Silver was unusually quiet when bringing Shadow and the others to Angel Island, which everyone there caught onto around the same time. They also noticed that he had a more 'angered' look this time around, which Amy was concerned about.
"Silver?" Amy called. He didn't respond. "Silver, are you okay?" Same result.
"[Silver The Hedgehog unresponsive. It seems as though he is in deep thought.]"
"We can get that much just by staring at him. The 'why' is what we're trying to figure out, Omega." Rouge replied.
"[Perhaps complete devastation was what he has witnessed once arriving on the floating landmass.]"
"Can we please try not to jump to conclusions!?" Amy scolded. "The last thing we would want is to jinx things into fruition! Maybe he's just thinking about other kinds of stuff!"
"He's held this same angered expression since picking us up. Not to mention his aura is off compared to when he was on call with us." Shadow observed. "He saw something up there."
Rouge chuckled. "When Shadow, the expert brooder, notices introverted behavior like this, nine times outta ten he's right about his assessment."
Shadow analyzed Silver's features a little closer and noticed that his eyes were slightly watery as if he were on the verge of tears. Shadow grabbed Silver's arm roughly, making sure it was tight enough to snap him out of it but ensuring to not hurt him too badly. He was carrying everyone after all
Of course, Silver yelped in pain from Shadow's firm grip and rightfully glared at him while rubbing his now bruised arm. "What's your problem?"
"I should be asking you that question." Shadow's serious tone reminded Silver who exactly he was speaking to leading to him tensing up. "What the hell is wrong with you? We call you and you seem relatively fine, next moment you're acting like some pathetic baby. What did you see up there?"
"Shadow lay off him! You don't need to insult him to get answers!" Amy scolded, puffing up her cheeks in anger. "I didn't wanna assume the worst but what if what he saw was truly horrifying."
"More reason for me to bring this buffoon back down to reality so we can get vital info. Staying silent and wallowing won't stop what's up there or whoever is responsible for this." Shadow bluntly admonished, looking straight at Silver, who couldn't even look Shadow in the eye. "Now, I'll ask one last time. What. Happened?"
Silver took a few more seconds looking up to Angel Island before biting away the anxiety to look at Shadow.
"HELP!!"
The gang was all in shock as they looked up near the edge of the island to see Tails being dangled at the edge by one of Chaos' tendrils. His twin tails were obstructed by what looked to be a solid ball of water. In its other tendrils were Nicole and Knuckles who were both unconscious.
"What in the world!" exclaimed Rouge who couldn't understand what she was looking at. Knuckles' limp body left her with much worry.
"Knuckles, Tails! And is that...?!" Amy couldn't believe it. Nicole Holo Lynx! Amy got teary-eyed at the sight of her limp body.
In the blink of an eye, Silver moved before thinking and zipped quickly, neglecting the fact that such speeds were something only Shadow could keep up with. He crashed into Chaos while grabbing onto the three hostages but the weight of everyone who couldn't keep up only aided in making his center of gravity get pulled back along with the rest. Rouge flew outta the way of everyone and made sure to grab an unconscious Knuckles with her while Shadow grabbed Amy with him, bouncing from tree to tree to avoid having a large tumble. With fewer people to hold onto, Silver could now safely reset his position and land safely with Omega, Tails, and Nicole. Amy had her eyes closed and mouth covered throughout all of that mess, feeling especially nauseous. Rouge landed right next to them holding knuckles close to her.
"You meathead..."
Chaos slowly pulled itself back together after their crash forming as though nothing had happened at all.
"You okay, Amy?" Shadow asked softly, eyes still locked onto the creature in front of him. She was seconds away from barfing up her last meal but she managed a sharp nod as she got her feet onto the ground. Omega joined Shadow's side and scanned the watery monster for any other intel needed.
"Got any idea just what we're dealing with, Omega?" Rouge asked.
