Chapter 10
Lava Reef
______________________________________________________________________
Falling, falling, careening from side to side, striking the steep
ramp, rolling down. Another drop, this time into deep blackness.
Landing hard in a warm place. Tails somewhere near, but doesn't answer
when I call. Deep silence, warm breeze in my face. So--dead--tired--
Then it seemed to Sonic that he was running, running, always
from the monster in the pyramid, through echoing passages. Now the
monster was a painting in the Marble Gardens mural, but still alive,
moving, trying to get him. Running again. Another wall, covered with
the strange pictures and writing, bigger than the biggest building,
stretching across the world, towering into the sky. Then a beam of
light was burning down on his face and arms. Outstretched hands slowly
turning into metal, the plating creeping up his arms--the light growing
brighter than anything, blinding him--fierce heat, like standing under
a focused magnifying glass--
Sonic gasped and awoke. He was lying on his back on stony ground,
and from the way he felt had been there for hours. It had all been a
dream. What a relief. But then where was he? The dream and what had
really happened were confused in his mind.
Slowly he sat up, bruised muscles aching. It was pitch black;
darker even than the lightless pyramid. It felt solid, no light for
miles. He put out a hand, feeling around. Rocks, rough floor, uneven
wall to his right. It was strangely warm. He had a feeling they were
far, far underground; somewhere in the bowels of the Floating Island.
Where was Tails? He couldn't be far. Sonic got down on his hands
and knees, hands groping, eyes probing the darkness futilely. It came to
him that he hadn't heard a sound from his friend in quite some time. Oh
no, what if he had landed wrong and--
One hand touched something warm and furry. An arm. Sonic felt
along it until he located Tails's body. The fox was lying on his side
with his knees bent, out cold. Sonic cupped a hand over his nose and
mouth, then silently cursed the metal that dulled his sense of touch. He
leaned over Tails instead and tested for breathing with his cheek. To
his relief, Tails was alive.
Feeling a little better, he curled up beside his friend. Not much
they could do now. Might as well sleep. It would pass the time until--
until what? Until they starved to death in this black hole?
The thought was so horrifying he slammed his mental doors on it.
He began to doze. The air smelled funny; kind of like propane gas.
It made him sleepy, dulling the aches in his body. He gave into it,
wondering vaguely if it was poisonous. Nothing he could do about it
anyway ...
* * *
Measureless time passed. Sonic and Tails slept, drugged by the gas
gently blowing in their faces. Only the ventilation shaft above their
heads kept them from suffocation.
At last the gas thinned out. The air continued to move, drifting
though and up into the shaft. The hole they were in was not a hole at
all; it was really the end of a mine shaft. Without knowing it, they had
entered the Lava Reef mines, an extremely hazardous region at the
island's core.
Sonic slowly began to awaken, returning to the surface like a
deep-sea diver. For a good while he had been aware that the darkness had
become less, as if light was coming from somewhere. Now, as he swam back
to consciousness, he was aware of something else. A deep throbbing hum
that seemed to fill the cave and could be felt through the ground. With
the unreasoning assurance of the half-asleep, he assumed it has the
island's heartbeat. But as he awoke, he realized that couldn't be it.
Slowly he lifted his head, realizing he could see the walls and
floor quite easily. Where was the light coming from? He propped himself
up on his elbows and found himself looking down a long, tilted tunnel.
The light was coming from somewhere down it. He thought of his groping
about the night before--or whenever it was they had entered this place.
What if he had ventured into that tunnel, crawling down, searching for
Tails? He shuddered at the thought.
Tails was lying in a different position now, curled up, double
tails covering his body like a blanket. Sonic looked at him fondly, then
shook him. "Tails ... Tails, wake up."
Slowly the young fox began to wake up. His sleep had been as deep
as Sonic's. He yawned, stretched, opened his eyes and sat up. "Hi
Sonic," he said sleepily.
"Hiya Tails," Sonic replied. "Feel okay?"
"Oh, I don't feel great; but I'm not in the red. My shoulder
hurts--I think I landed on it when we fell." He looked down at the
bandage, which wasn't so white anymore and bore a large red spot.
Sonic winced. "I wish we could change that. It'll get infected."
