Red Guardians

by MetalJrock

Sonic 3: Welcome to Angel Island

"We're almost at Angel Island." said Tails, his eyes never turning away from the open ocean ahead of him. The two-tailed fox piloted the plane, the Tornado, right over the ocean as they neared the once floating island, now grounded for reasons they can't explain. "And it looks like Robotnik made it there before us."

Sonic gagged, the blue hedgehog tapping his foot, "Typical Robuttnik. Seems he couldn't let the whole Death Egg plan go. Now he's getting a legendary island involved." he said, "You said there was somethin' here he could use right?"

Tails nodded, "The Master Emerald. It's the source of the Chaos Emeralds' power. There are legends saying that it has infinite power unlike the normal emeralds. Robotnik could be using it to power the Death Egg."

"Well, I guess we're going to prove a legend to be real." Sonic playfully responded, his black eyes gazing ahead. "It's about time we find him though. Honestly, he shouldn't have crashed the island if he wanted to remain hidden." he joked, "That only got us closer to finding him instead."

Tails nodded, "So we're going to stop his plans, right?"

Sonic smirked, "Heck yeah, little bro! Robuttnik is gonna get kicked where the sun won't shine by the time I'm through with him!"

"Are you talking about his--" Tails started to say something, but the hedgeog cut him off.

Sonic raised a hand, "Yeah. I thought I told you to never repeat it."

"Sorry." sighed Tails.

The hedgehog nodded, "It's no problem." he turned his head, "In the meantime, I was thinkin' of getting a headstart with the Chaos Emeralds to see if this fabled guardian's willin' to help."

"Go ahead. I'll meet you there soon." replied the fox.

Sonic smirked, "Awesome. Meet ya there!" he hopped off the plane, curling into a ball as he jumped. He extended his hands, allowing seven gens to float and glow around him. Then a golden aura surrounded his body. His fur changed color from blue to yellow and his spikes turned upward. Along with the change in appearance, Sonic also gained the ability of flight and near-invulnerability.

Super Sonic hovered over the water, his speed causing the water to create a trail behind him as he passed Tails. "Almost there! With the emeralds, Robuttnik's plan is done!"

But as Super Sonic flew further into the jungle, he felt something hit him from underneath, knocking him back. "I just had to jinx it. But I thought I was invincible!" he whined. He looked down, seeing the Chaos Emeralds scattered around him.

Sonic turned his head upward, seeing a strange red echidna glaring at him as he sat on the grass. Knuckles scowled as a strange song began to play behind them somehow, "Uh... How are you doing that?" asked the hedgehog.

Knuckles leaned down, clearing his throat. He pointed a finger at Sonic as he began.

"How dare you try to infiltrate my home! And hope you may steal my percious jewels!"

As he sang this, Sonic gave Knuckles a blank stare, both annoyed and unimpressed.

"The Chaos Emeralds belong to me! You shall perish if you break my rules!"

Knuckles tossed one of the Chaos Emeralds in his hand as he spun around before catching it, "I'll take these gems of yours! See how you like it yourself!"

The echidna pointed back at his new rival, "Now leave this island you spiky little fiend! If you know what's good for your heaaaalllttthh!" he finished the last verse loudly. The background noise faded as Knuckles finished his song.

Sonic merely blinked, an awkward silence filling the time. Then the hedgehog glared at his rival, "Give those back!"

Knuckles sang, "Nooooooooo!" then he ran off with the other Chaos Emeralds in his possession.

The hedgehog merely twitched while sitting still, wondering what it was that just happened. "I'm never coming here again..." groaned Sonic, standing up and dusting himself off. The sound of running got his attention and he found Tails.

"Hey, Tails. You'll never believe what happened..." sighed Sonic, rubbing the back of his head. "I mean... I don't even know."

Tails raised a hand, "We can focus on that later, Sonic! Where are the Chaos Emeralds?"

Sonic's eyes went wide, "Oh, uh... About that. This red guy just sorta knocked 'em outta me, sang, then left." he revealed.

---

Back in the Hidden Palace, Big Mac watched the whole ordeal through the monitors. "Why did Mister Knuckles sing?" he asked himself before pointing something out, "Sonic and Tails seem... nice actually. They don't look evil," he chose not to dig further into those thoughts in case it was all a fake act, then heard the sound of a teleporter, seeing Knuckles walk out of the glowing red light that summoned him.

"Hey, Mac." Knuckles greeted, "Like that little number? Robotnik said to do that to throw him in for a loop. Got this thing called a radio to do the work. You enjoy it?"

At the colt's nod, the echidna continued, "Great. I got the Chaos Emeralds out of Sonic's possession and sent them to the Special Zone, where he'll have no choice but to survive the trials that await him and his two-tailed friend."

"Cool! Can we see that?" Big Mac wondered.

Knuckles shook his head, "The Special Zones exist in a dimension that not even Robotnik can survey. So we're in the dark whenever they find a Warp Ring." he ruffled the pony's mane, "Now, how about we keep an eye on them and next time you get to spring a trap?"

"Eeyup!" cheered the colt. The two turned back to the monitors to watch their new rivals.

---

Sonic jumped over the Motobug Badnik, curling into a ball in the process, using the move he called a Spin-Dash. Tails repeated his actions, breaking through the robot with ease. "Keep up, Tails! I gotta teach that red guy a lesson!"

