EPISODE 28 "The Enigmatic Liquid Life CH@OS" At the Thorndyke Mansion, the gang, along with Big, are discussing the evens of the previous night. Knuckles tells everyone that the Master Emerald, the gigantic gem that keeps Angel Island aloft, has been destroyed. He says a few night's past, he was keeping watch as always, when lightning struck the altar, exploding the Emerald. As the smoke cleared, Knuckles witnessed a strange watery beast emerge from the broken jewel. Knuckles moved to attack the creature, but it melted down and trickled away between the stonework. The Guardian then realized that the Island was sinking, falling into the sea near the Mystic Ruins. As the others sympathize with the echidna's misfortune, Chris remarks that Big had also seen part of the monster, after a Chaos Emerald had landed near his pad. Big explains that Chaos had transformed his friend Froggy into a tailed frog. Froggy then attacked and swallowed the Chaos Emerald he had found. Chuck decides that they have to find the Chaos Emeralds once again. They cannot allow the monster that Dr. Eggman unleashed to grow any stronger. Sonic will go find Tails and search with the X Tornado, Knuckles will track down the missing Master Emerald shards, and Chris offers to help Big locate down his pollywog pal. The gang heads out, with Ella, Cream, and Cheese holding the fort at the mansion. On the island near Station Square, high up on the cliff face, sits Tails Workshop. Inside, Tails is tinkering away on his aircraft. Tails hears something near the shutter doors, to find Sonic smiling at him. Sonic describes the mission to Tails, who surprises his friend by showing him the Green Chaos Emerald he had found. Sonic gives an impressed whistle, saying "Let's get going!" The shutter doors on the Workshop open, the X Tornado taxiing out to the cliff-side runway. As soon as the palm trees on the perimeter tilt sideways, Tails revs up and they are off. At Station Square, Knuckles is investigating an accident at the Casino. Seems a green meteor had punched through a building and ricocheted through the Casino's sign. The police escort the echidna inside to the rock, which turns out to be a Master Emerald piece. None of the people surrounding the crash could remove the shard from the Casino floor, but when Knux holds out his mitt, the piece floats gently over to his palm. As soon as it lands, the shard glows brightly... Knuckles finds himself in the past. He is at the height of the Echidna Civilization. He sees the Master Emerald Alter, whole and new, and witnesses a scene between Tikal and her father Pacahamac. Tikal is telling dear ol' dad not to mess around with the Chaos Emeralds or the Master Emerald, as it could lead to their very destruction. Pacahamac replies that the Emeralds are vital to the continued success of the Echidna Empire, but Tikal is not swayed. At this point, Knuckles disappears in a blaze of white light... Knux is back at the Casino. After assuring the cops that everything was fine, Rad Red treks off to find more Emerald pieces. Above Windy Valley, the X Tornado rumbles as the Green Chaos Emerald starts to home in on one of it's brethren. The pair land the aircraft, Tails leading the way with the Chaos Emerald. The wind suddenly picks up, almost blowing the poor fox away, but Sonic manages to snag his ankle and pull him back to terra firma. The Green starts to shine brighter, signaling that the other Emerald is close by. The ground beneath them glows, they have found it! Tails hands Sonic a Power Ring, who then drills down with a Super Sonic Spin. Light flares from the hole, and the Light Blue Chaos Emerald is theirs. Another strong wind whips by, then Dr. Eggman drops in with the Egg Hornet. He buzzes Tails, who drops the two Emeralds. Before the heros can react, the Egg Hornet's robotic arm snatches them up. Thanking the two for finding the Emeralds for him, Eggman makes his getaway. Sonic doesn't let Eggman far, jumping on his craft and making an annoyance of himself. Eggman activates his vessels dual drills, then dive-bombs the ground, throwing Sonic off. Tails quickly tosses a Ring his way. Sonic goes into a Super Spin just as Eggman tries to impale him on a drill. After a short standoff, Sonic breaks the drill and smashes the Egg Hornet. Eggman disengages his Egg Mobile, but loses the Emeralds in the process. Sonic and Eggman chase the gems, but