Tails only nodded, his brain still kicking on.
After a few minutes he looked around. "Where are we? I thought it
was dark at the bottom of the hole."
"It was. There's some kind of light way down the tunnel. And a
sound--hear it?"
They both sat quietly for a moment, listening to the low whirr.
It seemed to be coming from a great distance. "It sounds ...
mechanical," Tails remarked. "What is this place?"
"I donno," Sonic replied, climbing to his feet and wincing at his
stiff muscles. "But we ain't getting out that way."
Tails looked up at the dark shaft above their heads. "No kidding."
He slowly climbed to his feet and leaned against the wall. "I feel like
I've been hit by a truck--twice."
"You and me both, kiddo." Sonic ventured a few steps down the
tunnel, noticing the rough rock walls and wood supports every few feet.
"It looks like a mine of some kind," he told his sidekick. "We're
underground again." He stamped one foot. "I'm sick of this! I've been
underground more these past few days then in my whole life!"
Tails moved up to him and touched his metal hand. "But we made it
this far, didn't we? And we're still in one piece."
Bitterly Sonic lifted one hand. "Yeah, but at what cost? My hands
are totally ruined forever, and you're walking around with a hole in
your shoulder. Not to mention we don't have ANY of the chaos emeralds
anymore."
"But Sonic, we're both alive. Where there's life there's hope."
Sonic gave his friend a withering glance. "Look at the facts,
Tails." He ticked them off on his fingers. "You're hurt, I'm
handicapped. We have no food, no water or supplies of any kind. We
haven't had a drink since Sandopolis, and a meal since--since Mushroom
Hill. Robotnik might very well have all the chaos emeralds, our
supers, and the Master emerald by now. And you have the guts to be
optimistic?"
Tails nodded. "Sure. The dog either walks on water or can't
swim. I say lets keep our sense of humor. Look, we're rested and alert.
Neither of us have anything seriously wrong. Like Slasher says, never
give up, in or out."
Sonic sighed. "You sure know how to boost a guy's morale. You
win. I guess we'll hunt around for an exit or something."
And with that, they embarked on what could be called the last leg
of their journey, little knowing what lay ahead.
The tunnel snaked downward, burrowing through the rock like a
massive earthworm had drilled it. After a bit they came to the place
the lights began--bare lightbulbs hanging from exposed wires on the
stone ceiling. They were careful not to touch them.
At last they spotted the end of the tunnel; a strange golden light
illuminated it, and there was the smell of heated rock and sulfur.
They hurried toward it, stepped into the room ... and stared in
amazement.
The cavern was about the size of an auditorium with a high,
vaulted ceiling. Normally it would have been dark and rather cool; but
it was exactly the opposite. The floor had five huge lava pits in it,
criss-crossed by high stone dikes. The lava was red and orange on top,
but underneath, such as when bubbles broke the surface, it was yellow
and glowed like fire. The air was heavy and very hot.
Sonic and Tails stared in a frightened awe. It was bizarre, unlike
anything they'd ever seen. The walls were made of black lava rock and
reflected the orange light only a little. Further up they faded into
blue-violet shadows.
Sonic said one word that described it all: "Hell." Then he
beckoned to Tails and stepped onto one of the dikes. They quickly made
their way across to a tunnel in the far side, shielding their faces
from the intense heat. They ducked into the tunnel and leaned against
the wall, gasping. "I think it singed the fur off my arms," Tails
moaned. He checked, but it hadn't. Sonic felt the same. "Oh man, this
is a terrible place! Let's get away from this cave."
But this was the Lava Reef mines, and they had been aptly named.
There were many lava caves, and the tunnels wandered in and out of
them at random. And always, above and below everything else, was that
deep, throbbing hum. They found out later it was the circulation fans.
Placed at strategic points in the caves and powered by geo-thermal
generators, they kept the air moving. Without them Lava Reef would
quickly become uninhabitable.
Sonic and Tails found a waterpipe that had broken and was spewing
hot water all over the floor. They drank from the cooler puddles,
splashing their faces, splashing away some of the grit accumulated in
Sandopolis. Then they continued onward, thirst slaked and beginning to
feel hunger.
