"Knuckles!" Tails exclaimed, as he hopped out of his escape pod and saw Knuckles gliding overhead. Tails, Amy and Ata had all landed on the west shore of Angel Island, where they had began this adventure. Knuckles took notice of them, and landed on the beach. The flames had been completely extinguished by Chaos' rampage. "Have you seen Sonic? Where's Sonic?!"
"I… sense that the Master Emerald has returned to Echidnaopolis," Knuckles groaned, holding his head. "It was stolen from me by a giant robot claiming to be Robotnik in Sky Sanctuary. If Sonic somehow defeated the Doomsday… he should be back in the city. If not… there may be nothing left we can do to stop these two godlike beings." Knuckles trudged forward through the mud on the outskirts of Angel Forest. "Pachacamac may have thought awakening Chaos would save us from the Doomsday… but it could turn out to be the end of the island, and the world as we know it."
"What do we do now?" Amy asked, catching up with Ata in tow. "My Sonikku wouldn't go down like that… but what if he can't defeat Chaos?"
"If he can't do it with the Master Emerald, then we're doomed," Knuckles growled.
In Echidnaopolis, Chaos continued to wreak destruction and terror on the wreckage of the city. The Knuckles Clan was in shambles, struggling to fight back. Drowned bodies drifted along in the newly formed greatest lake of Angel Island. In a day, their entire society had come crumbling down. There was only one thing standing between them and total destruction.
"What is with you anyways?!" Super Sonic shouted at the giant, screeching deity as it formed waterspouts his way. Second by second, he felt the Master Emerald's power that had saved him from dying in the fall drain from him. He was on a time limit to take this beast down. He couldn't hold on much longer. But he could never let go. He had people counting on him. Everyone was relying on him to save the world from this chaotic force of evil. He didn't know why Chaos was doing this, why it wanted to destroy the world. He was fighting with all his unlimited power, not just to attack the beast, but also to imagine its motivations. Did it even have any?
"Enough of this!" Super Sonic shouted over Chaos' roar. He flew up to the snake beast's orange orb that acted like a brain, and slashed away at it with his own hands. He couldn't go around electrocuting the water, there were still countless Knuckles Clan members swimming for their lives. He wouldn't sacrifice the people he was trying to save just to rid himself of the enemy threatening them. Chaos, with one tendril of water, smacked Super Sonic away into a building. Sonic felt the Chaos energy flicker a little. Great pain flashed through his entire body momentarily. "I won't give up that easily!" Super Sonic blasted forward, only to be beaten down again. His flight capabilities were knocked out. He went rocketing back to one of the floating street lamps, grabbing it and holding on for dear life. Chaos stared at Sonic, and in the distance, it formed another tsunami. Sonic yelled as the tsunami neared him. It leveled so many other buildings, sending them crashing down into the ocean. He heard the cries of many echidnas as they were taken by the tides. Just as the tsunami was about to reach his last place of refuge, Tails swooped by and grabbed him. He rose him high into the sky, over the tidal wave.
"Sonic! Are you okay?" Tails asked. Sonic shivered, as he looked down to the destroyed city. There weren't that many survivors left…
"I'm fine…" Sonic hissed. Tails lowered him to a piece of water-damaged road. It was slippery, and the odd small wave splashed onto it. There was blood in the murky water. "What do we do?! I've tried everything!" Sonic shouted. Knuckles, Amy and Ata landed on the street.
"No idea… this beast has been sealed within the Master Emerald for eons. It must have gathered a lot of power over that time," Knuckles growled. "Speaking of which… where is the Master Emerald?!"
"No idea… it must have been swept away by now," Sonic groaned. "Sorry everyone… I don't know if I can beat this guy. I couldn't even harm it with the Master Emerald's power"
"There has to be something we can do," Ata stated, walking to the edge of the road. She placed her hand in the water.
"What's she doing?" Knuckles asked.
"She's looking into Chaos' past for a weak spot!" Amy exclaimed. "Ata, you're a genius!" Visions raced through Ata's mind.
Ata found herself in a large open field. Her vision was locked on a shrine of emeralds. "Grandmother, what are we doing here?" A girl's voice asked. Ata saw an orange echidna girl walk forward. Behind her, was an old echidna. It must have been a long time ago. Their attire told tales of traditions forgotten by time.
"Look, Tikal," the young echidna's grandmother guided her, pointing towards the Master Emerald in the center. The water flowing down the shrine rippled, and the strange yet adorable marshmallow-like creatures that lived there looked their way, happily. "That is the Master Emerald."
"What does it do?" Tikal asked.
Her grandmother hesitated. "It can turn thoughts into power. But it's not really about what the gem does, it's all about what you do with it. It could help to bring fortune to an entire clan, or it could be used to level an empire in a day," the grandmother stated.
"So it's a tool?" Tikal asked. The marshmallow creatures, the Chao, looked at her strangely. The little spheres over their heads turned to exclamation points.
"No, Tikal. You mustn't ever think that way of such a gift. Doing so will only end in your power being turned against you," the grandmother warned. "Seeing power as a tool is a dangerous way of thinking. Power is a friend, a friend that can help you protect yourself and others. The Master Emerald is very impressionable. Should it be used for good, it will be good. Should it be used for evil… it will turn evil. Just like the Chaos Emeralds themselves."
Tikal's grandmother walked her up the stone steps of the shrine. "Inside of the Master Emerald rests the god 'Chaos'." The grandmother told Tikal. "Like other Chao, he can be raised to be good, or bad. He is as old as time, and has seen so much. Despite every awful thing he has been through, good has triumphed over all and has kept him kind-hearted and innocent. Unlike many beings, Chaos is not stuck in his ways. He is… well, chaotic. Chaos can be expressed and bent in many ways. Good, bad, and everything in between."
