Y/N looked down at the hole nervously as Knuckles and Kneecaps climbed down with their spiked gloves and kneecaps to save the eagle who got its wing stuck by the fallen rock with the green shard lying in the nest. At the bottom is the lake of lava and a loud rumble is heard as the rocky wall they're climbing begins to crack. They have to act fast.
"Hang on, little guy!"
Knuckles and Kneecaps swift down as quickly as possible as they caught the eagle and the green shard at the same time as the rocks crash onto the rock shell along with the nest. They launch themselves to the next rocky wall.
"Don't you know it's dangerous around here?" Kneecaps questioned, holding the eagle close.
Knuckles looked down at the green shard he held.
"You're safe now. Looks like you had one of the missing Master Emerald shards!"
"We might actually find them all in time at this rate..."
Kneecaps let go of the eagle, seeing that his wing is fine and good as it fly in the air next to them with a grateful look. Knuckles launched himself off the wall as Kneecaps quickly hold onto his brother as they began to fly up to the surface.
"C'mon! We'll ride this updraft to the top!"
The eagle happily followed after them as they made it out safely. Y/N looked over at them with relief as the eagle fly over to her.
"Are you guys okay?" she asked, gently grabbing a hold of the eagle.
"We're fine." Kneecaps said.
"Ha! It'll take more than crumbling rocks and certain death to stop us! Locky here lost his nest, though."
Y/N petted the eagle with a coo.
"Oh, you poor thing! You okay?"
The eagle nudged his head against her chin, telling her that he's fine.
"I'm so glad! I can't explain your sense of deja vu though..."
She then noticed the small shard in Knuckles' hand.
"Was that the only shard?"
"Yeah." he sadly said.
"Could more maybe have fallen when...?"
"It's only the one near us. Trust me, I can sense them."
Y/N let go of the eagle as it flapped its wings in the air.
"Alright. It's just... We detected that the rest of the shards were on this island..."
"I know."
"And the Freedom Fighters are getting close to restoring the world..."
"I know... Angel Island is only floating because everything else is too. If we don't restore the Master Emerald in time, it'll fall straight into the planet's mantle. ...Or worse on somewhere populated..."
"Knuckles, bro. We can do this." Kneecaps assured.
Y/N grasped Knuckles' hand gently, making him look at her.
"Kneecaps is right. We still have some time. And we've tracked the remaining shards here. It'll be okay. I promise."
Eagle squaked down at Knuckles happily.
"See? Even he agrees!"
Knuckles felt a little annoyed and sighed, knowing they're right. He quickly swatted eagle away who happily flew off to find another safe place.
"Alright! Alright! Let's get moving."
"Right! Let's go to the Castle Acorn!"
Knuckles, Kneecaps, and Y/N zoomed through the field.
"Yeah--about that. Didn't we decide against it?" Knuckles asked.
"Um...no. I didn't agree with you, bro. I agree with Y/N because I'd rather not get in trouble."
"What your brother said. I said we need to see the king first. You said you didn't want to. We started to argue and then you said you found a shard and ran off!"
They jumped off the cliff as Y/N and Kneecaps jump down on the grassy platform while Knuckles easily glide down while flying.
"Okay then--I decided against it."
"Two votes against one?? Nope. That doesn't count."
"You're supposed to take my side!"
"Unlike you, I show respect and learn manners."
"We're on his land, Knuckles! It's only proper that we get his blessing before we go digging around on it!" Y/N exclaimed as they landed safely and went back to speed running or roller skating.
"Why? Would he tell us 'no'?"
"No, but--!"
"Then what's the point?!"
"It's polite!"
"We don't have time for being polite!"
"Um, yes there is, bro!!"
Y/N skid to a stop and grabbed Knuckles and made him turn to face her, glaring straight at him.
"Listen here, sir! If it were the other way around, and someone needed something off your island, would you be okay with them wandering around unannounced?"
"No...but...that's not...!"
