--
they had been replaced by a short, rudder-like tail and hoverjets in 
his underbelly. His green eyes stared unseeingly at Gamma from under 
their suspended systems. 
	Gamma left the construction chamber and stood for a moment in 
the main hall. After a long pause, he said, "That was the wrong room." 
He turned toward the other two doors. Mecha had departed out the center 
one, so it must lead to the Hot Shelter. Therefore the one on the 
right must be the correct one. Gamma strode through.

	* * *

	Outside the Egg Carrier raged a furious air-to-air battle. But 
Sonic and Tails were not aboard a hunk of junk--they were aboard the 
rebuilt Tornado, sleek, fast and strong. Sonic was once again manning 
the firing controls. It was this time a small box with handles and 
triggers on either side, and a targeting screen built into the middle. 
The triggers fired the energy cannons on the Tornado's wings. He had 
unlimited ammo, as Tails had modified them to draw power directly 
from the chaos emeralds, instead of the engines as before. There were 
another pair of triggers as well, but they were locked and 
inoperative. He had asked Tails about them and was told that he 
would find out later.
	Tails made a dive for the runway below, but pulled up abruptly, 
nearly smacking Sonic's face into the firing controls. "Mines!" the 
fox shouted. "I can't land until we take 'em out!" Sonic looked 
around and saw the tiny green spiked things floating in a cloud 
over the Carrier's back. He ground his teeth and opened fire. Mines 
exploded in every direction.
	The biplane rolled to the side in a stomach-wrenching drop, 
and three kamikaze fighters screeched by. "Keep your eyes open, 
gunner!" Tails shouted. "They almost got us!"
	"Sorry!" Sonic shouted back.
	It was hard to see. The distant cloudbank Sonic had seen from 
Red Mountain provided apt cover for the monstrous Egg Carrier. They 
had entered it perhaps ten minutes before. The clouds above blotted 
out the sun, and often great patches of dense fog obscured the 
Carrier from view. The ocean had vanished below under a blanket of 
lower clouds, sometimes appearing as a black floor far below. Often 
the robot fighter planes would be invisible until they were right on 
top of the Tornado. It was a good thing they were not on board one 
of the earlier planes--the gyrations Tails pulled would have torn the 
wings off.
	Finally the last wave of fighters vanished in a nose-dive 
below them. To Sonic's surprise, Tails whipped the plane about and 
flew the opposite direction from the steel cloud. "I hope you know 
what you're doing!" Sonic called dubiously.
	"You bet!" Tails shouted. "Watch this! Transforming--now!" He 
pressed a button in the cockpit.
	A large mechanical arm emerged from the tail of the plane,
 grabbed Sonic and lifted him off the plane. "Hey!" Sonic yelled, 
then stared at what was happening to the Tornado. The propeller 
stopped spinning, folded up and retracted. The nose was closed over 
with metal panels, and two intake vents opened on either side. The 
wings lifted apart in an X shape and folded down to half their 
original width. The tail section opened, lifted up on a large joint, 
locked, and the hull closed over it. The arm sat Sonic down again in 
his seat, now a foot above the cockpit. "Wow!" the hedgehog exclaimed.
	"This is battle mode!" Tails hollered. "Hold down those other 
triggers to launch homing missiles!"
	"Homers?" Sonic exclaimed, but his words were snatched away by 
the wind as the little jet leaped forward an accelerated to speeds no 
mere biplane could hope to match.
	Another wave of fighters appeared from the underbelly of the 
Carrier. Sonic held down the formerly locked triggers and looked at 
his targeting screen. The dots at once became encircled by green 
crosshairs. Sonic released the triggers and felt several jolts as the 
missiles left the Tornado, cutting yellow streaks in the stormy air 
toward their targets. Sonic grinned as the distant jets exploded. He 
sucked a breath of the passing wind, tightened his grip on the 
controls and scanned the sky for more targets.
	Tails had his own ideas of justice. Now that the Tornado was in 
battle mode he was fearless and ready to take on the might of the Egg 
Carrier. Time to take another potshot at the giant laser cannon that 
had blown apart their last plane. If Sonic chickened out then Tails 
would take over the firing controls. Tails set his teeth and changed 
course.
	Sonic watched the side of the ship pass by thoughtlessly--he 
hardly ever questioned his sidekick's flight paths. It was not until 
they had pulled out in front of the Carrier and swung around toward it 
that the hedgehog saw what Tails intended to do.
	"Are you crazy?" Sonic yelled as the Tornado's speed dropped to 
five MPH. "We're gonna get toasted!"
	"Then put jam in your pocket," Tails growled, crouching behind 
the windscreen. "Start firing missiles so they'll impact when the 
fuselage opens."
	Sonic stared at the back of the fox's head for a moment, then 
targeted the Carrier and began firing missiles. Something told him 
his sidekick meant business, which wasn't something he had ever 
noticed in him before.
	The Cannon's doors opened and the great green lens lit up. Tails 
held the Tornado steady as Sonic fired with missiles and energy bolts, 
cool and relentless. Sonic chewed his lip as he fired, sweat standing 
out on his forehead. In the distance the missiles impacted on the 
lens harmlessly.
	Suddenly Tails gunned the engines and dodged sideways. The 
green beam cut the air to their left for an instant, then vanished. 
The doors closed. Tails repositioned the Tornado in front of it and 
commanded shrilly, "Fire!"
	The cannon fired at them a grant total of three times before 
the hundred-odd rounds pumped into it took effect. The laser crystal 
split and overheated. Flames licked into the cloudy air. Slowly, 
almost painfully, the damaged doors closed again over the inferno. 
"Yeah, we did it!" Tails yelled jubilantly, and Sonic joined him in 
a relieved cheer.

	* * *

	The Egg Carrier jolted violently, throwing E-102 Gamma against 
the the wall. He righted himself, and continued to walk down the short 
cell block. There were only three cells, all very large. In the one 
farthest from the door, the robot found Amy.
	Amy Rose sat on the floor, feet tucked beneath her, Birdy held 
protectively in her lap. She had been flung into her cell by a 
triumphant Zero three hours before. A little earlier, Metal Sonic 
himself had appeared and attempted to frighten her into giving up 
the flicky. She had been frightened, all right, but that had only 
aroused her protective instincts of the bird all the more, and she 
resisted defiantly. He had stared at her with his hateful red eyes 
and snarled a list of the ways he would like to see her die, then 
stalked out.
	Thus she was immediately on her guard when Gamma clanked up to 
the bars and said, "Kindly hand over the bird."
	"No way," Amy snapped, not even bothering to get up. He couldn't
reach her way back here.
	"Quietly hand over the bird," Gamma repeated.
	"No," Amy retorted.
	"Why not?" It sounded childish and simple, coming from the big 
robot. It gave the little hedgehog courage.
	She stood up, the bird still in her hands. "YOU tell ME why YOU 
want him!" she demanded.
	Gamma 'thought' about it. Master had asked for the bird. Why he 
had asked, Gamma had no idea. "Data unavailable," he told Amy.
	"You don't even KNOW?" she asked. "You'd probably just hurt him, 
you big bully!" She turned away to block the flicky from the robot 
with her body.
	Gamma scanned the mainframe. Why was the hedgehog here? E-Zero
Alpha had filed a report saying she had tried to keep him from 
retrieving the bird, and he had had to bring her along, too. Why? 
It didn't make sense. "Does not computer," he told Amy. "Why try to 
protect that which is useless to you? Does not compute."
	"Don't you understand?" Amy said sharply, looking up at the 
green eyes. The robot looked back at her, not maliciously or angrily, 
just blankly. Amy's face softened. "You DON'T understand," she said, 
turning back around. "Robotnik didn't give you feelings." She walked 
up to the bars. To her surprise, Gamma raised his hands as if to ward 
off a blow and backed away. He was afraid of her? Strange--he was 
three times her size. "I protect that which is useless to me because 
of love, Mr. Robot," she said softly. "It's called compassion. I'll 
bet you'd feel it right now if you could--for us, locked in here."
	Suddenly Birdy struggled out of Amy's hands and flew through
the bars. "Birdy, come back!" Amy cried, reaching after him. The 
flicky flew up and hovered before Gamma, chirping rapidly, as if 
talking in his own language. The robot did not try to catch him. 
Instead he simply looked, then shuddered all over, as if about to 
fall apart. Something had happened to him, Amy saw. Then, to her 
surprise, Gamma turned, stepped to the release lever and pulled it 
down. The bars on Amy's cell lifted into the ceiling. She stood, 
mouth open, as the flicky returned to her her shoulder.
	"It is dangerous here," Gamma said without turning. "We will be 
arriving in the Mystic Ruins base soon. Go. Escape."
	Amy stood there for a long moment in shock. She ... was being 
allowed to escape? This tall red robot was much different from Metal 
Sonic or Zero. Maybe it was built wrong. She instantly felt sorry for 
him in spite or herself--he wasn't evil enough to work for Robotnik.
	"You're different from those other robots," she told the robot's 
back. "I'll try to return the favor sometime." She paused awkwardly, 
then said, "Goodbye!" and dashed for the door.
	Gamma remained where he was for the better part of an hour, 
numbed to his core by what he had just done. He had disobeyed orders. 
Master would have him dismantled, he was sure. Or--the images of the 
rebuilt Beta and the vanishing Delta flashed through his memory--he 
would be handed over to Metal Sonic for experimentation. A shudder 
rocked his frame.
	"Emergency alert has been established," the speaker system said. 
Gamma did not acknowledge it, but continued to stare at the wall. He 
had failed his mission, and all he could do now was wait until Master 
sought him out for punishment.

	* * *

	"We're in!" Tails hollered, slowing the Tornado's engines and 
coming in low toward the runway on the Egg Carrier's back. 
	"All right!" Sonic yelled. "I didn't think we'd make it!"
	The runway neared, a small gray strip hat grey to a large gray 
strip. "Uh-oh," Tails said suddenly. "I forgot something."
	"What's that?"
	"There's no landing gear in this mode!"
	"WHAAAT?"
	But they were too close now to pull up. Tails slowed to a crawl, 
dipped low--
	The bottom tips of the wings scraped the runway. The biplane 
flipped forward on its nose, grated forward another ten feet, and 
came to a halt at last. Sonic jumped off the tail, panting. "Well, 
that wasn't too bad."
	Tails unstrapped himself and climbed out of the cockpit, eyes 
immediately going to the lower wings. They were bent, but not badly.
	"This thing is really huge!" Sonic said, drawing Tails's
attention to the ship about them. The runway was located just aft 
of the prow. Behind the runway was a wide cylinder of green glass 
with machinery turning and pumping inside. Beyond the green cylinder 
loomed the towers and windows of the bridge, high above the deck. 
Yet beyond that were the enormous wings and tail fins.
	"No time to gawk now," said Tails, disgusted at the automatic 
awe he felt. "We need to find Amy."
	"Good point," Sonic said, snapping out of his reverie. "Here 
we go!" A feast for the eyes, yes, but it was still the enemy's 
flagship. "Remember that," Sonic told himself.
	They trotted across the runway, feeling the vibration all 
about them of the ship's movement. They found a motorized lift at 
the far end, rode it down to the main deck, and trotted aft, toward 
the bridge.
	Robotnik's voice roared out suddenly, startling the two. "You 
think this is going to be easy, don't you, fools? You have not yet 
seen the power this vessel REALLY has! Get a load of this!" Sonic 
grabbed Tails' arm in preparation for flight in case of attack, but 
that was not their enemy's plan this time.
	The huge things laid along either side of the Egg Carrier's 
nose section lifted and swivelled outward. Sonic and Tails had 
thought they were armor panels, but saw now that they were monstrous 
wings. As the wings moved out, the deck before them lifted up and 
lengthened, moving the bridge up and backward. The wing panels 
twisted around, revealing giant guns ready to annihilate all comers. 
In the rear, another set of tail fins emerged and the ones already 
there tilted down, forming an X shape, much as the Tornado had.
	Sonic and Tails now stood on the battle-ready Egg Carrier, 
staring at the vast transformation. "It changed!" Tails exclaimed. 
"Did you SEE that?"
	Sonic gave Tails a sideways look that said, "Duh." "Darn!" 
Sonic said aloud. "This makes it harder for us to get to the bridge."
	"I hate it when he doesn't listen to me," Tails muttered.
	"I'll bet you weren't expecting that!" Robotnik boomed with 
obvious pleasure. "The only way to the bridge now is through the Sky 
Deck. I doubt you can figure this one out."
	"Oh yeah?" Sonic challenged, raising a defiant fist. "Bring it 
on!"
	Sonic and Tails trotted along the deck toward a steep metal 
ramp with a door in the top, a short distance away. "I'll bet that's 
the Sky Deck entrance," Sonic said, pointing. "Let's go!" The hedgehog 
climbed the ramp, sneakers slipping on the smooth metal. Tails 
hesitated at the bottom and looked back. "What about the Tornado? 
What if he steals it?"
	"Where's he gonna put it?" Sonic called down, opening the door
 and looking inside. "It's already on board!"
	Tails frowned, but climbed the ramp anyway. "He could burn it or 
throw it overboard or something."
	"Well, we'll have to get to the bridge before he can do anything,"
Sonic said, flashing an innocent grin. "C'mon!" The two stepped inside, 
and the door closed behind them.


	* * *

	After Amy was released from her cell, she scampered through the 
exit door, entered a room with a round thing in the center she thought 
was a teleporter machine, ran around it and tried the far door. It 
was locked.
	The pink hedgehog looked around the room for another door, but
there were only the cell block door and the locked one. "Oh great,
 Birdy," Amy panted, afraid but not quite to panic-mode. "What do we 
do now?"
	Robotnik's voice boomed from a speaker somewhere in the room, 
startling her. "So, you've managed to escape, have you? You won't get 
very far. Only my robots can open that door. The only way you could 
open it is ..." She could almost see the smile spreading across 
Robotnik's broad face. "... beat my score."
	The machine in the center of the room lit up, and so did a vast 
scoreboard on one wall. "Dr. Robotnik, 2000 points," it said. Amy and 
her bird exchanged a glance. Play a game for her life? Well, stranger
 things had happened. She stepped onto the machine.
	It was a small round platform surrounded by a ring of holes. 
Nearby lay a yellow mallet on a cord. Amy picked it up and tugged at 
the cord. To her surprise it snapped loose from the nail quite easily. 
She clenched her fingers around the handle and looked up at the 
scoreboard, which blinked, "Hedgehog Hammer. Blue Sonic = 100 points. 
Yellow Sonic = 500 points. Dr Robotnik = -200 points."
	Little heads began popping out of the ring of holes, easily 
recognizable as Sonic, Super Sonic and Robotnik heads. Amy timidly 
whacked a few, but not enough. After a moment the game was over and her 
score total was 400 points. "You'll have to do better than that," 
Robotnik guffawed. "Pitiful female!"
	Amy bristled. So, she wasn't going to be killed if she lost--
she would be insulted! "Just you wait, Robotnik!" she shouted shrilly. 
She brought her mallet down hard on the center platform she stood on, 
which triggered another round. Furious, she whacked heads left and 
right, not caring if they were Robotnik or Sonic heads--if it moved, 
she hit it. Her flicky sat on a pipe in the corner and watcher her 
with nervous awe; he had never seen his little mistress so angry. 
Was it his imagination, or was her soft hair actually bristling a 
little, like Sonic's?
	The game ended. Breathing heavily, eyes flaming, She whirled to 
face the scoreboard. "3100 points," it blinked. "New high score."
	"No way!" Robotnik exclaimed. "I don't believe this!"
	"Believe it!" Amy snapped as the formerly locked door slid open. 
She started to set her mallet down, but hesitated and looked at it. 
It was a weapon of sorts, and as the robot had said, the Egg Carrier 
was a dangerous place. She would take it with her.
	Amy strode out the door, hammer in one hand, flicky flying along 
behind her. Anger and confidence in her weapon made her fearless. She 
looked around the large empty hall, tapping the mallet against her 
palm. She had been dragged through this elaborate green room by Zero. 
She moved into the center of it and looked around. There were doors 
everywhere. Which should she go through?
	Birdy knew. The least obvious way to get off the Carrier was 
through the Hot Shelter, which was how he had evaded Zero. He 
fluttered toward the appropriate door, chirping. Amy followed him. 
"You want to go that way? What makes you so sure it's best?"
	Birdy couldn't say many words, but he knew a few. "Escape!"
	Amy blinked. The bird seemed to speak up at odd times. "All
 right, we'll try it," she said. She tapped the button with her 
hammer. The door opened, and the two entered.

	* * *

	"I thought he called it a sky DECK!" Sonic yelled as he fled 
along a thin catwalk suspended from the underbelly of the Egg Carrier.
	"He did!" Tails shouted back from a few feet behind. He was 
flying with the aid of his anklets to keep up with Sonic, and both 
were fleeing for their lives. "It's a SKY deck! The deck is the sky!"
	"No kidding! Whoa, move it!"
	The catwalk behind them exploded into splinters and fluttered 
down into oblivion. The giant anti-aircraft energy cannons had them 
targeted, and were systematically blowing away the catwalks in an 
attempt to hit the hedgehog and fox.
	Their headlong flight carried them to one of the many support 
pillars that hung from the ship's underbelly. These were extended for 
attack mode, and rocket launchers swung from the bottoms. The catwalks 
connected them for the maintenance droids that hovered about, ready to 
fix any battle damage.
	Sonic dashed up the ladder on the pillar's side, made it to the 
platform near the roof and fled along the next catwalk, Tails close 
behind him. The nearest cannon, the largest of them all, swiveled with 
them and fired. The catwalk faded into fragments, the concussion 
knocking Sonic and Tails forward. Sonic nearly fell from the bouncing 
catwalk, but Tails caught him by an arm and hauled him back up, and 
away they went.
	"That was too close!" Sonic yelled against the wind as they 
arrived at the next pillar.
	"Tell me about it!" Tails yelled back. "From now on, wear a 
parachute before skydiving!"
	"Thanks for the advice!" 
	This pillar was emblazoned with a giant number 1. As Sonic inched 
his way around it on the narrow catwalk support band, Tails squinted at 
the pillars. He could see a 2, 3 and a 4, all connected in a big square. 
The number 4 pillar supported a small platform that extended right out 
to the main cannon itself. He wasn't sure, but there appeared to be 
some sort of robot-operated gun on that platform, too ...
	Sonic had made it to the next platform. Tails revved his tails, 
flew after him and shouted, "If we get to pillar four, we can shoot a 
rocket up the barrel of the big sucker!" He pointed to the main cannon, 
which was again following their movement and preparing to fire. 
	"Cool!" Sonic yelled back.
	They made it to pillars 2, 3 and 4 without more than a fright at 
the near-accuracy of the giant red cannon. Then the two dashed out on 
the pillar 4 platform to the smaller gun mounted there. Sure enough, it 
launched rockets--probably for picking off pilots who ejected from their 
falling planes, they decided later. It took the two of them to wrench 
back the safety, swivel the launcher to point up the throat of the 
cannon (which was only ten feet away and drawing a bead on them), and 
pull back the bar that was the trigger.
	The rocket shot up the cannon. There came an orange explosion in 
the depths of the barrel, then flames burst from the cannon's 
underbelly. "Whoo-hoo!" the two whooped as chunks of paneling tore 
lose from the cannon and whirled away downward. "Now, let's get out 
of here!" Tails exclaimed. He leaped for a ladder that went up the side 
of pillar 4 and through a hole in the ship above them.
	"All right!" Sonic said, clambering up after his sidekick. "The 
Sky Deck wasn't so dangerous after all!"
	Tails reached the top of the ladder, thrust his head out into 
the sunlight on top of the ship and looked around. "I think you spoke 
too soon, Sonic."
	"Why?"
	"We ain't out of it yet."
	Sonic climbed up and stuck his head out of the hole, and stared 
in horror. They were out on the starboard wing, wind ripping across it. 
The bulk of the Egg Carrier was off to their right.
	"How'd we get out here?"
	"Donno." Sonic climbed out into the sun and wind, Tails following 
hesitantly. "Let's go, kiddo." The hedgehog and fox started across the 
vast, windy expanse.

	* * *

	As Sonic and Tails braved the dangers of the upper Sky Deck, Amy 
braved the dangers of the Hot Shelter.
	The doors that opened from the main hall were an elevator that 
lowered its passengers into the lowest floor of the Egg Carrier. The 
pink hedgehog stood, biting her lower lip nervously, as the doors 
opened. The flicky flew out into the hall, and Amy followed.
	She was struck first with the smell of humid, warm air, and then 
of fish. The walls on either side were made of glass, and at first 
glance, were a light aquamarine blue. Then she looked again, and stared. 
They were not walls at all--they were gigantic aquariums, some tropical,
 some cold, all filled with fish. Some were fish Amy had never even 
imagined before, pulled from the bottom of the sea to grace Robotnik's 
menagerie. She did not see Chaos' disembodied eyes and skeleton, as he 
was resting in a clump of kelp in the corner of the largest tank. But 
he watched her with the cold disinterest of a reptile as she walked by.
	"Why would Robotnik have all this water on his ship?" she asked 
Birdy. "It must weigh a ton! If I had a ship like this, I sure wouldn't 
have yucky old fish tanks." It was rather interesting to look at them, 
though. Something about the color, or perhaps the constant, graceful 
motion of the schools of little tropical fish, was relaxing. Amy 
loosened her grip on her mallet and ran a hand through her hair. She 
must look a fright--she hadn't combed her hair all day long!
	The hall turned a wide corner, and Amy took it slowly, looking 
at the fish in each tank. The flicky was not interested in the fish, and 
kept flying ahead impatiently. It probably saved his life.
	 The wall to Amy's left (a solid wall, not a tank) exploded outward 
with a crash, throwing the hedgehog against the glass on the right. 
Stunned, it was a few seconds before she gained enough wits to realize 
what had happened. She picked up her hammer, climbed to her feet--and 
found herself face to face with the black and green trash can, Zero.
	Amy shrieked and ducked around him, stumbling over the debris on 
the floor, and pelted away down the hall. Birdy had been further ahead, 
and so had avoided Zero's entry. He flew to his little mistress and 
flew close beside her for protection. "C'mon, Birdy!" the hedgehog 
cried. Behind them, Zero clattered over the collapsed wall and gave 
chase.
	A large circular room ahead. Amy jumped down in it, hit the ground 
and stumbled--it was a lot further down then she had expected. A sort 
of pillar rose up in the center with a ladder mounted on the side. 
Amy clambered up this, panting and waiting to hear Zero's clank as 
he jumped in after her. She reached the top, swung herself up, and 
stopped with a gasp. Sitting on hands and knees on top of the platform 
with her was a purple cat, easily as big as Zero.
	The cat looked down at her and said, "Hi, I'm Big. Could you help
 me?"
	"I'm trying to get away from that robot," Amy blurted, "and he's 
right there!" She pointed at the mouth of the hallways fifteen feet away, 
where Zero was just rolling to a halt. 
	Big looked at him and shrugged. "My Froggy friend is in that tank 
over there," he said, gesturing to the nearby corner tank. "If I pull 
this plug, all the water will drain into this place and I can catch him.
 But I can't undo this catch. Can you help me?"
	The pink hedgehog looked back at Zero. The robot seemed at a loss 
as to how to reach her ... for the moment. A moat filled with water 
might hinder him ever more, Amy thought suddenly. "Here," she said, 
handing her mallet to Big. "Use this." What did it matter if he worked 
for Robotnik or not? He was probably a janitor or something.
	Big swung the hammer with the easy strength that hauled in sharks 
on a line when he took a fancy for seafood. The catch over the drain 
switch snapped open. Big handed the mallet back to Amy with a, "Thanks 
a lot," and flipped the switch.
	All the tanks on that floor of the Hot Shelter opened, the glass 
walls slid into the floor. A huge waterfall gushed into the 'moat' 
from all sides, sweeping fish, plants, a frog and a monster into the 
emergency tank together. The water rose until it was about six inches 
below the top of their pillar, and there it stopped. 
	Amy saw with surprise that when the drain switch had been pulled,
a sort of drawbridge had lowered from the wall opposite the entrance, 
revealing a door. With scarcely a backward glance at Big, the little 
pink hedgehog dashed across and up to the door. It was obviously 
watertight, but there was a crank mounted on the wall beside it. 'One 
left, three right', read a small sign next to it. Amy timidly grasped 
the handle and turned the appropriate combination. The door lifted into 
the ceiling with a hiss. Birdy immediately flew inside, and Amy followed.