"You mean the guardian? I always thought he hated guests anyway!" Tails shouted.

The hedgehog jumped on a rock, seeing a pulley on a swinging vine. Timing his jump right, he grabbed the handle, then he saw another vine at the apex of his swing. Sonic jumped grabbing the handle before jumping off, landinf right on a Caterkiller, tearing off its metal head while avoiding its spiky body.

Tails landed next to Sonic, using his two tails as a propellor on his back to fly. "Hey, Sonic," the fox got his friend's attention, "Look at that trail of rings..." he pointed to the golden rings, hovering in a spot while shaped like an arrow.

"I think either the guardian or Robuttnik is tryin' to tell us something." Sonic noted. The duo turned around, seeing a shoddy put together stone wall. Sonic crouched, curling into a Spin-Dash, and broke through the walls with ease. As he stood back up, Tails looked upward, seeing something form in the small alcove.

Tails spoke, "I think that's a Warp Ring!"

"Haven't seen one of those since South Island." Sonic recalled, "I guess the red guy put an emerald in there. I say we go in, get the emerald and get out!"

At the nod of his friend, Sonic and Tails hopped into the Warp Ring and into the Special Zone.

---

"Why did you do that?" Big Mac asked Knuckles.

The echidna sighed, "I kinda forget where I put the Warp Rings sometimes. That's like the only spot where I forgot. The rest will be more difficult for him to find."

The colt nodded in understanding, "When can I go out there? I wanna fight Sonic and Tails!"

Knuckles sighed, pulling out a map, "If my mapping is correct and everything goes according to plan. Robotnik wants them to reach the Launch Base, where he'll end things himself. Our job is to wear them down. So, they're going around Angel Island to fight one of the mechs and a creation piloted by Eggrobo. Then at the end of the jungle, we'll make them fall into Hydrocity." Big Mac shuddered at the thought of going on the slide again, "But you can press the button that removes the bridge at the end of the jungle. You up for that?"

Big Mac nodded eagerly, "Eeyup!"

---

Sonic and Tails hopped out of the ring, it vanishing in a white light. Sonic held the green Chaos Emerald in his hand. "One down. Six to go, little bro."

"Something tells me this will be our method of entering the Special Zones. You said it was Warp Rings once, but when we met they were in Check Points. It changes everytime..." Tails pointed out.

Sonic shrugged, "Maybe it all depends on location." he suggested, "Now, let's hurry and kick Robuttnik's behind!"

The duo ran out of the alcove, sprinting through the grassy fields of Angel Island in silence. Sonic saw a small tunnel ahead and an instinct told him to go faster, with Tails spinning his namesakes faster in order to catch up to the speed demon.

Sonic and Tails entered the cave and spun around, finding themselves moving upwards inside a giant tree trunk. Eventually they exited and found themselves back in the jungle. "So far so good. But I still wanna meet that guardian and knock him in the jaw."

"In due time, Sonic." Tails chuckled, "He must've been powerful to nullify the emerald energy in you."

"I know, right?!" Sonic yelled, "Whoever this red guy is, he knows more about the emeralds and what they can do more than we do!" he realized at last.

"That is correct!"

A voice muffled in static got the duo's attention. A round metallic object descended from the skies. It appeared to have weapons on it and ready to shoot. "Welcome to Angel Island! I assume you met one of the guardians of the island?"

Tails raised a brow, "One of the guardians?"

Sonic clenched his fists, "What's your game, Robuttnik?!"

"None whatsoever! You two will never foil my plan! Cause after all, you're the villains!" Robotnik laughed.

"Says the maniacal scientist!" snapped the hedgehog.

---

Knuckles crossed his arms, "We have no reason to believe those two, Big Mac." he reminded the colt. "Robotnik's been honest with us since the beginning. Those two will play with our minds, don't fall for it."

Big Mac put a hoof on his chin, deep in thought, but for now he pushed those ideas aside, "Alright."

---

"I must tell Knuckles and Big Mac I am sorry for what I am about to do. But you two won't live to witness what comes next!" Robotnik cackled, his voice silencing.

Sonic and Tails got into a battle stance, ready to face the first of what they believed to be many of Robotnik's robotic creations. "You ready to kick some butt, Tails?"

"You bet, Sonic!" cheered Tails.

Comments

[Tatsurou]

Yeah, somehow I doubt Big Mac will calmly accept torching an entire forest, whatever the explanation.

[HB_DS2013]

Was that a Sonic Briefs reference? Too bad Knuckles won't be singing in canon even if it's for a gag.

[Cauchemar]

I'm not going to lie. The very first thing I thought of when I saw the title was Soviet Russia.

[MetalJrock]

7666781 The guardians as well as Sonic and Tails will express their disgust. I still wonder why he torched the island.

7666805 Yeah, that was a Sonic Shorts reference. Now, canon Knuckles may not sing, but Boom Knuckles did in an episode. And speaking of songs, once I get to the Adventure Arc, I may reference a certain rap.

7677086 Honestly, I thought the same thing when I thought of the title.

[Discordkeeper122]

Anyone have the link for that song? I can’t seem to find it

[Discordkeeper122]

11278157
Never mind, found it

https://youtu.be/EHnZ-PTvS8I