* * *
They had been following one rather wide tunnel for a while. Cool
air was drifting through it. They were hoping for a lava-less cave or
two, maybe a mine exit.
Suddenly the wall just ahead of Sonic burst outward in a cloud of
dust. Sonic collided with something and stumbled back, the dust blocking
his vision.
"What is it?" Tails asked from behind him.
"I donno," Sonic answered. "Stay behind me--it might be a robot or
something."
Or something. Like the thing in the pyramid. Sonic crouched a
little, slightly uneasy but ready for anything.
As the dust settled they made out a moving figure, just climbing
to its feet. It turned and looked straight at them. Knuckles. His mouth
fell open; he had thought they would be dead! He was unprepared for
this, and Sonic looked ready to attack at a moment's notice. So, to their
surprise, Knuckles turned tail and fled from them.
Sonic stood where he was, too surprised to move. Knuckles had run--
from THEM! "Tails," Sonic said, "did you see that? He ran away! Weird!"
"He was too startled, I guess," Tails said, moving up to stand
beside his friend. "Did he come out of the wall?"
They turned and looked. The rock had a gaping hole dug in it,
chips and fragments all over the ground. Sonic poked his head in. "Ah,
I see. There's another tunnel alongside this one, and he broke through
the wall between. He paused, and Tails saw a look of consternation
pass over his face. "Oh no! There's another of those glowing
teleporters!" He backed away from the hole. "No! I'm just now feeling
rested! No way am I gonna charge a super!"
Tails could see the glowing ring plainly through the opening. He
gave Sonic a pleading look. "Please? There's only two left. Maybe, if
we finish it up, it'll give us our strength back. C'mon, Sonic!"
"I said no, and I mean no! For-git it!"
* * *
They stood in Hidden Palace, facing the last two dead gems. The
cave was lit by the others' colored light. The dim ceiling's crystals
reflected flecks of color, and the polished marble floor holding hazy
reflections.
"Let's do it at the same time," Tails called from a short
distance away.
Sonic glanced at him, eyes bright with uneasy anticipation.
"Okay, if that's how you want to do it. Maybe it'll go faster. On the
count of three. One, two ... three!"
They smacked their hands down on the emeralds' tops.
The process was nearly routine by now, but this time it was
doubled. The cave resounded with the energy transfer beams, and with
the occasional agonized cry that escaped the victims. But at last it
was over. The brilliant light faded away, and the two were let down.
Sonic lifted his head and let his eyes trace the room. Funny,
he didn't feel as bad this time. The emerald he had brought to life
was dark red, and Tails's was white.
Tails slowly sat up. "Well Sonic, we did it--whatever it is we
did."
Sonic slid off the emerald and walked over to his friend. "You
okay?"
"I guess." Tails slowly climbed down. "What happens now?"
"I donno." Sonic's eyes strayed to the Master emerald. "Maybe
we should end it like we started it; by touching the Master."
Tails followed his gaze, then shifted his weight from foot to
foot uneasily. "Um, you sure? That might not be a good idea."
Sonic shrugged. "No worse than you wanting to come here in the
first place."
Tails winced at the tone in his voice. "You don't have to be such
a grouch about it. Well, go ahead. I didn't touch it at the first."
Sonic slowly advanced until he was standing before the gigantic
green gem. With sudden forethought, he turned and said, Tails, you might
want to back way off. It blasted you last time."
Tails obeyed, hurriedly taking shelter behind one of the emerald
pedestals.
Once his friend was secure, Sonic focused his attention on the
Master. He could see deep into it, like staring into a bottomless pool.
He drew a deep breath, shut his eyes and placed a hand on the crystal's
smooth top.
At first nothing happened. Sonic opened his eyes, looked around,
then down at the emerald. To his surprise, the inside had lit up, the
very core glowing as if a lightbulb had been inserted there. A stream of
something--light? electricity?--was extended upward to meet his hand on
the inside of the emerald. He stared at it, entranced. This was the most
bizarre thing yet.
Suddenly the Master emerald flashed out, overwhelming his senses
with light. Tails shielded his eyes. Something weird was going to happen.
