The clouds broke beneath Angel Island revealing the Emerald Ocean, as a large figure floats over the royal blue currents .It was the wraith of the brown emerald, he stood atop a floating piece earth holding a large hammer. The hammer’s mallet was decorated with strange symbols, and at the end of each side of the head were two large orbs that glowed with ancient power. This wraith was an eight foot tall ram that looked like a walking chunk of stone. His mighty horns spiraled from his head, and his pupils were red as a burning flame surrounded by jet black eyes. He growled under his breath, puffing clouds of brown dust from his snout, “Mmm, for thousands of years I have awaited this moment, the chance to get my revenge on that treacherous echidna!†He grumbled, slightly lifting his hammer from the mound, “Heh-heh, let, let them remember this moment!!...†He hit the bottom of his hammer on the floating chunk of stone he stood upon; the ocean below began to ripple as large stones appeared from beneath it, waves of water clapped against one another as the large boulders floated into the air. They stayed in orbit around the wraith, “THE DAY GRUNK CONQUERED ANGEL ISLAND!!!â€
Knuckles and Elen-da reached Matoa’s dwelling, located on the edge of the island, over- looking a steep cliff .Matoa was the oldest living echidna, it was said that he was one of the original guardians of the chaos emeralds before Knuckles’ father, “Hmâ€Knuckles smirked, “Some people just can’t let go of the past -can they “He giggled to Elen-da,â€What wasn’t amused by his comment, about Matoa’s old wooden hut. They entered the opening that was covered by a red cloth, and walked into a room decorated with ancient echidna charms, tribal masks, and walls full of hand painted drawings. Knuckles noticed a wood fire burning in the center of the hut, and before he could speak his name, Matoa’s fateful assistant Saami interrupted, “The honorable Matoa expected youâ€, He said standing next to a stout dark figure. Saami walked around the fire, he was Matoa’s closest friend and translator, he was a tall slender echidna that wore an ancient echidna tribal robe, and had stripped markings on his face. He stood to the side as the figure revealed itself, it was Matoa, wearing an echidna shaman robe, he walked into the room ,holding a wooden staff in his left hand, clutching it tightly as he slowly made his way over to the camp fire. Knuckles, and Elen-da watched in awe, his wrinkled black fur, and dreadlocks decorated with jewels, showing his status as a master of mystic arts, made them highly nervous. Not to mention his face, which was covered by black fur, making it hard to see his eyes anywhere they were looking. Matoa sat on the opposite side of the fire , while Saami stood next to him, “My master knows you have questions about what you have done…â€,Knuckles scratched his head in guilt, never making eye contact with Matoa, he slowly walked closer to the fire as Saami continued, “And he is willing to answer themâ€, Knuckles turned and looked at Elen-da,â€What looked him anticipation of Matoa’s answers, then looked back at Matoa, and sternly asked, “Why did this happen? Why did these creatures appear? â€Matoa began speaking in an archaic dialect, while Saami translated. He explained to Knuckles that the creatures’ appearances are the result of him trying to unlock the true power of the emeralds, “But I wasn’t trying to do that I was!!…â€Knuckles exclaimed, but was interrupted by Matoa’s hoarse voice, and Saami’s translations, “You weren’t, but the chaos wraiths were bonded to that same incantation, and when you recited it the two times, that you did-they were awakenedâ€, Knuckles stood in confusion, he couldn’t understand why such terrible creatures were bonded with a powerful spell, “So what you’re saying is that they act as security for just that spell?â€, He asked ,hunching his shoulders, as Matoa ,and Saami continued, “They act that way for the emeralds, they are used as a fail-safe for if the chaos emeralds are in dangerâ€,Elen-da stepped in next to Knuckles, angered by what she was hearing, and yelled, “So these creatures were meant to destroy any and everything if the emeralds are tampered with!?â€,Matoa spoke as he drew small hieroglyphs on the dirt in front of him using his finger, Saami looked down in sorrow as he translated, “yes, the ancients felt that the emeralds would bring an end to the world, so they figured that they would get the last laugh by having all those who were power hungry destroyed by the very thing they longed forâ€, Knuckles couldn’t believe what he had just heard, his ancestors were responsible for creating the chaos wraiths, and he pondered on how Matoa would answer his next question, “Is there any way to stop them? “He said hesitating, Matoa spoke low, he pointed at the seven glyphs on the ground in front of him, Saami translated, “The wraiths are powerful, and have laid dormant in the emeralds for quite some time, but they are still mortalâ€,Matoa continued speaking as he pulled out a small blade and began stabbing each heiroglpyh,while Saami translated, “The chaos emeralds are inside of them, they are all that’s keeping them alive, you must remove them by defeating the wraiths in battleâ€, Knuckles nodded his head, upset about the answer he was given, but knew it had to be done .He and Elen-da said their goodbyes to Matoa ,and Saami, they thanked them for their help as well, Matoa spoke once more, “Good luck,Guardian,and may Aurora protect you!!â€Saami translated as they disappeared into the woods, waving goodbye to them.