"[The unidentifiable foe persists of 98% dihydrogen monoxide-like substance. Scanning. It appears to be a concentrated form of pure energy. Intelligence? Low.]" Omega readied his Gatling guns and aimed them at his target. Silver carefully placed Tails and Nicole down onto the ground and started walking up ready to destroy whatever he was looking at in a single swipe before Shadow placed his hand in his path.
"Don't you dare pull another stupid stunt."
"We need to destroy it immediately! It could be the very cause for why-"
"Attacking it carelessly will only get in the way of neutralizing it effectively. Did you not hear what Omega said? It functions like a liquid, an enigma that's capable of pulling itself back together. So instead of throwing random attacks out of anger, focus on apprehending it first."
"Chaos!" Silver and Shadow turn to Amy, her eyes are wide open now and she can't believe what they're showing her. "Sonic defeated him years ago! How did he come back!?"
Rouge raised an eyebrow. She looked back on a now fully formed Chaos. "You've met this tall glass of water?"
"Yes!" Tails interjected into the conversation, His tails were still stuck in the solid ball that encased them. "A while back, in one of the human cities, Station Square, Chaos flooded the entire city once he absorbed the negative energy of all seven Chaos Emeralds!" Tails grunted while trying to pull himself out of his obstacle. "Chaos was also the original guardian of the Master Emerald before Knuckles. He's the reason why his clan has been wiped out. The whole story is quite long so once all is said and done..."
"Got it." Shadow responded to Tails before he could finish speaking, getting what he was trying to say.
"But how is he back!? Shouldn't he be at peace with Tikal?" Amy asked nervously running up to Tails' side.
"I'm unsure why this is happening or why Chaos began attacking me and Nicole. What adds to the confusion was how it apprehended Knuckled so quickly. Now that I think about it, Knuckles was already unresponsive before Chaos appeared."
"How on earth-"
Quickly, interrupting Rouge, Chaos darted away from them into the wilderness.
"[It has made its escape. We must retrieve it!]" Omega and Shadow ran after the culprit instantly.
Rouge laid Knuckles next to Nicole carefully looking over him with clear concern on her face with Amy by her side, sharing the same expression.
Tails quickly caught on to her worry. "He's been like that ever since he laid his hand on the emerald to connect with it. The reason is still unclear, but I have a sneaking suspicion that could clear up this mystery! I just wish I wasn't stuck with this stupid ball around my tails."
"Leave it to me!" Amy walked around and faced the large ball then snapped her hammer into existence.
"W-w-wait!-"
"I'll be sure to turn it into itty bitty crystals once I'm through with it!"
Silver oversaw Amy's attempts to release Tails from his unlikely prison. She failed with each try at whamming it, not even a scratch was formed. She got more frustrated and smacked on it harder and faster scaring the daylights out of Tails. Again, no results.
"Oh man, this is some pretty tough stuff"
The young fox nervously chuckled. "I e-expect no less from Chaos to create sturdy traps like these."
Silver levitated toward the two. "Maybe I can give it a whirl?" Closing his eyes, all his power overlayed the ball of solid energy so as to crack it or destroy it. When both attempts failed, he decided to loosen it around the twin tails as much as possible, hoping that this would at least yield some success. Luckily, it did after some tries at expanding any space that his tails were in. Tails managed to yank himself into freedom, finally.
"Ah thank goodness!" Amy exclaimed, seeing Tails be able to walk around freely now.
Tails wagged his tails happily and twirled them to take flight. "Thanks, Silver! I've been stuck for what felt like forever!"
"Anytime," Silver nodded, still obviously troubled over the situation. "I'm going to catch up with the others to capture...'Chaos' and ask you questions later. Bring Knuckles and Nicole to a safe area in the meantime." Silver ordered before zipping into the forest.
Rouge began to fly and head into the sky. "Ima head out after it with the boys. Stay where it's safe as much as you can."
They both nodded.
"No need to worry! We got it!" Amy assured.
Rouge went on her way to where the action was while the two watched over the unconscious.