Now this made Knuckles speechless as he had no words to say. Y/N and Kneecaps smirked smugly, knowing they got him. Before he knew it, they're heading into the entrance where the Mobian soldier is guarding as they walk past through.
"Fine. We're here anyway. We'll talk to the king."
"Thank you. This way!"
Soon, inside Castle Acorn, they stopped and their eyes widened at something they never expect to see.
"Oh, not these jerks again." Knuckles muttered out.
"Oh, boy..." Kneecaps sighed.
"Whoa! Rouge? Shadow? Omega? What're you guys doing here?" Y/N asked in surprise.
"Hiya, cutie! Long time no see!" Rouge winked, blowing her a kiss.
"I forgot you still do that..." Y/N deadpanned.
"Aw, but you love it."
"Shut up..."
Shadow gave her a small smile, nodding to her in greeting while Omega waved at her, but not to Knuckles or Kneecaps.
"Miss Y/N! What a pleasant surprise. I was just about finished with Team Dark." King Maximilliam said, standing up from his throne and approaching them.
"And you two must be Knuckles and Kneecaps? I don't believe I've had the pleasure. Smashing duel with Sonic and Y/N during the tournament!"
"Oh, uh, thanks. Do I bow or...?"
"A handshake will do."
Knuckles and Kneecaps shake hands with King Maximilliam.
"What brings you to Mobotropolis? I thought you were with the other Freedom Fighters?" he asked her.
Y/N bowed to him.
"I was, but I've joined Knuckles and Kneecaps on an urgent mission. We came to ask your permission to search your lands for the Master Emerald shards."
This made the king smiled and turned to Team Dark.
"Really now! Team Dark was asking for similiar clearance."
"I feel another team-up coming on! Won't that be fun?" Rouge smirked at Shadow.
But Shadow wasn't in for a team as the atmosphere around the room was tense as if the storm come before them. Knuckles and Shadow were having a glaring contest as Y/N and Maximilliam look around them.
"...I sense some hostility." the king said.
"No kidding." Y/N agreed, not liking this.
This made Knuckles wild up and pointed at the Team Dark. Kneecaps tried to calm him down along with Y/N as they held onto him in case he tried to lash out.
"'Some'? Maybe because these three tried to steal the Master Emerald, forced me to shatter it, and got me into this mess in the first place!"
"We were tryng to secure it for the sake of the world." Shadow calmly stated.
Rouge got in between Shadow and Knuckles.
"And we all almost died because you two got distracted beating each other up. But that's behind you now since there's bigger issues at hand--right?"
Shadow and Knuckles looked away with a grumpy expression.
"...He called me a jerk."
"Yeah...well... you are."
"Hold on! I'm sorry, but I don't think I heard about this part of the story." Y/N glared straight at Knuckles and Shadow who looked away.
Knuckles cleared his throat.
"It was just a minor scuffle. We stopped Eclipse. That's what matters."
"A minor scuffle? No, no, no! I want to hear a full story about this! And what did you say, Rouge? About them beating each other up that almost got you and your team killed?"
Rouge gulped, fiddling her gloved hands.
"Yeah... They had a fight over the Master Emerald whilst also insulting each other that got each other offended. Did I also forgot to mention that they're also fighting over you for the whole... kissing thing?"
Oh, boy... Shadow and Knuckles are so dead.
"Those boys were fighting me over what?!" Y/N snapped her head at them.
"I-It's not like that...! We..."
Y/N suddenly had a creepy smile as she kindly turn to the king who flinched at the dark aura around her.
"Your Majesty, may I have a talk with these two in private?"
"Y-Yes. Go ahead, Miss Y/N. Take your time."
Y/N swiftly turn her whole body and grabbed Knuckles and Shadow by the ear and dreadlock, making them yell out in pain.
"You guys are coming with me...! Let's take this outside!" she said, ignoring their protests as she dragged them out of the Castle Acorn.