Sonic flung his arms over his face and turned away from the
intense brightness. His eyes fell on the super emeralds, all of which
were shining like fire, triggered by the Master. The closest one, the
green, suddenly directed all its light to Sonic, as if someone had
aimed a floodlight. The orange one did the same. Then the blue. One by
one all seven stones focused their energy on the blue hedgehog,
blinding him. But it was more than just light. There was a burning
intensity, like radiation, that made it impossible to stand against.
For one moment all the gems brightened and the cave was illuminated
fully, light reflecting from the polished floor and scattered crystal
formations. Then it drained away. The gems returned to their old glow,
and silence reigned once more.
Tails crept out from behind the pedestal, eyes readjusting to the
dimness. "Well," he said, voice echoing through the cavern, "that was
totally strange. Did you see what it did, by any chance?"
He walked up to Sonic. Sonic had been standing motionless since
the light had faded, staring down at his cupped hands. Now he looked up,
dazed. "T-Tails. It gave me--look what it gave me."
Tails looked into his hands. Cradled gently against his palms were
seven brightly-colored stones. They glowed softly, bearing witness to
their power. "It's like I'm holding electricity," Sonic murmured,
staring down at them. "My fingers are tingling."
"But what are they?" Tails asked gingerly. "The chaos emeralds?"
"N-no. These are shaped different. They're like--" He broke of and
lifted one to the light. His eyes strayed to the big super emeralds,
then back to the small gems. "Tails," he exclaimed, "these are super
emeralds! Miniature supers! How cool--"
Tails shook his head, mystified. "But ... how? And what happened
to the chaos?"
Sonic shrugged, unable to take his eyes from the jewels. "I donno,
Tails. I just ... donno."
After a while he pocketed them and dazedly teleported back to Lava
Reef with Tails. It was a good while before he returned fully to his
senses--he was in partial shock.
* * *
I had run from Sonic.
The humiliation of it filled my heart and mind.
I had RUN from him! Just turned tail!
Of course, I had been expecting he and his friend to be messily
dead at the bottom of that shaft. Finding them alive was a shock.
But then, to simply run ...?
I entered the biggest cavern in the Lava Reef mines. It was the
massive hollow in the heart of the island; the roof was a mile up,
supported by seven gigantic stone pillars. They had been built several
generations back by the other guardians, but had been slowly covered
with flowstone, so they appeared natural.
I barreled across the stone floor, barely remembering to avoid
the nasty sharp places. They were the spots where the liquid lava had
cooled in ripples, forming sharp ridges that would cut and slice the
soles of your shoes. A fall usually meant cut hands and knees.
I had run, and was still running. I kicked myself mentally for
it, but I had to. Lava Reef was dangerously close to Hidden Palace;
there were several old tunnels that led straight to it. The emerald
chamber was sealed, of course, but access from Lava Reef was easy, if
you knew which walls were the weakest.
I would set a trap. I stopped a moment and stared thoughtfully
around the huge cavern. A little way off was a gigantic fissure in the
floor. A big earthquake had cracked it open a few years back, and it
was slowly expanding. It was now about fifty feet wide, and most of
the floor was molten lava. Yes. If I could somehow shove Sonic and
Tails into it ...
A plan appeared in my mind. Oh yeah, it would work great. Sonic
and Tails were totally gullible and would walk into the most obvious
of traps. I'd get 'em as soon as they got close ...
* * *
Metal Sonic was seated on a ledge near the roof of the monstrous
cave, watching Knuckles far below like a hungry hawk. His scanner
didn't work too well when tons of solid rock blocked its path, but he
could see Knuckles clearly, and knew Sonic and Tails were somewhere
near.
Quietly he reported in to Robotnik, who was somewhere on the
other side of Lava Reef. "Hello, Doctor. Yes. I have all three in
sight. Knuckles isn't leaving the big cave; I think he thinks Sonic
and Miles are chasing him, the moron. No, they won't be in your sector
for a good while, it seems. You have located Hidden Palace? No? We
MUST be getting close; I am picking high-energy readings on a cave not
far from here ... Ah, you haven't made it there yet. Well, keep me
informed. Do you wish me to attack the echidna? ... I see. Very well,
I will not. Mecha out."
The robot stared at Knuckles, a red speck against the black floor.