"Hey, Tails," Amy began, receiving a quick hum in reply. "Where's Sonic in all of this? Wasn't he with you when all of this went down?" Amy played with her fingers, worried about Sonic's absence. The furrowed eyebrows on Tails' face only added to her concerns. She trusted and believed Sonic was okay, she always had and always would, but the team being separated left her feeling anxious.
Tails let out a huff, the ordeal was a tiring one. "Minutes before our fight with Chaos, Sonic wanted to spend time alone running around the island. Though, from the looks and sounds of things, seemed like he was also getting ambushed. I saw that there was a whole show over on his side of the island."
"Did you try contacting him with your ComLink?"
"That's the thing," Tails groaned, looking at his blacked-out communicator. "Our only way of contact at the time started acting peculiar. We had received calls from you, Sally, Rouge, and onwards all at once! It was crazy!"
"Wait what?!" Amy was completely shocked by this. She had assumed based on what Sally told her that they simply were in too much trouble to answer the phone, let alone notice the calls.
"Nic had to destroy our communications because it refused to turn off normally, and ending any of the calls was a no-go. We guessed that even Sonic may have had the same issues as well. We had no clue why this happened!"
"Oh, there's just...so much to unpack from all of this!" Amy groaned. "We should at least pull these two further away from the edge and talk about all of this with the rest of the group later."
Tails nodded and proceeded on with grabbing Knuckles. Amy grabbed Nicole, her eyes drooping when hearing the lynx's distressed mutter. 'Please, don't hurt me.' she said. Why is it that after all of these years, this is how she reunites with an old friend? It filled her heart with so much pain seeing her like this. On top of that, seeing Knuckles, who's usually always on his feet be out of commission, seemingly lifeless...It did not bode well with Amy at all.
"Nicole AND Knuckles both down for the count doesn't settle the nervousness down in my gut. Not at all!"
"Same here. Knuckles' case, however, is awfully concerning..."
Amy's eyes darted to Tails. "Why's that?!"
Tails looked at his shoes, concentrating. Looking back to the moment he was face to face with Chaos after being trapped, he remembered how it walked up to Knuckles as though it knew he wouldn't fight back, as though he would ragdoll as soon as he picked him up. When all three were being transported to the other side of the island, Tails could have sworn he saw the Master Emerald tremble...
It slithered deeper and deeper as they ran after it, Shadow was closely behind, making sure it didn't leave his sight. Rouge was overhead, making sure that no funny business was being conjured during their hot pursuit of the culprit. As he charged forward, Omega would seamlessly destroy trees and grab them to block the path of the suspect or at the very least slow it down. Thankfully, Shadow could keep up with Omega's sudden bombastic intrusions and went along with his plan. The hedgehog balled his fist and a bright light beamed as much as it could within his tight grip.
"Chaos," Shadow waited patiently for Omega to throw another obstacle their foe's way. Once he did, he waited for it to make the next move around it, a perfect moment to intercept it while it thought it made a clean maneuver around the destroyed tree. "Control!"
In an instant, Shadow found himself in front of the creature, seizing the opportunity to strike as it slowed down to navigate around the tree. The creature was now vulnerable, creating ideal conditions for Shadow to make a direct attack.
"Move it!" A shocked Shadow teleported away from an electrocharged attack from Surge, who caught sight of the commotion while heading south. Chaos took considerable damage but hopped further away from his attacker. Shadow was now mid-air, and as he let gravity pull him back down to the ground, Rouge caught him and kept him afloat a little longer. Surge walked up to a fully formed Chaos whose eyes bore into hers. "Geez, how many freak shows will I have to end today?" Surge picked at her ear with a dissatisfied look decorating her spiky face.
"Now who could that be?" Rouge asked, a hint of annoyance ever so present in her voice.
"No clue, but her flagrant actions better not have cost us the chance to subdue the enemy." Shadow, while calm, held a sort of anger in his tone. "I'm going back down there to finish the job."