"I knew this would happen..." Kneecaps sighed.
On cue, shouts, thuds, and hits were heard along with an anguish yells. They flinched at that, knowing full well what's happening while the poor Mobian guards have to watch this as they cower before the scene.
"On a scale of 1 to 10, how long do you think the boys will last?" Rouge nervously asked.
"I WOULD SAY... 4.5." Omega stated, sweatdropping.
Then, the loud ruckus was stopped, much to their relief. Shadow and Knuckles slowly came inside with a big bump on their head and bruises on their body as well as their swollen cheek. Behind them, Y/N smiled sweetly at everyone as if nothing happened.
"So... how'd it go?" Maximilliam asked.
"We all worked it out." she happily spoke.
"Right... That's good."
"Shadow."
He flinched when she turned to him.
"About Eclipse and his Dark Arms, they're still out there. Is that why you three are here now?"
"Exactly." he nodded.
"Team Dark believes the fiends have taken refuge somewhere here on Westside Island." Maximilliam informed.
"Wait--You mean Eclipse and his Dark Arms are here?" Knuckles questioned in shock.
"LONG-RAGE SENSORS DETECTED A BIOFORM SIGNATURE OF CONSIDERABLE POWER. LIKELIHOOD OF IT BEING ECLIPSE AND HIS MINIONS: 85%." Omega informed.
"You told me Eclipse was after the Master Emerald when you shattered it. You don't think...?" Y/N started, looking at Knuckles worriedly.
"He must be after the shards!"
"And with them grouped together, it must mean he's gathered a lot of them!" Kneecaps finished the sentence.
"Looks like we're teaming up for another bug hunt." Rouge smirked at Y/N.
"I DO NOT WISH TO SHARE THE ALIEN SLAUGHTER WITH THEM. THOUGH, Y/N IS MORE THAN WELCOME TO JOIN." Omega protested.
"They just want the shards. You don't have to share anything. And I don't think Y/N is that kind of person to slaughter anyone without any reason." Shadow assured.
"UNDERSTOOD. THIS IS ACCEPTABLE."
Rouge turned to King Maximilliam with a closed eye smile.
"Then it's settled! All we need is your royal blessing and we'll get to work!"
"Of course. And the openness of your request is appreciated..."
Suddenly, his expression turned dark with a hint of small flash of light from his golden crown.
"...But I am deeply concerned I'm only being informed now. The Black Arms threatened all of us, and so everyone should be informed of their threat. Commander Tower has my deepest respect. He had done much to reform G.U.N., but the Old Regime still casts a long shadow. The G.U.N. of old put my father on edge. It made me wary enough to trust Dr. Eggman and Dr. Snively once. I would be very disappointed if things were to slip back to their old ways. Am I clear?"
Everyone except Y/N grew nervous while some looked away, showing that they're indeed scared of the king as they all nodded in agreement. Y/N smirked, really liking this new version of King Maximilliam better than her old king. Rouge nervously saluted him.
"O-Of course. I'll pass that up the chain of command."
King Maximilliam's expression turn back to the joyful one.
"Smashing! Miss Y/N, would you be so kind as to act as the kingdom's liaison during the missions?"
Y/N bowed to him once again.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"You have our royal thanks. Be safe, and good luck."
Soon, they walked out of the throne room as they head into the hallway.
"Brrr! What was that? He always comes across as such a jolly guy..." Rouge shivered, covering her arms.
"There's more to him than meets the eye. Sometimes there's bad history." Y/N said.
"Speaking of 'bad history'--Hand them over." Knuckles ordered.
"Whatever do you mean?" Rouge raised her eyebrow with a hint of smile.
"The Master Emerald shards, of course. You know I can sense them."
"What??" Y/N and Kneecaps questioned in shock.
Rouge then pulled out the shards of the Master Emerald.
"Aw, you spoiled the surprise."
"'Surprise'?" Knuckles questioned in shock.
She dropped the shards in Knuckles' hands, shocking him even more.