Downtown Enchindopolis was a site for those with exotic taste, especially for those that enjoyed fine cuisine, but in Tails’ case a simple sandwich was good enough. He and, Cream stepped out of a small diner, full ,and bloated from stuffing their stomachs, “See I told you it would be worth it “Cream said, leaning against Tails’ arm, as they stumbled down the road. The tall buildings, and millions of creatures in the area made hard to believe that this was once sacred ground to the early echidnas, and its vast technology fascinated the two of them as they walked down the streets,â€Yeah, I guess you were right, but…â€Tails stops as he turns around to see a swarm of creatures running toward him and Cream, screaming and yelling, “Whoa!!â€He yells as he grabs Cream’s arm, they notice the fear on the creature’s faces as they run past them, “What happened!?â€Asked Cream, struggling to stay near Tails, he was going to answer her, but notices a 30 foot boulder falling towards them, he yanks Cream’s arm as they jump out of the way. The boulder slams into one building then ricochets hitting another, and lands a few feet away from the two of them. They stand to their feet, coughing on the dust, and trying to recuperate,â€RRRAAAAARRRGGH!!!!†They both her the roars echo through the city as creatures run frantically, screaming,†Awww,don’t tell me they’re coming here too!!â€Yelled Cream,â€Yeah, where’s Knuckles when you need him! “Tails exclaimed, “Right here, runt!!†yelled Knuckles, as he glided over their heads, landing in front of the two of them, “I hope you have some answers on how to stomp those tyrants, because we’ve got a visitor-and he isn’t here for dinner! â€Grunk floats near the edge of the island, launching more large boulders across its vast landscape, “ANGEL ISLAND, FEEL MY PAIN!!!â€He shouts as he bats an even larger boulder with his hammer-toward the island.Knuckles,Tails ,and Cream stood at the edge of the city, watching Grunk’s attack, “So what’s the plan!?â€asked Tails, “I’ll deal with the walking pebble, I just your help to get me close enoughâ€, Tails scratched his head, “I don’t know, the tornado might need a little more work-but I guess it pull this offâ€, the two of them start walking away, leaving Cream standing, â€Hey,what about me!?â€,she asked ,looking at them in confusion, Tails looks at Knuckles then looks back at her, and with a smirk on his face said, “Just stand there, and look cute!â€, she remains standing, not only confused by the comment, but began to blush.
