Author's Note:

This story is based on characters created by respective owners. The plot is original (to me anyway). Resemblance to any other plot is unintentional. Anyone may copy and distribute this work PROVIDED 1) it is not sold, 2) it is UNALTERED (except typographical corrections), and 3) my name is on it as the author. For any other uses, please contact me.
This series is based on the SatAM cartoon only. This is the first story is a series that is my idea of the lost 3rd season of SatAM. I attempt in every way I can to be as faithful to the SatAM universe and storyline. This version is a re-released version of a series I published many years ago. The story has been updated, and may be further altered in subsequent chapters.

Story by Coldlight-san (aka BrmSort)
email: brmsort
I look forward to any comments.

EPISODE 1: BRIGHT NEW MORNING

"FREEDOM . . . FREEDOM . . . FREEDOM . . . !" the Freedom Fighters cheered. The Doomsday Project was destroyed, and its diabolical creator, ROBOTNIK, had been deposed. Fireworks were launched, bursting in the night sky with incredible blues, greens, and reds. Whistles, horns, and sirens blared throughout the village, filling the forest whose only nighttime sounds were normally the hoots of owls and chirping of crickets. The Great Forest was flooded with the hoots and hollers of the hundreds of Mobians who had fought for years to see this victory. They danced and jumped and yelled out with joy all over Knothole Village. Tears of joy rolled down the cheeks of more than a few as hugs, handshakes, and high-fives were shared. After more than ten years, freedom was finally secured. Sonic and Sally looked at each other with joy and love in their eyes.

The pink aura that surrounded Sally and Sonic from the energy of the Deep Power Stones slowly subsided, and they rematerialized in their hands.

"So, Sal, what is this ex-hero gonna do with these bad boys?"

Sally shook her head. "I am not sure. Their power is so incredible that I still think it might be best to get rid of them. On the other hand, with all of Mobius having to start civilization from scratch, they may be a great source of energy for us."

"Kinda like how Griff used my ring power stone to power that underground city? That would be mondo cool, Sal. You know what? This hedgehog is thinking that this old world might not be so boring without a villain after all. It's a whole new world, Sal. With your smarts, my can-do attitude, and everyone else helping us out, this planet will be up and kicking in no time!"

Sally smiled and nodded. "There are so few of us, but we'll manage." The Freedom Fighters' numbers had dwindled over the years of war to under one hundred. But they all had remained strong, and the will to win had paid off. Sally gave Sonic a peck on the cheek. "Sonic, can you get everyone's attention?"

"Sure thing, Sal! - HEY, EVERYBODY!" Sonic let out an ear-piecing whistle. The din of the celebration slowly died off as as all stopped to listen. "Sal's got to tell you guys something."

Sally took a step forward toward the crowd. She cleared her throat, straightened up, and said: "Today, we finally won the great struggle against Robotnik." A loud cheer went up. "We have all lost someone dear to us in this war." All heads bobbed in affirmation. "But those we lost have not be lost for nothing because our oppressor Robotnik is finally gone!" Another loud series of cheers. Sally held her hands up, and the crowd quieted itself down. "Many of our loved ones are robotacized in the city. We will go there tomorrow to find a way to bring them back. Tomorrow, we will begin to rebuild our world starting with that glorious city that Robotnik soiled with the his pollution and treachery, that city my father built as a monument to the peace and prosperity of a free people. Tomorrow, we will begin to rebuild Mobotropolis! Tomorrow dawns a bright new morning!"

"HOORAY! LONG LIVE PRINCESS SALLY! LONG LIVE FREEDOM . . . FREEDOM . . . FREEDOM . . . FREEDOM!" The celebration lasted long into the night, but soon all grew tired and went to sleep under the bright stars of the clear summer night in Knothole.

The next morning, Sonic was up early despite the late night. He was impatient to get going. "It feels mondo strange waking up with ol' Buttnik being history." For years, he had woken up every morning with something to do: if he wasn't going to make Robotnik's life harder, he was certainly planning it out. But not today. He stepped out of his hut. A thick morning fog wrapped everything in a shady white mist. The smell of the forest came out strongest at times like this: the thick, rich odor of soil, humus, and moss. It was a smell all had come to appreciate ever since Robotnik had polluted pretty much the rest of Mobius, and he breathed it in deeply. "Somehow, the air tastes just that much sweeter today," he remarked to himself. The fog made him feel chilled. Wrapping his arms around himself, he meandered over to the Ring Pool. He found that Sally was already there, sitting on the old fallen log, toying with a power ring in her hands. Sonic sat down next to her. They were both silent for some time. They weren't looking at anything in particular, just enjoying each other's company. Sally broke the silence. "Sonic, I'm scared."