	* * *

	Deep in the hull of the Egg Carrier, near the nose section, 
Knuckles was having a hard time.
	He had been on deck when the Carrier entered battle mode, but 
had been standing on one of the sections that opened and extended. He 
had fallen down inside, and the hull closed over him, trapping him in 
a maze of support beams, struts and cables, with the wind whistling 
through the cracks in the armor plating. He had had to dig his way out.
	If not for the tough leather gloves and shovel claws, Knuckles 
probably would have smashed his hands to pieces and not much else. But 
he was able to rip and ram his way into the safety of a cargo hold, 
where he had paused for a rest.
	His rest was short-lived, as alarms sounded and red lights 
began flashing. A fire had been detected in the prow, and all forward 
compartments would be locked down in five minutes until further notice.
	The echidna fled for the safety of the deck, cursing Sonic and 
Tails for wrecking the Egg Cannon and starting the fire. He would be 
locked in with the fire and roasted if he didn't make it out.
	He was within sight of one of the exit hatches--he could see 
the sky through it--when it snapped shut and locked. Knuckles stopped 
on the ladder and sat panting, listening to doors snap shut in the 
hull all around him. "It never fails," he growled. He vaulted from 
the ladder and began a desperate search for some sort of exit.
	The echidna had nearly given up all hope and was tapping the 
steel walls for a thin spot to tear through when he realized he was 
picking up an emerald-shard signal. He homed in on it hopefully, and
 found a garbage bin on a conveyer belt that was slowly crawling out 
of the quarantined section. Knuckles leaped, glided, swung from a 
steel strut, and landed in the garbage bin.
	"I hope he doesn't jettison his trash," Knux thought as he lay 
flat in the bin. "I've gotta find that shard."
	He dug in the trash robot parts, paper, cans, food remains and 
dead fish. He was sure that the shard was here somewhere ...
	The bin stopped with a jolt and began to tilt forward. Knuckles 
looked around. Below him was a deep, dark shaft. He leaped out of the 
bin, landed on a conveyer belt going the opposite direction, jogged 
along it and scrambled up onto a platform that held the garbage 
disposal controls. There he stood and watched as the bin dumped its 
cargo down the shaft, then was wheeled onto the other belt by the 
machinery. Where did that trash go? He needed to get his emerald ...!
	Knuckles looked down at the garbage controls and suddenly 
grinned. Here was the readout of the garbage disposal system. It all 
went to the compactors in the lower Sky Deck. The door to the lower 
Sky Deck was a few feet away, labeled clearly.
	And it was unlocked.

	* * *

	Sonic and Tails clung to the base of an anti-aircraft cannon 
with all their might. The Egg Carrier had sped up and dipped down into 
the clouds, the wind ripping over the wings with deadly force. It they 
had not taken shelter in the lee of the cannon, they two would have 
been blasted into space like scraps of paper.
	The Carrier's speed slackened, and the wind fell. Sonic grabbed 
Tails' wrist, and they two dashed across the wing to the side of the 
ship and up a ladder there. The sky was dark and angry, and patches of 
cloud whipped by like wraiths. Raindrops slashed down, staining the 
metal hull with water as slick as oil to their desperate feet.
	The two fled toward the center of the ship, across a runway that 
appeared before them, and into a huge doorway like an airplane hanger.
	For the first time they were out of the wind and could speak to 
each other. "I don't like this place," Tails panted to Sonic.
	"Me neither," Sonic agreed. "Maybe we can get to the bridge from 
in here. See that door up there?" The blue hedgehog pointed to a door 
mounted high in the far wall. "Let's get to that and look around."

	* * *

	Knuckles stood on a high platform in the lower Sky Deck, hidden 
from Sonic and Tails' line of vision. Before him was a thick post, like
 a gigantic joystick. He had looked things over from his high vantage 
point, and the only way to force the garbage chutes open was to roll 
the Carrier on its side, and this joystick would do just that.
	He seized it and wrenched it to the left.

	* * *

	In the Hot Shelter, Amy staggered on the suddenly tilting floor, 
and fell onto the wall on her hands and knees with a squeak.

	* * *

	In the Bridge, Robotnik and Metal Sonic looked at each other in 
surprise as the Carrier rolled over on its side. Robotnik quickly 
strapped himself into his chair to avoid falling out, and Mecha braced 
himself against the control panel. "What on Mobius is going on?" 
Robotnik snarled, hands flying over the nearly vertical control panel. 
Mecha gazed at the screens as his master worked. "Someone manipulated 
the emergency controls in the Sky Deck," he reported.
	"They shouldn't have been able to get up there!" Robotnik 
exclaimed. "Override!"

	* * *

	Sonic and Tails found themselves standing on what had been the 
left wall, but only for a few seconds. The garbage cute doors in the 
right wall--now the ceiling--opened, and tons of trash poured out onto 
the wall beneath. Sonic and Tails ran for the door they had seen 
earlier, now almost accessible, seven feet above the floor.

	* * *

	Robotnik regained control of the Egg Carrier. It rolled back 
upright.

	* * *

	Amy braced herself and came up with her feet on the floor, but 
with whirling vertigo.

	* * *

	In the Sky Deck, Sonic and Tails tumbled back to the floor, and
 so did heaps of smelly trash.
	Knuckles, who had been climbing down the 'wall' to the trash, 
found himself on his hands and knees on the floor. He stood up, 
slightly dizzy. "Darn you, Robotnik!" he shouted, shaking a fist.
	Sonic jumped up and looked around. "Knux!" he hollered, hearing 
his friend's voice but unable to see him.
	Knuckles turned toward the sound. "Sonic?"
	Sonic and Tails ran up to the echidna and greeted him. Knuckles 
was as surprised and pleased as they. He explained about looking for 
the shard, and they told him about trying to reach the bridge. "Tell 
you what," said Knuckles. "I'll tilt the ship again so you can get up 
to the door. I'll catch up to you once I find the piece."
	Sonic and Tails watched as the echidna climbed the wall and 
glided to the high platform where the joystick was located. "Good 
thing he's here," Tails smiled, elbowing Sonic. "You're too heavy to 
airlift that high."
	Knuckles grasped the joystick and pushed the nose of the ship 
down.

	* * *

	Amy gave a shriek and fell down the passage, which had suddenly 
turned into a gaping well. She barely managed to catch a pipe on the 
wall as she slid by, and clung to it, gasping in terror.

	* * *

	Sonic and Tails fell onto the wall, raced to the door, jumped 
down inside it and yelled their thanks to their friend. Knuckles 
pulled the joystick back to center, and the monstrous Egg Carrier 
pulled out of its nose dive and once again leveled out.

	* * *

	Robotnik shut down the power to that troublesome joystick 
once and for all, then stood. Metal Sonic had not enjoyed toppling 
about the cockpit like a piece of furniture, and so was hovering 
independently in the middle of the room. He landed as Robotnik 
turned toward him. "Mecha," Robotnik said, "go to the Hot Shelter 
and bring Chaos to the upper deck. I have some things to do."
	"Aye, sir," Mecha replied, and departed. He hated and feared 
Chaos, and Chaos looked down his liquid nose at Mecha. If the robot 
succeeded in leading the monster to the upper deck, it would be 
because Chaos had nothing better to do.
	Robotnik departed shortly after Metal Sonic did, but for his 
own reasons.

	* * *

	Birdy led Amy into a large circular room. She stopped and 
stared at the machine in the center of the room. If she had been 
more experienced she would have recognized the thing as a half-built 
robotizer. As it was, she had no idea what it was for, but she had an 
uncomfortable feeling it was something evil.
	The green flicky fluttered to a ladder, perched on a rung and 
twittered impatiently. "All right, I'm coming," Amy called, trotting 
across the room. She climbed the ladder slowly. She was feeling very 
tired from the excitement of the day, and could only think of going 
home and taking a long nap.

	* * *

	Sonic and Tails entered into the long green main hall where 
Robotnik had briefed the E-series robots. "That's it?" Sonic said, 
looking around the empty room and placing his fists on his hips.
	"Maybe," Tails said, looking and listening suspiciously. "I'll 
bet we can get to the bridge from here. C'mon Sonic! He might have 
robotized Amy by now!"
	The two made for the lift at the end of the room.

	* * *

	Amy pulled the handle that opened the hatch, and stepped out 
into the windy storm-darkness of the main deck. "Whew, it's cold out 
here!" she said as Birdy landed on her arm. "Now, how are we going to 
get away from here?"
	"You're not going anywhere, Amy Rose."
	The hedgehog spun about to see Robotnik in his little 
hovercraft flying toward her. "What do you want, jerk?"
	"That's easy, my dear." He flew the ship right up to her, 
leaned out and swiped the flicky from his perch.
	"No, not the birdy!" Amy cried, leaping up on the side of the 
hovercraft. Robotnik shoved her away and floated out of her reach.
	At that moment the lift doors opened, and Sonic and Tails 
hopped out onto the deck. "Ha, you're too late!" Robotnik sneered. 
He pressed a button on his radio and said, "Gamma! Come to the rear 
of the ship, now, and get your hoverjet! The ammunition room is 
unlocked." As he spoke to the robot, he had pulled out a pair of 
pliers and clamped them around the ring on the flicky's leg. He gave 
a deft twist. The flicky squeaked, the ring broke, and the tiny blue 
stone set in it fell into Robotnik's hand. He threw the flicky out 
of his ship (Amy caught it as it fell) and held aloft a blue chaos 
emerald. Released from it's size-restraining ring, it popped to full
 size in his hand.
	"Oh no, it's another emerald!" Tails cried.
	Sonic and Amy could only gape.
	"Begone, all of you!" Robotnik roared. "This is all I really
 need!"

	* * *

	Gamma awoke from his stupor as his master summoned him. It was 
a call to duty. Master must not have seen him release the girl. He 
would not be dismantled after all!
	The long-legged robot dashed out of the cell block and into the 
ammunition room, where several robot technicians, that were built 
only to maintain other robots, installed the flat hover unit to his 
back. Then Gamma made for the deck lift at a run.

	* * * 

	Amy stood with her back to the wind, cradling the heartbroken 
flicky in her arms and crooning soothing words. Absorbed, she did 
not see when the lit doors opened again, and out stepped E-102 Gamma. 
She did notice, however, when Robotnik yelled, "Take care of them, 
Gamma! I'm counting on you!" He whipped his hovercraft about and 
roared off toward the nose of the ship.
	The pink hedgehog turned and saw the tall red robot who had 
helped her, as it trained its gun on Sonic. "No!" she cried.
	Sonic and Tails dodged left and right as Gamma fired. His shots 
went wide. Sonic's quick mind was analyzing the robot--could it move 
fast? How would it attack? Its size was a definite disadvantage--he 
could rip it to pieces before it even decided to sidestep.
	"Resistance is futile," Gamma droned. He leaped into the air, 
activated his hoverjet and buzzed over Sonic like a wasp, firing as 
he came. Sonic ducked under him, hearing faintly as Amy cried again, 
"Stop, please!"
	The robot landed, swept Sonic with his tag laser and fired. 
Hit! Sonic tumbled to the deck and lay stunned, unable to even 
guess where he had been struck. Tails saw his hero fall, gave a 
battle-scream and tore into the robot from the side with the 
ferocious spin-attack Tikal had taught him. Gamma staggered sideways, 
then whirled with sudden anger and backhanded the fox in the face 
with the side of his gun.
	Tails spun and fell on his hands and knees, the world going 
'round. Sonic was just climbing to his feet, shaken, clutching at 
the laser burn that traced along his chest and under his arm--it had 
only grazed him. He saw Tails go down, forgot his injury, and 
attacked Gamma with savage fury.
	"Stop it! Sonic, please stop!" Amy begged from a distance.
	Gamma suffered one more blow, staggered back, then collapsed 
in a crumpled, sparking heap on the deck. "Gotcha!" Sonic snarled, 
and dashed forward to finish the robot off.
	Amy flashed between Sonic and the robot and stood her ground, 
eyes flaming. Sonic set his feet and stopped just short of knocking 
her over. "Get away, Amy!" he panted, pupils dilated with rage. "I'm 
gonna take him down!"
	"No!" Amy snapped right back. "This robot's my friend! He 
helped me! Please don't kill him!"
	Sonic lifted a hand to shove her aside, but checked himself. 
The robot would probably shut down anyway, and if it had helped her, 
did that mean it had rebelled? This flashed through his head in a 
fraction of a second, and he made his decision. "Okay," he said, 
backing away from Amy and her robot. "You must have your reasons."
	The ship under their feet jolted, and they felt a sensation 
like dropping in an elevator. "The ship is losing altitude!" Tails 
yelled from several feet away, where he was looking up the Egg 
Carrier's length.
	"Tails," Sonic commanded, "take Amy and get out of here!"
	Amy looked from Sonic to Tails and back again. "Sonic, what 
about you?"
	"I'm gonna nail that Eggman!" he yelled over his shoulder, 
already dashing away.
	Amy watched him enter the bridge's tower, then turned to Gamma. 
The robot had climbed unsteadily to his feet and was standing quietly, 
braced on one leg--the other was bent sideways. He knew very well that 
he had lost the battle, and would have been destroyed had not Amy 
interfered. "Why do you help me?" he asked her plaintively. His 
internal systems were not functioning very well, and his visual 
sensors would not focus properly, but internal repair was activated
and he was slowly stabilizing.
	"I told you I would try to return the favor sometime," she 
replied with a smile. "You're too nice of a robot to work for Robotnik. 
You should leave and do something else."
	Gamma trembled at her words. That would be out and out 
rebellion. But had he not already disobeyed orders once by freeing her?
	"Amy, c'mon!" Tails said, running up and taking her hand. "We 
don't have much time!" He spun his tails and lifted her into the air, 
the flicky flying along beside her. "Goodbye, Mr. Robot!" she called 
to Gamma. 
	He watched them for a moment, then activated his hoverjet and 
rose off the deck. He would go with them part of the way.

	* * *

	Sonic watched them go through the windows of the bridge. The 
bridge was empty, but he had a feeling it wouldn't be that way for 
long. He looked at the control panel. If he wanted to follow Robotnik, 
he had better change the ship back to it's original shape, or he would 
have to go back through the Sky Deck, and that would take too long. 
There had to be a button or something that would change the ship ...
	A frantic search revealed nothing, and common sense told him that 
it would be in quite a different place than the regular flight controls. 
Exasperated, he sat down in Robotnik's chair--
	And found the button. It was under a plastic shield on the arm of 
the chair. He laughed, slid back the shield and pressed the button.
	The Egg Carrier shrank together, contracted, folded. The attack 
wings rotated and swung back to their places alongside the ship's nose. 
The bridge swung forward and lowered to deck level once more.

	* * *

	Throughout the ship, a computer voice announced, "Emergency alert 
has been canceled. Resuming monorail operation."
	Knuckles heard it as he stood on a pile of trash, a chunk of 
glassy emerald in one hand.
	Big the Cat heard it as he stood in the main hell below deck, a 
fishing pole under one arm and a frog under the other. "We'd better 
get out of here, Froggy," he said. "If this places crashes, nobody's 
gonna worry about helping us." The purple cat crossed the room to the 
lift and rode it up to the deck.
	Big had only just caught Froggy in the Hot Shelter when his ears 
caught the sound of approaching footsteps. He had trotted down the hall 
and taken the elevator up to the main hall, only to feel the ship about 
him lurch and begin to drop.
	The stormy, cold air ruffled his fur as the cat trotted forward, 
across the newly-restored Egg Carrier, over a catwalk, and onto the 
giant green engine housing. There Big halted in surprise.
	Standing on the housing was a large creature that appeared to be 
a shark made of water with fiery green eyes. Dr. Robotnik hovered 
nearby in his hovercraft. "So, trying to escape, are you?" Robotnik 
sneered at the cat. "Go right ahead--but leave me the frog."
	Froggy wriggled and thrashed suddenly, and Big had to drop him. 
The frog plopped to the thick glass, then hopped toward the waiting 
Chaos. Big started after him, but stopped when Chaos lunged at him 
with a bubbling growl.
	Robotnik flung Chaos the blue stone stolen from Amy's flicky, 
and Froggy gave a convulsive twitch, opened his wide mouth, and Big's 
bright yellow emerald clinked to the deck. Chaos grasped the stones 
with one hand and the frog with the other, then melted into a vast 
puddle with all of them inside.
	For a long moment nothing happened. Then slowly, a haze formed 
around the puddle. Big looked up at the sky and saw with surprise that 
Chaos was actually pulling a cloud into himself. His form would be 
very large and he needed more water than he had with him.
	A blue hedgehog dashed into the glass arena, looked at Big, 
Robotnik and Chaos, and cried, "He's changing AGAIN?"
	As Sonic spoke, the puddle rose, rose, fifteen feet, twenty feet, 
twenty-eight feet, and solidified into the impossibly ugly shape of a 
monstrous scorpion. It had six legs, the hindmost of which were tall 
and bent like a grasshopper's and reinforced with cartilage. The two 
green eyes were now laid vertically, on the front and top of the 
bulldog-like head, and six smaller eyes were arranged in a row 
alongside the lowest one. Chaos' jaws were reinforced this time and 
edged with teeth.
	"Wonderful, Chaos!" Robotnik applauded. "He is more power than 
ever, now! And I even found his missing tail."
	Froggy, floating aimlessly in the watery body of the monster, 
suddenly jerked, as if with electric shock, and his un-froglike tail 
shrunk and vanished. At the same time, the tail reappeared, doubled 
over Chaos's back, enlarged twenty times. It did not have a stinger 
on the end--it had a thing that was shaped like a pendulum.
	"I must save Froggy!" Big cried, seeing his little friend, now 
in his right mind, trying to jump through Chaos's side and failing. 
But Big dared not go near those giant snapping jaws.
	"If he's your friend," Sonic said, "I'll help you save him. 
Look, I'll attract Chaos's attention, and you fish the frog out."
	Big nodded.
	Robotnik, having circled Chaos 6 admiringly, ordered, "All right 
Chaos, destroy them all!"
	Sonic darted toward Chaos, waving his arms. "Hey! Look at me!
 You'll never win a beauty contest, ugly! Nah nah!" The towering 
aquamarine scorpion turned to follow him, and Big slipped up behind 
the monster. Froggy, eyes always on Big, swam to the side nearest him. 
Big flicked his fishrod and let fly the line at the frog. It struck 
the water, but Chaos wheeled about, and Big missed. Sonic appeared. 
"Stay behind him! Here, Chaos Chaos Chaos! Don't you want a bite of 
nice tasty hedgehog?" He fled away across the top of the engine housing, 
and Big edged in behind Chaos for another try.
	This time, as the line broke through Chaos' surface tension with 
a small ripple, Froggy snapped up the lure in desperation. Big tugged,
strained--Froggy emerged from the monster halfway--and popped free 
and sailed right into Big's hands. "Oh boy!" Big exclaimed, hugging 
the weary amphibian. "Froggy!"
	The cat carried the frog away from the battling monster and 
hedgehog, and up to the safety of the runway. Big set Froggy down, 
and the frog hopped immediately toward a small blue-and-orange biplane 
that rested on its snout and forward wings a short distance away. 
Froggy bounded into the cockpit, looked at Big, and croaked hopefully. 
Big looked at the plane and shook his head. "We need to get away,
 sure," he said, "but I don't know anything about aeroplanes." He 
kicked a wing experimentally, and the whole plane jumped. It was 
lighter than it appeared. It gave Big an idea.
	Holding onto the underside of the wings, Big ran and leaped off 
the edge of the Carrier. The plane's wings formed enough lift to glide 
into the air and away into the cloudy air. "Hang on Froggy!" Big 
called. "Away we go!"
	Big, Froggy and the Tornado vanished in the direction of the 
mainland.

	* * *

	As Knuckles had placed the recovered emerald chunk in his bag, 
the now-familiar pink ball of light appeared and circled his head. 
"Oh great, it's you," he said in impatience. "Well, make it snappy. 
I've got to find Sonic."
	In a second the echidna was transported from the world of the 
present to the world of the past, as he had twice before.
	Knuckles blinked and squinted. It was dark with stars overhead. 
He moved his feet, waiting for his eyes to adjust, and felt 
cobblestones beneath him. He must be back in the echidna city somewhere. 
Slowly he made out his surroundings. He was on a stone bridge that 
spanned a river. Ahead of him, in the distance, was a fiery red glow 
that lit the horizon. The more used to the darkness he grew the brighter 
it became. Curious, and yet with a faint sense of foreboding, he 
strode toward the light.
	Then he broke into a run with a sharp gasp--that was a fire, a 
bonfire, and if he had guessed correctly where he was--
	The echidna climbed the hill and stood gazing in horrified grief 
at the Master emerald shrine. It was burning from base to crown, as if 
the water in the fountain had been turned to gasoline. The Master 
emerald sat alone amidst the flames, its glow dimmed by the furious 
crackling fire. Knuckles saw that the seven surrounding obelisks that 
used to hold the chaos emeralds were snapped and lay on the smooth 
grass like felled trees, their emeralds missing.
	Knuckles started to move forward, but his foot struck something. 
He looked down. A dead chao. They were everywhere, he saw. Someone--or 
several someones--had slaughtered them. The burning shrine, the dead 
chao--what did this mean?
	Another shape, larger than the rest, lay huddled in the grass 
near the foot of the pyramid. It was a moment before Knuckles realized 
it was an echidna. He rushed to it and knelt down. As he did it stirred 
and lifted its head--it was the girl, Tikal.
	"What happened here?" he asked. 
	She looked at him in a daze, then at the blazing fire. "They--they 
came, and my father--" she faltered. She struggled to her feet and stood, 
nursing her right arm. Her right hand rested at such an angle Knuckles 
guessed her arm was broken, but Tikal didn't seem to care. She was 
staring at the dead chao, tears welling up in her eyes. "Oh, I can't 
believe how badly this turned out!"
	Knuckles remembered how she had loved the chao and promised to 
protect them, and his heart wrenched. "Is there anything I can do?" he 
asked gently.
	From out in the darkness, far off but not far enough, there came a 
blood-chilling scream. It was the scream of a very large creature who 
was also terribly angry. Knux jumped, but Tikal only shook her head. 
"Father ... I'm so sorry I defied you ... I was only trying to keep you 
from rousing him ..." Her voice cracked and she broke into sobs.
	Once more Knuckles stood on the Egg Carrier, still in Sky Deck 
with the emerald shard in his bag, but it seemed to him that he still 
heard the weeping of Tikal in his ears.

	* * *

	Sonic saw the strange cat leave the top of the engine housing, 
and turned his attention to defeating Chaos 6. The monster's brain had 
always been the weakness before, and so would probably be again.
	The hedgehog charged at Chaos, leaped, curled into a ball, and 
shot himself between the insect eyes.
	He struck no brain. He floated for a moment, then was flung out 
as Chaos shook his head. Sonic landed and shook the water from his 
eyes. Chaos' brain was exactly in the center of his fat body, like a 
heart. It was impossible to reach, unless Sonic wanted to swim.
	As Sonic stood at a distance, studying his enemy, Chaos opened 
his vast jaws and inhaled with the strength of a hurricane. Sonic 
struggled to brace himself, to get out of Chaos's pull, but he had 
been too close to begin with. he was lifted off his feet and dragged 
straight into Chaos's mouth.
	Chaos snapped his jaws shut as soon as Sonic entered and tossed 
his head, swirling Sonic about like mouthwash. He stopped for a second, 
letting Sonic sink slowly, then caught the hedgehog in his teeth and 
bit down.
	With a snap of his neck Chaos flung his victim across the arena 
as his master applauded him from the sidelines.
	Coughing, Sonic sat up and held his stomach in agony. Chaos may 
as well have bitten him in half. The teeth had been leathery, not 
sharp; it was the incredible crushing force behind them that hurt--
the strength of the ocean.
	As the hedgehog stumbled to his feet, Robotnik swooped forward 
with the over-enthusiastic notion of assisting Chaos. Sonic looked up 
and sidestepped in time to avoid the object that fell from the 
underside of the hovercraft. Still coughing, Sonic moved away. Chaos 
was walking (or crawling) across the arena toward him, and the last 
thing the hedgehog wanted was to get bitten again.
	Sonic could not run straight out, but he could jog. Robotnik 
followed him from the air, dropping bombs or the link, and Chaos only 
had to turn in place to keep Sonic in sight. Both knew the hedgehog 
was injured. Sonic had always had a high pain tolerance, but the 
terrible bruises across his stomach and back were making him dizzy. 
He had to keep moving or he would be Chaos chow. Each jarring footstep 
sent a sharp wave of pain through his middle. The salt water from 
submersion in Chaos was stinging in the laser scratch under his arm. 
Keep moving. Keep moving as long as you can. Don't quit or he'll get 
you ...
	Sonic's dazed eyes fell on one of the objects Robotnik had 
dropped. It was pouring some substance onto the glass to make it 
slippery. It steamed with cold. "Liquid nitrogen or something," Sonic 
thought dully, turning aside to avoid it. Then he stopped and whirled 
as an idea pierced the mist in his head.
	He snatched up the ice-bomb, tilted it so no more of the 
precious nitrogen would spill, then ran straight at Chaos. "Open 
wide!" the hedgehog yelled, and flung the bomb into the monster's 
half-open jaws.
	Chaos's teeth crushed the bomb to splinters, and the nitrogen 
instantly entered his liquid body. The monster gave a roaring cry, 
reared back on his hind legs--and froze into a block of ice.
	Forgetting his discomfort, Sonic flew forward and slammed into 
Chaos's throat. The statue shattered like glass and lay about the 
arena in fragments, but only for a second. The ice melted as if 
commanded to do so, and reformed into the scorpion shape again. Chaos 
shook his head angrily and advanced on Sonic again.
	Sonic had already retreated and picked up another bomb. Hurting, 
he crouched and waited for the monster to draw a little nearer before 
charging.
	Unexpectedly the huge tail lashed forward, stretching like gum. 
The pendulum on the end, now a burning orange, slashed like lightning 
at the hedgehog. Sonic recoiled automatically, feeling the burning 
heat of the blade against his face--it missed him by perhaps three 
inches. As the tail resumed its original position over Chaos's back, 
Sonic saw that the bomb in his hands had been split neatly in half. 
He dropped it in horror. It took little imagination to see what the 
tail would have done to him.
	The hedgehog snatched up another bomb and jogged around the
circumference of the arena, then raced straight at Chaos and threw 
the bomb. Chaos lashed out his tail, but it hit the floor some 
fifteen feet beyond Sonic--and then he crystallized into white ice. 
Again Sonic shattered him.
	Another, slower reformation, and a twice as angry Chaos 
turned his maddened gaze on his enemy. Sonic, although still in 
pain, was in much better spirits, and ran to and fro on the green 
glass, a third bomb ready in his hands.
	The monstrous scorpion leaped straight up in the air, seemed 
to float a moment because of his vast size, then came down slow, 
faster, faster--and struck the arena floor with a thunderous boom. 
A visible shockwave, like a wave of crimson flame, shot out away 
from his body. Sonic had just enough wits to leap over it and fling 
his third shot into Chaos's face.
	The glass section Chaos had landed on smashed through under the 
blow. Now, as Chaos froze and Sonic smashed him, three-fourths of the 
ice fell into the churning machinery inside the housing. There came a 
low cry from the de-formed Chaos, then silence.
	"Sonic!"
	The hedgehog turned to see Knuckles running toward him across 
the catwalk, red dreadlocks blowing in the wind.
	"What happened, Knux?" Sonic asked sarcastically, holding his 
side. "I thought you got lost or something."
	Knuckles saw at once that a battle had ensued--the pain in 
Sonic's eyes, the crushed floor panel, the ice fragments and leftover 
bombs lying here and there, Robotnik hovering silently in his ship. 
"Sorry I'm late, Sonic, but we gotta get outta here. The fire in the 
forward sections is spreading to--"
	Robotnik interrupted with a roar, "I don't believe this! Fine, 
stay here! _I_ will return, even if Chaos doesn't!" He whipped his 
ship around and flew toward the edge of the Carrier.
	"STOP!" Sonic cried, racing after him idiotically.
	"Sonic, don't!" Knuckles yelled, giving chase, but he was no 
match for Sonic's speed. The hedgehog bounded off the engine housing, 
dashed across the deck, leaped into space--
	--and came down with his hands on the side of Robotnik's 
hovercraft.
	Knuckles raced to the edge and looked over. He glimpsed Sonic 
clinging to the side of Robotnik's ship before the two vanished into 
a cloud and were left behind by the Carrier.
	"Who's driving?" the echidna muttered, looking up the ship's 
length to the bridge. An explosion, muffled by multiple floors, rocked 
the deck beneath Knuckles's feet. "Whoa," he thought. "I'd better get 
out of here before the whole place goes!" He crouched to jump off the 
edge of the Egg Carrier--
	"Dodge!" his instincts screamed.
	He sprang backward and to the side, just as a glowing pendulum 
tail slashed a groove in the deck where he had been standing. Knuckles 
whirled, heart hammering a tattoo against his ribs. Chaos 6, not yet 
defeated, stood on the edge of the engine housing, reeling in his 
tail for another try.

