Sonic and the others all landed atop an oversized mushroom after jumping from the flying platform. They bounced off the cap and and landed on the orange, fall-like grass safely. It started to rain, but the colossal mushrooms and trees protected them from the downpour.
"So what now?" Ata asked. "I know we're supposed to save the day and stuff, but how're we gonna do that when we're up against Chaos, Mecha Sonic, and Robotnik?"
"That's a good question. Let's start with this god of absolute destruction," Tails sighed. "Sonic could electrocute the water Chaos is made of. That's bound to damage it, but it'll probably take a lot of charge if we're looking at a monster made of an entire lake."
"I know where you can find that charge," Knuckles' voice stated. Everybody spun around to face him.
"Not you again," Sonic groaned. "When are you going to give up on trying to kill us?"
"Right now. I hate to say it, but---" Knuckles looked away and choked on his words. "I need your help."
"You must be EATING some of these wild mushrooms if you think I'm gonna help you," Sonic replied. "You already tricked me about something like this once, and look where it ended us all up!"
"Can I do shrooms with you, Knuckles?" Amy asked in a manner that did not promote the usage of illicit drugs.
"I don't do shrooms!" Knuckles shouted, flustered. He cleared his throat. "Look, I'm not asking to be all buddy-buddy. It wasn't my choice to try and kill you, y'know. Pachacamac threatened to banish me if I didn't. But now, I need your help to save my home. You're already trying to stop Chaos, so at least let me show you how to do it."
Sonic grumbled something under his breath. "Fine. I guess we have no idea how to defeat it ourselves. What do you have in mind?" Sonic asked, taking Knuckles' hand and shaking it.
For the first time in his life, Knuckles felt a little bit of respect. However, he quickly let go of Sonic's hand.
"The Chaos Emeralds always return here to Angel Island after someone uses them to go Super. They recharge for a while, and then depart back into the world," Knuckles answered. "Last I checked, they were still recharging since last summer. If you can use the Chaos Emeralds to go into your Super form, it may be enough to weaken Chaos. Then, we can seal that beast away into the Master Emerald forever."
"I thought the Master Emerald was in pieces," Tails stated.
"I can put it back together if I manage to find the shards. They should still be somewhere in Azure Lake," Knuckles replied. "I'll lead you to the Chaos Emeralds' Shrine, and while you take care of that, I'll find the shards and reassemble the Master Emerald. Come on!" Knuckles walked off. Sonic and the others followed.
After a while of traversing the Mushroom Valley, Knuckles finally decided to break the silence. "Why'd you save me from Pachacamac back there, Amy?" This grabbed everyone's attention.
"Why wouldn't I?" Amy asked in response.
"Because he tried to kill us numerous times," Sonic and Tails suggested in unison, with a cadence as if they were presenting.
"He tried to WHAT?" Ata exclaimed, aghast.
"Nobody deserves to be treated like how he treated you," Amy stated, catching up to Knuckles, who had been embarrassed by the others. "I know you didn't want to do bad things to us, because you were nice to us when we first met. He made you do it, and then he was ready to throw you away." Knuckles glared at her. Amy froze in fear.
Knuckles then looked away after a few seconds.
"You're a good person, Amy," Knuckles replied, walking a little faster. "Thank you." Sonic and Tails exchanged glances, taken aback by what Knuckles said.
Soon enough, they all stopped at a wall. "What's the holdup?" Sonic asked.
"This is our place," Knuckles stated, looking up at the wall. He brushed some leaves aside on the ground, revealing… a bunch of severed wires. Confusion flashed across his eyes, and then anger burned in them. "WHAT?! The button was right here!" Knuckles shouted, tearing out the wires with his teeth and thrashing them out of pure blind rage. Even though they were electrocuting him a little.
"Hmm… let's calm down and see what happened," Ata mumbled. Knuckles looked to her, confused with the wires and crumbs of dirt falling from his mouth. She looked into the recent past. "There were some Knuckles Clan units here while we were fighting that machine with the big arms. They destroyed the button when it was reported that Pachacamac's body was spotted in the water. Or at least, what was left of it."
"Pachacamac…?" Knuckles asked, wide-eyed. Everybody looked uncomfortable.
"It wasn't us," Tails stated, trying to defend him and his friends. "It was one of Robotnik's robots, Mecha Sonic. It restored him back to his old ways before killing Pachacamac." Tails thought of something to say. But before he could even give his basic condolences...
"He had it coming after he destroyed the Master Emerald," Knuckles growled, turning away. "Well, the button used to open a door to a Hyper Portal Ring, a shortcut to the Chaos Emeralds' Shrine in Hidden Palace. There's a few other Hyper Portal Rings sprinkled here and there throughout Angel Island, but this is the only one I was ever told the location of."
"So we can't get the emeralds?" Amy asked, dejectedly.
"Not this way, no," Knuckles stated, looking into the distance. "But there is a regular route to Hidden Palace through Sandopolis and Lava Reef. You may not be able to make it in time before Chaos manages to break through into the ocean. After he spreads to the seas, he'll be free to destroy the world, and he'll also be all the more powerful. Even if Pachacamac was still here, I doubt he could really control Chaos like he said he could. Seems we all have our work cut out for us."
"Why wouldn't I be able to make it in time?" Sonic asked.
"Well, I know you're fast and all, but…" Knuckles mumbled.
"Sonic's faster than you think," Tails stated. "Amy and I could probably keep up with him a little if he really hurries, but I don't know about Ata…" Ata looked embarrassed. A plan concocted itself in Tails' mind. "Maybe Ata should go with Knuckles!" Tails exclaimed.
"What??" Ata asked, caught off-guard.
"Good plan," Knuckles agreed. "You're an olm, right? That means you can breathe underwater. Azure Lake is pretty deep, and all the Master Emerald Shards are sunk by now."
"Ata can also see into anything that's ever happened in every inch of the Zone she's in," Tails continued. "That means finding Master Emerald shards will be a piece of cake. Also… Knuckles can't swim."
"Hey! I can swim!" Knuckles replied. "I was just giving you a hard time back in Angel Forest." Nobody looked like they believed him, as he stood there proudly. He dropped the snarky grin when he realized this. "Okay, okay. I was making sure Amy and Sonic wouldn't drown." Sonic yawned. "FINE! When I went off to training last night… it was actually just swimming lessons."
"I thought you were just meeting up with your squad to throw our one means of escape into the sea," Sonic groaned.
"I have a TIGHT SCHEDULE, OKAY?!" Knuckles cried, punching the wall.
"Cool! Mind if I add to it? Go with Ata to find your rock's pieces. Now," Sonic ordered. "And if we get lost on our way to this 'Hidden Palace', we can all communicate to get back on track. Knuckles knows the island through and through, and Ata still has Tails' contact."
"Then it's settled," Tails stated. "Let's go find these Chaos Emeralds!" Sonic, Tails and Amy all sped off.
"Good luck, Knuckles! Ata!" Amy exclaimed as her voice grew distant. Knuckles and Ata nodded, and headed back for Azure Lake.