Tails the Fox
Chapter 06 - Gemini's Dilemma
Stage 03 - Lava Glacier

2BIT: Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters are (c) SEGA and 
Sonic Team. You knew that, right?

Knuckles and Rouge soon came to an agreement. They would help each other find the emerald, then battle it out to determine who gets it. Knuckles was of course, quite confident he would win. Their search led them to a strange place. A glacier had drifted into a small volcanic island, covered the top, and the inside melted to form a giant, fiery igloo! Although it was a small island, the ice cave seemed rather huge, and under the steep ice cliffs were rivers of lava flowing through rocky chasms. Right away, they knew the search wouldn't be easy.

"I think we should split up here!" Rouge said. "You're liable to get me killed in here, knucklehead!"

Knuckles growled at Rouge, so she replied, "Or, I could just stay with you...." Of course, Knuckles didn't want to stay with her. "All right! We'll split up!" So, Knuckles went one way and Rouge went another. Knuckles glided from platform to platform over the lava, until he landed on a large, high, ice pillar. "Ha! I can see everything from up here!"

"EVERYTHING!?" came the excited voice of a little girl. "Yep, everything!" Knuckles replied turning around. Then, he jumped in surprise. "WHOA!" Then he slipped on the ice and fell off the pillar! Before he hit the lava, the creature he saw on the pillar flew out and caught him on its back! When Knuckles opened his eyes, he found that he was riding on the back of a white dragon! The dragon dropped him off on the ice pillar. It spoke in the same sweet voice Knuckles thought was a little girl. "Sorry if I startled you..." Knuckles hopped off and gazed at the creature in awe. "I didn't know dragons existed!" he said. The dragon girl frowned. "They don't exist... I'm not really a dragon... I'm a sorceress. I messed up a spell and turned into a dragon. Uh, my name's Gemini!" She seemed a bit nervous for some reason.

"If you're a sorceress, then can't you change back?" Knuckles asked.

"Well, I lost my wand and my spell book..." Gemini sighed. "I thought since you said you could see everything, maybe you could see my wand. I know it's here somewhere..."

Knuckles looked impatient. "I'm kinda looking for something myself." he grumbled. Then, he looked at the dragon's sad face, and couldn't help feeling a little sorry for her. "Aw, heck! I can find it! I'm the world's greatest treasure hunter, after all!" Gemini jumped for joy. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!!" However, her jumping cracked the ice pillar. "Uh oh, I don't know my own strength as a dragon..."

Knuckles jumped off the pillar and glided to a rock platform, while Gemini flew overhead just before the ice pillar crumbled.

"This is gonna be a looooong day..." Knuckles groaned.

Meanwhile, Rouge had found herself deep in an ice cave, but it was getting warmer. "I sure hope this doesn't lead into the volcano..." she thought. Suddenly, she heard a voice ahead of her...

"Eggman is the best! Better than the rest! We swiped something cool from a silly little pest!" It was the voice of Char the Chao! Rouge jumped and grabbed hold of the roof, so that the Chao wouldn't see her.

Char flew by, singing to himself. "The servers are the seven chaos! Chaos is power, enriched by the heart! The controller serves to unify the chaos! Hee hee! But the other forces of chaos must be controlled by a higher controller! Only we Chao know this secret! Char will not forget!"

Rouge dropped down after the Chao left. "A higher controller, huh? And I wonder what the other forces of chaos are? This little pipsqueak sure was helpful... Heh heh heh..."

Knuckles found Gemini's wand being held by one of Eggman's Egg Pawn Wizards. Knuckles easily clobbered it, and handed it to Gemini. "Thanks." Gemini said. "Now I gotta try to figure out how to change back to my true form. I'll see you later, OK?"
Knuckles looked around, then noticed there didn't seem to be a place for Gemini to fly out through. She was too big as a dragon! But Gemini simply waved her wand, and yelled "Abra-Ka-Transporta!" Suddenly, a bright light formed around Knuckles. "Hey, what's goin' on!?!" The last thing Knuckles heard before blacking out was "Oooops! Wrong spell!!"

The first thing he heard after waking up, was, "Get offa me you big Knucklehead!" Knuckles jumped to find that he had fallen on top of Rouge, and was in a rather warm tunnel. "Huh? How'd I get here..."
Rouge shook her fist at him. "You fell out of a bright light that appeared - right on top of me! I demand an apology!" But Knuckles just ran ahead of her. "Hey! Come back here!"

"No can do! I sense the Master Emerald here!"

So, Rouge took off in the same direction.

They soon found themselves in a blistering hot room, with lava in a pool on the far side of the room. Computers and various gadgets dotted the landscape, all with a familiar logo on them...

Eggman's logo!

"Well well! Some thieves have snuck into my temporary base!" came an all too familiar voice. Eggman's! "Well, don't mind me, my treasure seeking friends! I'll just pick up something and be off to my new base! But to be sure you don't follow me there..."

Eggman pressed a button on his plane, and Metal Sonic dropped down from the roof! "Intruders! Prepare to be neutralized!"

Knuckles and Rouge both hit fighting stances, ready for battle. But then, the equipment throughout the room springed to life, revealing a horde of Shadow Androids.

"Think you can take em?" Rouge said.

"Might be tough if one more shows up." Knuckles said in a joking manner.

"Ha, not for me! Bring it on!" Rouge replied.

In the meanwhile, Gemini was still playing with spells, trying to warp out of the Lava Glacier. "Hmmm.... I can remember a lot of strange spells... How about.... Volcanis-Escapera!"

Suddenly, the glacier began to rumble...

To be continued...