	* * *

	Amy rose dangled helplessly from Tails' hold on her wrists. Her 
arms ached and she was terribly afraid of falling. Every so often she 
looked around for Birdy, and always the flicky was a few feet away, 
flying alongside Tails. Tails' attention was focused on the dim 
mainland in the distance, and no one spoke.
	Afterward Amy assumed she had fallen asleep for a few seconds. 
A little light, like a firefly, flew into her eyes and she wasn't 
flying in the cold wind anymore. She was standing on a wide cobblestone 
path. Before her, on the top of a little hill, only a few minutes' 
walk away, was a small stone pyramid with water pouring down the sides. 
On the top, under a little roof, was a green gem the size of a 
boulder. Standing before this pyramid was a young echidna girl.
	Amy trotted toward her and said hello, but her voice had no 
sound; it was a dream. The pink hedgehog stood and watched as the 
orange echidna tiptoed forward, looking around furtively. "I'm not 
supposed to be here," the echidna muttered with conviction. "Oh, but 
if only ..." She did not finish, but turned aside to look at 
something in the grass. Curious, Amy moved closer.
	Chao. "Oh, aren't they cute!" Amy squealed, but again, she 
made no sound. A group of the little blue creatures were standing 
in the grass, looking fearfully up at the echidna. The girl knelt 
and spoke softly. "Don't be afraid, little ones. I won't hurt you. I'm 
not like the other mainlanders." The lead chao looked up at her for a 
long time, then inched forward. The girl picked it up gently and rocked 
it like a baby doll. 
	In a moment the other chao were gathered around the echidna's 
feet, jabbering and cooing. The girl was smiling foolishly, patting 
first one, then another. She clearly liked chao as much as Amy did.
	Suddenly there came a low growl from the pool at the base of the
 nearby pyramid. The girl turned and gasped as a humanoid head with 
green alien-eyes emerged from the water. Amy gasped, too--
	--And woke up. She was still hanging from Tails' hands, suspended 
high over the ocean. But now the sea was a calm blue, the clouds had 
receded into a dark bank in the west, and Sapphire Bay was visible 
ahead.

	* * *

	Knuckles fled around the circumference of the arena, a furious 
Chaos 6 right behind him.
	The echidna had seen the ice and bombs lying about the arena 
after Sonic had departed, and put two and two together. There was 
only one way to defeat Chaos 6, and Sonic had discovered it. The 
echidna snatched up a bomb and turned toward the monster, just as 
Chaos opened his jaws and inhaled, as he had done with Sonic. Knuckles 
braced himself against the floor and tossed the bomb into the air. 
Chaos sucked it into his mouth, flinched, reared back convulsively, 
and froze into a scorpion statue. Knuckles ran up and punched it 
fiercely, and the statue collapsed into a heap of fragments.
	Now Chaos was after the echidna with a ferocity he had not 
showed Sonic. Knuckles could not keep still even for a second, or 
that fiery sting would slash down in an attempt to split his head. 
"What did I ever do to you?" Knuckles yelled. "Doc told you to get 
Sonic, not me!"
	Chaos stopped and looked at the puny (to him) echidna with his 
eight eyes. He seemed to be considering Knuckles' words.
	The scorpion form melted abruptly and formed into a bulb-shape,
 with the deadly tail protruding from the top like an enormous sprout. 
As Knuckles apprehensively watched this new gyration with, bright 
dots appeared in the bulb. These shot out like stick ropes and stuck, 
taut and quivering, to the edges of the arena. More and more struck 
out, until Knuckles was standing in a web of Chaos-tentacles, unable 
to move a step.
	The tail swung up, the pendulum flashing yellow. Knuckles threw
himself forward desperately, across the stick, electric tentacles. 
The tail lashed down and hissed through several tentacles, struck the 
point where Knuckles had been, then pulled back. The tentacles 
contracted, the bulb swelled out, and once more the scorpion stood 
there.
	"You deserved everything Sonic gave you," Knuckles snarled, 
shaken. He snatched up one of the few bombs left, dashed forward and 
flung it into Chaos's mouth. Ice statue, shatter, reform.
	Knuckles leaped, glided across the broken floor panel, grabbed 
the last ice bomb, and threw that to the monster, too. Ice statue, 
shatter ... but there was no reformation. The ice shards melted 
naturally, and lying in their midst were the six chaos emeralds.
	Expecting a trap, Knuckles crept toward the emeralds. Nothing 
happened. He dashed like mad across the arena, scooped up the 
emeralds, shoved them in his bag and retreated. Still nothing 
happened. A slow realization crept over Knuckles. "I killed him!" he 
said in wonder. "Now, how does a beast so powerful succumb to me ...?"
	The Egg Carrier suddenly pitched to one side, and an explosion 
ripped through the forward hull. Knuckles ducked the raining fragments 
and ran for the edge of the ship. "Time to abandon Carrier," he 
thought. "And good riddance, Chaos!"
	And so the echidna glided away from the falling fortress, the 
last of the Mobians to escape. Before it had faded from sight 
behind him, another explosion tore through the lower section, and 
the Carrier fell, tail first, toward the ocean far below.
	But that was not the end of the Egg Carrier, nor of Chaos.

	* * *
	Part 3
	* * *

	Robotnik's hovercraft bucked and jerked as Sonic flung himself 
about. His red sneakers struck the hoverjets beneath over and over, 
trying to short them out. Robotnik himself was trying to steer and 
balance the ship at the same time. They were somewhere over and, near 
the Mystic Ruins. Trees carpeted the ground below for miles in every 
direction, and they were perhaps twenty feet above the treetops. 
"C'mon, fight!" Sonic was snarling. "Don't send your pets to do it! 
Right here, right now, you and me!"
	Robotnik cringed away from the hedgehog. When it came down to 
it, he preferred to let a machine face Sonic--he was a coward at 
heart. But even fearing his enemy as he did, Robotnik had not lost 
his wits. He clenched his iron hand into a fist, turned and slammed 
it down on Sonic's fingers on the edge of the hovercraft. Sonic gave 
a yelp and let go with one hand. Before he could take fresh hold, 
Robotnik smashed his other hand. The hedgehog gave a diminishing wail 
as he dropped. There was a smashing in the trees below, then silence. 
Robotnik made for Sapphire City at once.

	* * *

	Knuckles reverently placed the last chunk into the Master's 
emeralds side. It fused into place at once, and there sat the emerald, 
whole once more.
	The island lurched, swayed slightly, and rose smoothly into the 
sky. The ocean poured from its underside and churned in waves below. 
Slowly the island soared into he evening sky, Knuckles driving 
triumphantly. He had repaired the Master emerald, and arranged in a 
semi-circle on the stone around it were the six chaos emeralds. Where 
the seventh was, he had no idea, but it didn't matter much. Chaos was 
defeated, the Egg Carrier had crashed, and things were all right 
again. Everyone had made it to shore (he guessed), and he was 
reconciled with Sonic. What more could happen?
	He sat and watched the sun set over the rim of the island. They 
were airborne once more. As far as he knew or cared, his adventure 
was over.
	But nine days later, he would look back on that peaceful evening 
and say, "Knuckles, you're a naive fool."

	* * *

	Big the Cat and Froggy had made it ashore half an hour earlier. 
They hiked back to Big's little shack, Froggy hopping cheerfully, Big 
carrying his fishing pole over one shoulder and the Tornado over the 
other. The plane had gotten a bit dented upon landing, bit it probably 
still worked. Big decided that he would take it back with him for 
safekeeping, and later, take it to Mac at the Mystic Ruins airstrip 
as a gift.
	Nine days later, Big would wish guiltily that he had never set 
eyes on that plane.

	* * *

	E-102 Gamma had flown near Amy and Tails until the mainland was 
in sight. When they made for Station Square, he veered away to go to 
the Mystic Ruins.
	He flew steadily, unheedful of the wind that buffeted him, or of 
the fitful rain that pounded his hull. He was, in a sense, thinking 
things over. Semi-free will was a dangerous gift for his master to 
bestow upon him.
	His first vision of Robotnik's face blinked across his screen.
 Master. This was followed by the image of the rebuilt Beta in the 
construction chamber. Beta had been used as a test unit, simply 
because he lost a silly fight.
	Again Robotnik's face appeared. But he was Master. He had built 
the robots. He could do what he liked with them. 
	The image of the blue robot, Delta, as he looked helplessly at 
Gamma as Mecha beamed them up. Epsilon and Zeta, too. But Master--Master 
had handed them over to Metal Sonic. Master could do what he liked. 
	Amy's face as she peered up at Gamma after the fight. "You're 
too nice to work for Robotnik You should leave and do something else."
	Gamma had disobeyed orders by releasing her. Why had he disobeyed 
orders? The picture of the little green bird sprang to mind. Because 
that bird ... was named Cirrus. The memory of the creature in his hull 
connected with his computer memory. Suddenly Gamma was wider awake 
than he had ever been. He had disobeyed because Master was WRONG. If 
Gamma had brought Master the bird, Master would not only have taken 
the emerald, he would have robotized him. "As ... I ... am," the robot 
said aloud, with difficulty.
	Beta, Delta, Epsilon, Zeta. His kind.
	Robotnik's face appeared in shades of red. "Master registration, 
deleted," Gamma droned into the quiet air. "Dr. Robotnik--enemy. 
E-series, friends. Must save."
	The robot landed awkwardly on the level ground near the train 
station in Mystic Ruins. His left leg remained twisted sideways from 
Sonic's attack, and his internal systems could not repair it. His other
hardware, however, was stabilized and working properly. Here he was. 
He had not always been a robot. He knew that much. What he had been 
before, he didn't remember, but he knew that the other E-series were 
in the same plight as he was. To free them, he must destroy their 
robot shapes.
	Gamma stood on his good leg and swept the area with radar. Only 
Metal Sonic knew where the E-series had gone after beaming out, but 
the teleporters only had a ranger of fifty miles. Mecha probably would 
not have dumped them in the ocean--he was too malicious for that. No, 
there was a good chance that the E-series were somewhere on the coast.
	A blip appeared on the robot's screen, two miles distant, 
southward. Bingo. Gamma did a terrain scan. The blip could be reached 
by going to a nearby cave, flying up the tunnel within, and entering 
the canyon in the mountains on the other side.
	The robot limped toward the windy cave as sunset colored the 
sky.

	* * *

	Tails and Amy landed in Station Square wearily, the flicky 
trailing behind. "See ya, Amy," Tails said with a little wave.
	"Bye, Tails," Amy replied, waving back as the fox trotted away 
across the square. "He's cute," the pink hedgehog commented to Birdy 
as he landed on her shoulder. "I still think Sonic is cuter, thought." 
She yawned. "Boy, I'm tired. Let's go home. I've had enough of nasty 
robots for one day."
	Birdy nodded his little head--he was tired and hungry. As he 
did, the rays of the sinking sun touched the small trinket hanging 
from his neck. Amy noticed it for the first time and stopped. "What's 
this?" she asked, touching it. The flicky chirped, caught it in his 
beak and held it toward her.
	Amy seated herself on a bench outside the train station and 
looked closely at it. It was a heart-shaped locket; an odd thing for 
a bird to wear. She opened it. Inside was a tiny photo of her flicky,
but beside him were two others--a grey one and a pink one. "Oh!" Amy 
exclaimed, understanding immediately. "Are they your mom and dad?"
	Birdy nodded, wings and tail drooping.
	"Where are they?"
	Birdy only looked dumbly at Amy, and she thought she understood. 
"Oh, how awful! Robotnik got them, didn't he?"
	Birdy nodded.
	Amy frowned as she looked at her little companion. If only he 
could talk! She had no idea where to start looking. "Well," she said 
sensibly, "I need to go home and eat dinner and tell Mom where I've 
been." Amy was always making up some imaginary adventure and telling 
her mother about it, so word of being kidnapped and take to the Egg 
Carrier would be nothing new. "And maybe we can think of some way to 
rescue your family." Amy glanced toward the Sunset Hotel and thought 
briefly of the chao, but decided it was too late to see them, anyway. 
She set out at a trot for home.

	* * *

	Tails was not as weary as Amy from the day's adventures. He was 
the Freedom Fighter, and what was more, Sonic's sidekick. He was 
hungry, but not tired.
	The fox was mindlessly munching his way through a cheeseburger 
and a box of cheese fries, sitting at a picnic table behind the hotel, 
when his sensitive ears detected something odd. He straightened and 
looked about. That was the sound of Robotnik's hovercraft, or he was 
a hedgehog. His searching ears drew his eyes around to the south. The
 hovercraft was not far away, now, and it seemed to be having engine 
trouble. Tails crammed the rest of his burger in his mouth and made 
for the street at a run.
	He was just in time to see the hovercraft careen into the square,
 strike the asphalt and bounce onto the sidewalk, one engine dead and 
the other sputtering. Carefully, Tails circled until he could see 
Robotnik.
	Robotnik was slumped in the tilted cockpit, breathing heavily 
but not moving. Tails inched a bit closer and pricked up his ears. 
The doctor was muttering aloud now. "I'm ruined. Chaos was defeated 
and my Egg Carrier is destroyed." A grim, snarling smirk contorted 
Robotnik's features. "But I will destroy Sapphire City anyway." He 
struggled to start his engines, and managed to limp he hovercraft 
across the road to the beach. Unnoticed, Tails followed him. Robotnik's 
words had turned the food in his stomach to rock.
	Robotnik said something into his radio that Tails didn't catch. 
Tails stood and looked at the ocean, following his enemy's gaze. 
"Where's Sonic?" the fox thought suddenly. "Last I saw he was going 
to stop Eggman!" The thought of Chaos flashed through his head, 
green-eyed and hungry. Tails stopped that train of thought before it 
went any further--he had enough to scare him right here without that, 
too.
	But there was no time to worry about Sonic. Out in the bay 
there was a splash, and a missile emerged from the water and roared 
skyward. Tails cringed and watched it shrink to a fiery dot, a line 
of smoke in its wake. He looked about him. Humans around the square 
were shading their eyes and watching the missile scream away. Tails 
looked back at Robotnik to see the doctor lower a glass canopy over 
cockpit and activate a sputtering green forcefield, like a bubble 
around the hovercraft. Tails looked up at the missile, then at Robotnik 
again. He would kill everyone--for what? To make a point? To soothe his 
injured pride? Revenge for the Egg Carrier's demise?
	Tails ran away a few steps, then returned. Where could he 
possibly go? If the missile could wipe out a whole city, it must be 
nuclear or something and there was no way he or anyone else could 
escape.

	* * *

	"Oh, I hate that Eggman!" Sonic snarled to himself, brushing 
leaves and twigs from his fur. He pulled off his gloves and examined 
his fingers--they were bruised, but not broken. He tossed a poisonous 
glance upward, although Robotnik's hovercraft had already departed, 
and set out westward. If he could get to the coast he could figure out 
where he was, and take the train back to Station Square. Hopefully 
Amy and Tails had made it.
	The woods were dark with the coming of evening, and the 
occasional orange beam slanted through the leaves like lasers. Sonic was 
idly wondering what a world would be like if its sun only emitted 
infrared light, when something flashed off to his left. He looked 
about and stopped. There was a little pink ball of light hovering 
several yards away. As he looked at it, it darted away a few feet and 
stopped, as if it wanted him to follow it. Sonic, still in a sour mood, 
only sneered. "Like I'm gonna up and follow any stupid lightbulb that 
crosses my path. It's probably some booby trap." He made as though to 
walk on, but the light flew up to him, then away again in the same 
direction, south. He pretended to pay no attention. Again it flew to 
him, and this time a thin, distant female voice said, "Please come 
with me! The fate of Mobius is at stake!"
	The hedgehog glared at the light. "Oh, so you're a fairy or 
something, right? I guess I could come with you ... for a little way. 
If you lead me to some trap, I will personally take a stick and knock 
your light out." Could you do that to a fairy? He wasn't sure, but 
his bluff seemed to work. "Just come," she said.
	Sonic turned aside and followed the light.

	* * *

	The missile was coming down now. People were beginning to panic 
and rush about. Tails could hear sirens in the distance. But he only 
sat on the sidewalk, eyes skyward. He had a calm feeling of unreality--
this couldn't really be happening. It was too impossible. He was 
dreaming or something--and yet that missile kept coming, a spurt of 
flame in the sky. Tails watched it indifferently. He couldn't stop it. 
Only Hyper Sonic, maybe, could stop it, and Sonic wasn't here, nor 
did he have his belt with him.
	Now it was overhead, now it streaked down like a deadly dart 
into the heart of the city. Tails cringed and waited. The smoke from 
the missile thinned and drifted away. Minutes passed. Nothing happened. 
"Wasn't it supposed to blow up?" Tails murmured with a sense of 
anticlimax, looking questioningly toward Robotnik.
	Robotnik seemed as confused as Tails at first; then he became 
angry. He deactivated his shield and retracted his canopy with the 
words, "It was a dud! I don't believe this! Mecha, when I get my 
hands on you ..." He revved his engines and flew up the street to the 
Speed Highway lift. Tails followed him, the delayed fear hitting him 
in a rush and weakening his knees. He stopped and leaned weakly 
against the side of the lift building, lightheaded and sick.
	Through the ringing in his ears, the fox heard Robotnik growl, 
"I'll just have to detonated it myself. I can arm it from a 
distance ..." He rammed his hovercraft through the protective door 
and vanished into the darkness inside.
	Tails leaped inside just as the lift began to rise and crouched 
in a corner, hoping Robotnik wouldn't notice him. He had to beat the 
madman to the missile or that would be the end!
	The detached feeling had left him, and his senses had sharpened
 acutely. The ridged metal floor beneath his hands and feet--the 
rattle of the lift--the glow of the hovercraft's engines and cockpit 
in the dimness--the smell of exhaust--this was real.
	The lift stopped, the door opened. Before them spread the 
cityscape under the glow of the setting sun, the suspended highway 
stretched away into the distance. A mile away, its nose buried in the 
roof and side of a sky scraper, was the missile. Robotnik's ship 
cruised onto the track, and Tails followed.
	For the first time the doctor saw his little shadow. "Well well, 
if it isn't Tails!" he said, slowing and looking back. "Where's your 
big brother, Sonic?"
	Tails drew himself up. "You're not going to detonate that missile."
	"And whose going to stop me? YOU?" Robotnik cackled at the absurdity 
of it. "You think you can keep up with me? Let's see you try!" He roared 
away down the highway, and Tails followed at a run.

	* * *

	E-102 Gamma stood on the wide ledge in the Windy Valley canyon, 
weary as only a robot could be. Delta, the blue robot, stood on a 
ledge a little ways off, completely unaware of Gamma. Gamma did not 
want to destroy him. Delta had been his friend. But he knew he must, 
and the thought of a fight wearied the mind of the creature in his 
hull.
	Gamma activated his hoverjet and flew slowly to Delta's ledge. 
Delta heard him and turned. "Gamma!" he exclaimed as the red robot 
landed and staggered on his bad leg.
	"Greetings, Delta," Gamma said quietly.
	"How goes it?" asked Delta. "Has Master sent you to return me to 
the Egg Carrier? I knew I wouldn't be forgotten forever--"
	"No, Delta," Gamma interrupted, still speaking softly. "Master 
did not send me."
	Delta looked at his brother-robot in bewilderment. "Does not 
compute. Why are you here?" As he spoke, Delta swept Gamma's mainframe 
with a scan. Then he stepped back a pace and lifted his guns 
defensively. "Gamma ... you have malfunctioned. You have REVOLTED!"
	"Affirmative."
	"Then ... I shall have to destroy you," Delta said, robot voice 
dropping to a near-whisper. "I'm sorry."
	"And I must destroy you," Gamma replied, quietly. "I do not wish 
to."
	"Nor I," said Delta. "Why must you rebel? Why don't you revert 
your programming to default?"
	"Because I do not wish to. Master is wrong. You will understand 
soon."
	Delta stood in silence for a moment, arms at his sides and green 
eyes on the ground. After a moment he straightened and lifted his guns 
again. "Then let us begin."
	Delta fired two rockets. Gamma caught them in midair with his 
tag laser and blew them up with two well-aimed shots. Another shot 
struck Delta's midsection and knocked him to the ground. The blue 
robot climbed to his feet immediately and fired again. Again Gamma 
intercepted his rockets, and struck Delta.
	Sparking, Delta stared forward. Gamma limped backward, swept 
his opponent with his tag laser and fired. Delta fired, got up and 
fired again. Gamma dodged and blocked, then his his former friend with
three shots in quick succession.
	Delta fell for the last time and did not move again. The engines 
in his back were afire now. Gamma only stood and looked on in numb 
grief. He had done his duty.
	The blue robot's head unscrewed, and from out of the compartment 
beneath struggled a blue flicky. It lay panting on the grass for a 
moment, then stood, flew up and hovered before Gamma. "Gamma! Thank 
you so much. You were right--I understand now. But how you figured it 
out, I have no idea." His voice was a lot like Delta's voice, but 
without the robot overtone. Gamma only looked at the bird silently. 
"Don't worry, Gamma," said the bird who had been Delta. "I'll find a 
way to get you out of there, somehow." He circled the red robot, 
then flew back in front of his eyes. "Epsilon is in Red Mountain, 
at the end of the Windy Canyon. We contacted each other after we 
landed. He's more mechanical-minded than I am--he might had an idea 
for freeing you."
	"Affirmative, Delta," said Gamma.
	The bird laughed. "I'm not Delta anymore. I'm Gust. Thanks 
again for freeing me." And he was gone with a flutter of wings.
	Gamma gazed after him sadly. A few feet away lay the burned hulk 
that had once been the robot. But Delta was no more. The flicky that 
had given him life was free at last. Again the creature in Gamma's 
hull struggled to remember its past life, but the robot programming 
clamped down on its mind. Gamma could still not remember who or what 
he was.
	Enough of this. He must find Epsilon. Gamma fired up his hoverjet 
and flew away down the canyon as evening deepened about him.

	* * *

	Tails was running as fast as his feet could take him, breath 
coming quick and easy. The road curved just ahead and doubled back--he 
would lose ground to the hovercraft that was on the next highway over. 
Instead of taking the turn, Tails leaped off the edge, tails spinning 
like helicopter rotors, and clapped his heels together. His anklets shot
him forward. Vast empty space below, skyscraper looming up ahead, it's 
top somewhere in the sky above. Tails swerved to avoid it, saw a highway 
that travelled in the general direction of the missile, landed on it 
and ran again. Robotnik was somewhere to his far right. Tails could 
only hope the doctor had not gotten ahead.
	Flashing lights, orange cones, workmen. Road Closed. Tails again 
took to the air and shot over the road construction half a mile above 
the city streets, landed on the other side and was away again. Where 
was Robotnik? Tails wondered it he dare think he had passed the 
hovercraft and could relax his frenzied pace a little. Something 
told him not to stop until he reached that missile, or Robotnik would 
have his head. A stitch was beginning to develop in the fox's side. 
He pressed a hand into it to ease the cramp and moaned, "Oh Sonic, 
if only you were here!"