Silver watched everything unfold and cringed to himself. He hadn't intervened earlier because Shadow and Omega were handling things fine on their own. He should have expected as much. But when Surge joined in, he prayed that Shadow wouldn't harm her for her lack of coordination. He zipped on over as he saw Shadow was ready to get back into action.
Every time Surge hammered her fist against her palm, she would crackle with electricity, her bored expression betraying the spectacle she gave for all to see. "You're no giant dinosaur, but I guess a drink won't hurt" A smile crept darkly on her face. Chaos backed away slowly from her, making sure it was never too close to her with each new step she made. Then, Shadow got in between the two and attacked instantly, inflicting a direct hit on the creature. Now split in half, one part tried to slither to the north but Rouge crashed down to the ground and kicked it away, the force of the kick causing enough force to bring a swift wind its way. The other went South but Omega fired a flamethrower to keep it from escaping. Both pieces struggled to merge back into one, catching Rouge's keen eye, but once they did, they attempted to go west but there came Silver who used his telekinesis to lift it from the ground and contain it.
Surge went from scowling at Shadow for getting in her way, to slight surprise to see Silver. "Oh, Fluff, took ya long enough! You wouldn't happen to see a two-tailed brat while on your way here would ya?-"
Shadow turned around, his foot kicking up dust as he did, and gave a violent glare to Surge, who glared right back. Immediately, Silver ran to them in a panic for the very thing he worried about was brewing into something not so pretty. He used his body to guard Surge, to her surprise, from whatever Shadow was about to do, but the dark hedgehog's glare never faltered. Silver made sure to keep part of his focus on Chaos so he didn't slip out of his telekinetic grip, though he of course wasn't very happy about having to bear Shadow's infamous staredown.
"Who's the nuisance?" Shadow asked bluntly, clearly annoyed.
"Huuuh?! Nuisance?! Last I checked, I was the one who landed a blow on that slithering leak!" Surge exclaimed. "Aye Sil, who's the walking talking corpse? Does the zombie wanna be put back into the ground?"
"Surge-"
"Silver," He snapped back to Shadow, sweat began to form on his head, tension rising. "Tell your dog to stop barking. Otherwise, I will put her down." Shadow growled
Rouge covered her mouth though she of course made sure her hearty giggle rang through the thick atmosphere.
Surge's face was in complete shock as well as Silver's. His heartbeat began to quicken as he felt his quills rise from behind him, letting him know that Surge was beyond pissed. He had to think fast, otherwise...
"Shadow, listen-"
"I will do no such thing. Whoever this girl is, she got in our way of apprehending that creature and could have easily made matters worse if you hadn't captured it-"
"I acknowledge that bu-"
"If you do, then my reaction to her meddling with matters that don't concern her shouldn't warrant your guards to be pointed toward me. After all, it was her ineptitude that got us here."
Surge pushed passed Silver rough enough to let him know she wasn't a fan of his wimpy act at cooling the situation down. Her smile appeared unhinged, teeth crackled each time they ground against the other.
"You're pretty funny, ya know that? You? Ending me, give me a goddamn break!" Surge roared. "If you're pissed about me stepping in and doing something you were too slow at handling, just say that instead. Your tantrum would make more sense on top of it being hilarious." Shadow began walking towards her, and at any moment could pounce. Surge groaned, getting sick and tired of every single one of Silver's 'Good friends'. They've all either been pompous idiots who think they know more than everyone else, or try-hards who believe they're better than her. "Why is every single person on this godforsaken planet such a pain in the-"
"Enough. Both of you."
Everyone turned to Rouge. She looked on, bored of the spectacle before her while making her way to Shadow. "I know how oh so much you hate an unreliable intrusion, Shadow, but what matters is that we've captured our lead to the mystery of the Chaos Emereld's strange condition. Better to deal with the rebel some other time." Rouge gave Surge a sly look her way, who wasn't very fond of the bat's vibe at all but decided to remain silent. Something about these three, in particular, gave her a strange feeling in her gut. Doesn't help that Shadow reminded her of Sonic.