"Yes. I found them while we were hunting Eclipse. I wanted to surprise you with them once you'd found the others. Oh, well--spoil sport."
"You're--OOP!--Just giving them to me?"
Y/N walked over to Rouge with suspicion.
"What are you up to, Rouge? That's unlikely of you to just give it to him."
Rouge booped her nose, causing her to flinch.
"I've got a job to focus on, beautiful. I can't chase after your friend's emerald right now."
She then walked away with her team.
"Wow." Kneecaps gaped.
"...I'm not sure if that's reassuring or worrisome." Knuckles said.
"Well, at least we have three more shards. So I guess that's nice and rather... thankful of her."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Soon, at the Royal Airfield, Y/N gaped in shock at how big this shuttle is for the G.U.N. Shadow smirked at her silly expression.
"An official G.U.N. shuttle! That's insane!"
"Impressed?" Shadow said, still smirking. "If you're joining us, you may as well ride with us."
"I wouldn't say impressed, but... it's fine. Not as good as the Sky Patrol." she looked away with a pout.
They approached inside the shuttle as Shadow lead the way.
"Don't get comfortable. We're only bringing you for the sake of convenience. Well, except you, Y/N. You can get comfortable as much as you like if you like to hear more about the new vehicles we G.U.N. have ride on."
"Thanks, but no thanks. Also, no need to be mean to my friends. The Freedom Fighters are working really hard to get everything needed to fix the planet."
They sat down as Knuckles struggled to buckle the seatbelt. Y/N noticed it and stopped him and easily clicked on the buckle around him. He smiled in appreciation.
"So your brother is running to the four corners of the map, having adventures and saving the world...again...?"
"Heh. Jealous?"
Shadow just pouted and crossed his arms with a huff, making her giggle.
"So, what about the rest of the G.U.N.? Are they all looking for Eclipse too?"
"No. The Air Fleet has been destroyed to the seven largest chunks of the shattered world. Their personnel are handling fallout from the continental splits, providing survival gear to those displaced by the crisis, and so on. The mechanical forces keep the peace when night falls and the Dark Gaia Energy causes... disturbances."
"Wow. All that almost makes our efforts sound trivial."
"Hmph. G.U.N. will keep the world secure while Sonic and the Freedom Fighters save it. That is all there is to it."
"I see..."
This made Knuckles ponder about the Angel Island he needs to save.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Soon--Mystic Cave Zone as the G.U.N. shuttle took a land near the cave entrance. Team Dark and Freedom Fighters head inside to what's used to be the minecarts as Omega flashed out light from its eyes.
"Keep your guard up." Shadow warned.
"WE ARE ON A 'SHOOT FIRST, ASK QUESTIONS NEVER' POLICY."
"That's 'ask questions later.'" Rouge remarked.
"MY WAY IS MORE SUCCINCT."
They stopped to the broken bridge as Shadow look down at the edge.
"BIOFORM SIGNATURE DETECTED FURTHER DOWN." Omega informed.
Y/N turned to her echidna friend.
"Knuckles?"
"I can sense the last three shards... They're down there."
"Then let's get to it." Kneecaps suggested.
Everyone fly down as Y/N was about to go down when Shadow grabbed her and wrapped his arm around her waist and then jumped down, using his rocket shoes to slow down the fall. This made her blush.
"You didn't have to."
"Trust me. I wanted to."
"...Thanks." she looked away, making him smirk.
This went unnoticed by Rouge and Knuckles as they glare daggers at Shadow. They landed on the ground safely as they find themselves in the green crystals cave with waterfall. It was rather breathtaking to see this.
"Wow. Who knew all this was down here? This place almost gives Angel Island an run for its money..." Knuckles said.
Kneecaps, Y/N, and Rouge noticed something ahead and their eyes widened.
"Knuckles... bro... There's only one Master Emerald, right?" Kneecaps asked.
"Yeah. Why?"