	* * *

	Sonic was far from Sapphire City, following a little pink light 
through the woods. 
	She led him swiftly, southward and a little eastward. Sonic 
followed as best as he could, his quick motion upsetting his bruised 
midsection and laser-burn; often he paused for breath, which was not 
like him. But the pain only angered him and made him all the more 
determined to follow the ball of light.
	As the sun dipped below the horizon and the brown shadows turned 
blue, the jungle ended at last, and Sonic stepped through the ruins of 
a stone wall and stood looking up at the pyramid Knuckles had 
discovered. "Where's this?" the hedgehog panted. "I didn't hear about 
a pyramid! Cool!"
	As he looked, a rumbling as of ancient machinery began somewhere 
inside the pyramid, and the top half began to vibrate. Slowly, 
heavily, the stone began to rise. The top half of the sneak head that 
had been resting on the tier below began to inch upward. Sonic folded 
his arms and watched. He had seen a pyramid do almost the same thing--
years ago in Sandopolis on the Floating Island. This pyramid was 
obviously of Echidnaopean origin, as echidna were carved profusely all 
over it. And so were snakes.
	The pyramid rose, groaning and grinding, until an entire tier was 
added to its height, and the snake head had rose to form the top jaw of 
a yawning entrance--then the sound and motion ceased. "Impressive," 
Sonic said to the twilight, obviously unmoved. "Most impressive. Can I 
go home now?"
	But the pink light had other ideas. It appeared out of nowhere and 
floated through the dark entrance. Sonic shook his head. "Like I'm just 
going to head into some strange pyramid that opens up in front of me. I 
did that once and almost got killed. Forget it."
	He turned as though to walk away, but the light flew after him 
with the words, "You MUST enter! If you do not, Chaos will destroy us all!"
	Sonic stopped and turned back. "Chaos?" He looked at the light, 
then up at the awaiting pyramid. He sighed and drooped, feeling as he 
had the night he took Amy to Twinkle Park. "Fine," he said wearily. 
"Lead the way."

	* * *

	Tails leaped desperately across empty space, landed in a tumble on 
the solid highway, jumped to his feet and was away, heart in his mouth. 
Robotnik had taken a shortcut somewhere and had appeared unexpectedly 
some twenty feet behind Tails. Tails had been lagging somewhat, trying 
to regain some breath, but the sight of Robotnik sent him into a wild 
sprint.
	The missile was so close--but there was only one road that led up 
to it, and Tails couldn't seem to reach it. The best he could do was 
reach a road that went under the higher one. Tails paused below it and 
looked back. Robotnik was coming. It was now or never. The fox sump his 
tails, activated his anklets and shot into the darkening sky. "You 
little fox," he heard Robotnik snarl venomously from below.
	Tails caught ahold of the highway edge just as his strength was 
about to give out and heaved himself up. He lay on his back, gasping, 
for a few seconds, then climbed to his feet and dashed to the missile.
	How in the world did you defuse a missile? The fox's mind spun, 
trying to remember if he had ever read anything on the subject. It seemed 
that there were a certain number of wires to cut, but he didn't remember 
where they were located ...
	It loomed up like a sewerpipe with tail fins, a giant Robotnik face 
painted on it. Smaller in size, but everywhere were yellow and black 
stickers bearing the 'radioactive' symbol. Tails halted and gulped. 
He had been right--it was a nuke. No way was he going to try to defuse 
a nuke--he would probably detonate it by accident. Then--plooie--that 
would be the end of Sapphire City, Robotnik, Amy, Tails--
	Windows opened in the damaged building above, people leaned out. 
Tails looked up at them. "What are you doing?" they yelled.
	"I've got to stop Robotnik before he blows up the missile!" 
Tails cried. He looked at the bulk of the thing--it had to be fifteen 
feet long--
	Suddenly he yelled, "Do you have a radar jammer?" He had heard 
that humans used low-key devices like jammers to detect and block 
police radar.
	"Right here!" someone yelled. 
	"Turn it on full blast and throw it to me!" Tails called.
	A woman pulled out a small object like a phone, clicked it on 
and dropped it. The fox caught it, ran to the missile and set it 
against it.
	Thus Tails's blocked Robotnik's signal to the bomb.
	Robotnik did not see what Tails had done until he drew closer 
and recognized the object in the fox's hand. "So, you beat me to the 
missile, you little pest," he hissed. He halted his hovercraft and 
sat idling. "But you'll pay. You'll all pay." He whipped his ship 
about, shot off the roadway and down toward the streets below. Tails 
left the jammer by the missile, spun his tails, and parachuted down 
after him in triumph. Sonic never let Robotnik go until he was 
thoroughly whipped, and Tails intended to do the same.

	* * *

	E-102 Gamma stood in the mouth of a vast cave in the cliffs of 
Red Mountain. The light had nearly gone from the sky outside, and all 
was dark in the cave but for the vast, boiling pit of lava in the 
floor. Gamma's night-vision sensors activated. The interior of the 
cave appeared in shades of green--a rocky, pillared cavern. The floor 
was uneven, broken into jagged slabs by the magma beneath.
	Standing alone in the far corner of the cave was E-104 Epsilon.
	He saw Gamma as soon as Gamma saw him. Like Delta, he was lonely 
so far from familiar surroundings, but unlike Delta, he had no hope of 
ever returning. He did not greet his old companion; he only watched in 
silence as Gamma limped and struggled over the jagged floor toward him.
	Scratched and sparking a little from a hard fall, Gamma stepped 
onto the wide, even shelf where Epsilon was posted. "Greetings, 
Epsilon."
	The orange robot did not reply for a moment. Then he said, 
"Scans detect enemy unit. Destroy."
	A battle ensued. Delta had only attacked half-heartedly, but 
Epsilon had not the feelings and intelligence of his brother robot, 
and so thought nothing of destroying Gamma.
	Gamma took two hits in the course of the fight, unable to 
sidestep them with his twisted leg. But Epsilon took many more, and 
finally he fell, in a sparking, smouldering heap on the stone floor.
	The flicky inside Epsilon had trouble getting out. Gamma could 
hear it squeaking in determination as it struggled inside the hull. 
Gamma set a foot on Epsilon's hull and tugged the head with his hand. 
Presently it tore off part way--Gamma was strong--and an orange flicky
 bounded out and sat shivering on the floor. After a minute its 
trembling subsided, and it looked up at Gamma. But his reaction to 
freedom was the opposite of Delta's.
	"Curse you, Gamma! I liked being a robot! I should have destroyed 
you while I had the chance!" With that, the flicky who had been Epsilon 
whirled and flew out of the cave.

	* * *

	"I hate snakes," Sonic said theatrically.
	The little pink light had led him deep into the pyramid, down 
winding columns of stone stairs, through cold, dark halls of resounding 
echoes, and along a long aisle of stone serpent heads, whose jaws 
ignited as torches as his feet passed over pressure plates in the 
floor.
	Everywhere were carvings of echidnas in faded murals, carvings 
of snakes (which they seemed to have worshiped at this particular 
period), carvings of gods and demigods, and depictions of bloody wars 
and ruling tyrants. The style was not wholly alien to Sonic's hedgehog 
eyes; he had seen similar art on the Floating Island. What it meant he 
could only guess, and wished Knuckles was at his side to explain 
everything. One thing slowly became clear to the lonely visitor--the 
echidnas had built more extensively on the mainland than on their island.
	But now the hedgehog found himself in a vast, dome-roofed room, 
perfectly round. In the center of this room was a huge pool with three 
pillars standing in it--they reached nearly to the roof high above--
and something was moving in the pool.
	Hesitantly Sonic tiptoed to the edge of the pool. This had 
something to do with Chaos, after all; there was no telling what he 
might find. He gathered his courage and looked in. Immediately he 
sprang back, heart racing. It was a huge snake! It was as big as a 
rollercoaster train, and it was swimming round and round. Sonic fled 
for the door he had entered through, but found to his horror a solid 
stone door had closed over it. He stood with his back against it, 
gasping. When would that snake rear its ugly head and come slithering 
after him ...? It was big enough to swallow him whole--no, himself 
and Tails and Knuckles all together in one gulp!
	Presently it came to him that he had been standing there for some 
minutes, and nothing had happened. Heart pounding in his temples and the 
ends of his fingers, he moved forward a few steps. Nothing. Perhaps he 
could take another look without it seeing him. Yeah, right.
	The terrified hedgehog inched forward, every sine on his body 
erect and tense, stomach beginning to ache painfully. Ages it seemed 
to take to cross the fifteen feet between himself and the edge of the 
pool. The room was perfectly silent but for the thundering of his heart 
and a soft, almost imperceptible swish of water as the serpent swam. He 
pulled himself to the low wall that encircled the pool and crouched
 behind it, allowing himself to breathe. Nothing had happened yet. He 
sat there a moment, sweating and throbbing with adrenaline in every 
limb, then held his breath and slowly--ever so slowly--peeked into the 
pool.
	It swam, green eyes staring from its cold face, in circles, 
around the three pillars, in, out, now diving under for a space, now 
emerging. Always it swam in the same pattern. Sonic ducked every time 
it passed, but it never saw him. Finally, after some ten steady cycles, 
Sonic began to look more closely as its scaly sides passed. To his 
sudden chagrin and relief, he realized the snake was carved out of stone. 
Its fluid grace was allowed by its multiple jointed sections, like 
beads strung together. But how did it swim?
	Sonic sat openly on the edge of the pool and looked at the snake. 
Was it his imagination, or could he hear machinery running inside it? 
And there was something funny about the way it circled those pillars, 
too, like they guided it somehow.
	Yes, it was plainly some robotic creation of the ancient 
echidnas--why hadn't he seen that right away? And how could a snake 
stay alive in a pyramid miles underground for thousands of years, 
anyway? He laughed out loud at himself.
	He slid off the lip of the pool and began to explore the room 
more thoroughly. Now that he was not afraid, he saw that there were 
three spotlights in the ceiling that picked out three spots in the 
room. Two were on ledges along the walls higher up, and one was down
 near him. Sonic found the first light was shining on a blue square 
plate in the floor. He stepped on it. Nothing happened. "Musta been a 
dud," the hedgehog muttered. "Where'd that fairy go, anyway?" He 
looked around for her, but she had vanished.
	On wandering forlornly back to the entry door, the hedgehog came 
upon a round blue button on the wall. Experimentally he pressed it.
	There came a deep rumbled from beneath the floor, and the snake 
pool overflowed its banks and began to flood the room. "Oh great," 
Sonic muttered as the water swirled about his ankles, then his knees. 
"Sonic, you've done it now." He began to tread water, as slowly the 
surface level raised to the next lowest ledge on the walls, and there 
it stopped.
	He crawled up on the ledge, shook the water from his ears and 
looked about. Surprise surprise, the swimming snake had come up, too, 
easily readjusting to its new height. Sonic looked around the room, 
especially upwards. The next beam of light shown on a plate across 
the room, on level with him, and on the third and final level was a 
broad ledge with a closed door. Above it were three panels--one was 
blue, one green and one red. The blue one was glowing.
	The hedgehog saw the solution to the puzzle at once. The plate 
he thought was a dud had actually activated a three-part door lock. 
The other two parts could only be reached by raising the water level, 
and instead of swimming across the room, one could use that swimming 
snake as a stepping stone.
	"Hedgehog, you are too smart for words," Sonic said smugly, and 
stepped onto the snake's back as it passed.

	* * *

	"It's Robotnik!"
	"Let's get out of here!"
	Shrieks and cries of fear filled the streets as cars were 
vacated, people swarmed out of shops, and a flood of humanity fled 
the scene.
	Robotnik had reached the street below a few minutes before Tails 
had. When Tails landed, at first he was confused--the hovercraft 
had vanished. As he stood there, straining to listen through the city 
noise, he heard a distant clanking sound. Tails felt his stomach twist 
and bit his lip to keep from screaming.
	The machine stepped over a video store and into the street. The 
little hovercraft now had four jointed robotic legs. Extended in 
front, like the head of the monster, were three gun barrels. The 
machine stood at least eighteen feet high.
	The citizens of the city recognized Robotnik and his machine. 
They fled in terror, save a few brave reporters who hid indoors and 
peeked through their cameras in the windows.
	Robotnik leaned out of his chair and leered down at Tails, small 
and alone but standing his ground. "You little fool," the doctor 
breathed, radiating malicious hatred at every word. "Away, before I 
make mincemeat out of you." If he had spoken so to Sonic, the hedgehog 
would have laughed in his face, and Tails would have echoed him, 
secure in the knowledge that Robotnik had never yet beat Sonic in a 
fair fight. But Tails was missing his hero, and was deathly afraid of 
what Robotnik might do. He gulped. He was the only one who stood 
between Robotnik and the ruin of Sapphire City. "I'm not scared," he 
said in a small voice.
	The Egg Walker stepped forward like a long-legged spider, and 
aimed one of its monstrous weapons at Tails. The fox fled as a tongue 
of flame spouted forth with a whoosh and blackened a section of 
pavement. But Tails did not run away--not yet. He returned to face 
Robotnik with what shreds of nerve he had left, and again planted 
himself before the Egg Walker.
	The ship sprang forward with shocking speed and pounded its 
forefeet against the ground, as if it were a horse killing a snake. 
Instead of being trampled to death, however, Tails leaped under the 
ship, barely out of reach of the stamping feet. As he huddled there, 
momentarily out of his enemy's sight and numb with terror, he happened 
to glance down and catch sight of the little purple medal clipped to 
his chest. Like the faint memory of a dream, Tikal's voice echoed in 
his mind. "This is the rhythm badge. It's to remind you of your new 
move."
	The fear did not vanish. Tails thought afterward that he had never 
been more scared in his life. But he was no longer weaponless.
	The stamping feet stopped, all four on the ground as Robotnik 
looked about for his little victim. Tails whirled, went into his 
twirling spin and slashed the right fore-foot.
	The robot staggered and stumbled sideways. Tails leaped and 
spun himself into the joint that connected the damaged leg to the 
hovercraft's body. The whole frame jolted. Robotnik cured. The walker 
regained its feet and sprang away like a monstrous crab. It halted 
some distance down the street and turned again to face Tails. The 
fox anticipated the jet of roaring flame, and flung himself behind 
a parked car. "I've gotta take out the feet," he told himself over 
and over.
	Three reporters peeked out at the scene, trembling with fear 
lest they be discovered, but frantically scribbling notes all the 
while. (They dared not take pictures for fear of the camera flashes 
attracting attention.) They looked on as the young fox ducked between 
the heavy feet again and again, knocked them out from under the ship
and tore at the joints with his spinning tails when they fell within 
reach.
	"How long do you think the kid'll last?" one reporter whispered 
to the others.
	"Not long," one whispered back. "My guess is we'll be out there 
soon enough photographing roadkill."
	"You never can tell with these Mobians," the third whispered. 
"Especially the Northies that remember the war."
	"Well, I'd rather stay away from the Mobians," the first said. 
"They've given us trouble before. Ooo, the kid nearly ate it that time!"
	"So did that contraption. Look how slow it gets up! 'Fox defeats 
Dr. Robotnik'!"
	"Not yet he hasn't. Hey, he's got two tails! Look--see 'em?"
	Muffled exclamations of surprise. More scribbling of notes.
	"My kids'll love this."
	"Look at him go! What's he got, jet boots?"
	"I don't think so."
	"All right! The machine's down again! I wish I had more film--"
	"Duck!"
	The three men ducked as the Egg Walker's fuel tanks exploded, 
blowing out the glass in the storefronts up and down the street. 
Presently the flames died down a bit, and the three poked their heads 
up for a look around. The Walker's hull stood inert and dead in the 
street, engulfed in flames. The heart of it--the hovercraft--was gone. 
Robotnik had already fled.
	Tails picked himself up off the pavement and blinked at the 
bonfire. The force of the blast had knocked him down, and the side of 
his head had slapped the corner of a fender. He touched the bump--it had 
a small cut on it. Other than that, he was unhurt.
	He grinned suddenly. "I did it!" he exclaimed. "I did it all by 
myself!"
	Three white flashes in quick succession. The fox turned to see 
three reporters in various poses with their cameras.
	The reporters received more than enough story information from 
Tails, most of which they didn't understand. Now that relief had set 
in, Tails was positively chatty. He told them about racing Robotnik to 
the missile, and the Egg Walker, and Tikal, and his jet anklets, and 
his two tails, and Sonic, and everything else he could think of.
	By morning he was a celebrity; word of his bravery spread through 
the city like wildfire. Even as Tails crawled into bed in the Sunset
 Resort, the reporters' stories hit the newspapers.

	* * *

	"Tails is a hero?" Amy said.
	The bedraggled pink hedgehog stood on the sidewalk, staring at 
the headlines in the newspaper stands. 
	"Mobian Saves Sapphire City!"
	"Tails Prower local hero, Egg Walker defeated!"
	"Freedom Fighter Faces Foe!"
	Amy lifted a grimy hand to her eyes. "Birdy, I need to sit down 
somewhere."
	She seated herself on the curb and cradled her head in her hands. 
The green flicky sat beside her anxiously.
	The two had spent most of the night, not in a house in bed, where 
Amy should have been, but in the Final Egg ground base, deep in the 
Mystic Ruins. Amy had recalled Gamma's words--"We will be arriving in 
the Mystic Ruins base soon."--and set off to find it in the hopes of 
locating Birdy's parents.
	She had spent the night wandering in the depths of the mighty 
fortress, looking for prisoners and robots that might be flickies in 
disguise. But all the robots she had seen were hulking, fearsome 
things that had tried to catch her as soon as they saw her. The worst 
of all was Zero, the robot who had kidnapped her the day before and 
chased her through the Hot Shelter. He had appeared suddenly behind 
her in a hallway, recognized her, and spent the rest of the night 
chasing her.
	As dawn began to brighten the sky, Amy found the exit lift 
and rode it up to the glass tunnel, limp with exhaustion and relief. 
And to her infinite humiliation, as she neared the door at the far 
end, it opened, and in stepped Sonic.
	He looked as bad as she felt. His fur and spines were stained 
with mud, and his shoes and gloves were damp and dirty. "Amy!" he said 
in fury as she dashed to him. 
	"Sonic, I'm so glad to see you--what's wrong?"
	"What's wrong?" the blue hedgehog snarled. "This is too dangerous 
a place for you! Get out of here!" He opened the door and stood aside 
for her to pass. She did, feeling very young and stupid. "Stay in 
Sapphire City!" Sonic said as she stepped outside, not even pretending 
to be nice. "The last thing I need is a little whiny brat following me 
around. Get lost."
	The door shut between them,  leaving Amy standing in the grass 
with her mouth open. "He called me a whiny brat!" She didn't know 
whether to laugh or cry. She settled for the latter, as it was the
 easiest.
	She cried all the way back to Station Square, which left her hot 
and tired. On top of the night's adventures, the headlines proclaiming 
Tails's heroism were a bit too much for her to grasp. "Let's go home, 
Birdy," Amy said. "Sorry I'm such a wimp, but I can't face anything else 
right now. Hope you understand." 
	The flicky nodded sympathetically. He had thought she was 
overdoing it, and he was right.

	* * *

	But if Amy had known the horrendous things Sonic had just seen, 
perhaps she would have forgiven him his sharp tongue.
	After escaping from the Anaconda room, the hedgehog found himself 
in a room of total darkness, but for great torches burning here and there 
behind reflective mirrors. The he was able to move this way and that 
until their beams shown onto nearby polished mirrors, which reflected 
the light to light part of the room. By this partial light the 
hedgehog ventured out upon the narrow stone walkway that stood twenty 
feet out of the dark water. When he had passed out of the light and was 
beginning to grope his way forward, his fingers encountered the back of 
another torch reflector, and so on all the way across the room.
	Here he found an excellent use for his shoes.
	The walkway ended some fifty feet from the wall, where he could 
see a doorway leading on into the pyramid. He cast about for a bridge 
or something, but if there had been one, it had crumbled long ago,
 and there was nothing below him but sullen black water. Jumping into 
it would do no good, for there was no way back up that he could see.
	Just as he was about to despair and turn back, the pink fairy-
light appeared again. "Jump across," she said to him. "You can make 
it."
	Sonic looked at the wide expanse between himself and the far 
wall. "Yeah right, I'm not that stupid."
	"You can do it," she insisted. "Have you forgotten your shoes?"
	Well, actually, he had, but he wasn't about to admit it aloud. 
"What about them?"
	"Use them."
	"Use them?" he spluttered. "How am I supposed to use them? Throw 
them across?" He trailed off. An idea had come to him. He threw himself 
into a stationary spindash and whirled like a wheel. His heels began 
to glow. After a moment, Sonic landed on his feet and raced off the 
edge of the walkway.
	The energy stored in his shoes was released in a burst of power 
that flung the hedgehog across the gap, through the doorway and down 
the hall beyond before it gave out. He stopped and stood a moment, 
panting and grinning to himself. Those shoes HAD been worth 250 bucks, 
after all!
	He encountered other obstacles and traps as he travelled on. He 
fled down a long sloping passageway as a monstrous boulder soaked in 
flame tumbled after him. He leaped into a doorway at last and watched 
as it rumbled by and smashed into the wall far below.
	He dropped into a shallow, swift-flowing water channel and slid 
down on the slick floor as if it were a waterslide, finally shooting 
out into a hidden glade deep in the jungle. It was night now, the 
stars overhead glimmering down like white jewels. Sonic stood 
looking at them for a moment, wishing he were standing outside his 
hut in Knothole, instead of lost in an old maze built by a bunch of 
dead guys.
	The fairy led him into a stone passageway in a cliff wall a 
short distance off, and the hedgehog was away again.
	He came to a vast square room lit with hundreds of torches, and 
with doorways at all heights in the towering walls. He did not know 
that a day or two before, Knuckles had stood in this same room and 
gazed with similar bewilderment at the doors high above. But the fairy 
showed Sonic a different route through. By pressing a large switch on 
the wall, an entire row of dark blue panels moved across the wall, 
grating like dragged bricks, and formed a line up the wall. Sonic 
approached curiously and touched one. It had a weird feeling an inch 
away, as if a huge amount of electricity were flowing over the surface 
of the tiles. Sonic lifted a foot and walked straight up the panels. 
It was the stationary mechanism used in the spinning top in Marble 
Gardens.
	The hedgehog followed these panels all over the room, often 
stepping into one of the now-accessible doorways to press a button that 
realigned the panels, and again off he went.
	At last the fairy led him through a high doorway, down a long 
flight of stairs, and into a long hall flanked with engraved pillars, 
and shallow pools on either side. Sonic walked through, taking his 
time, looking at everything. He sensed this was a sacred place of some 
sort--perhaps a temple or a shrine. The carved figures on the pillars 
stared at him with glittering jeweled eyes, seeming to question his 
presence and were not pleased.
	As the hedgehog passed along the walkway, the water on his left 
rippled as if something had disturbed the surface. Sonic didn't notice 
it at first, but after a few more feet he heard the faintest whisper of 
sound. He turned. The water just opposite him was rippling steadily, 
as if something were tapping the surface. But there was nothing there.
	Sonic felt the spines on the back of his neck prickle. He turned 
and fled toward the end of the room, where the fairy was waiting for 
him. This was unlike seeing the stone snake. This time there was nothing 
to see but the water, and yet there was something in the water he could 
not see.
	Spooked and nervous, it took him several minutes to notice the 
mural on the wall a few feet above him. He glanced at it once, then 
gazed at the water, which had grown still. Then slowly, wonderingly, 
his eyes were drawn back around to that mural.
	A blue dragon, monstrous in size, vast jaws sprung wide, about 
to devour a collection of buildings that probably represented a city. 
The mural was a mosaic of many-colored chips of stone, and had not 
faded with age as paintings did. Slowly Sonic noticed other things. 
The stormy sky, the wild sea that surrounded the dragon ... even then, 
the meaning of the picture did not dawn on him.
	The fairy stirred from her place and flew into his eyes.
	When Sonic had shaken his head and his eyes had readjusted, he 
found himself standing on a hill under the stars. Before him was a pale 
stone path, the stones bathed in a flickering red-gold light. "Whoa, 
teleporter," Sonic said, looking about. "Looks like somebody's having 
a barbecue up there." It did not enter his head for a moment that 
perhaps he was not in his own time. He trotted up the path, rounded a 
bend and stopped in horrified wonder.
	The light came from a small pyramid a little way off. From base 
to crown it was cloaked in red flames that crackled and roared, licking 
greedily into the sky. But it was alone. There were no onlookers, no 
one trying to put out the fire. The pyramid burned, alone under the 
stars. Sonic moved closer, driven perhaps by some impulse to help, to 
fight the fire somehow. A few dozen feet away, however, he stopped and 
dared go no closer.
	Things lay in clumps here and there in the grass. At first, in 
the orange light, Sonic had mistaken them for rocks. But now he 
recognized their shapes and stood in fear and grief. They were dead 
chao--a hundred of them, it seemed, lying here and there, huddled 
against one another, eyes closed, some stained with dark blood. It tore 
the hedgehog's heart--were these the friendly creatures in the hotel 
he had enjoyed so much? Who had killed them?
	Another sound reached his ears through the roar of the fire. A 
soft voice weeping. He looked about and saw, a little way off, a lone 
figure facing the fire, like him. He walked up to her and saw it was a 
young girl echidna, cradling one arm against her chest as if it were 
hurt, tears streaming down her face. "Are you all right?" Sonic asked 
her.
	She looked at him, not at all surprised to see him, and wailed, 
"This shouldn't have happened! It's all my fault! Look at what they 
did to the chao ..."
	A horrible sound echoed off the rocks around them--a screaming 
roar in the distance. It held rage, hatred and grief, and Sonic 
shuddered. "What happened?"
	The girl was staring off in the direction of the roar and didn't 
answer. 
	"What happened?" he repeated.
	The girl spoke, but not to him. "Oh, I must stop him! He will 
destroy everyone!" She darted away from Sonic and up the steps of the 
burning shrine.
	"Don't go up there!" Sonic cried, started after her.
	He blinked and looked around. There had been no teleporter beam, 
but suddenly everything had faded like smoke and he was standing on the 
green turf outside the towering pyramid in the Mystic Ruins. "Weird," 
he breathed, rubbing his eyes. He drew a breath of the dewy air and 
looked at the sky. The stars were bright and low, and a green light 
was growing in the east. It took him several minutes to realize he had 
been inside the pyramid before his dream or whatever it had been. How 
had he gotten outside?
	That thought led immediately to the memory of the mural. Had the
 mural and his dream been connected somehow ...? No, no, they couldn't 
be. He must have fallen asleep for a few minutes. But that didn't 
explain how he had gotten outside.
	As the hedgehog stood thoughtfully gazing at the early dawn sky, 
a strange sound reached him above the music of the crickets. He knew 
it as well as Tails did: Robotnik's hovercraft. Sonic ran to the 
crumbling wall and stood against it, sheltered from view by the 
overhanging vines above. In the twilight, his dark blue color blended 
with the shadows, concealing him from all but the most watchful of 
eyes unless he moved. This he didn't, and Robotnik was not watching 
the ground for hedgehogs. He flew over, heading east. Sonic darted 
noiselessly out of hiding and followed him.
	Thus Sonic found the high cliffs at the foot of the valley, 
and looking down into the next valley, he saw the Final Egg ground base 
in all its operating glory, buildings extended, lights flashing gold
and green and crimson.
	Still puzzling over the mural, the girl, the dead chao and the 
lonely burning pyramid, Sonic stepped into the entry hall--and was 
greeted by the last person in the world he wanted to see. Amy would 
never understand what he had just seen, and what was she doing here, 
anyway? Didn't she know she could get killed in places like these? He 
ordered her to go home with all the ferocity he could muster. Really, 
he didn't want to see her get hurt any more than he would Tails.
	Slightly peeved at himself for hurting her feelings--he had 
seen the look on her face before the door closed--he turned to face 
the Final Egg ground base.