His metal hands curled into fists. "Not yet, at least," he muttered
under his breath. His crimson eyes brightened. "But I WILL spill your
blood, Knuckles."
* * *
About thirty minutes later Sonic and Tails emerged from the
tunnel and stood staring at the huge cave. At first they couldn't
grasp it. It was overwhelming, like standing on the lip of the Grand
Canyon. The floor was solid, but were those distant pillars real? Was
it all somehow a gigantic poster?
Slowly they made their way out into the cavern. "Wow," Tails
said. He searched his mind for something more eloquent, and added,
"Gee."
Sonic blinked his eyes and shook his head. "Why do things always
have to be so huge? It's just an island, for crying out loud." He
looked down at the floor, trying to get his bearings. After a moment he
said, "Well, let's cross this thing. We'll see if it's as big as it
looks."
Moving around had helped Sonic get over his daze, but he wasn't
himself. He was unusually quiet as they walked along, and seemed
content to move slowly. That in itself was a signal he was not all
right. Tails kept tossing uneasy glances at him, worried. After a
while he built up the nerve to ask, "Sonic, what's the matter?"
Sonic glanced at him, then back down at the ground. "Nothin'.
Why?"
"You're acting funny."
Sonic shrugged. "I guess I am." A pause. "I keep thinking about
those little super emeralds. Do I use 'em like the chaos? What do they
do?" He snapped his metallic fingers. "I hate these things. If there
were only some way to undo it ..."
They talked little more. The hardship of their adventures was
wearing on them, and it was good to walk in silence for a change.
Running parallel to their course and to the left was the big
fissure in the floor. Neither of them paid much attention to it until
they neared the far end of the cave. There it began to snake toward
them, narrowing. The rough basalt floor began to have cracks across its
surface, as if it had suffered in the same quake that had formed the
chasm. The ceiling above dropped lower, and the high wall curved nearer.
At last they came to a steep hill of loose rock, as if a section
of the wall had collapsed outward. As their eyes moved up it, they saw
the remains of a tunnel in the rock, partly blocked but passable.
"Do we go up there?" Sonic asked his sidekick, his voice
betraying his weariness.
Tails shrugged. "I don't care. One more obstacle can't hurt."
They looked up at the passage again, just in time to see Knuckles
appear inside it, sneer down at then, then retreat back inside.
Sonic and Tails looked at each other. "Maybe he knows a way out,"
Tails exclaimed.
Sonic nodded, eyes showing some of the old sparkle. "Yeah, let's
follow him!"
They charged up the slope. It seemed to have been made recently,
as most of the rocks had that freshly-broken look, and bounced and
shifted beneath their feet. It was pretty solid, however, and was not
difficult to climb.
It wasn't until they were three-fourths of the way up that they
realized Knuckles's scheme.
The scarlet echidna stepped out of the mouth of the tunnel,
folded his arms and leered at them. Sonic and Tails automatically
stopped and watched him warily. Sonic, faintly hopeful, called, "Do
you know a way out of here?"
"Ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies," he snorted.
His resentful scowl told him not to ask any favors.
The three exchanged stares for a few minutes, Sonic and Tails
trying to be alert for anything. At last Sonic said, "So, Knux,
whaddya want?"
Knuckles nonchalantly swung his dreadlocks out of his face. "Oh,
nothing. Except that you knocked me down and hurt me." He glared at
them. "See, I don't forgive things like that. I figured I'd do the
same to you--until I found a better way. HA! Better get moving, you
cretins."
He crouched behind a monstrous boulder that was sitting at the
top of the heap and shoved at it. Sonic realized what he was doing
before Tails did. His eyes widened in terror. He grabbed Tails's hand
and yelled, "Run for it!"
Even as they began to move, Knuckles pried the boulder loose and
sent it tumbling after them. Then, his voice nearly drowned in the
crashing of the four-thousand-pound stone, they heard him laugh
manically.
The two tore down the rough slope, trying to get clear of the
boulder's path. Its weight and motion jarred loose smaller rocks and
boulders, and a regular rockslide was beginning. Sonic kept a tight
hold on Tails's hand as he had in Flying Battery. They steadied each
other during their headlong flight.
