Sonic came back to the Master Emerald's new altar from a run around the island. Knuckles, Tikal and Chaos were chilling out on the old stone altar hidden just outside Echidnaopolis. They were with a bunch of Chao who had returned during the few days after Knuckles had taken over the clan and turned it peaceful once more. The Master Emerald was back in one piece, and the heroes were safe. But their job was not yet done.
"It's looking pretty bad out there," Sonic told Knuckles. "You have your work cut out for you if you want to rebuild."
"Yeahhh, it's gonna be hard, and it kinda sucks that so many ancient structures were washed away," Knuckles replied.
"It is rather unfortunate," Tikal replied. "We would have no way to rebuild them accurately to their former glory if it weren't for Ata's powers, bless her heart." Tikal lowered a grape to her mouth and took a bite. "Where is she, anyways? I must thank her for all she's done to help." Chaos pointed ahead, to Ata and Tails talking and walking their way.
"And there's no sign of Robotnik? Anywhere?" Ata asked. "I thought he would be back by now."
"Nope, my Tails Electric still has access to the Robonet," Tails answered. "If he came back, I would know."
"Weird…" Ata said, shivering.
"Hey, Ata!" Sonic exclaimed, a recent memory returning to him. Ata turned to him attentively. Sonic hopped down from the altar, and zipped over to her.
"Sonic. How are you doing?" Ata asked, smiling.
"Hey, I know you've been busy with rebuilding, but can I take you to the Hidden Palace real quick?" Sonic asked.
"Why?" Ata asked.
"There's Babylonians involved," Sonic replied.
"Why didn't you say so? I'm in!" Ata exclaimed.
Sonic screeched to a halt inside the Hidden Palace Zone, and let go of Ata's hand. Not just because they had arrived, but also from the shock. The entire palace was in shambles. Somehow, the only spot that had survived Calamity Chaos' attack was the Chaos Emerald Shrine. The Chaos Emeralds glowed as they recharged.
"You can still look into the past of a destroyed Zone, right?" Sonic asked, looking to Ata sheepishly. He was embarrassed that he had brought her all the way there, to nothing more than a crater. As much as he would have liked to do this the last time they were there, there was too much going on.
"Hard to say," Ata sighed, downcast that another wonderful marvel of ancient architecture had been destroyed. "I look through ruined ghost towns all the time. What I can see really depends on the level of destruction and what spots are destroyed." Ata sat down on the ledge where Lava Reef Zone transitioned to Hidden Palace Zone. "Remember that I do need some amount of reference, or I'm just left to scour through all of history for one specific time period. Do you have a phrase I should look for? A person or event, even?"
"'Don't give up on the sun. Don't make the sun laugh at you'," Sonic repeated the phrase, which had been stuck in his head the whole run there. "Longclaw the Owl said it."
"No idea what that means," Ata mumbled. "Under any other circumstances, that would be an easy phrase to find. I'll see what I can do." Ata's face went gray, and she looked into the past for any mention of those words. Sonic waited, and waited. He tapped his foot habitually.
Finally, Ata's face regained its color. She looked up at Sonic. "I couldn't find much. There was lots of shouting, lots of crying. But it was so blurry and drowned-out… I wasn't able to hear a lot of it," Ata stated. "But, somehow I could tell that you had a good mom, Sonic." Sonic stood there, taken aback.
"And the prophecy thing?" Sonic asked, as Ata stood up. "She was probably gonna sacrifice me in some weird alien ritual! What am I supposed to make of that?"
"The concrete answers have been lost in time. But I can tell she really cared about you," Ata answered. "Not all answers can be found in the past. Some things require us to come to our own conclusions about them in the present." Ata walked off. "Or sometimes… in the future ahead of us." Sonic reached out to her as she walked away. "On an unrelated note, I got work in Sandopolis. Wanna help?"
Sonic's arm fell back to his side from reaching out. He then put his hand on his chin. "Wait… I was doing something today, wasn't I?" Sonic asked. Then, it came back to him. "Sorry, Ata. I'm leaving today. Tails and Amy are coming too!" Ata turned back around.
"Well then… So long, Sonic. It was an honor to meet you," Ata replied, bowing profusely. "Don't worry about me, I'm setting up my new tent. I asked Knuckles, and a bit of Master Emerald juice is sure to get its teleportation systems working just like the old one!"
"Alright. Well, give Tails and I a call when you get back to wherever you're going," Sonic told her. "We're gonna be hitting the road for a while, but you can join us anytime!"
"If I can keep up," Ata snarked. Sonic smiled, and then ran off for the shore once more. Ata waved goodbye as Sonic blasted headfirst towards new horizons.
"Sonic!" Tails exclaimed towards Sonic, as the two-tailed fox and Knuckles worked on the new Tornado biplane under the setting sun. Amy was in the pilot's seat, pretending to fly.
"Tails! We about ready for lift-off?" Sonic asked, smiling.
"Yep! Just making one final touch… and there…!" Tails exclaimed. "Okay, Amy. Hands off the controls. This is a job for a professional." As Tails cracked his knuckles, looking away, he heard the propeller come alive along with the engine. Then, Amy flew off in the Tornado alone, screaming digitally as she shot off into the ocean. "Amy!!!" Tails shouted. "Ah… we gotta go… Bye, Knuckles!" Tails laughed as he hopped on Sonic's shoulders and Sonic ran forward over the water.
"Later, Rad Red!" Sonic called towards Knuckles, as he ran along the ocean's surface beyond the speed of sound.
"Whatever. Get off my island," Chief Knuckles called back. He watched as Sonic and Tails caught onto the Tornado by pure chance, and flew forward steadily into the evening. Away from Angel Island. Dolphins and birds surrounded the Tornado as it flew off. Knuckles laughed through his nose, smiling and breaking his stoic demeanor yet again.
"See ya too, True Blue," Knuckles chuckled under his breath, turning around dismissively and walking back to his altar.
...
Knuckles sat by the Master Emerald. The Chao were asleep, and Tikal along with Chaos had just up and disappeared into some other location on the island. This left Knuckles completely alone with his thoughts, staring at the stars in the night sky confusedly. With nobody there to scratch that itch of social interaction, his thoughts turned into words meant for nobody but himself.
"I'll probably be on this island forever," Knuckles stated, his momentarily softened voice being carried along with the wind. "Guarding the Master Emerald, for the rest of my days." He paused to think. "The world almost ended recently, to a calamity prophesied long ago, in warnings ignored by modern society. I used to think that if the world came crumbling down around me, I'd be content if I still had my island. Now… I'm not so sure." The Master Emerald glowed, shimmering and dazzling. "I don't know much about the outside world, but what I do know is that I have people that matter to me out there. Sonic, Tails, Amy… I hope to see them again, but I'm not going to count on it. Warlord Pachacamac is gone, and while I am still a little sad about it, perhaps it's better that way."
Knuckles took a deep breath.
"I am at peace once more."
With those words, the waves around the island rippled and fled back away into the deep sea. As the island began to rise into a deeper sky upon the command of the positive forces of the Master Emerald. Angel Island soared above the clouds, and floated there amidst the heavens. Where it belonged.
END OF ARC 3, "RESTRAINED." END OF SONIC RUNAWAYS' GENESIS SAGA.