	* * *

	E-102 Gamma had watched the flicky who had been Epsilon fly 
away with all the emotional attachment of a rock. If epsilon wanted 
to be a jerk, fine, as long as he was free.
	Gamma jolted and staggered his way out of the lava cave. His 
systems were not working so well anymore, and his stabilizers cycled 
on and off. The last fight had been a tough one.
	He paused outside the cave to review his objectives. "E-103 
Delta, E-104 Epsilon, released. E-105 Zeta, E-101 Beta, locations 
unknown." He sent out the most powerful radar scan he possessed, but 
it could not reach beyond the canyon walls. There were no more robots 
in this valley, at any rate. He reviewed his memory. Beta had been 
last seen in a suspended state in Construction Bay 15 on the Egg 
Carrier. Zeta ... could be anywhere. Would Metal Sonic have placed 
him elsewhere on the ship as well, for remodeling, as he had done 
with Beta? It was a possibility. "Perhaps they are aboard the Egg 
Carrier," Gamma said aloud. It would take him the rest of the night 
to locate and reach the Carrier, perhaps longer in his damaged 
condition. But he stubbornly set out anyway.
	So it was that, as Sonic entered the depths of the Final Egg 
fortress, E-102 Gamma landed on the wrecked but floating Egg Carrier.
	The nose and forward sections were charred and continued to 
smoke, although lapped by the cooling ocean. The nose had taken on 
enough water to balance the heavy jets in the rear, and the entire 
ship floated almost level, silent and powerless. But it was not 
off-line.
	Even on the brink of sinking beneath the waves, most of the 
electronic systems remained on and functioning, except for those in 
the forward sections, which had been disabled by the fire. As soon as 
Gamma stepped aboard, he was within range of the Carrier's remote-access 
robot hub. In spite of his malfunctioning systems, he was able to 
establish contact with the ship, which didn't care if he had rebelled 
or not. He asked it for the whereabouts of all E-series aboard. After 
a few moments--even a giant mainframe computer took time to scan the 
whole ship--he was given a list that contained three names: E-101, 
E-102 and E-105. E-101 Beta seemed to be moving about at great speed 
inside the ship, for every two seconds his coordinence had changed. 
Gamma decided to look for him last. E-105 Zeta, however, was 
stationary, somewhere in the Hot Shelter. Zeta would be the easiest 
to find.

	* * *

	Metal Sonic stood in the shadows in the corner of Robotnik's 
office, red eyes smouldering. One could see nothing wrong with him, 
as his hull was as polished as ever, not a bolt out of place. Only he 
and Robotnik knew that he had been punished severely and painfully--
Robotnik had, after all, pioneered the science of biotechnical torture--
for neglecting to arm the nuclear missile. Mecha had been sorry the 
instant he had realized the missile was not armed, but the punishment 
had instead made him maliciously happy it had not been armed after all, 
because it had spoiled his Master's plans. And worst of all, it had 
made Mecha angry.
	As Robotnik strode here and there in the office, examining screens 
and reading robot reports, Metal Sonic's digital eyes followed him with 
unbridled hatred. At that moment the doctor's life had never been in 
greater danger.
	Robotnik was saved by the beeping of an alarm and a root's voice 
reporting, "Priority hedgehog spotted in construction hall thirty four! 
We are under attack!"
	A second later Mecha was flying down the hall, head lowered and 
fingers curled into claws. He could vent his fury on his enemy ...

	* * *

	Sonic ducked under a swinging construction arm, tore his way 
through a gang of robots, then grabbed another robot and used its body 
to shield himself from the laserblasts of a ceiling turret. Panting, 
he glanced about and saw twenty other robots converging on the scene, 
reminiscent of Robotropolis SWAT-bots and all heavily armed. He would 
be toast if he didn't make tracks, fast.
	A blue blur flashed between the oncoming bots, up the wall and 
into a ventilation duct. Panting, the hedgehog threw himself down in 
the tubular duct, as the air was blowing through it with sizeable 
strength. Over the roar of the wind in his ears, Sonic could hear the 
voices and clanking of the robots as they tried to figure out what had 
happened to him. "Idiots," he thought warmly. There were more of them 
than he had thought--he had better be more careful if he was to find 
Robotnik and escape with his life.
	Sonic waited for the noise below to quiet down, softly rubbing the 
still-raw laser scratch under his arm ... he was lucky to have gotten 
off the Egg Carrier with only that small wound, and the rapidly fading 
bruises across his gut where Chaos had bitten him.
	"What DID happen to Chaos?" Sonic wondered as he crawled to the 
edge of the duct and looked down. A few robots stationed here and there 
as others cleaned up the mess he had made. He had better not go back 
down there. He crawled up the duct instead on hands and knees, looking 
for a vent he could climb out of. Maybe Chaos had been squashed when he 
fell into the machinery. Well, maybe not ... you couldn't get rid of 
water that easily. More likely, he had jumped ship when the Carrier 
went down. "It sure would be scary if I looked up and there he was," 
Sonic thought. He looked up to make sure, but there was only the duct 
stretching away in windy gloom.
	A vent to the left. Sonic crawled to it and peered out furtively. 
It was a vast room of turning gears, pumping pistons and rotating shafts, 
but no floor. As far down as Sonic could see there was nothing but 
moving machinery, like the inner workings of a monstrous clock. As his 
eyes adjusted to the motion, he noticed slender walkways suspended from 
the walls and nearby ceiling, probably for maintenance purposes. No 
robots here.
	The hedgehog jumped from the vent to a slowly rotating gear, as 
big as a tractor tire, and from there to a walkway.
	He had picked his walk halfway across the maze when Sonic got the 
feeling he was being watched. Nervously he craned his neck and looked 
around, but could see no one. That meant nothing--a dozen robots would 
lie hidden in the machinery and he would never see them.
	The walkway sagged beneath his feet without warning, the far end
 tilting down toward oblivion. No time to figure out why--he was 
sliding. The hedgehog glanced about for a place to jump to, but the 
wheels on either side were spinning dangerously, and the nearest walkway 
was twenty feet away. He braced himself with his rubber-soled shoes and 
grasped either side of the walkway. He slid to a stop, and again looked 
about for a possible means of escape. To slide all the way down meant 
falling to a messy demise in the churning machinery below. Right and 
left were blocked by whirling gears. That left only up.
	Sonic twisted about and crawled up the slanting walkway like a 
child would climb a slide in a playground. He climbed to one of the few 
remaining cables that held up the walkway and shimmied up it. A glance 
at the ceiling overhead revealed an assortment of girders that 
supported the cables and various pieces of machinery.
	Sonic pulled himself up on the steel bar and sat astride it, 
panting. He didn't know why that walkway had broken, but he had better 
make tracks just the same.
	A pair of digital red eyes watched the hedgehog from across the 
room. Sonic would never escape the fortress now. To 'play' with him 
was only to prolong his death ... and that was exactly what Mecha 
intended to do.

	* * *

	Although Gamma was worse off physically than Sonic, he knew his 
way around the Hot Shelter, and that was where their missions differed.
	The Egg Carrier had taken on water in places, and the robot was 
forced to detour around the flooded areas, painfully. His systems had 
not stabilized properly, and the weight of his useless leg was a drain 
on his batteries. Every step was a challenge, and a detour was a 
grievous loss.
	The Hot Shelter was confusing at the best of times. Now, what 
with the flooding in the lower decks and the backup generators running, 
it was a bewildering labyrinth in which only half the lights worked. 
Often Gamma halted and consulted the robot hub for directions, which, 
owing to his slowly dying system, he only partially understood. But as 
his programmed brain weakened, his true mind--the mind of the pilot--
strengthened, and he thought of shortcuts a robot would never have 
dreamed of; a cargo lift instead of a flight of stairs, the Hot Shelter 
freight train instead of a long hike through ship-transformation 
machinery.
	The latter was tricker than it seemed. For one thing, the train 
ran the whole length of the Hot Shelter at 200 mph, rushing cargo and 
robots back and forth. One of the places it didn't stop was the landing 
where Gamma wanted to stop, for it was only a short distance from Zeta. 
Thus, as soon as the train left its station, Gamma began to work his 
way forward, hopping from car to car. He reached the engine after a 
long struggle, waited until it approached his stop, then jerked the 
brake lever.
	The resulting stop was swift and violent, and Gamma nearly lost 
his hand as the brake lever was torn from his grasp by the jolt. But at 
last the train was stopped, brakes smoking. Gamma activated his jetpack, 
flew off the train, across the tracks and onto the landing. There he 
stopped a moment to confirm his location. Yes, he was right where he 
wanted to be, and Zeta was only five hundred feet from him.
	The robot limped into the Hot Shelter.

	* * *

	At that moment Sonic was cursing all robots, unaware there was at 
least one of Robotnik's minions on his side. The hedgehog was angry and 
afraid--being stalked by Metal Sonic through completely unfamiliar 
surroundings was not his idea of fun.
	Sonic had escaped the machinery room, only to enter a vast 
construction bay, as large as an airfield underground, chock-full of 
robots, half-built robots and machinery. There Metal Sonic had attacked, 
silent but for the whirr of his engines. Sonic had run for it. When 
Mecha attacked in silence, without even a hateful taunt, it usually 
meant he was furious and intent only on killing.
	Sonic had hid from him inside an empty robot construction chamber, 
panting and trying to listen for the robot's engines above the noise 
of the machinery. He did not hear them, but without warning the glass 
tube began to lower around him. Sonic suffered a near-heart attack, 
ducked under the descending glass and was away.
	Three times more he was flushed from hiding like a rabbit, growing 
angrier with each encounter, and more confused with each step. The 
deeper he went the more bewildering Final Egg became, and the harder 
Mecha drove him.
	A check came when Sonic arrived in a giant empty room with no 
ceiling, only machinery working high above. There was a lone lever 
under a Plexiglass panel on the floor. Panting and looking over his 
shoulder every two seconds, the hedgehog slid back the panel and 
flipped the lever.
	"Final Egg isolation block open," announced a computer voice from 
speakers in the walls. At the same time, the floor slid away on all 
sides, leaving Sonic standing on a small round island with the lever 
on it. There was a colossal noise of machinery activating, and the 
island was lifted into the air several hundred feet, until it was just 
below the machinery that had been so distant before. "That'll throw 
Mecha for a while," Sonic muttered smugly. The doorway he had entered 
by was now sealed by a safety door.
	Sonic leaped to a balcony jutting out of the wall, trotted 
through the empty station behind it, and took a big freight elevator 
down, down, into the heart of the fortress. There he descended a giant 
staircase--by this time he was beginning to wonder how long it had 
taken Robotnik to build a base of such size--and took yet another 
elevator down. "I hope I'm going the right way," he thought as he sat 
on the elevator floor to rest his tired legs. "This is getting 
ridiculous."

	* * *

	"Dr. Robotnik, I have lost him," Metal Sonic reported. He was 
standing behind the door Sonic had closed, momentarily foiled. His 
anger had cooled, and his mental computer was beginning to work again. 
Robotnik's voice replied, "Affirmative, Mecha. I will deal with him 
myself now. Return to your duties."
	"Return to your duties," Mecha mocked once the transmission was 
safely ended. "The heck I will, Master, until I have seen you defeat 
the Hedgehog. I made the mistake of obeying you once too many." The 
blue robot whirled and made for the upper levels. There was more 
than one way into the isolation block.

	* * *

	Far from the warfare of dark, machinery-ridden fortresses, Amy 
Rose stood at the rail on a friend's borrowed motorboat, gazing 
across the bay at the bulk of the Egg Carrier, floating like some 
grotesque sea monster in the ocean. The late morning sun was warm on 
the hedgehog's pink hair, now ruffled by the wind as the boat raced 
across the waves. Birdy, the green flicky, sat on her shoulder, 
little claws clenched into the shoulder of her dress, and stared at 
the Egg Carrier in apprehension. He knew, even if Amy didn't, where 
his parents were, and making Amy help them without being able to 
speak her language would not be easy.
	"So, why do you want to go to that thing, anyway?" called the 
girl at the boat's helm, a human girl named Rachel (who was, in fact, 
who Amy had named her chao after). "It sure looks creepy to me!"
	"I'm looking for Birdy's parents," Amy called into the wind. 
"Can you wait for me?"
	"Sure thing, Amy. Want me to come with you? I mean, it'd be 
like, totally awful if something happened to you ... I mean, like, 
with those awful robots and everything."
	"No thanks, I'll be fine," Amy replied, fingering her big mallet. 
To her inexperienced eye it was an apt weapon. "I mean, it's not like 
I haven't been there before. Just wait for me in the boat." She 
stroked Birdy's head to show him she was not afraid. Birdy ignored 
her, thinking only of his mother and father.

	* * *

	Deep in the Egg Carrier, in the gloom of the Hot Shelter, E-102 
Gamma faced E-105 Zeta and was not afraid.
	Zeta, the purple robot, had indeed been given to Metal Sonic, 
and Mecha had handed him over to the construction droids with a few 
instructions. The result was that Zeta was no longer a mobile unit--he 
was an enlarged generator, surrounded by steam and working pistons. 
The only thing that remained of his original design was his yellow 
head and green eyes. No one but Metal Sonic could have thought of such 
a thing.
	As Gamma entered the room, Zeta's head swiveled about to face 
him. Gamma, dwarfed before the giant machine, braced himself and 
raised his blaster. He hadn't the faintest idea what to aim at--there 
were too many targets. But as he stood there, a different, pilot-borne 
thought filtered into his computer: Zeta would not fight for he was not 
a robot. He was a generator. Therefore he must simply be shut down.
	"Zeta," Gamma said the the machine. "Greetings."
	Zeta said nothing.
	Asking him to shut down would do no good--he might as well ask an 
organism to will its heart to stop beating. Gamma contacted the robot 
hub and asked it to shut down Zeta, but it requested a password Gamma 
lacked.
	The crippled red robot stood there a long time, thinking. There 
had to be a way to solve this puzzle, and he had a feeling he was 
staring right at it. Again, it was not the computer, but Gamma's brain 
that solved the problem. He tagged Zeta's head with his laser and hit 
it with his blaster. They yellow panel blew off, and out fluttered a 
red flicky bird.
	The flicky flew to Gamma and chirped, "I thought I'd NEVER get 
out of there! Thanks a million! Hey, you'd better watch out. Beta is 
loose, and he has orders to destroy all intruders, and that means you." 
The bird paused for breath, looked up at his former body, headless but 
still running, and shivered. "Man, am I glad to be free. Good luck, 
Gamma."

	* * *

	"Well well, if it isn't Sonic! I'm surprised you made it this far."
	The blue hedgehog stood before Robotnik, and was nervous, but 
defiant. "Well, I did, Eggman, and I ditched Mecha while I was at it."
	Sonic was standing on a long bridge that was suspended across one 
of the now-familier bottomless chasms. Thirty feet away another bridge 
ran parallel to his. Between them hovered a fearsome attack robot with 
Robotnik in the head. "Egg Viper" was emblazoned on its side in yellow. 
The cockpit was retracted into the thick, protective hull, and on either 
side spun two spike-rimmed wheels. Attached to the rear of this 
monstrosity was a fifteen-foot tail made of four joined steel segments, 
which gave it its snakey name. Sonic could see no weaknesses.
	Robotnik settled back in the cockpit comfortably. Sonic would not 
win this time, he was certain. On the off chance he came close, Metal
Sonic was watching from further up the shaft they were in, the lone 
witness to the battle. Of course, Mecha did not think his master had 
observed him, but Robotnik did not mind.
	The Egg Viper flipped up, over, and dove under the bridge. It 
reappeared a second later, leaping through the air like a dolphin, and 
with each leap it fired laserbolts at Sonic. The hedgehog ducked and 
tore up and down the bridge, too fast for the lasers to quite hit. 
Seeing this, Robotnik stopped the Viper a few feet from the bridge, 
opened the cockpit and called, "The hedgehog wants to dance, does he?"
	"Sure, and why not join me?" Sonic retorted. Like a blue bolt of 
lightning he leaped out, curled into a spin, struck the windshield a 
furious blow, bounced into the air and flipped onto the other bridge.
	Robotnik slid the cockpit back between the spinning spiked wheels, 
angry and shaken. Sonic had nearly got him that time--the windshield 
looked as if someone had taken a baseball bat to it. He flipped the agile 
Egg Viper about and fired more laserbolts at his enemy.
	Again Sonic ran, and again the laserbolts missed him by a hair. 
Sonic was planning ahead--once the Viper was defeated, he could inch 
along a ledge he had spotted on the wall, to the doorway he had entered 
by--at least it was still open. But how was he to defeat the Viper? It 
appeared invulnerable, and boy, was it fast. It had to have a weakness 
... everything had a weakness ...
	The Egg Viper halted again, but this time at a distance from Sonic. 
Its jointed tail curved about underneath it, so the machine took on 
the shape of a sideways question mark. Three panels opened on the head, 
on the right, left and top sides of the cockpit. These contained packed
energy cells, which began to glow neon blue. Each tail segment bore a 
round energy cell, which also began to glow. The Viper was a monstrous 
weapon.
	"Take this!" Robotnik yelled as the cells brightened. Sonic, 
mind in high gear, saw that he didn't want to be in the way when the 
Viper fired. On impulse he dashed forward, leaped, spun. He raced up 
the energized tail segments in a ball, guided by their heat, and launched 
himself at the topmost energy panel above the cockpit.
	Explosion! Heat! The smell of singed fur, falling, crash onto 
something solid. Sonic sat up and shook his head in a daze. Good grief, 
had he blown up the Viper? He couldn't see it. He climbed to his feet, 
wobbled unsteadily, and looked over the edge of the bridge. Good thing 
had had landed on it. The Egg Viper was floating twenty feet below, the 
damaged panel aflame.
	Sonic patted down his singed spines and smiled grimly. He had 
discovered the ship's weakness.
	Robotnik knew he had discovered a weakness, one which Robotnik 
himself was not aware of until that moment. Cursing, he activated the 
automatic fire extinguishers, which doused the flames with white foam. 
"Now, Sonic," he snarled, throwing the Viper into gear, "we'll see how 
well you handle the guillotine approach."
	Sonic stood braced and ready as the Viper reappeared in a wide 
leap over his bridge, but was nearly thrown from his feet as the ship 
smashed up through the far end like an evil jack-in-the-box. "Get a 
load of this," Robotnik bellowed.
	Both spinning wheels on either side of the Viper's head loosed, 
fell sideways and hovered near the bridge, spinning into a blur. Then
 they shot at the hedgehog.
	Sonic had a fraction of a second in which to act. He could duck 
and risk having the blades come down on him, or jump and let them pass 
beneath him. He chose the latter. There was a blue beneath him as they 
flashed under. As he came down, they returned, and he landed on the 
center of one and was hurled back toward the Viper. "No way! I don't 
believe this!" Robotnik cried, frantically trying to keep the wheels 
from coming back, but they were too quick. They shot to the sides of 
the cockpit, tilted up to resume their former positions--and Sonic 
leaped from his perch and smashed the second electric panel.
	The explosion was smaller with the gun deactivated, and Sonic 
was not burned this time. He landed triumphantly on the bridge as the 
wounded Egg Viper dropped from sight to regroup. He glanced at the 
hole in the bridge--more like a gap. The bridge was composed of 
floating platforms linked together, and the Viper had destroyed two 
at the far end.
	This time the Viper did not attack him immediately. First it 
assaulted the other bridge, tearing through the plastic platforms with 
its churning wheels, splintering them. "Oh, he's mad now," Sonic 
thought, watching. "I I can just get to that last panel ..." Here 
his thoughts were interrupted as the Viper flew straight at him, 
strafing the bridge with laserfire. Sonic ducked under it, and the 
lasers went wide as it passed over. Again it dove beneath the bridge 
and came up through it almost under Sonic's feet. The hedgehog danced 
backward. If those wheels came at him it would be difficult to dodge 
this close. He could count the bolts on the Viper's hull.
	The wheels shot at him, tilting sideways as they came. Again 
Sonic jumped to let them pass under him, but this time was not so 
lucky. The top of the wheel struck his feet, tripped his and flung 
him flat on the platform. Sonic bounced to his feet and leaped into 
the air with a sickened gasp, expecting any second to feel the 
blurred spikes tear into his flesh. Instead he landed on a returning 
wheel, nearly toppled off the edge, and had just enough wits left to 
jump off and crush the third panel on the Viper.
	Explosion! Flash of yellow, heat, the smell of hot metal. 
Sonic, on his hands and knees on the bridge, lifted his head to see 
the Egg Viper's tail ignite and blow off, sending the head section 
into a spin. The head itself was aflame, trailing putrid black smoke. 
It flew around and around the battle arena, bobbing up and down like 
a wounded fish seeking escape from its tank.
	As Sonic watched it, a flash caught his eye, and there was the 
pink fairy-light that had led him through the ruins. It flew to him, 
and that distant female voice cried, "Watch out, he's up to something!"
	Sonic looked at the struggling viper in time to see if flip 
about, launch into the air and fall directly toward him. He leaped 
forward and tumbled. He felt the platform rattle and rock as the Viper 
hit it with all Robotnik's fury. Then it vanished below. A moment later 
a fiery shockwave roared up the shaft as the Egg Viper met its demise.
	Sonic didn't look up again for several minutes, and so didn't 
see Metal Sonic leap from the balcony high above and plunge down, down 
the shaft to rescue his master.
	But when Metal Sonic next looked about for his rival, there was 
nothing on the bridge but a few sneaker prints.

