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The Master Emerald gleamed in the sunlight of the floating Angel Island. The large jewel sat on a stone pedestal in between mountains. Knuckles the Echidna was lying on the platform near the Emerald. He had been there his whole life, doing the same thing every day. His job was guarding the precious gem, ensuring no one could steal it. Most of the time, nothing happened, and today felt no different. But then the air around him began to swirl. Knuckles opened his eyes and looked to the sky. He froze when he saw the large, metal ship in the sky above him.
The aircraft was a dark grey with bright red accents. A large red logo of the Eggman Empire was painted on the side. Knuckles shot up and got himself ready to defend the Emerald. As he got up, colorful bug-themed robots rained from the ship’s open hatch. They surrounded the stone pedestal and began to storm up the steps. He swung his fists wildly and crushed a few, but they began to overwhelm him. A few large robots grabbed the Master Emerald and lifted it into the air and inside the ship.
Knuckles ran for the teleporter off of the island. He dashed through the blue light and appeared back in the grand capital of Mobious. As soon as he stepped out, he set out on his search for help.
Sonic the Hedgehog strolled through the city with his friends. Tails the Fox was fiddling with a small machine that was too complicated for Sonic to wrap his head around, and Amy the Hedgehog was almost skipping next to the two, watching all the citizens around them. The usual adventures of the three had paused for that day, leaving them bored.
Massive billboards shone advertisements around them until darkness overtook the screen. “Huh?” Sonic exclaimed. They turned to the screen, noticing other Mobians looking over, too. A moment later, the monitor blinked back to life, displaying the image of Doctor Eggman standing and grinning.
“I’ve come to make an announcement!” He began. “I have stolen the Master Emerald! There are twenty-four hours until I take over this planet! You have been warned!” Then the screen turned off again. The whole street was silent for a moment. Sonic looked over to his friends, they were just as still as everyone else.
Then, voices all began to pile on top of one another from all around the three. Amy turned to her friends. “We have to do something! Knuckles is probably in trouble!”
“You’re right, Amy. If the Master Emerald is gone, something has to have happened,” Sonic agreed.
“I think I have a way to take us there. Come on! It’s in my lab!” Tails told them. He motioned for his friends to follow him, and they dashed down the street. Tails flew ahead, and Sonic and Amy weren’t far behind. But while they were running, a red figure moved ahead of them. The three skidded to a halt and looked up.
“Knuckles!” Sonic shouted. “We were just coming to look for you!”
“I require your assistance. Eggman invaded Angel Island and stole the Master Emerald. I tried to fight off all of his batniks, but there were too many,” he told them.
“Then let’s get over there. We don’t have much time,” Sonic reminded everyone.
“Is there a way up there? I have a plane we can use if you need it,” Tails offered to Knuckles.
“There is no need for your inventions, fox. I have teleporters near here,” he answered. “Follow me,” Knuckles began to leave.
Sonic, Tails, and Amy went after him. They sped through streets at lightning speed and soon left the city. A moment later, the group approached a stone building.
The building had intricate carvings, detailing the echidna tribe Sonic had only heard of in passing from Knuckles. The only opening was a doorway near the front.
They walked through the door. The only thing inside of the building was a large gray pedestal. Knuckles stepped onto the platform, and the others followed suit. A beam of light shot out of the ground, blinding them for a moment. Then a few seconds later, the light cleared and they appeared on a beautiful green landscape. Waterfalls and mountains surrounded them, with trees and other plants covering their surfaces. But Sonic couldn’t concentrate on it when bright robots filled the island.
He stepped forward and looked around. He could see the large aircraft in the sky with Eggman’s logo. Sonic glanced back at his friends and smirked. “Don’t worry, Knuckles. This will be a piece of cake with all of us here.”
“Yeah! We got this!” Tails agreed excitedly. The others nodded in agreement, and they launched themselves at the robots and began to destroy them all.
During the fight, Sonic turned to the giant flying ship. He looked back at his friends. They had destroyed most of the batniks and were clearing the last few left. He shouted at his friends, “I’m gonna go after Eggman!”.
They glanced at him and nodded before they gave their focus back to the machines. Sonic examined the aircraft. He tried to find an entrance from the outside and noticed the open bottom that the robots must have come out of.
Sonic ran off to the target and jumped. He flew through the air, grabbed onto a ledge, and hoisted himself up. The hanger was empty except for a metal staircase that led up to a door. He dashed up the stairs and threw open the door.
Behind the door was a large workroom with dozens of monitors. Most of them were dark, but a few showed live footage of Tails, Amy, and Knuckles fighting them off. Tables in the coroner were covered with metal parts and wires. An unoccupied chair sat in the middle of the lab, and at the front was Doctor Eggman.
Eggman turned back to look at him. “What are you doing here?!”
“I’m here to stop you, Eggman! This latest attempt of yours isn’t going to work!” Sonic yelled at the man.
“You won’t stop me this time, hedgehog!” Eggman yelled while pointing at him. He ran up to his console and pressed a large red button.
Red and gray robots emerged from the walls and surrounded Sonic. They all rushed at him at once, but he was ready. Sonic dodged the attacks, curled up into a ball, and launched himself at them one by one.
“Is that all you got?” He teased the doctor. Eggman hit another button, and the wall behind him opened, revealing a small room with an open wall. A circle-shaped flying machine sat in the middle. He ran inside and hopped into the device. It floated into the air and left Sonic behind.
He ran to the wall and jumped out. He spun in the air and hit the machine. The engine sputtered and smoked. It began to spiral around before falling to the ground. Sonic grabbed back onto the floor of the room and pulled himself back up. He watched Eggman crash into the ground and get up. He ran off deeper into the island.
Sonic turned backward and sped back through the ship, trying to find the Master Emerald. He ran through winding hallways before a green shine caught his eye. He skidded to a halt and looked towards it. The emerald was inside a metal replica of the pedestal outside. Sonic grabbed the large gem, struggling under its weight. He went back down the halls and got to the open hangar. He jumped through and landed on the ground.
His friends were waiting for him below; destroyed robots surrounded them. Sonic grinned, “Hey guys! I found the Master Emerald!”. He handed the jewel to Knuckles.
“Thank you,” he told Sonic, holding it in his hands.
“Where did Eggman go?” Amy asked.
“I’m not sure. He ran off into the island, and I didn’t see where he went,” he said to her.
“What if he comes back?” Tails questioned.
“I will make sure that does not happen. I can find him if he is on this island,” Knuckles promised his friends.
“Thanks, Knucs! Glad we could help,” Sonic gave a thumbs up to the echidna. He looked back at Tails and Amy. “We should probably get back home.”
“Yeah, goodbye, Knuckles!” Tails called out, and Amy followed suit.
They waved to him and left from the same teleporter they came from and were back in their home city.
Sonic was proud of what he was able to accomplish that day. He and his friends had successfully defeated Dr Eggman yet again. Even though it wasn’t the end of Eggman’s attempts to take over the world, Sonic had one more win against him. They would always be able to protect the city from him.