At last the floor was reached, but the rock was still coming.
Sonic had a dim idea that they were running toward the trench in the
ground, but could only think of getting out of the stone's path. Each
time it bounced and hit the floor he felt his teeth rattle. He risked
a glance over his shoulder--it was gaining on them. "Run faster," he
gasped to Tails, nearly turning his ankle on a dip in the floor.
"It's too close--"
And then the ground yawned open before them, a black ravine with
glowing red lava in the bottom. The heat heat struck them in the face as
they skidded to a halt at the edge. "No good!" Sonic cried. "Let's go
that w--" He stopped. They were standing on a spike that jutted out over
the chasm. There was no way to go, and back meant going toward the
rapidly advancing boulder ... they were trapped.
"Sonic, what do we do?" Tails cried in terror.
Sonic looked over his shoulder. "Jump!"
They leaped clear of the ledge and into space. The boulder
smashed down on the ledge, breaking it off with the impact, and
together they toppled into the abyss.
The chasm was deep, and Sonic had an agonizing four seconds to
fall. Sonic could see the lava below--a blurred red mass, like blood.
He wondered how long it took you to melt completely, and if it hurt
the whole time, or if you went into shock and it passed quickly. As
the lava floor drew nearer, Sonic thought of his friend ... no, he
couldn't let Tails die like that. His mind raced here and there, like
a rabbit looking for a hole, trying to find some way of escape. The
super emeralds! Maybe they could save them ...
In the remaining second before the lava claimed them, Sonic dug
out all seven of the super emeralds and flung them away, into the
lava. The reaction was instanious; so much in fact, that Sonic and
Tails were rendered senseless on impact.
The emeralds cooled the lava just beneath Sonic and Tails,
forming a black, hardened crust that they smacked down on. From that
little island, like frosting on a cake, the blackness swept across
the lava's surface, meeting both walls and sweeping down the length
of the fissure, cooling the lava instaniously. Then the coolness
worked downward from the crust, solidifying the lava for several
hundred feet underground.
Sonic slowly came to and opened his eyes. He was lying on rough,
warm rock. Where was he? What had happened to the lava? He sat up and
looked around. The walls of the chasm stretched up above him, zig-
zagging against the background of the high cave ceiling. But there
wasn't any lava anywhere; it was all black. Steaming in some places,
yes, but completely solidified.
His eyes found Tails, lying motionless on the black floor a few
yards away. He jumped to his feet and hurried over to his sidekick.
Tails was still breathing, but unconscious. Sonic cradled him in his
arms and rocked back and forth a little, eyes scanning the stone
walls for a way of escape. Tails would be able to fly out, he was
sure, but he wasn't sure if Tails could airlift him. They hadn't
tried an airlift since Tails had been shot, and Sonic hated to ask him
to. But what if they were trapped down here? That Knuckles ... For the
first time Sonic felt real hostility toward him. He had only tried to
hurt them, before--this had been an attempt at homicide. Sonic ground
his teeth. Knux would pay for this, and at their very next meeting ...
Suddenly, from all around, the rock began to groan and creak.
Sonic felt a distinct sinking feeling, as if the rock were settling
downward. To his surprise, a short distance off, seven glowing points
of light surfaced from the stone and lay on its surface--the super
emeralds. So he hadn't sacrificed them, after all.
As he looked at the supers, he noticed something else; a
passage had appeared in the wall. It had been covered by the lava
before, and was now visible. Sonic felt a cool breath of air touch
his face. It smelled musty, as if the tunnel had been closed up for
a long time.
Tails stirred in Sonic's arms and opened his eyes. "Hi, Sonic,"
he mumbled. "Where are we?" He sat up and shook his head as Sonic
explained about what the emeralds had done.
Sonic rose and gathered up the little supers. They weren't even
scratched. He pocketed them and returned to Tails. The orange fox
slowly, painfully, climbed to his feet. "Ugh, I thought we were
goners. How do we get out of this place?"
Sonic pointed out the passage. "There's air moving out of it,
so it can't be blocked. You want to check it out?"
Tails shrugged. "Sure. Might as well see if we can get out of
this place."
And they entered the passage, little suspecting what awaited
them at the far end.
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