Tails sits in the driver’s seat of the Tornado, smacking the gauges, and small monitors, as he started the engine, Knuckles stood on the passenger seat, slightly grinning as he watched Tails insult the rusted bi-plane, “You sure this thing can even get us to that tree over there?â€, He laughed, “Shut up , and sit down , we’ll be launching soon !!â€,yelled Tails ,he was more embarrassed about the state of the Tornado ,than the comment Knuckles made. Tails gave the plane one more smack on the gauges and the Tornado’s main systems flashed on,â€Ha-Ha, success “he yelled, as they lifted off. The Tornado sputtered and weaved in and out ,but Tails didn’t pay it any attention, he was determined to stop Grunk, Knuckles looked outward , shading his eyes with his hand, “He’s over there, hurry before he does any more damage!!â€,yelled Knuckles. Tails made a sharp turn, nearly knocking Knuckles out of his seat, and steadily flies the Tornado strait at Grunk. He notices the plane coming closer, and the two orbs on his hammer began to glow bright blue. The blue glow covered a large boulder that floated near him ,and it split apart into several rocks,â€RRRAARRGH!!â€, Grunk bellowed ,as the glowing stones flew at the Tornado ,speeding through the air like several rocky missiles. Knuckles spotted the rocks flying at them, and frantically pounded his fist on the top of the Tornado’s top wing,â€Hey, hey, don’t you see those rocks comin’ at us!!â€, he yelled, Tails frowned as he continued his course, never losing focus of what was in front of him, Tails could hear Knuckles fussing, but his words were muffled by Tails’ determination. Tails weaved from left to right as he dodged some of the rocks ,but that didn’t stop Grunk, he lifted his hammer , and the remaining rocks closed in on Tails, and Knuckles, “go, now!!â€,yelled Tails, as the echidna braced himself for sky dive into Grunk, he looked back at Tails,nodded,and then leap out of the plane. In addition, one of the stones managed to strike the Tornado, damaging it badly, it spun around in the air- spewing large streams of black smoke from its engine, Tails held on as the g-forces pushed against him, he knew the Tornado was finished, so with a tear in his eye he leapt from the cockpit. Knuckles glided swiftly towards Grunk, the menacing wraith launched more stones at him, hoping to through him off, but Knuckles powerful fist burst through them. Grunk tried once more, this time he tried to crush Knuckles between some larger rocks, he watched with anticipation as Knuckles tried to break free, but the rocks got the best of him, Grunk stood silent for a moment, observing the floating stones. He almost began to wish it hadn’t ended so soon, but was shocked to see a white gloved fist burst out of the rocky formation,â€HM,YOU MUST BE THIS ISLAND’S CHAMPION!â€, He said, Knuckles finally broke out, and without hesitation, fall right on to Grunk’s chest.Meanwhile,Tails was stuck with a problem, his twin tails weren’t working, he hadn’t use them for quite some since Robotnic was defeated, and Knew that if he didn’t get them moving soon that he was smack right into the ocean below him. Tails panicked as he fell, he sweated hard, and his legs kicked against the transparent wind. He finally regained his composure, and shut his eyes for a moment; he could no longer feel the wind hitting him. All he could see was Knothole forest, but it looked different, the sun beams, the way the tree branches swayed, even the way grass under his feet looked was surreal compared to the actual forest, “Tailsâ€, said a voice from behind him. He quickly turns to see Cream leaning against a tree ,with her hands behind her back, she was wearing a white dress, with the blue band around her waist, it was the same dress she wore when she and Tails first kissed, “You need to wake upâ€, She said softly, as she walked towards him,â€Huh-I don’t ge…â€,Tails said, before Cream grabbed his face, and pulled it closer to hers, â€You.need.to.wake.UP!!â€,she yelled, a blinding white light covers him, and he snaps back to reality, “This isn’t time for a nap, wake up!!â€,yelled Cream through his comm-link, Tails looks at the device then looks down at the ocean, and covers his face with his arms, but realizes he isn’t wet, instead he looked back and realized that his tails were spinning. Tails smirked then put his arms to his sides, clutched his fists, and flew up toward the fight between Knuckles, and Grunk.