"I see…" Tikal gasped in wonder. Her grandmother looked to her, sadly. Ata snapped back to the present. She took her hand out of the water, and turned around. Back in the ruined city.
"What did you see?" Knuckles asked, impatience in his voice. "Did you find Chaos' weakness already?"
"No… I found its greatest strength…" Ata muttered. She walked to Sonic, and touched him on the shoulder. She transferred what she had seen to the blue hedgehog. Sonic opened his eyes wide, as the events flowed through his mind. Then, Ata let go of his arm. "Did you see everything okay?"
"Yeah…" Sonic mumbled. "I see what I've been doing wrong. This whole time I've been using Chaos powers for negativity… I let them go wild when I'm angry, scared, or just upset. I made the same mistake as Chaos. I have to get through to Chaos with the positive side of these powers. That might be the only way to end this."
"But the Master Emerald is lost," Amy stated. "Will Sonic's Chaos Emerald be enough?" Tails looked at the shard of Master Emerald that he had gotten aboard the Robodoom.
Tails walked forward, holding the shard out to Sonic. "Here, take this. It might just be enough to save us all," Tails stated. "You can do it, Sonic. I believe in you." Sonic accepted the shard.
"Thank you, Tails," Sonic replied. He looked at all his friends, then Chaos, who was still on a complete rampage. "Don't worry, I'll find some way to get through to him." Sonic clutched the shard tightly in his hand, and turned into Super Sonic once more. He had a big smile on his face, as he blasted towards Chaos head-on.
Super Sonic raced through the ruins of Echidnaopolis, around the waterspouts and across broken buildings. As he neared Chaos, he went full speed ahead. He entered Chaos' body and blasted directly upwards through the water. As soon as he reached Chaos' brain, Chaos cried out in pain, as it regained a bit of its conscience in the midst of Sonic's overwhelming positive force.
Super Sonic was launched to the other side of the city, but he shot like a bullet back towards Chaos. And again, and again, and again. He did it so many times that Chaos turned his full attention towards Sonic. "Hey Chaos!" Sonic shouted as he neared the misguided god one more time. "I know what it's like to be turned against your better judgement by someone else. I've been there!" Chaos roared, shooting a large laser at Sonic. "I can't change your mind, huh?" Sonic asked, dodging the laser. "Well then… I guess I'll just have to OPEN your HEART!" Sonic blasted right into Chaos one more time. With Chaos in a daze because of the damage its brain had suffered, Sonic was able to open the god's ribcage-like armor holding its watery form together, and tear it apart. Chaos roared one more time as the water splashed everywhere. It dispersed back into the ocean where it belonged, and the orb of orange light was left as just that. An orb.
Sonic, back to normal, landed on the piece of road his friends stood on, as the water drained and the road returned to the ground. There were still large puddles, and the city had been almost completely destroyed. Dead bodies littered the area. Everybody took in the damage.
"All's well that ends well, right?" Tails asked, trying to cheer the others up. Everybody stood there awkwardly.
"No???" Knuckles replied, confused. "What the hell, Tails?!"
"Yeah, that was really stupid," Tails sighed. "Sorry."
A red orb floated down from the sky. "Thank you very much for all you have done," the red orb told Sonic. It had the same voice as Tikal.
"No problem," Sonic replied. "I'm sorry about the city. All the people I couldn't save…"
"Do not be sorry," Tikal told him. "It was not your fault. Nor was it the fault of Chaos. These people corrupted Chaos, and wanted to use his unlimited power to take over the world. People like that… unlike Chaos… often never change. Greed is to blame. Greed already stole their minds, and now… it has stolen their lives." Sonic saw an orange orb lower into one of the puddles. Chaos! Sonic got ready for another fight.
Out of the puddle, a smaller, more Echidna-like Chaos took form. He just stood there. "What…? He's not attacking?" Sonic asked, lowering his fists.
"Yes, he is now back to normal," Tikal stated. In a flash of light, she turned back into an orange echidna. She took Chaos' hands in her own. Chaos looked down at her as the water soaked into her gloves. She looked back to Sonic. "Now, we should be taking our leave. Would you assist in finding the Master Emerald so we can return?"
"I was thinking…" Sonic sighed, putting his hand on his chin. "No. I think you're better off out here. You can defend yourselves like this, but if we put you back there, somebody's bound to misuse Chaos again." Sonic glared at the surviving Knuckles Clan members as they approached. Leading them was a squad that had weapons in hand, and they were aiming them at Chaos. Chaos looked at them, emerald eyes gleaming.
"No," Knuckles muttered, stepping forward. "No, you're not doing this."
"Who's going to stop us?" The leader of the squad asked.
"Me!" Knuckles shouted. "I'm not about to let you take away everything we just worked so hard for. Didn't you just see what happens when you try to control powers outside of your reach?!" They readied their guns. "Sonic, now!" Sonic, with an energy beam, ran circles around all the other echidnas and tied them all up. "I'm putting an end to all this nonsense! The Knuckles Clan can't turn into a regime, because we are rooted in the ways of peace and balance! For years, we've turned away from our true purposes in life. We spat on our morals, and what made this place special to begin with! Now I see that we must stick to those no matter what." The Knuckles Clan members stopped struggling, mouths agape in inspiration. "So you know what? As Pachacamac's greatest student, I am most fit to lead this clan to a better future where he is no longer needed. Where we stay true to our ideologies of the golden age from long ago! So either come with me…" Knuckles clenched his fists. "Or get OFF OF MY ISLAND!" He roared into the cloudless sky loudly, and powerfully. In that one moment, with that final declaration, he felt on top of the world. His world. His island. Everybody watched in amazement, as Knuckles took power and shed a good few tears under the heat of the morning sun.