	* * *

	Gamma stepped into the sun on the Egg Carrier's deck. "E-105 Zeta, 
rescue mission successful," he said to himself. "Units remaining ..." 
	A queer sort of feeling crept through the robot's computer. He 
lifted his hand and looked at it. "... Gamma ..." How was he to free 
himself? He had not thought of that before.
	A sound. Gamma looked up to see a large black and white robot fly 
overhead, bound for the front of the ship. "... Beta." The flicky had 
warned him of Beta. Well, Beta was an E-series, and thus he was a 
friend who must be freed.
	Gamma limped after Beta.
	The two met atop the same glass engine housing where Sonic and 
Chaos 6 had battled. This time it was daylight, and perfectly quiet 
but for the lapping of the ocean at the ship's hull.
	The crippled red robot gazed at his hulking opponent. Beta 
Improved was even more hideous than he had appeared in the construction 
chamber. His green eyes were alert, his wing-like arms attached and 
functional, the laser lenses in his hands polished and ready to rip. 
But he was still Beta, the robot who had won Gamma's respect back in 
the Final Egg fortress. And of all the E-series, Beta was the one Gamma 
hated the most to destroy.
	"Greetings, Beta," Gamma said to the monster. Beta did not reply--
instead he darted sideways like a giant hummingbird. Gamma shook his 
head in regret and took his battle stance. With a bad leg and failing 
batteries, it would he a difficult fight.
	Gamma locked onto Beta with his tag laser and fired. To his 
surprise Beta threw up an arm and bounced the projectile away into 
the sky. Then he ducked away. Gamma turned to target him again, but 
this time Beta simply dodged the shot. He could move like lightning, 
and often Gamma would be left staring stupidly at empty space.
	Beta paused in the air for a second, and a yellow forcefield 
appeared around him--then he extended one clawed arm and drove at Gamma 
like a charging bull. Gamma simply lacked the speed to avoid him, and 
so was struck down. Lying on his back, sparking, Gamma turned his 
head, targeted Beta's exposed back and fired.
	Hit! The delicacy of Beta's systems was shown as the robot 
shuddered and nearly fell to the deck. But he righted himself and 
flew into the sky as Gamma struggled to his feet.
	Gamma looked about for Beta and saw him above at a little 
distance, both hands held together, the combined energy of the laser 
crystals forming a lightning ball. In a second he launched it at 
Gamma. Fortunately Gamma hobbled out of the way and missed the direct 
blow, but took the brunt of the shockwave. He was beginning to wonder 
at the superiority of Beta's weapons--here was a robot he might not be 
able to defeat.
	Beta returned to his hover-and-dodge routine, letting Gamma's 
shots bounce off his arm shields. He launched a batch of slow-moving 
homing missiles at Gamma, but remembering his little trick, Gamma 
picked them out of the air with a series of well-placed shots. Tiring 
of this play, Beta again charged at his brother, claws extended. 
Gamma avoided him that time with the aid of his jetpack, and planted 
another laser in Beta's back as he tore by.
	Again Beta took to the air to fire his charging laser down at 
Gamma, but he was beginning to malfunction. His motions were jerky, 
speed dropping. He attempted to charge his lasers, but instead fired 
repeatedly, shots going wild and missing Gamma on all sides. At last 
Beta was able o steady himself enough to build a reasonably sized 
lightning ball, which missed, as Gamma anticipated the move and 
sidestepped. Battle programming distorted by damage, Beta charged 
down upon Gamma, claws out. The red robot hopped out of the way, 
and hit Beta in the back for the third and final time.
	The black and white robot gave a digital scream, horrible to 
hear, like a computer on a power surge. He collapsed to the deck, 
shuddering with such violence Gamma felt it through the floor. Gamma 
could only watch in mindless sorrow. Metal Sonic had turned his one-
time friend into a killing machine.
	Beta began to spark, and the white smoke wisping from his back 
turned black and thickened. Slowly his convulsions weakened, finally 
stopping altogether as the fire in his damaged core gained a foothold. 
His green eyes flickered out, and he lay, off-line, on the green glass.
	Hesitantly Gamma moved closer. He was not thinking of the flicky 
inside the burning robot--he thought only of Beta, his friend. His 
robot mind and body were weakening quickly now, for the damage taken 
during the battle had taken its toll. There were two huge punctures 
in his chest where Beta's claws had torn him, and the brain of his 
pilot could sense the light. The mind of the pilot was also mostly 
in control, too--and goaded by some sense or memory, he limped up to 
Beta's fallen form.
	The smoking robot moved, the eyes flickered on. Beta was not 
quite dead. With the last of his programmed aggression and strength, 
he reared himself up with a screech of engines, held up both hands, 
deadly laser lenses two feet from Gamma's head, and fired.
	Gamma had a glimpse of blinding white light, then his systems 
blinked and went off. He was aware of light in a dark place, panting, 
panting, heat and the sound of crackling flames. Then his systems 
flicked on again, fuzzy and lined. He was lying on his back. He 
righted himself with difficulty ... his body was very heavy. His right 
leg was twisted even more, his left leg was bent, and his right arm 
was broken, perhaps missing. Even as he saw through his robot eyes, 
he was aware of light in his pilot's eyes, as if receiving input from 
two different computers. Beta was truly dead now, but his job was 
done. Gamma would not live much longer.
	As Beta burned, Gamma turned away and dragged himself across the 
arena, almost useless, he, who had been Robotnik's favorite. But his 
mission was complete--Beta was destroyed, his pilot freed.
	Beta's head unscrewed, and from the burning interior there 
emerged a rumpled grey flicky, slightly singed, but alive. It fell 
onto the deck, hopped a few feet and took to the air. It flew in several 
circles as it regained its bearings, then dove down and hovered before 
Gamma's robot eyes. "Nina! Nina!" he chirped. "It's me, Nimbo! Can you 
hear me? Nina, you saved me!"
	The words of the flicky were heard, but their appeal was directly 
to the pilot, not the robot. Gamma tried to remember who Nimbo was. A 
memory struggled to get through, tried, faded, vanished. The robot 
collapsed to the ground in a jumbled heap. "Go, escape," he whispered.
	The grey flicky called Nimbo moved back a little, the hope in 
his bright eyes dying. "Goodbye, Gamma," he said, and his voice was 
the same as Beta's. He turned about and flew away into the sky.
	Gamma's systems were shutting down, including the one that 
controlled the pilot's mind. As Nimbo said goodbye, the memory that had 
failed to get through returned, and this time made it through in a rush. 
Nimbo, the grey flicky, Cirrus, the green flicky protected by Amy ... 
and Nina, who was ...
	"Nimbo, don't go, I remember I remember!" The robot body lifted 
and looked over its shoulder the way the flicky had gone, but the voice 
was a bird's cry inside the hull, muffled by the metal. Then the robot 
fell, head still turned, looking over its shoulder. The flicky inside 
was struggling, fighting to free itself, gasping for breath.
	E-102's head unscrewed automatically, and the pink flicky inside 
flopped out and lay still, body heaving, gasping the delicious air. She 
was free. Mission accomplished. She was free!
	Crazy with joy, the flicky who had been Gamma leaped into the air, 
shrieking to her husband, "Nimbo, Nimbo, wait for me!"

	* * *

	Amy stepped onto the Egg Carrier, mallet at the ready.
	"Are you sure you'll be okay?" Rachel asked, tossing a rope to 
Amy, who wound it around a bolt that protruded a couple inches from the 
hull. "Sure, I'll be fine," Amy replied. "I'll be back in about half an 
hour."
	Rachel nodded and seemed about to add something, but that that 
moment a cell phone rang somewhere in the motorboat. Rachel answered it, 
sat back in the boat seat and waved goodbye to Amy.
	"I wish I had a boyfriend," Amy said mournfully to Birdy as she 
climbed up the sloping side to the deck above. "And I wish his name was 
Sonic." Birdy didn't respond, and Amy reached the deck, panting. She 
swung her mallet a couple times to loosen up her arm, then said, "Lead 
the way, Birdy."
	Birdy hesitated a moment, looking up at the ship around them. 
Then he drew in all his feathers, making himself skinny as a stick, 
cocking his head as if he heard something Amy did not. With a startling 
whistle he leaped from her shoulder and flew away toward the front of 
the ship. "Birdy, wait!" Amy shouted, pelting after him. "What are you 
afraid of?"
	The flicky could fly faster than she could run, and in a moment she 
had lost sight of him. "Bird-ee!" Amy cried piercingly. "Come back! Did 
I scare you? Come back!"
	Then she listened. It seemed to her that she could hear the 
twittering of birds somewhere--it sounded like a pet store. Then Birdy 
reappeared, gliding down from somewhere high above, and with him were two 
other flickies. The flickies in the picture in the locket.
	"Ooo!" Amy squealed as Birdy landed on her shoulder. "You found 
your family! I'm so happy!"
	The pink flicky gasped and exclaimed, "Amy! Amy, it's you!"
	Amy looked at her. "Have we met?"
	"Of course!" the flicky said, landing on a nearby railing. "I used 
to be E-102 Gamma."
	Amy's mouth fell open in shock. "You--you mean you--were the robot 
who let me go?"
	"Yes, yes!" the flicky chirped. "My real name is Nina, and this 
is my mate, Nimbo. He was the robot E-101 Beta--I don't think you ever 
met him--and my son's name is Cirrus Thank you for taking care of him."
	Amy looked at Birdy in mock accusation. "Why didn't you ever tell 
me your name?"
	He gave a flutter of his wings and a twitter.
	"He can't talk yet," Nimbo said. "At least not your language."
	Amy clasped her hands together and bounced up and down, unable to 
contain her excitement. "Oh, I'm so GLAD I found you!" She stopped and 
looked hard at Nina and Nimbo. "But how'd you stop being robots?"
	Nina and Nimbo looked at each other a moment, then shrugged in 
unison. "It's a long story," Nimbo said. "But if you've got the time to 
listen--"
	Suddenly a terrible thing happened. Cirrus was sitting on Amy's 
shoulder, as he had ever since she had found him, so happy he was fit 
to burst. Then from out of nowhere, a black object dealt him a crushing 
blow. Amy was knocked sideways, and the little bird fell to the ground 
and lay still.
	Amy whirled. There stood Zero, the black and green garbage can 
that had kidnapped her and pursued her through Hot Shelter and Final Egg.
He had fired his fist and was reeling it back in on a cable, looking 
oddly satisfied for a robot with no facial expressions. Amy dropped to 
her knees and touched the bird. Nina and Nimbo landed near him, and Nina 
hopped forward. "He's still breathing," she announced anxiously. "Ooo, 
that Zero--I always hated him!"
	Nimbo hopped a few feet in Zero's direction. "If only I were still 
Beta Improved ... I'd show him a thing or two!"
	Despite Nina's reassurance, Amy could see no sign of life in her 
little friend. What if he died? A lump appeared in her throat and tears 
stung the backs of her eyes. "Birdy," she said softly.
	Then grief turned to white-hot fury. She gripped her mallet and 
spun to face Zero. "You idiot! How could you do this? Ooh, you're gonna 
get it!" She charged, a fiery pink hedgehog, armed only with an aluminum 
hammer. But even Sonic would have been impressed had he seen the 
battle that followed.
	Zero was on his home ship and unafraid of a foolish girl. He 
contacted the robot hub and requested ten force-field poles. These 
floated out of the cargo hold, landed in a circle around Zero and Amy 
and activated. They generated a crackling forcefield of electricity, 
which kept Amy from escaping. 
	Amy was not thinking of escaping. She was too mad. She hit Zero 
over and over with her mallet, trying to put out his eyes, trying to 
knock him over, anything. He returned her attacks coolly, firing his 
fists at her like boxing gloves, each launching with enough force to 
fracture the young hedgehog's bones if they connected. But it took him 
several seconds to lock on a target, and she always avoided him.
	Amy was not strong enough to really harm the robot, not even with
her mallet. But he stumbled on a way to destroy him by accident. Their 
fight had brought them near the electric fence. Amy leaped and swung her 
hammer recklessly into Zero's face. The robot was knocked backward and 
landed on the forcefield. He struggled wildly and flung himself off it, 
then sat on the ground, smoking and trying to regain his senses. As he 
did, the top half of the garbage can (or lid) popped open to release heat. 
Amy caught sight of Zero's unprotected power core, a little white square 
thing. She dashed to it and struck it with all her might.
	The glass and ceramic insulation inside shattered, and Zero's 
internal structure overheated in a split second. Amy flung herself 
down and covered her head with her arms as the robot exploded, parts 
and shrapnel flying every which way. Unlike the other E-series, he had 
no pilot, which explained his stupidity in simple matters, such as 
capturing a single bird.
	As things stopped falling out of the sky and the smoke began to 
drift away, Amy lifted her head to see the electric fenceposts 
deactivate and float away. The robot hub sensed they were no longer 
needed.
	Amy stood, brushed off her skirt and looked with triumph at the 
pieces of robot lying about her. "That'll teach you, jerk," she 
snorted. Then she trotted back to the two ex-robots and the injured 
Cirrus.
	Birdy--or Cirrus--had not moved. His worried parents looked up 
at Amy as she knelt and lifted him in her hands. "Birdy," she murmured 
to him, "please wake up ... I killed that bad Zero. Please wake up!" 
She could feel his light, rapid heartbeat against her fingers.
	To her relief his eyes opened, and he looked up at her. She 
smiled and set him down, and watched as his mother and father embraced 
him in the flicky fashion. "Are you all right?" Amy asked him. "Can 
you fly?"
	Cirrus twittered, fluttered his wings and took to the air. 
	"Nothing broken," said his mother in relief. "Thank you so much, 
Amy. We wouldn't be here today if not for you."
	"Ditto," Amy smiled. "I'd probably be robotized if you hadn't 
let me go."
	The flicky family took off and circled Amy's head. "Thank you, 
goodbye, goodbye!" they chirped.
	"See you later!" Amy said, waving with both hands. "Drop by 
Station Square sometime!"
	"Don't worry," Nina laughed, "you'll see us before long--I'd 
like to swap stories! Goodbye!"
	Amy watched the three fly away into the blue sky and sighed. 
"That ought to make Sonic respect me," she said to herself. "I blew up 
Zero!" She swung her mallet and did a little dance. "If not, I'll MAKE 
Sonic respect me, and by then it'll be too late and he'll be my 
boyfriend, like it or not!"
	Grinning like a little hedgehog goon, Amy trotted back in the 
direction of the waiting motorboat, and home.

	* * *
	Part 4
	* * *

	"Hey, am I bad, or am I bad?"
	Sonic tilted his chair back on its hind legs. His feet were on the 
table, hands behind his head, sunglasses on his nose. A lemonade, tall 
and frosty, stood near his ankle. He, Tails, Knuckles, the flicky Nina 
and Amy were seated at a cafe table behind the Sunset Resort, only a 
few yards from the sea.
	"No, I'm the cool one," Tails grinned. "I tore up the Egg Walker 
all by myself."
	"What about me?" Amy demanded, setting her milkshake down with a 
clink. "I smashed Zero to bits, and there was Nobody around to help me!"
	"For that matter, I defeated Chaos 6 singlehandedly," Knuckles 
said from his relaxed position in his lawn chair. "And I took his six 
emeralds home for safekeeping, too."
	"Sounds to me like you're all heros," chirped the pink flicky 
perched on Amy's chair. "Why argue?"
	"I still think I'm bad," Sonic said, crossing his feet. "I mean, 
there I was, in Final Egg. Nobody around but baddies." He waved a hand 
through the air, palm outward. "Mecha on my tail. And then up pops the 
granddaddy of all robots, the Egg Viper." He proceeded to describe his 
battle with Robotnik in great detail. As he talked, Amy and Tails' eyes 
grew wide with fearful fascination, but to Sonic's annoyance, Knuckles 
only nodded now and then, smiling to himself and gazing at the ocean. 
It wasn't until Sonic reached the part about the fairy's lifesaving 
warning that Knuckles turned and stared at him soberly.
	Satisfied, Sonic ended his tale with how fast he had escaped the 
fortress and came back to the city. "And that's it," he concluded. 
"Why were you grinning, Knux? I say something funny?"
	The small smile reappeared. Knuckles shook his head. "Oh, nothing 
like that. I just though it was kind of funny about the Egg Viper. See, 
I designed it."
	Tails, Amy and Sonic gaped, but Sonic recovered first. "Oh yeah, 
you designed a lot of robots, didn't you?"
	"YOU worked for Robotnik?" Amy gasped, still staring at Knuckles 
as if he were Metal Sonic in disguise.
	"Sure he did," Tails said, sipping his root beer. "A long time 
ago, Robotnik hired him ... and the Master emerald."
	Amy looked inquiringly at Sonic, who leaned forward, gulped his 
lemonade and leaned back again. "Long story, girl. I'll tell you 
sometime."
	Knuckles was not interested in robots at the moment. "Sonic, 
about the fairy--did you ever meet her before?"
	Sonic brought his chair down on all fours and leaned his elbows 
on the table. "Well, yeah. She led me all through the pyramid."
	Knuckles straightened. "You didn't go to the temple, did you? The 
shrine to Chaos?"
	Sonic looked blank for a moment. "Oh, you mean that weird hall 
with the neat mural? Yeah."
	"What neat mural?" Tails asked, hurt. "Sonic, you never told me 
about a mural."
	"Or me," added Amy, who was feeling lost. 
	Knuckles described it briefly, then looked at Sonic. "Sonic, that 
was Chaos. That was what happened to my ancestors."
	Sonic frowned. "How can you be sure? Did the fairy up and TELL 
you?"
	"Well, no ..."
	"Knux, we've SEEN Chaos. He's big and mean, but he's not strong 
enough to wipe out a city. We'd have been toast if he was." He paused 
and took a drink of lemonade.
	"How'd you get out of the pyramid?" Knuckles asked, examining his 
shovelclaws innocently.
	Sonic faltered. "Uh ... I, um ... you know, I got out somehow."
	"Did you have a dream?"
	Sonic met Knuckles' eye sideways. "Why do you ask that?"
	Knuckles gazed steadily at his friend. "Because I had on there, 
too, and woke up outside the pyramid."
	"Hey!" Tails interrupted suddenly. "I had a dream and woke up in 
a different place! It was about an echidna girl."
	"And chao," Amy and the flicky said in unison. Amy looked over 
her shoulder. "Nina, you had a dream, too?"
	"Ye-es," Nina said hesitantly. "It frightened me."
	"Tikal," Knuckles said quietly. Everyone looked at him solemnly 
and nodded.
	A moment later the four Mobians and the flicky were leaning 
together on the table, talking in low voices, and Knuckles was scribbling 
furiously on a napkin. Everyone had had one dream apiece with the 
exception of Knuckles, who had had three. He figured it was because he 
was an echidna.
	After some discussion and Knuckles had rearranged his notes, they 
decided that Tails's dream came first in chronological order. Tikal had 
not ventured to the shrine on the Floating Island, and was thinking over 
the oncoming war. Next was Knuckles' first vision, when Tikal had tried 
to talk her father out of attacking the island and taking the power 
stones for himself. Third was Amy's dream, when Tikal had crept to the 
shrine herself and encountered the chao. Amy added that a green-eyes 
water monster had come out of the fountain and frightened both herself 
and Tikal right before she woke up. "But she must have made friends with 
him," added Nina, "because she said he was gentle in my dream." Nina's 
dream came after Amy's, for Tikal as familiar with both the chao and 
Chaos.
	Knuckles' second and third dreams came next. His second dream 
was of Tikal talking to the Master emerald, pleading for it to take 
everyone away, and Chaos's disapproving growl when she considered hiding 
the emeralds herself. Then she promised to help the chao and departed. 
But in Knuckles' third dream, the emeralds were gone, the shrine was on 
fire, the chao were dead, and Tikal had been abandoned. Sonic's dream 
came almost at the same time as Knuckles's, but Sonic had seen something 
Knuckles hadn't--Tikal run up the burning steps toward the Master Emerald.
	"And so that's that," Sonic said. "Tikal failed and they took 
the emeralds. But what was all that supposed to accomplish? You know,
 all of us having those visions."
	Knuckles stared at his notes, chin braced on one big palm. "I 
don't know. I thought it had something to do with Chaos, but now I'm not 
so sure." He sighed.
	Tails noisily slurped the last of his drink from the bottom of his 
glass. "It's like we're missing something, don't you think?"
	"Yeah," Amy added. "Didn't she say ANYthing about Chaos?"
	"She said something about not wanting to rouse him," Knuckles said.
	"And she said something about "he will destroy us all," Sonic added 
hopefully. 
	Knuckles jotted this down, gazed at it, then leaned back and rubbed 
his eyes with a thumb and forefinger. "But maybe she wasn't talking about 
Chaos. Maybe her father became invulnerable when he got all the emeralds."
	The five of them sighed. For a few minutes there was nothing but 
the swish of the ocean at the shore and the mew of a passing gull.
	Knuckles stood up. "I need to go. I promised the Chaotix I'd be 
back by three. They want to go to a football game or something." They
others got up to see him off, then, feeling as if lunch was over with 
his departure, went their ways.

	* * *

	A week passed. Sonic took Tails and Amy to Twinkle Park, and the 
three had a grand time. Sonic wanted to go snowboarding with Knuckles, 
but was told that it had grown too warm and the snow was melting, so 
the slopes were closed for the summer.
	One day they rented a boat and went out to the Egg Carrier. The 
monster ship was a dozen feet lower in the water, and tilted at a 
slight angle. It would probably sink within a few days. There was much 
hoopla in the newspapers about how the Carrier would pollute the bay, 
but no move was made to dismantle it. Everyone was too afraid of Dr. 
Robotnik.
	On Saturday Knuckles and the Chaotix wrestled the Master emerald 
back to its original place in Hidden Palace.
	On Sunday Sonic and Tails hopped and train to the Mystic Ruins. 
Tails introduced Mac and Sonic, and Sonic pledged Mac the support of 
the Freedom Fighters in return for helping Tails. Then the two sent 
the rest of the day looking for the pyramid in the jungle, which they 
discovered near sunset, and gleefully pointed the exploring party 
toward it. "Now it'll be explored," Sonic grinned to Tails as they 
rode the train back to Sapphire City. "We'll have to show the 
archeologists how it used to look, huh?"
	"Sure!" Tails grinned back. "But tomorrow, I want to find that 
cat who took the Tornado. I want my plane back."
	"Our plane, little bro, our plane," Sonic said, slapping his 
friend on the back.
	On Monday all hell broke loose.

	* * *

	At dawn Knuckles was awakened by a sinking sensation. For a 
moment he lay in bed, trying to recognize the feeling through his 
sleep-clouded head. Then he leaped out of bed and tore outside in a 
panic--the island was dropping again!
	The Floating Island crashed into the ocean for the second time 
in two weeks, creating a monstrous shockwave that beat the mile-distant 
shore with thunder. Knuckles picked himself up--it had knocked him 
down--and ran for his teleporter. Visions of a second Chaos filled his 
panicked head, and of the Master emerald laying all over the floor in 
fragments--
	But when the echidna reached Hidden Palace, he found everything 
just as he had left it. No mess, the Master emerald in one piece, the 
super emeralds unharmed. Flustered and confused as he was, it took 
Knuckles a moment to realize that something had indeed changed. 
	The Master emerald was dead.

	* * *

	At that moment, miles and miles away, a much different but more 
horrible scene was being played out.
	Robotnik had emerged from his Final Egg fortress for some air. 
Engines on very low, he crept his hovercraft about the woods a few 
feet above the ground, too weary from his battle with Sonic to do much 
flying. Chaos was dead. The Egg Carrier was destroyed. There was always 
the Egg Carrier 2, but he had poured his resources into its mate, 
leaving the 2 a stripped-out shell that could do little more than fly. 
At the moment, the thought of complex political maneuvering to gain 
control of Sapphire City was very discouraging. The doctor was fed up 
with his goal of world dictatorship that morning and was ready to quit.
	Then he jerked his hovercraft to a half and rose up in his seat 
in astonishment. A pool of water had seeped out of the woods and was 
pouring toward him in a mass. "Chaos!" Robotnik exclaimed in delight. 
"You're not dead!"
	A guttural snarl was his only reply. Chaos 0 grew into his small 
humanoid form and sprang at the hovercraft. Robotnik felt a sharp jolt 
as Chaos lifted his hovercraft into the air, then the sky and trees 
whirled around and blinked into darkness.

	* * *

	"Sonic! Sonic!" Tails pounded frantically on Sonic's door. He heard 
Sonic groan sleepily and mumble, "Who is it?" 
	"It's Tails! Sonic, the Floating Island fell again! I saw it!"
	Tails had been standing on his balcony, watching boats in the bay, 
when he noticed a distant blot of land strike the ocean ...
	Sonic's door unlocked and Sonic jerked it open, spines matted and 
eyes glassy with sleep. "What? Come in." 
	Tails walked in, stepped around Sonic's sneakers and socks, tossed 
a newspaper from a chair in the corner and sat down. Sonic picked up his 
shoes and socks and retreated to the bathroom. He emerged a few minutes 
later, spines brushed and slicked back with water, sneaker straps 
flapping loose. He sat on the rumpled bed to fasten them and commanded, 
"Tell me what you said before. What about the Floating Island?"
	Tails told him as quickly as he could. For someone used to sleeping 
in, Sonic sure wasn't protesting. As Tails finished, Sonic sat and 
looked at him, digesting the news. "Tails," he said slowly, "we're in 
trouble now. "We'd better get out there, fast."
	The two raced out of the hotel, stopping just long enough to grab 
a donut apiece in the lobby. Then the two locked wrists, and Tails 
airlifted Sonic up and out over the sea, toward the island in the water.