Knuckles, who was dazed from the reckless display of courage earlier, quickly jumped away from Grunk, and landed on the mound, but nearly lost his balance, almost causing to plummet to the abyss below, due to the size of the mound they stood on. Grunk raised his hammer, and nearly smashed knuckles over the head, but the crafty echidna, back-flipped , and used his sharp knuckles to grip the bottom of the rocky mound,â€COWAAAARD!!â€Grunk bellowed, Knuckles knew that Grunk was only trying to provoke him, but he also knew that he couldn’t keep his grip on the stone heap from his current position. He was sweating as he struggled to the top side of the mound, grinding his teeth, and mumbling, till he had finally pulled himself up. Knuckles looked and noticed that he was behind Grunk, he jumped up and landed on the mighty rams back, and let out a flurry of punches, Grunk felt his jabs and reached behind his back, and grabbed Knuckles by his red dreads. He looked at Knuckles for a moment, but the hot-headed echidna caught Grunk’s chin with a powerful right hook, the hit was so effective that the massive wraith stumbled back, releasing Knuckles from his grip. Knuckles went on the offensive, and went in for a few more attacks, but just as he prepared to catch Grunk off guard, the wraith head butted him nearly knocking him out. Grunk walked over to Knuckles and stomped on his chest, with a crushing curb stomp, Knuckles let out a yell of pain, but the yell quickly turns into a whine, “So mighty, so brave, your tribe must be proud of you champion! Grunk said, looking down at Knuckles as he twisted his foot into the echidna’s chest, “sadly, you will die before your tribe, and will have to walk this world for all eternity knowing that you were killed at the hands of Grunk, the conqueror! Grunk laughed as he watched Knuckles cry in pain, “That’s what you think!†suddenly Grunk looks up to see an orange blur fly towards him, Tails unleashes a barrage of kicks to Grunk’s chest. He managed to grab Knuckles as Grunk stumbled back, and flew off with great speed. Grunk was furious, and was embarrassed by how weak Tails made him feel, and gripped his hammer, pointing it at the flying fox. Several pointed rocks flew after Tails, and Knuckles, “Why did you grab me, I had right I wanted him! “Shouted Knuckles, looking up at Tails,â€Yeah, you had everything under control! “Tails yelled as he looked back noticing the rocks flying toward them, “I think I have an idea, one that doesn’t involve either one of us getting stomped out! “He yelled, as he made a wide turn heading back toward Grunk, “Wha?wait your heading back towards him!?â€,yelled Knuckles, he knew that going head up with Grunk again would probably cost him greatly, and he couldn’t take that chance, “Just hold on! “Tails yelled, he squenched his eyes as he got closer to Grunk. The sound of Knuckles complaining was muffled by the wind in his ears, and the site of Grunk triggered a nerve that made him release Knuckles right behind the stone wraith, Tails looked down as he flew over, “DUCK!!â€,He shouted to Knuckles, Grunk turned around facing Knuckles, ready to crush him, but was stopped in his tracks. Grunk looked down to see that he had been impaled with his own stone, Knuckles looked up to find him standing stiff, gripping the rock in his hand. Tails flew close ,worried about what Grunk was going to try next, but the wraith knew he was done and looked up at the sky and let out a sigh as he slowly disappeared into dust. Knuckles stood in amazement, then noticed a brown gem in front of him, the brown chaos emerald was back with all its glistening glory, “Heh,a trophy! “Knuckles giggled, picking up the emerald. He and Tails laughed for a moment, but the rocky mound that Knuckles stood on began to crumble to pieces, Tails quickly grabbed him and the two of them flew back to Angel Island.
Knuckles ,Tails, and Cream met with the Angel Island council one last one time, “So ,you were right “said Zantoa to Knuckles, “Very well you can take this with youâ€, He tosses a small gold ring to Knuckles, he looks down at it ,flipping it around in his hand, “A warp ring? “He asked, “Elen-da reported what you found out from Master Matoa “Zantoa said as he walked to Knuckles, “I apologize for the comment I made earlier, you might not come around the island all the time, and you truly are its guardianâ€. It was now evening time, and the island was a lot calmer knowing that Grunk was defeated, Knuckles, Cream, Tails, and Elen-da walk to the edge of Enchindopolis, “So, where do we go now? “Asked Tails, “After dealing with that guy, I’m ready to take on anything! “Said Knuckles. Elen-da looked all three of them, “My suggestion is that you go to Kryonia, we’ve received a distress signal from Damoniasâ€.Knuckles throws out the warp ring, and it opened up wide enough for them to walk through. Tails, and Cream walk through the warp ring first, Knuckles walked toward the ring, he stopped, looked at Elen-da and smirks as he headed through to Kryonia and the next Chaos wraith that awaited them.
Part 3 coming soon….