Shadow looked back at Surge with the same strictness before walking Silver's way. "When we're done here, take this thing to G.U.N headquarters so it can be kept under strict surveillance. Chris will help in uncovering just what the hell is going on."
"[Silver the Hedgehog, are there any other hostilities that we should be made aware of?]" Omega asked as the barrels he had armed spun in anticipation.
Surge perked up at the question. "Ah right, Silver I vaporized that giant lizard thing before ya got back, should've gotten here sooner!"
"It's fine, so long as it was destroyed, I'm happy. The sight of it destroying everything in its wake...It made me..."
Surge's eyebrows furrowed at seeing him so dejected, but she made sure to quickly switch to her more egotistical tune. "Brighten up already! It's reduced to dust now, so quit looking so damn pathetic."
"Lizard?" Shadow questioned. "There were two highly dangerous threats in one area?"
"Yeah, though the one Surge finished off was a lot bigger in size. I don't think I've ever seen anything like it."
Surge snorted. "Sported a giant button-like gizmo on its back, too."
Shadow and Rouge's eyes widened at the mention of that detail.
"Clearly whoever fasted that thing on it never heard of the phrase 'less is more', but whatever I guess-"
"Was it called the BioLizard?"
Surge and Silver glanced over to Shadow who looked a lot more keen now. Silver scratched his head thinking back to see if a name was ever bought up, though Surge spoke up instead.
"Yeah? It's what that blue idiot kept calling it. So what?" Surge said bluntly.
Rouge placed her gloved hand over her mouth in shock. "That can't be..."
"You knew that thing?" Silver quizzed.
"We share the same creator...but me and Sonic destroyed it years ago when it tried to destroy Earth."
"Which is why I am having such a hard time believing it came back after all this time." The puzzled Rouge said.
"Clearly not. That freakazoid looked like he hadn't faced death of ANY kind. Was giving your twin a run for his money before I came in."
"Surely Blaze and the others helped?"
"Eh, barely." Surge waved away such a notion even though they very much did aid greatly in the battle.
Shadow wasn't buying any of this nonsense. Chaos, a god that was the original guardian of the emeralds, and the prototype of the ultimate lifeform, something that was a world-ending threat...both appearing around the same time when the emeralds are acting out of control?
Then it dawned on him...
-------------------------------------------------------------
Tails stood up from the ground immediately, his theory began to truly grow and grow into a fact the further he looked back on past events. Amy gasped at his suddenness not at all expecting him to react in such a way.
"Tails, what's wrong?!"
What makes matters worse is that he remembered leaving the emerald behind as well. It had completely slipped his mind that he failed to take it with him when Chaos kidnapped the both of them. But the Master Emerald...Knuckles is...
-------------------------------------------------------------
Sonic was in complete disbelief. How is this even possible? He stood before the Master Emerald mouth agape as Knuckles stared back at him within the emerald itself, Like a reflection in a mirror just as surprised and confused as to what was going on. The girls who came with Sonic couldn't exactly grasp what they were looking at as well. Everyone was dumbfounded! What is going on!?
"Kn-knuckles? Why are you in the Master Emerald? Don't tell me your knuckleheaded butt got tricked again-"
"No, you idiot!!" Knuckles exploded with rage at such a comment at such a time, causing the girls to back up in fear. Sonic stayed unfazed as he usually does when Knuckles is pissed. "The moment I tried to connect with the Master Emerald I ended up inside it instead!"
"Hey, I'm proud of yah buddy! You finally reached third base! Rouge won't be happy though-"
"I'll make sure to turn you into a blue smear on the ground if you don't shut the hell up!"
Sonic was chuckling up a storm. "Just trying to lighten the mood is all, hehe!"
"How does this even happen?" Bunnie asked.
"Could this be tied to the situation you and your friends are dealing with regarding the Emeralds?" Blaze quizzed.
Knuckles was now a lot calmer and thought over her question. "Yep, this is definitely part of it."
"You reckon Tails and Nicole went out to find help after seeing their bud stuck inside an oversized gemstone?"