	* * *

	"This doesn't make any sense," said Knuckles.
	He had examined Hidden Palace from top to bottom, paying special 
attention to the emerald chamber. Nothing was out of place. Nothing 
to indicate why the Master emerald had been reduced from a power stone 
to a hunk of green glass. Maybe it had lost power when it shattered ...
	... or maybe the chaos emeralds caused it.
	The chaos emeralds did weird things to his island. Perhaps he
shouldn't have brought them back with him. He had better take them to 
the mainland and give them to Sonic. Sonic would know what to do ...
	Knuckles gathered the six emeralds into his trusty satchel, 
pushing away the thought that although HE was learned in ancient lore, 
he knew less about how to use the chaos emeralds than a mainlander.
	He rode the teleporter back to the surface and trotted down toward 
the eastern rim of the island, about 200 yards distant. He could glide 
the mile or so to the coast, then head north to Sapphire City ... it 
wasn't that far ...
	He stopped with a gasp.
	At the bottom of a little hill was a wide flat area that served 
as a beach when the island was resting properly in the water. On the 
beach was Robotnik's hovercraft, lying on its side. A few feet away 
from it lay the doctor himself.
	Knuckles ran up and knelt beside him. Robotnik was soaked to the 
skin and only partly conscious. "Doc!" Knuckles exclaimed, dropping his 
satchel on the ground. "Doc, wake up!"
	Robotnik stirred and opened his eyes. "It's terrible!" he groaned. 
"C-Chaos is ..."
	"Is what?" Knuckles questioned. "Doc, Chaos is what?"
	Robotnik only shook his head and closed his eyes again.
	A sound. Knuckles turned his head. He glimpsed his bag, 
deflated-looking and sopping wet, and the vast pool of water lapping 
it. "CHAOS!" He screamed, leaping to his feet. But he was already too 
late.

	* * *

	"Take us down, Tails," Sonic said.
	"Aye aye, skipper," Tails replied, clapping his heels together 
to deactivate his anklets. They sank down, and the island below came 
up to meet them. "Slower," Sonic called, and Tails held back a bit. It 
wouldn't do to bash them into the ground. "Okay, good, good," Sonic 
called. His feet touched down. He let go Tails' wrists and rubbed his 
arms, and Tails landed beside him a second later. 
	"Now, where would Knux be?" Tails began, but he was struck dumb 
by a sound that rose from the trees to their left--a screaming roar of 
obvious triumph.
	Sonic blanched. He had heard that sound in his dream of Tikal. 
"C'mon!" he ordered, and the set off at a run toward the sound.
	Sonic had expected to find Knuckles, and so was not surprised to 
see the echidna lying on the ground. But he had not expected to see 
Robotnik and his hovercraft there, too. Sonic and Tails' feet squelched 
in the wet grass as they ran up. "Knuckles--and Robotnik! What happened 
here?" Sonic was too shocked to even think of what he should do. He had 
never seen Robotnik absolutely powerless before.
	Knuckles tried to speak, but gagged and coughed up water. He was 
drenched. He sat up, coughed wrackingly, then turned frightened--honestly 
frightened--eyes on Sonic. "Sonic, Chaos is a fearsome beast. He 
attacked me for the emeralds--I couldn't defeat Chaos 6 without weapons!" 
He coughed again. Sonic crouched beside him, breathing hard, but not 
from running. "Knux--" "Sonic," Knuckles interrupted him, "if Chaos gets 
the last emerald we're done for." He grabbed the hedgehog's arm and 
shook a little. "The mural, Sonic! Remember the mural? That's what Chaos 
looks like with all seven emeralds!"
	Robotnik rolled over and sat up. He looked at Sonic, Tails and 
Knuckles, who looked back at him without fear. Nor was he afraid of them--
they were not the enemy, now. "He's not going to get away with this!" 
Robotnik snarled. He pushed his hovercraft back upright, climbed into it 
and started the engines. "Robotnik, wait!" Sonic called, but the doctor 
had already whirled the ship about and was roaring away in the direction 
of the mainland.
	Suddenly Sonic exclaimed, "Hey, stop it! Aw, gee!" Tails and 
Knuckles looked at him to see Sonic flop down in a sitting position, 
head drooping and eyes closed, as if he had fallen asleep.
	Knuckles stood. "Tails, I'm leaving. Don't worry about Sonic--it's 
another dream."
	Tails understood at once. "Tikal?"
	"Yeah." The echidna wrung out his dreadlocks. "Go after the last 
emerald as soon as he wakes up. Bye." Knuckles leaped off the edge of 
the island and glided away toward the mainland. Tails watched him go, 
wondering where he was going, then sat down to wait for Sonic to come 
to.

	* * *

	Sonic looked around. It was night, and he was standing on a paved 
stone path. Everything was bathed in red-gold light, as in his previous 
dream or vision or whatever. Wondering what he would see this time, he 
jogged up the path, arrived in sight of the shrine and saw a slightly 
different sight than before.
	The fire had only just been started; fuel was piled around the 
base of the shrine and lit, but the seven pillars with their emeralds 
were still standing. Silhouetted against the flames was what looked like 
an army of echidnas. Sonic circled around to see what they were doing.
	They were waiting in a group, ferocious warriors bedecked in 
feathers and warpaint. Their leader stood before them, a chieftain echidna 
in a fearsome mask, carrying a razor-tipped spear. But facing him was 
Tikal, all the chao huddled behind her in terror.
	"No, father!" she cried, holding out her arms as if that would stop 
the warriors from advancing.
	"Out of the way, Tikal!" commanded the chief. 
	"No! I won't obey!" she cried. "Don't do this! I beg you!"
	"Tikal, we need those emeralds to give us total power!" he father 
said. "It's power for the people ... and they are your people too, you 
know!" He raised his spear and shook it at the shrine. "We will re-take 
the island with the emerald power behind us!"
	"Father, please!" Tikal said, voice cracking with emotion. 
"Destroying the guardians won't solve anything! You'll always want more 
power! Don't you see? You must stop before it's too late!"
	Then Sonic witnessed one of the most haunting moments in the 
history of the Floating Island.
	"Bah!" the chief bellowed. "I don't listen to the words of a child! 
Ready men--charge!"
	"Father!" Tikal shrieked as the warriors attacked, but she was 
powerless against them. Sonic saw her fall, struck a vicious blow with 
the butt of a spear, saw swordblades flash blood-red in the firelight, 
heard the cries of the chao.
	The hedgehog closed his eyes and covered his ears to shut out the 
awful scene. Seeing dead chao was bad enough, but seeing them killed was 
too much. He didn't look up until the warriors had finished their 
merciless task. Then the chief yelled, "To the Master emerald! We'll 
take it first!" With a chorus of battle cries, the echidnas swarmed up 
the steps of the little pyramid.
	From where he stood, Sonic had an excellent view of what happened 
next.
	He saw water splash out of the fountain and form into Chaos 0 at 
the top of the stairs, between the echidnas and the Master emerald. The 
chief and his men halted, piling into one another on the steps. "It's a 
monster!" Sonic heard the chief yell.
	The seven chaos emeralds moved from their pillars, glowing like 
fire against the night, and entered Chaos 0's body.
	Light--brighter than the fire, brighter than the sun--Sonic 
shielded his eyes. He heard the warriors scream and the chief cry, "NO!" 
and a huge rushing, crashing of water, then sudden silence. Sonic opened 
his eyes to see Chaos 2, the one with the hammerhead and two burly arms, 
standing alone on the stairs. As Sonic watched, Chaos strode down the 
stairs and stood among the fallen chao, looking at them with his 
featureless green eyes. He picked up one in his three fingered hands and 
held it a moment. Absolute silence. Sonic could see the chao's dark blood 
clouding the clear water in Chaos's hand.
	Then Chaos lost his mind.
	One moment Chaos was quiet, holding the chao. The next he gave a 
horrible scream, threw his head back, and began to change shape. He 
grew--up, up, into a pillar of water two stories, five stories, even 
stories high, until his head, whatever it was, was lost in darkness. 
Then the water hit the ground and raced with the speed of a tidal wave 
into the night, driven by a thirst for revenge, goaded on by the blood 
of the dead chao in Chaos's water.
	The terrible roar in the distance. Sonic knew he had played this 
scene before--he crossed the pavement to Tikal, lying stunned in the 
grass. He numbly helped her up. But this time, when she cried, "I must 
stop him! He will destroy us all!" and climbed the stairs of the pyramid, 
Sonic followed her.
	It was murderously hot on top of the shrine. The air was full of 
smoke. Tikal laid her hands on the Master emerald, even though it must 
have been burning hot from the fire, and choked, "Stop Chaos, now!" The 
Master emerald, so dim before, flashed white, as Chaos had when he 
absorbed the emeralds. Sonic flinched--
	And woke up.
	The blue hedgehog looked up at Tails, breathing heavily and eyes 
brimming with tears. "They killed the chao!" he babbled incoherently. 
"They killed the chao and he went nuts!" Sonic stood and wiped his eyes 
with the back of one hand.
	Tails was staring at him. "What?"
	Sonic shook his head. "Can't talk now. I'll tell you later. We've 
got to find the last emerald before he does."
	"That's what Knux said to do before he left. Um, are you okay?" 
Tails had never seen Sonic look like that before.
	Sonic only nodded. "No airlift this time, it's not fast enough. 
Let's juice!"
	"Sonic, wait for me!"
	But the hedgehog was already gone, streaking at three hundred 
miles an hour toward the coast.

	* * *

	Big the Cat was not at home when Sonic and Tails got there. His 
neat, slightly sloppy shack was missing a fishing pole, so it was easy 
to tell where he was. The Tornado was lying near the bank of the little 
stream. Tails looked it over--it was bent, but not harmed too badly. 
The propeller with the emerald inside was still attached. "Good," 
Sonic said as they approached. "Let's get the emerald and get out of 
here."
	"Right," Tails agreed, lifting his drill.
	But as they reached the streambank, the water exploded upward in 
a column of white foam, engulfing the forward half of the biplane. Sonic 
threw himself in front of Tails, but there was no need; the column 
collapsed back into the stream. It left the propeller lying on the 
ground, bent and ruined, empty. 
	"He's got the last emerald!" Tails cried. "Now what are we gonna 
do?"
	Sonic stood perfectly still for a long moment, staring at that 
empty propeller, the dripping biplane. "Tails," he said slowly, "we get 
back to Sapphire City, FAST!"

	* * *

	But even Sonic, with all his wonderful speed, was no match for 
Chaos. The monster had already returned to the sea as Sonic spoke, and 
was headed up the coast. Chaos had one thought on his wicked mind--
destruction.
	Chaos had explored Sapphire City in his own way, when Robotnik 
had brought him ashore. This city of the echidnas was much bigger than 
the one he had destroyed before. Their population must have regrown 
while he had been imprisoned. Well, he would destroy their new city, 
too, and the next he came to, and the next, until he had wiped out all 
land-going creatures. He must avenge the chao he had failed to protect.
	The city had an extensive underground pipe system. If Chaos 
flooded the city from above, the water would eventually drain away 
through the pipes. (He had no idea what storm drains were for and 
thought they were only a defense against his assault.) Thus he must 
flood the pipes first and equalize the water level second. For a 
creature named Chaos, he was very orderly.
	The water rose two feet higher on the beaches for a hundred miles 
up and down the coast, and was held there by Chaos's incredible power. 
The shift started the seed of a tidal wave two hundred miles from the 
coast. By the time it reached the city he would be ready for it. In 
the meantime, he forced water up the drains, sewers, watermains, 
subways--and opening he could find--with the pressure of a firehose.
	On the surface, the people went about their daily business, 
completely unaware of the roaring water beneath the city. Rather, their 
attention was focused on a special news broadcast starring a red 
echidna, who was on live, warning people to evacuate to the eastern 
part of the city, which was built into the hills, above sea level. The 
reporters scoffed at him, but the echidna was so serious--almost 
desperate--it caught peoples' attention. "A tidal wave!" they chortled 
to each other, and yet looked anxiously toward the beach where the 
water had risen for no reason. A fourth of the city's population suddenly 
remembered they had urgent business on the east side of town.
	By this time Chaos had flooded all the lower regions and was 
pumping on the pressure. Maybe piping wasn't such a bad thing--it 
made the destruction of the city much quicker and more complete.
	In Station Square, Amy and her family watched the newscast 
anxiously. They lived only a block from the beach. "That's Knuckles!" 
Amy told her parents. "He knows that he's talking about--we'd better 
leave!"
	Her father squinted at the screen a moment, then said, "We'll 
take the Speed Highway."
	It was a fortunate choice.
	In the center of the city, surrounded by people in cars, on 
sidewalks, minding their own business, the roar of the water in the 
mains beneath the street was inaudible. It did not remain that way 
for long. The manhole covers trembled a few seconds--then blasted 
sky-high. Up and down the street water blasted into the air in twenty-
foot geysers. Cars screeched to a halt, people screamed.
	From the direction of the ocean there came a massive cracking 
sound. The asphalt was splitting as the watermains burst under the 
terrific pressure. Water spurted up through the cracks, fire hydrants 
exploded in white plumes, cars tilted and rolled on the jagged pavement. 
Water filled the street.
	Indoors, faucets blew their tops, drains and toilets overflowed, 
sprinkling systems exploded. Pipes burst in the walls. Entire floors 
flooded. People tried to escape their high-rise traps, but there was 
water everywhere and electricity had shorted out.
	Windows burst out of the skyscraper windows and doors, glass 
flying into the crowds of bewildered people below. Sirens wailed. The 
water was rising in the streets, foot by steady foot. People screamed.
	Then a new cry swept the city, and all eyes turned seaward. A 
hill had appeared on the horizon, growing higher and more terrible with 
each moment--a tidal wave. Behind it was gathered a great darkness--a 
storm called by Chaos.
	The tidal wave, ten stories high, struck the breakwater at the 
outside of the bay. But such was Chaos's strength and fury it only 
crested and did not slow. It roared down upon Sapphire City, a mountain 
of destruction.
	Skyscrapers vanished. Others withstood the beating for a fraction 
of a second, all windows blowing out, then collapsed. Streets disappeared, 
cars became debris, people died. The wave rolled onward, a symbol of 
Chaos's power, until it had consumed all the lower city. It reached the 
bluffs inland and stopped, but did not return to the sea. Chaos would 
hold the water where it was until he had destroyed every building and 
every land-dweller had drowned.
	Amy and her family had made it to high ground. The Speed Highway 
did not collapse at once as the tidal wave swept under it, and their 
racing cars had reached the offramp to East Sapphire by the time the 
highway began to to sag.
	The rapidly approaching storm swept across the sky with a roll of 
thunder and a few drops of rain. It grew dim and grey. The city took on 
a surreal appearance, with the remaining skyscrapers leaning at odd 
angles, windows broken out, many still streaming water. The voices of 
survivors were the only sounds as they cried for help, but there was 
no one to help them yet--the remaining part of the city was still 
staring in shock at its submerged half.
	The windows of a still-streaming skyscraper exploded out, and 
water gushed forth. But instead of pouring downward, the water remained 
in a lump, swirling and changing shape as if in zero gravity. Then it 
lengthened and solidified into a giant head, like a moray eel's, with 
the mouth extending far back under the eyes. The jaws opened, revealing 
rows of razor-sharp teeth, and the beast roared--a screaming, 
terrifying roar of fierce triumph. Then Chaos opened his green eyes--
no longer flat and featureless, but with slit pupils--to look upon the 
devastation he had wreaked.

	* * *

	It was this scene of horror and grief that met Sonic and Tails 
as they topped the last rise. They stopped and stared at the water, so 
far inland, at the wretched sky scrapers poking through the surface. 
"We're too late!" Sonic wailed. "He beat us!"
	They stared at the silent city for a long time. Gone was Station
 Square. Gone was the train station and the friendly clerk who had sold 
them their shoes and anklets. The casino and Twinkle Park were 
demolished, and most of the Speed Highway was fifty feet underwater.
	 The two did not move until a shape rose out of the water in the 
distance, taller than the bits of building, and form into the head and 
torso of a monster. As they watched, the beast attacked a building with 
teeth and weight, ripping it to shreds as a dog would tear a sock.
	"Perfect Chaos," Sonic said expressionlessly.
	Then he was gone, racing down toward the water's edge. "Sonic, 
wait for me!" Tails called for the second time that day, but again, 
Sonic didn't listen.
	The hedgehog sprinted across the water's surface, toward Perfect 
Chaos. He had no idea what he was going to do, but he was going to do 
something. The monster was ripping the building to pieces with obvious 
relish, slinging his head about and growling to himself. By the time 
Sonic had gotten close enough to see him clearly, Perfect Chaos had 
brought the building to the water level. But before Sonic could get 
much closer, the monster melted into the water and vanished.
	Sonic kept running until he found a wide section of Speed Highway, 
resting near the water's surface. He leaped onto it, panting, and 
looked about him. Chaos could be anywhere. But how could a monster so 
powerful, so quick, be defeated? COULD he be defeated? Look at what he 
did, hedgehog Look what he did. How many people lost their lives here 
today? You should have tried harder to stop him, should have kept 
Robotnik from getting the chaos emeralds, should have ...
	"Sonic!"
	He looked up to see Knuckles gliding overheard, circling like a 
bird. The echidna dropped to the highway section, rocking it a little. 
"Careful," Sonic warned. "What are you doing here?"
	Knuckles looked down at his silver claws. "I was trying to warn 
them."
	"Who? The humans?"
	"Yeah. I think some of them paid attention. Sonic, listen to me.
There's no way we can defeated Chaos without help, but we can help his 
victims."
	Sonic waved to the devastation about them. "You mean people 
actually survived this?"
	Knuckles nodded. "Yes, and most are wounded."
	Unexpectedly Sonic felt hot tears behind his eyes. Why was this 
getting to him? Was it because he had never seen a large disaster 
before?
	"No time for that," Knuckles said sternly, slapping Sonic's back. 
(He didn't mention, of course, that he had already cried his eyes out 
in the privacy of a rooftop.) "You can help. Where's Tails?"
	"He's coming." Sonic rubbed his eyes and set his teeth. "Let's 
go spoil Chaos's fun."
	Tails arrived and was told of what they intended to do. Tails 
looked a little frightened, but agreed to help any way he could.
	It began to pour rain as they searched for survivors. They were 
difficult to locate in the rain, but slowly the three began to find 
them--a man here, a woman there, two children huddled in a windowsill 
above the water. These they carried or floated to any flat above-water 
surface they could find nearby.
	Two hours later and streaming water, the three sat on a building 
wall with a huddle of victims, heads bowed miserably under the rain. 
Tails lifted his head first. "A helicopter," he exclaimed, jumping to 
his feet. It was a full minute before Knuckles and Sonic heard the 
thump-thump-thump of the chopper. They waved wildly as it came into 
view, searchlights piercing through the rain. It looked as good as an 
angle to the group on the building. It hovered over them, wind from 
its rotors fanning their wet faces, and dropped two medics and a 
stretcher. "You hurt?" one yelled at the Mobians. "No!" Sonic yelled 
back. "We've been pulling people out of the water! Help them!" He 
pointed to the nine humans, and the medics moved in their direction.
	Before long all the humans had been evacuated. The Mobians' 
spirits rose with the thought of additional help, and they set out to 
find more survivors.
	By noon the three were worn out. They had seen more casualties 
than survivors, and more and more were hurt, some badly. As they 
waited for one group--mostly children--to be picked up, Sonic retreated 
a short distance and sat with his head in his hands. Tails walked up 
and sat beside him. It was several minutes before Sonic looked up, 
and when he did his eyes were full of tears, although the rain made 
it hard to tell. "They had no warning," he said softly. "Look at these 
kids. Some of 'em are just babies. They shouldn't have to go through 
what I did." Tails realized Sonic was seeing himself in their faces, 
as he had lived through Robotnik's coup of Mobitropolis, and it was 
very similar. The hedgehog's face hardened. "I've got to do something 
to Chaos--make him pay."
	"But what?" Tails asked sensibly. "We have no way of stopping 
him. He's too big." The fox leaned wearily against Sonic and closed 
his eyes. The relief work was affecting him, too.
	The helicopter came and went, leaving the three alone again, and 
Sonic made no effort to move. He sat where he was and stared at the 
dark water, as if waiting for something. Knuckles and Tails implored 
him to keep on, but the hedgehog refused. "Just leave me alone," he 
snapped.
	Knuckles and Tails backed off. "It's really getting to him," 
Tails told Knuckles in a low voice. "It reminds him of Robotropolis."
	Knuckles wiped the water off his face. "It's bothering me, too, 
but we can't stop now. I'll see if I can--"
	Knuckles and Tails whirled, and Sonic leaped to his feet. With a 
splash, a pillar of water burst from the surface not fifty feet away, 
rose seven stories, arched at the top and solidified into Perfect Chaos. 
He was enormous, and gave a heart-stopping roar to underline it. He 
didn't notice them--he was proudly looking over his destruction for 
more targets. (When the water sank afterward, it became apparent that 
while he was underwater he was busily smashing everything beneath the 
surface.)
	Suddenly, from out of the sky flew the little pink ball of light 
that had led Sonic and Knuckles through the pyramid. It flew up to 
Sonic and hovered before him. He held a hand under it, and at last 
made the connection. "You're the one who sealed Chaos in the Master 
emerald!" he exclaimed. "Tikal!"
	The 'fairy' moved back a little, blinked and grew. It's glow 
faded and there stood the orange-furred echidna girl all three had met 
in dreams. "Tikal!" they gasped in unison.
	"When I sealed Chaos in the emerald," Tikal said, her voice soft, 
"I was sealed in it, too. I knew not why--until we were released by 
the madman you call Robotnik. I knew I must warn his foes of the 
danger he had unleashed, so I gave you your 'visions', replayed from 
my own memory."
	"Why did we wake up in different places?" asked Tails, so 
interested in Tikal he had almost forgotten Chaos.
	She smiled. "Simple teleportation." Her smile disappeared. "You 
have seen what Chaos has done to this city. If let alone, he will 
destroy the world, as he tried to before. He must be sealed back the 
emerald, before it's too late."
	Tails turned and looked toward the ocean without a word, ears 
picked. Sonic, Knuckles and Tikal followed his gaze.
	"Eggman," said Sonic
	Flying toward the drowned city was a duplicate of the Egg 
Carrier. Robotnik alone was piloting it--Metal Sonic had refused to 
accompany him. It was extended in battle mode, loaded down with weapons 
installed hastily to destroy Chaos with. "The Egg Carrier 2 was built 
because something like this could happen," Robotnik growled to himself.
"You have defied your master, stupid beast."
	As he drew nearer, Perfect Chaos turned his head and looked up 
at the ship. He himself was bigger than the Carrier, and a thousand 
times stronger. He opened his jaws and laughed at his former master--
a horrid, throaty cackle.
	The nose of the Carrier opened to reveal the same laser that had 
blown away Tails's biplane. On a gray strip of asphalt below, four 
tiny Mobians ducked, but neither monster noticed them. Chaos roared 
in defiance, and the Egg Cannon fired. The powerful green bolt struck 
Chaos's middle. The monster swayed, steamed and bubbled, but did not 
back down. Robotnik armed his missiles. Lasers only heated Chaos and 
did not harm him.
	But before Robotnik could fire, Chaos returned the attack. He 
lowered his dragon head, and a blue glow appeared in his throat. When 
it had grown nearly too bright to look at, Chaos raised his head and 
opened his mouth. A giant blue bolt of flame flashed forth. Chaos 
swung his head back, and his bolt cut through the Egg Carrier 2 like 
a knife through moist bread.
	Perfect Chaos closed his jaws to extinguish his flame, then he 
laughed again. The Carrier was going down, a huge cloud of smoke 
rolling from it. It vanished behind the cracked skyline, and a moment 
later there was a spurt of fire and water, and smoke billowed up in a 
cloud.
	Chaos bent his neck and shook his head like a horse would shake 
it's mane. A group of small particles broke through his watery skin, 
fell and struck the pavement where the four Mobians stood. "Catch 
them!" Tikal cried. Sonic, Tails and Knuckles ran about, catching the 
things before they fell into the water. They brought them to Tikal and 
heaped them on the asphalt. They all knew what they were. The seven 
chaos emeralds, but drained of all color or glow. Tikal picked one up 
and looked at it in horror. "He has absorbed the emeralds' power!" 
She looked at Knuckles, the present-day guardian of the Floating 
Island, thousands of years after her time, but still every bit of an 
echidna as she was. "He must be sealed in the Master emerald, now!"
	Knuckles returned her gaze. How could he tell her that even if 
they succeeded in putting Chaos back in prison, the emerald was not 
whole, and would not contain him as before?
	Of to one side, the mainlander hedgehog with no ties to ancient 
history was thinking furiously. He didn't understand how they could 
imprison Chaos so easily,and if he broke out again, what then? The 
whole thing would start all over again. Sonic remembered Chaos standing 
quietly, holding the dead chao in his clawed but gentle hand. The 
chao. That was it. Chao were the key.
	"No!" Sonic blurted, stepped up to Tikal. "Trapping him won't 
do it. He's gotta see the chao."
	Tikal stared at him. "What chao?"
	Sonic looked desperately at Tails and Knuckles "Guys, he may have 
killed the chao in the hotel, but we've got the try to find them. He 
went nuts because the chao got killed. If he sees live ones, maybe ..." 
he trailed off, for there was no need to explain further. Knuckles and 
Tails looked at each other in sudden realization. "I could fly out and 
look," Tails volunteered, "and if they're trapped, Knux can break 'em 
out!"
	He was interrupted by a ferocious roar from Perfect Chaos, which 
was beginning to move off across the drowned city. All four looked up 
at him fearfully, then Tikal picked up an emerald and thrust it at 
Sonic. "Here."
	He looked at it blankly. "What?"
	"Use these and challenge him. He mustn't attack your friends while 
they look for the chao."
	Sonic looked down at the dull grey gem, and frowned. "But they're 
dead!"
	"What difference does it make?"
	Sonic pointed at Perfect Chaos. "YOU expect ME to attack HIM with 
a bunch of dead emeralds? Hah! That'd be suicide, man! I should have 
brought my belt."
	Knuckles turned. "You didn't bring your belt, Sonic?"
	Sonic glared at him, but it was himself he was angry at, not his 
friends. "No, I didn't. I left it home in case Knothole had trouble, 
stupid me."
	Knuckles bounded forward and gathered up the seven emeralds. "Is 
there any chance they're being used right now?"
	"Maybe," Sonic said doubtfully. "Sally was only to use them in an 
emergency. Why? What's up?"
	"We'll have to chance it," Knuckles muttered. He deftly arranged 
the chaos emeralds in a circle, then unclipped the metal panel on top 
of his shoe. From it he took out a small green gem, also without a glow. 
"You've got the miniatures of the supers, I've got one of the Master," 
Knuckles explained, setting it in the middle of the circle. "But the 
Master went dead this morning, so I hope this works ..." The three 
onlookers exchanged a glance and said nothing. Tikal had never seen the 
Guardian at work, either.
	Knuckles drew a breath and said, "Master emerald, power transfer."
	In Hidden Palace, all the super emeralds lit like searchlights 
and focused their light on the Master emerald.
	In Sapphire City, the green stone began to glow. After a moment 
the chaos emeralds began to glow, too. "They power they lent to the 
super emeralds is being returned," Knuckles said quietly. Sonic and 
Tails glanced at each other. What would happen to the super emeralds 
now?
	The chaos emeralds flickered and their color returned with a rush. 
The tiny Master emerald dimmed, but did not die--showing that its mother 
gem was doing the same in Hidden Palace.
	"Take it, Sonic," said Knuckles

	* * *

	No matter how much pleasure Perfect Chaos derived from ripping 
the city to shreds, it did not make him happy. Nothing would ever make 
him happy again. Not with the image of the dead chao engraved into his 
memory--not with the scent of their blood forever embedded in his heart. 
He would never forget, and he would never forgive. Only the death of all 
land-dwelling things would satisfy his guilt, or so he thought. He did 
not foresee the day when, as the only living creature in the world, he 
would still be left in anguish.
	But now, having drained the emeralds of all their power, Chaos 
was bored with tearing apart buildings. (How flimsy they were! Nothing 
like the solid stone structures of before.) He wanted blood to drown 
that of the chao. He wanted to kill, as he had the echidna army and 
their people. He raised his dragon head to look for flood survivors.
	Perfect Chaos was thus engaged when Sonic confronted him.
	"Hey you!"
	Chaos lifted his head a few feet and looked with one green eye. 
His jaws, teeth and the water about him was stained red. Well within 
reach stood that pesky hedgehog who had defeated him at all his stages 
of development, but the hedgehog was now glowing a hot yellow. He was 
hovering a couple inches above the water.
	Chaos moved fast, but Super Sonic moved faster. Sonic shot out of 
reach of the striking head and bared teeth. "Ornery today, aren't we, 
slimy?" Sonic taunted. "Why not pick on me instead of those poor people 
who can't fight back? THEY didn't kill your chao."
	Perfect Chaos struck again, and again Sonic sidestepped. "You are 
REALLY ugly!" Sonic yelled as he shot around and around the monster. 
Chaos twisted his head about, trying to spot him. "You're even uglier 
than Metal Sonic!"
	That pitiful robot? All right, if the hedgehog wanted to fight, 
a fight they would have. Chaos melted into the water.