Y/N grabbed him and made his face turn to look at what they're looking at.
"Then what is that?!"
Rouge immediately ran towards it with a biggest smile.
"It's gorgeous!"
She jumped on top of the familiar Master Emerald as she hugged it. Knuckles ran towards the gem to take a look.
"What in the world...? It certainly looks like the Master Emerald..."
He placed a hand to sense anything.
"...but I don't detect any power coming from it. It's... just a big rock."
"And it looks very much real." Y/N added, giving it a tap.
Rouge shot up with pure happiness.
"Then you don't need it, rigth? It's all mine, then!"
"At least, we don't have to worry about her trying to steal the real Master Emerald..." Kneecaps muttered, making Y/N snicker.
"The mission comes first." Shadow reminded with his arms crossed.
"But we will come back for it, right? I need this, Shadow." Rouge said.
"WARNING! ABUNDANCE OF CRYSTAL SURFACES ARE INTERFERING WITH MY SENSORS. I CANNOT PINPOINT OUR TARGET." Omega said.
"That's no good. Do our comms still work?" Rouge asked.
Omega gave her thumbs up.
"AFFIRMATIVE."
"Then we can keep in touch at least. We'll cover more ground if we split up."
Rouge grabbed Kneecaps' arm, catching him off guard.
"Kneecaps comes with me. It's only right Knux's brother keep an eye on the super-shady spy, right?"
"I wouldn't say that, but alright."
"Omega, you can handle yourself. If you find the targets first, try to leave some for the rest of us."
"NO PROMISES. I AM PACKING HEAVY ORDINANCE."
Rouge finally turn to Shadow, Knuckles, and Y/N.
"Which... Hmm... I guess that leaves you three together! Funny how that works out." she said with a fake pout.
"Rouge..." Shadow warned, not liking this. "I understand Y/N, but him? If Eclipse and his Dark Arms ambush any one of us, especially for what he's going to do with her once he sees her..."
"We have our comms, and we know what they can do. We'll regroup and be fine."
"And if Eclipse gets in my head again?"
"Wait, what?" Y/N questioned in shock.
"Knuckles can beat the mind-control out of your brain."
Knuckles punched his fist with a smirk.
"Or I can use my power to bring him back." Y/N suggested, glaring at Knuckles. "I'm pretty good with keeping their minds clear."
"Alright, sweetie. It's a shame you can't come, but be sure the boys don't fight again."
"With pleasure." Y/N smirked, scaring Shadow and Knuckles.
"Seriously?" Shadow questioned.
"No. I know it got dicey last time. But Eclipse and his monsters have to be weak from hunger now. We'll be careful. Plus, Knux and Kneecaps are the last echidnas. You and Y/N need to make sure he doesn't go extinct before he restores the Master Emerald!"
"Play nice, you two! Take care of them, Y/N!" Kneecaps waved as everyone split up.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Y/N, Shadow, and Knuckles are jumping down the platform when the argument started.
"A minute ago you said the shards were above us." Shadow stated.
"Yeah, well, they keep moving. If you weren't slowing me down, I might've found them by now." Knuckles retorted.
"I'm slowing you down?"
Y/N couldn't take it and turned to them.
"If you two don't shut up for one second, I will push you off the cliff to where the waterfall is!!"
Shadow and Knuckles flinched and sighed, looking away.
"Yes, ma'am..." they said in unison.
They made it down to the entrance of the cave.
"Now, let's go find the shards, and then find your alien and we're all done and go. Simple! Unless we all work together, you wouldn't be fighting by now or slowing each other down."
Suddenly, they heard a new voice.
"Easy there, strangers! No needs for a fuss!"
They turned to see a big tall muscled plain violet echidna with white markings.
"Sorry if I startled you. I'm Nixus! I couldn't help but overhear your... conversation. Now--I don't know anything about any aliens, but I've been hunting some Master Emerald shards myself."
"Wait--WHAT??!"