"Respect the Emerald in front of you, it's the reason why we have Chaos Emeralds, to begin with." Knuckles warned though he didn't sound too angry at Bunnie's comments. Right after his warning however, his eyes widened once he remembered what happened. "No, Tails and Nicole were kidnapped!"
Shock laid upon all their faces, especially Sonic.
"Why didn't you say this sooner!?" Sonic asked irritated. "Not sure if you know this, but their kidnapping ain't some footnote, y'know!"
"I...I don't know why that slipped my mind..."
Knuckles' unsure response let Sonic know that his slowness to let them in on the situation wasn't of his choosing. Sonic looked closer to his friend's perplexed expression.
"Is being inside the emerald causing you memory loss by any chance?"
Knuckles thought over what was said carefully and the group watched as the horror crept bit by bit when it hit him. "Uh oh..."
Sticks stiffened. "Uh, yeah that's ain't good-"
Knuckles attempted to punch his way through the emerald rapidly but to no avail. He gasped for air after his efforts and tried again.
"Knuckles, Please, don't overexert yourself! The last thing we would want is for you to tucker out after such a revelation!"
"She's right Red, better cool it for now. Just, try remembering who the culprit is. I'll handle the rest!"
Knuckles tried with all of his might, but couldn't remember such a crucial detail. He shook his head in shame.
"Hey, don't sweat it! I'll dash around and see if there are any signs of 'em!" Sonic said before running off the altar. "In the meantime, could you three babysit while I'm gone?"
"Leave it to us, Sonic-boy!" Bunnie assured. "We'll keep 'im company!"
Sonic gave them a thumbs up and boosted into action, now in hot pursuit of the kidnapper. The girls turned back to Knuckles who looked very troubled, deep in thought over the unforeseen dilemma.
"Aw, don't look so glum, chum!" Sticks reassured. "We'll getcha outta that prison in no time! Ooo! I know! Wanna see me juggle my many grenades with the pins off? Don't worry, I'm a professional." Sticks whispered the last part to Knuckles, who was barely paying attention.
"I, uh, don't think he wants to see that, Springs."
"You d'know that."
"His face say a thousand words, and I sure as heck ain't illiterate. Feller is going through it right now. Maybe the equivalent to a firework show ain't the best solution"
Blaze nodded. "I agree"
Sticks laid out a thick sigh. "Aaaaalriiiight, so what do ya suggest we do for him then, cause leavin' him as he is surely ain't gonna help!"
Blaze hummed as she looked over the situation again and again. Like him, she too is a guardian, so it's very possible that she could find a way for him to negate the side effects of being in the emerald. But she needs to ask him questions first to get the needed data to proceed.
"Knuckles, if I may be so bold, could you recount any other strange occurrences while being inside the Master Emerald? It's best to list all oddities so we are aware of all the detriments."
Knuckles stood up straight and closed his eyes to think back on his time in here.
"When I first arrived, I was in some kind of...Labyrinth. Various stairs merging, colliding, ceasing to exist when reaching the end of them. It's as if reality itself was...not real. An illusion, a distant memory that slowly-"
"Would no longer be..." Blaze finished his sentence. "Much like a dream. You wake from it but can hardly remember what transpired."
Bunnie felt a shiver on that thought alone. "So terrifyin'... The thought of everything just being a big ol dream, never being real."
"What else happened, Red?" Sticks asked.
Knuckles closed his eyes again, but this time, he visibly struggled. "I...I can't remember what happened after that."
"No other details come to mind? Nothing major?" Blaze questioned.
"Major...?" Knuckles pondered further in hopes of remembering anything prior to this conversation. Luckily, he managed to remember something Important. "I heard that voice! The voice that appeared Before the emerald exploded with Chaos energy!"
"It did what now!?" a confused Sticks comically questioned.
Blaze hummed in response to this revelation. "What did the voice say?!"
Knuckles looked to Blaze with stern resolve before relaying what he had faced In the Labyrinth.