	* * *

	Sonic had not been Supersonic in years. Hypersonic was more 
powerful, but Supersonic ... didn't know. It felt different, somehow. 
Maybe the chaos emeralds WERE as strong as the super emeralds, but in 
a different way.
	No time to puzzle over it now--there was a monster to kill.
	Sonic shot straight up into the air and landed on the roof of a 
leaning skyscraper. Where had Perfect Chaos gone? Ah, there he was--
just lifting his ugly head out of the water several blocks away. 
Supersonic plunged down into the flooded street and was away like a 
yellow lightning bolt.
	Tikal had told him, just before he left his friends, that in order 
to subdue Chaos, he must his his brain, as Sonic had done before. But 
it was not so simple as a mere blow to the head. Perfect Chaos had a 
skull of cartilage that protected his brain. Sonic would have to gain 
enough speed on the inrun to enter Chaos's body wall at the waterline 
where it was at its thinnest, spiral up he trunk and strike Chaos's 
brain from below. Sonic didn't know it he had the nerve to carry out 
such an attack, but he intended to try. Too many people had died this 
day.
	Perfect Chaos lowered his head, and from the spines on his back 
there came a shower of fireballs, each as big as a house. Sonic kept 
going, flying almost flat over the water, a curling wave in his wake, 
eyes made orange by the emeralds, teeth clenched. The fireballs 
whooshed overhead and struck the water behind him with an explosion of 
foam.
	The monster was nearer, nearer, overhead, the wide flank looming 
up like a monstrous wall, covered in tiny ripples--Supersonic pierced 
through like an arrow. Inside the monster's body was a powerful upward 
current of water, sweeping up to the head, maintained by the power of 
the chaos emeralds. Sonic shot upward, eyes open but everything a blur. 
Being only Supersonic would not save him from drowning, nor enable him 
with undersea sight. He saw a hot pink blur above him, against the 
darkness of Chaos's head. He steered for it and curled into a ball of 
glowing spines.
	Perfect Chaos's head exploded in white fire. A million tons of 
water crashed into the sea, and Chaos's agonized scream echoed across 
the city.
	Supersonic landed on his feet panting, but triumphant. It had 
worked! He just hoped Chaos would come back for more. Again the glowing 
hedgehog leaped to a rooftop to spot his enemy.
	It was a moment before Perfect Chaos reappeared, this time almost 
a mile away. Sonic dropped to the water's surface and flashed away after 
him.
	Perfect Chaos was furious with the pain, and at the drain it had 
added to his power. Let that hedgehog try to get within five hundred 
feet of him!
	As Sonic rounded the corner down the aisle of buildings, Perfect 
Chaos let loose the same fiery laserbolt that had brought the Egg 
Carrier 2 to its knees. It swept the water with a ferocious hiss, 
heating the water to boiling in a split second. Chaos closed his jaws 
and surveyed the street. That should have vaporized his enemy--
	Again Chaos's head split in fire, again the water crashed from 
midair, again Chaos's scream echoed across the city.
	When Perfect Chaos reground again, it was only at the other end 
of the street. Sonic would not have enough time to gather the speed he 
needed. Supersonic saw this at once, but he decided to give it a shot 
anyway. He only made it halfway up the street when Chaos hit him with 
the laserblast.
	Supersonic was thrown backward by the force of the blast, smashed 
through an interfering building and out the other side, and dashed into 
the water.
	Dizzily Sonic pulled himself onto a telephone pole and sat on it 
for a moment, letting his head clear. Invincibility or no invincibility, 
he had felt that one.

	* * *

	Tails sat on the tilted corner of a rooftop, a shivering chao 
in his arms. But his eyes were fixed over his shoulder, at Chaos in the 
distance. "C'mon Sonic, kick his tail this time!" the fox muttered. He 
could see the monster very clearly, for the rain had let up as soon as 
the battle began, almost as if Chaos had commanded it.
	A few feet away, on the gently sloping roof, was a big jagged 
hole in the plaster. Crouched near it was Tikal, another chao in her 
arms. She rocked back and forth and murmured soothing words, gazing into 
the hole all the while.
	After a moment there came splashing from inside the drowned 
building, and Knuckles' head appeared. He held up a chao to Tikal, who 
took it from him. "Are there any more?" she asked.
	"Yeah," Knuckles said, already turning back into the darkness. 
"But I donno how many made it."
	Tikal made a soft, sad sound and looked up at Tails. The fox was 
still looking at Perfect Chaos with helpless anger in his eyes. 
"Tails ..." He glanced at her. "Tails, Sonic can't kill him. He can 
only diminish his power."
	Tails shot a fiery look at Tikal. "He can try, can't he?"
	Suddenly there came a flash from the horizon, and Perfect Chaos's 
shape vanished in a fountain of fire. The beast's scream floated out to 
them over the water. Tails jumped to his feet. "Yes! Yes! Go 
Supersonic!"
	Tikal only sighed and turned away.

	* * *

	Supersonic stood on a skyscraper for a long time, scanning the 
city with his eyes. Nothing moved but the rescue helicopters here and 
there. Perfect Chaos was gone. And yet the seawater did not drain back 
into the ocean--something still held the tide in. Chaos must be only 
lurking, nursing his wounded malice.
	Sonic jumped off the building and sped toward the area where 
Station Square used to be. Now it was as unrecognizable as the rest of 
the city. The Sunset hotel was nearly submerged and leaning to one side, 
which left only a corner of its roof above water. This section was what 
Knuckles had broken through to reach the chao garden on the top floor.
	Sonic saw Tails sitting on the roof's corner and leaped up beside 
him. 
	"Did you kill him?" Tails asked eagerly.
	Sonic shook his glowing head. "I donno, little bro. Tikal, how're 
the chao?"
	Tikal was seated as well as she could on the rooftop with six chao 
huddled around her. She looked up at Sonic. "Most of them didn't survive." 
	The hedgehog winced and saw for a moment the bloodied chao lying 
silently in the grass. He took the chao Tails was holding and stroked 
its damp head with uncharacteristic tenderness.
	Knuckles handed another chao to Tikal and climbed out of the hole. 
"That's all," he said shortly. He looked at Supersonic. "Well?"
	Sonic shook his head. "He never came back up. I don't know where 
he went."
	Suddenly the light around them brightened. The clouds overhead 
were rolling apart, sunlight pouring down in cheerful shafts. The 
Mobians and chao alike looked up and inhaled, as if the simple sight of 
the sin had the strength to lift their spirits. "His power has 
weakened," said Tikal.
	Tails jumped off the roof margin he had been sitting on and 
clutched his tails to his chest. The group watched in silence as a shark 
fin cut through the water not five feet from the edge of the building.
	"But it hasn't weakened enough," said Knuckles
	Every scavenger fish for hundred of miles had been called to the 
city, led on by Chaos's promise of blood and carrion. He knew how to 
fight dirty. If the hedgehog was so intent on defeating him, then Chaos's 
friends would devour the flood victims behind his back.
	"Sonic, it's not over," said Tikal softly.
	Sonic handed the chao to her. "Not yet it isn't," he said grimly.
 "I'm gone." And he was.

	* * *

	Perfect Chaos's ugly head reared out of the water again, green 
eyes searching for his little enemy. Supersonic would not get near him 
again. They were equal in power--had not Chaos all the city at his 
disposal?
	Supersonic shot up a flooded street toward Chaos, keeping low, 
as if hoping to avoid the monster's notice. But Chaos had sharp eyes, 
especially when angry. He whipped his head about and launched a barrage 
of fireballs at Sonic, three times hotter and seven times faster than 
before. Two of them struck the hedgehog, pounding him backward and down 
into the water. Sonic righted himself, shook the water from his ears, 
and started forward again, only to be stopped dead and thrown backward  
by a laserbolt from Chaos's jaws.
	A Supersonic gathered himself for another rush, Chaos melted into 
the water in triumph, to reappear elsewhere. The hedgehog hadn't a 
chance. As far as Chaos was concerned, they could battle until the 
drowned city fell apart with age.
	"This won't work," Sonic thought as he tried to figure out a way 
to reach Perfect Chaos's new position. "I've got to hide until I'm right 
up to him, then hit him before he can react." The hedgehog's orange 
eyes narrowed as he gazed at the mess of buildings and collapsed highway.
He had not spent most of his life running sabotage missions in 
Robotropolis for nothing. He had a good head for layouts and maps, and 
this served him well, even in a wilderness of partially-submerged 
buildings.
	Perfect Chaos cocked his head. He could hear the faint rushing 
sound Supersonic made when he flew over the water, but the skyscraper 
tops hid him from view. Chaos waited, watching.
	Sonic shot out of an alley and straight into Chaos's side. There 
came a brief yellow spiral up Chaos's neck, then the monster's head burst 
into blue flame that hissed into the water below. Chaos's body deformed, 
and his furious, agonized scream tore the air.
	Four hits! Perfect Chaos was running on the power of only three 
emeralds now! How dare that hedgehog challenge Chaos! How DARE he!!
	Chaos came up fighting. He rose in the same spot, looking for 
Sonic, wanting to rip his to shreds. The hedgehog had taken refuge 
nearby--Chaos could sense his presence.
	In berserk rage the monster attacked the buildings around him, 
cracking and throwing them down with tremendous strength. Those he could 
not immediately reach he blew apart with his fiery breath, until 
presently Chaos was standing in a wide open area, safe from sneak 
attackers. 
	Or so he thought.
	Supersonic had dove deep underwater, until, far down, he reached 
the pavement on the ground. From there he looked up, and above him, 
like a tunnel reaching into the air, was Chaos. Sonic shoved off the 
ground and shot up like a bullet, accelerating underwater almost as 
quickly as in air.
	Again Chaos's head exploded in fire, this time golden with his 
wrath. But now he was craftier. Sonic must not be allowed to pull a 
stunt like that again. He reformed inside a skyscraper, as he had done 
at first, melting his head through the windows. His body was inside all 
the floors, his brain safely inaccessible. Let the hedgehog try to 
reach him now.
	Supersonic saw Chaos's scheme. There was no way he could reach 
Chaos in there. "He can sit there all day for all I care," Sonic muttered. 
"I'm gonna see if I can help the survivors around here."
	The glowing hedgehog collected a small crowd of people on a 
reasonably secure rooftop over the next hour and a half. There were 
sharks everywhere, along with barracudas and schools of scavenger fish 
that were feasting royally on the dead, and attacking the living whenever 
they came upon them. Sonic fought a hand-to-jaw battle with a tiger 
shark over a little girl, and emerged dripping but victorious, carrying 
the frightened girl in his arms.
	He used himself as a signal to attract a helicopter, then took off 
to find Chaos. It wouldn't do to have the monster kill the people he had 
just rescued.
	The building Perfect Chaos had inhabited was empty. The whole area 
was deathly quiet but for the lapping of water at the plentiful debris. 
Sonic floated and looked about suspiciously. Where had Chaos gone? Had 
he followed Sonic to where those people were and ...?
	Sonic whirled to go back, and ran straight into Perfect Chaos's 
waiting jaws.
	The monster's mouth could have held a five-story building laid
sideways easily. The teeth were the only solid parts in Chaos's whole 
body; each two feet long and serrated like knives. They pointed 
backward in rows, toward Chaos's gullet.
	Chaos was not interested in swallowing Sonic--he wanted to chew
him to bits. Supersonic was caught between the jaws and bitten with all 
the strength Perfect Chaos had in him. But Supersonic didn't cut. 
Invincibility saw to that. But it did not keep him from feeling the 
horrible sensation of teeth crushing into his body.
	Chaos opened and closed his jaws, chewing determinedly. Sonic was 
just as determined to get away, and after a good five minutes he 
succeeded in dropping to the water and fleeing from Chaos's sight. He 
needed to rest after that little ride.
	But Chaos had other ideas. He went after Sonic furiously, pouring 
through the buildings in a semi-liquid state, looking for him.
	Sonic crouched in a corner, panting, a deadly look in his eyes. 
He had had enough.
	When Chaos's partly liquid head came into sight, green eyes 
searching and brain glowing brightly, Supersonic shot like a bullet up 
through his lower jaw and into his head.

	* * *

	"Quickly, we must get the chao to Chaos!" Tikal shouted. She, 
Tails and Knuckles were sitting in a helicopter, the side door open and 
the wind whipping their faces. All of them were looking out at where 
Chaos had just been, but there was now a burning pillar of flame, taller 
than the buildings around it. 
	"But how can he be down?" Knuckles yelled over the helicopter 
noise. "He only got hit six times!"
	"He has no power left!" Tikal shouted back. "If he used the power 
of the last emerald, he would die. Pilot, land there, hurry!"
	The chopper dropped with a sickening lurch and touched down on a 
section of highway not far from the burning curtain. Tikal, Tails and 
Knuckles piled out, each with an armful of chao. The pilot lifted off 
at once, afraid of his close proximity to the monster.
	Sudden silence fell. The three could hear their panting and the 
panting of the chao, and the beating of slowly dying waves at the 
buildings around them. The pillar of flame had shrank to a small white 
mass burning on the water's surface--the last of Chaos's endoskeleton.
	Something fell to their highway strip from above with a thud. 
They all jumped and gasped, but it was only Sonic, his normal shade of 
blue once more. He sat down on the pavement with a sigh, tired out and 
soaking wet. Tails started to ask him if he was all right, but Tikal and 
Knuckles silenced him with, "Shhh!" and pointed to another highway strip 
below.
	Chaos was pouring up onto the road, not as a proud dragon, but as 
small, lowly Chaos 0. He solidified and stood up, his green eyes flat 
and featureless once more. He seemed to still be hunting for Sonic.
	Tikal motioned to the chao and hopped down onto the road. Chaos 
spun to face her, but did not attack her. He recognized Tikal. She had 
tried to save the chao when he should have been protecting them. She was 
perhaps the only friend he had.
	Slowly the rescued chao climbed or jumped down with Tikal and Chaos. 
Several of them bounced toward him fearlessly. Chaos stared with blank 
green eyes, perfectly still.
	"These are the chao you were protecting," Tikal said in a low voice. 
"They were not all killed. They survived for generations and now live 
peacefully with humans and Mobians."
	By this time all the chao were grouped around Chaos's feet, 
chattering and murmuring. Chaos gazed down at them and touched their 
heads tenderly with his watery hands. They had not all died. They were 
alive. He had not failed after all. Slowly, the rage and hatred in his 
heart grew cold and died. He had forgiven.
	"Chaos had changed again," Tails observed from above, very quietly. 
"This time for the better." Sonic only smiled a little and said nothing.
	Tikal looked up at the three on the highway above. "Thank you so 
much!" she said, clasping her hands together. They grinned down at her 
and nodded or shrugged or gave her a thumbs up. Chaos, too, looked up 
and saw Sonic, but he didn't hate the hedgehog anymore. He lifted one 
claw in a motion that Knuckles recognized as the ancient echidna salute. 
He elbowed Sonic and whispered, "Bow!" Sonic bowed from the waist, and 
Chaos nodded and turned away.
	Tikal walked up to Chaos and extended a hand. "Let's go home," 
she said softly. Chaos hesitated a second, looking at the chao, then 
slowly placed his claw in her hand.
	The two vanished as if they had never been, and the three on the 
highway looked at each other as if it were a dream they were waking up 
from. But it had not been a dream, for the city stood in shambles about 
them, and the little group of chao still stood on the road below. "Where
did they go?" Tails asked in confusion.
	Knuckles had a faraway look in his eyes. "To a past that might 
have been," he murmured. He caught Sonic's eye. "You know what became 
of Chaos, I think."
	Sonic frowned. "I do? What became of him--I don't know--" He 
stopped. He remembered the room in the pyramid with the mural of Chaos 
and the oddly rippling water. Chaos--the good Chaos, saying hello in his 
own way. Sonic had not understood at the time, but now ...
	The water all around them began to move. Without Chaos's power to 
hold it there, it would drain back into the sea. "It's gonna go out as 
hard as it came in," Knuckles said, returning to the present abruptly. 
"You two, get the chao. I'm gonna signal the helicopter." With Sonic no 
longer glowing, Knuckles' red body was the most visible of the three.
	Two minutes later they were airborne, huddled in the floor, 
surrounded by helicopter noise, the chao lying in an exhausted heap on 
the floor. But even in all the racket they could hear the rushing of the 
water as it foamed below, sucking debris and much down into the ocean. 
Buildings shifted, highways cracked and were dragged along in chunks. The 
water level dropped so quickly it seemed to Tails that they were rising 
into the air. Fascinated, he braced himself and peered out the door. The 
retreating water left the city naked to the eye, and the extent of Chaos's 
fury was revealed. Only a skyscraper stood here and there. Everything 
under three stories had been crushed and splintered. Cars had been washed 
into huge heaps by currents and lay like piles of dead beetles.
	Two objects caught the fox's eye--one far inland, the other lying 
on the coast like a beached whale. As the water drained to a few feet and 
stopped roaring, Tails recognized them. Both of the Egg Carriers. One was 
the wreck Chaos had shot down, and the other was the one that had crashed 
a week earlier. The tidal wave had lifted the crashed one out of the bay 
and deposited it high and dry in the residential section of the city.
	Tails remembered seeing Robotnik helpless, where Chaos had thrown 
him on the Floating Island. Had the doctor been killed when the second 
Egg Carrier went down? He had to wonder.
	Sonic crawled over and sat beside Tails, holding onto the doorframe 
and looking out the door. He was still wet, but no longer dripping. His 
eyes, back to their cool green, had a hint of sadness in them as he 
looked down at the city. Tails put a hand on his friend's shoulder and 
grinned. They had won, after all. Sonic gave him a small smile, but the 
sadness in his eyes remained unchanged. His smile widened a little, and 
he pointed. Tails looked.
	Flying southward, black against the blue sky there, was a small 
round hovercraft. "He made it!" Tails said in disbelief, his voice 
drowned by the helicopter noise. He looked at Sonic, and they both 
shrugged. Some things would never change.

	* * *

	Sonic, Tails and Knuckles were given a hero's welcome as they 
touched down in the half of the city built above the flood level. They 
had, after all, defeated Perfect Chaos. Amy and the flicky family were 
on hand to welcome them, and Sonic was relieved to see them. Although 
he had never mentioned it, the safety of Amy had weighed heavily on his 
heart all day.
	But as the sun set, Sonic and Tails were glad to retire to a 
motel room--not as nice as the Sunset Resort, but it was a place to 
rest and escape the crowds.
	They sat in chairs pulled up to the balcony and watched the sun 
set into the ocean. Sonic had circles around his eyes, and his spines 
drooped. "I'm tired, Tails," he commented.
	Tails looked at the hedgehog slouched in the chair. "So'm I." He 
paused a moment and folded his hands. "So ... what was it like? 
Fighting him, I mean?"
	Sonic looked at him as if trying to put it into words. He lifted 
a hand, and let it fall. "Not now," he murmured. "I'm too tired to go
through it again."
	But Tails wanted to talk and pressed on determinedly. "Is Knux 
here?"
	Sonic could answer that one. "No. He went home. He's wiped, too, 
and he has an island to look after."
	Silence. The sliver of red shrank to a fingernail, then vanished. 
A faint breeze touched their faces.
	"What're we gonna do with the chaos emeralds?" A pressing 
question. Tails looked toward the dresser, a drawer of which contained 
the seven gems. 
	Sonic closed his eyes and opened them again. "Knux said to keep 
'em. Take 'em to Knothole. That way Robotnik can't get his mitts on 
them."
	Sonic rose heavily and walked to his bed. "I'm gonna crash now," 
he said, flipped back the blankets and sitting down to take off his 
shoes. "I'm beat."
	"Okay," Tails nodded. "I'm gonna stay up a little longer."
	Sonic climbed between the sheets and relaxed with a heavy sigh. 
Tails listened to his breathing grow slow and even. Slowly the little 
room grew dark as the evening sky faded, and a star came out. Tails sat, 
fur ruffled by the slight breeze. It was peaceful here. At least Chaos 
had not reached this part of town ...
	Sonic got up and padded to Tails, sitting in his chair and sound 
asleep. "Now whose the sleepy one?" he murmured. He lifted the fox and 
carried him to the other bed. He should have guessed Tails would fall 
asleep before he did. Sonic pulled the covers over him, softly closed 
the sliding outside door, then climbed back in bed.
	Chaos had been defeated, but not by force. Tikal had been right 
all along. But the city ... Sonic was grieved over the city and the 
needless death. He could do nothing about it. No one expected him to, 
he guessed, but he wanted to help somehow. Do something to help make 
it right. But what? He thought of the chaos emeralds. He could donate 
them to help power the city.
	He thought of the last two weeks, of flying the Tornado, 
snowboarding, riding the bumpercars in Twinkle Park, running around 
Speed Highway, exploring the Egg Carrier. Yes, all in all, he had 
enjoyed himself. Not to mention he had decided Amy wasn't so bad after 
all, and they had rescued that family of flickies.
	He heard Tails sigh and turn over. Tails was safe. Knuckles and 
Amy were safe. Maybe that was what he had been fighting for all long. 
Not just the city, but his friends, too. If that was true, then he had 
not failed at all.
	Sonic rolled over and slept.

	* * *

	Sapphire City was rebuilt, with chaos emeralds powering backup 
generators. Tails fixed the Tornado, and he and Sonic flew back north 
to Knothole. There they were greeted with a lavish welcome home party,
 both for them and for Knuckles, who was re-joining the Freedom Fighters.
	The archeologists explored the pyramid in the Mystic Ruins, 
but never discovered the shrine to Chaos, deep underground. Knuckles 
sealed off that section himself, in secret. It was better left 
undisturbed.
	Robotnik returned to his Final Egg ground base, which would remain 
hidden for a long time. There he commissioned Metal Sonic to build him 
a robot that would be as powerful as Chaos, but was completely loyal to 
his master. Metal Sonic was privately daunted at the enormity of such 
a request, but promised to begin the necessary research at once. 
Robotnik would not stir from his base until the robot was complete, 
and Mecha calculated that he would stay put for the next ten years, as 
it would be at least that long before the project was completed.
	Thus, at least for a while, Mobius was treated to a time of 
peace.

	The End