neither get them as they fall into a pond. The pond glows for a minute, then CH@OS 4 emerges from the depths. With an evil chuckle, Eggman orders his beast to attack. Chaos blasts Sonic and Tails back with a wave of his flipper. Tails is flattened, but Sonic goes into a Spin and flies right back at the creature. Chaos goes under, forcing Sonic to break his charge and land on a huge water lily. Chaos fires a waterspout under the leaf, but Sonic bounces to other leafy islands before landing on Chaos' brain. Chaos breaks up, but pulls himself back together using his four Emeralds. Chaos uses his flipper energy again, but Sonic jumps it and Spins into the beast, sinking into the pond. Tails gasps and Eggman chuckles. Sonic is out of his element and in Chaos's! Chaos breaches the surface, Sonic gamely hanging on his fin for dear life. As Chaos explodes a second time from the roiling pond, Sonic ditches in mid-air, and goes into a Spin. Using the periodic wind blasts to accelerate him, Sonic barrels back at Chaos with a suped-up Spin, finishing him off once again. With a snarl, Eggman picks up his toy and leaves. Just then, the Egg Carrier passes over. With a howl of laughter, Eggman enters the ship, leaving Sonic and Tails behind. Tails apologizes to Sonic for losing the Emeralds, but Sonic waves it off, saying they can get 'em back. Downtown Station Square, Amy is walking the streets when the Egg Carrier eclipses the sun. Behind it, Sonic and Tails are catching up in the X Tornado. Tails fires at the gigantic vessel, while Eggman repels boarders with his many anti-aircraft guns. Eggman activates a hidden cannon on the port-side engine, nearly blowing the Tornado into scrap metal. Tails dodges the hail, then rips the gun away with a missile barrage. The engine armor buckles, allowing a small creature to escape the ship. The Egg Carrier is scratched, but not out of the fight yet. Below, Amy watches the battle intensely, not even noticing a small glowing thing fall from Eggman craft until it knocks her on the noggin'. A small bird hits the ground, with a locket containing a blue jewel around it's neck. Amy complains about her head for a second, until she sees the helpless bird on the ground. She holds the bird close, comforting it. Above the city, the battle continues. Eggman tires of Sonic's interference, and orders Decoe and Bocoe to activate the dorsal laser cannons. The large guns fire, hitting a stabilizing wing on the Tornado. The Tornado is going down. Amy yells for Sonic and chases the wounded plane. Dr. Eggman gives a final hoot of laughter, then the Egg Carrier disappears in the fog over the Mystic Ruins. Tails is walking in a clearing, calling for Sonic. A bush rustles behind him. As Tails turns, he sees one of Dr. Eggman's E-12 robots step out! With a yell, Tails runs, the E-12 hard on his heels. Tails is saved from capture by Sonic in the Tornado 2. He looses the machine guns, turning the bot into junk. As Sonic skims the ground, Tails hops on. Taking the pilots seat, he spots five more E-12's in the clearing. Tails is a little scared of the robots, but Sonic emboldens him, and together, they attack... Tails wakes to find himself at Chris's home. Chuck asks how he head is, as he received a bit of a bump during the landing. Sonic is monitoring the TV, watching footage of their dogfight with the Egg Carrier and their crash-landing in Station Square, which injured some people by accident. The X Tornado is gonna need some fixing. Sonic gives Tails a thumbs-up, knowing the boy can fix anything. Chuck tells Sonic that he might want to bring Amy back to the Mansion, as the city isn't safe with Eggman on the warpath again. Downtown, Amy, Cream, Cheese, and their new bird friend are carrying groceries back to her apartment. Everyone is having a fun time, until a strange robot appears on the sidewalk ahead of them. It's Eggman robot, E-100: ZERO! Amy only has time for one scream. Nearby, Sonic hears Amy's yelp for assistance. He runs into Cream and Cheese amid the wreckage of the goods, who point to Amy and Birdie being hauled off by Zero. Sonic huals toward Zero, but the robot takes to the sky. Sonic is left standing helpless as Zero vanishes into the distance... To Be Continued! ----------------------------------------------------------------------- This review was written by Eli Sheldon aka 'SHADOWBOT' - used with her general permission.