"Say what?!"

Sally explained, "It has been so long since we have lived in a real civilized manner. All of us have lived as rebels for so long, can we really put aside our differences, get along, and live together? I mean, I am going from being the leader of a small band here in Knothole to being the princess of a whole world! The politics of that are completely different. And my father, what about him? Oh Sonic, it's good to be rid of Robotnik, but so many new problems to address. Everyone has such high expectations. What if things don't go so easily, what if I fail, will they lose hope and give up?" Sonic realized her concerns – though the part about politics almost derailed him - but his optimism was as unstoppable as his feet.

"Tell ya what, Sal, I wouldn't worry quite yet. Give things a shot. Be yourself. We'll work it out. If we can smoke Bullet-head, we can overcome some attitude problems." He placed his hand on Sally's: "Hey, what could possibly go wrong with the Hedgehog on the job?" He wiggled his eyebrows up and down at her in a not-at-all trustworthy manner. Sally could not help but laugh at the "sell."

"Thank you, Sonic." His confident manner had a way of soothing her greatest doubts.

Sonic held her hands and pulled her up from the log. "Now let's get these lazy Mobians up. We have a world to rebuild!"

Miles away, in the smoky, acrid city that was formerly the capital of Robotnik's oppressive empire, there was activity. Someone had survived the assault on Doomsday: Snivley, Robotnik's midget of a nephew and (former) lackey. But he had a problem. "Curse you, Julian, you useless bucket of slime! Even from beyond the grave you make me miserable!" Snivley sobbed. He was so ecstatic; now that the "Big Round Guy" was gone, he would rule Mobius as Snivley the Great. But he had forgotten one thing – Robotnik, many years before during the Coup, had voice-locked the forces! Only with Robotnik's pre-approval had he able to command them in the past. But Robotnik was gone, and it would likely take weeks or months for him to crack the programming on the system. On the other hand, he could boss the robotacized citizens around and have them make new equipment, but that would take too long. He knew the troublesome hedgehog would be sure to show up in the city soon. He needed Naugus.

He tightly grabbed the arms of the chair in the Control Room and called out for the wizard. The Void opened up behind him in the back of the Control Room. Naugus emerged from the portal riding atop the Robocat that Sonic had once raced. The Void closed. " You need me, Snivley?" asked the wizard in his wheezy, crackling voice.

"Yes," said Snivley as he straightened his clothes and the few hairs left on his head. "I need a way to get full access to Robotnik's programs and command codes. The Big Round Guy has everything locked with voice encryption."

The old wizard thought for a moment and sighed. "My magic cannot change computer programming. But," he declared with a rather crooked and toothy sneer, "I do have an idea."

As Naugus and Snivley were trying to get Robotropolis up and running again, the Freedom Fighters were making their way across the Great Plain toward Mobotropolis. Sonic and Sally had gone ahead to check the main computer to get any data on how to reverse the robotacization process. The city was still pretty much abandoned as Robotnik had most of his forces stationed at Doomsday. There was one SWATbot they came across, but he was inactive. Sonic could not control himself. "Check this out, Sal!" He began taunting the comatose robot. "Come on, tough guy, gimme your best shot." He danced around the bot with both his fists up in front of him, like an old-style boxer. Sally laughed at his antics. "Why, I could beat ya one handed, even one fingered!" With that, he poked the SWATbot in the gut with his index finger. The metal figure slowly toppled backward, crashing into the ground with tremendous cacophony.

"Okay, Sonic, playtime's over," Sally remarked as she put her arms around one of his.

"Right, Sal. Let's go!" He picked Sally up in his arms. He never thought of it before, but Sally seemed so light. He would never admit it to anyone because it would be "too mushy" to do so, but Sally also smelled really nice. Well, that wasn't quite right. It wasn't so much that she smelled nice, but that it smelled like her, someone close and special to him. the smell of a thousand memories. And that made it nice.

They were soon inside Robotnik's former headquarters. Quickly they made their way to the main computer in the Control Room. It all felt surreal, how they were just making their way through such a place like they owned it. They opened the door to the Control Room. Someone was waiting that they never expected to see. "Naugus!" they gasped together.

"What a pleasant surprise! Sonic and Sally. Just the two I wanted to see." Even though his words were friendly enough, something about his tone and sneer hinted otherwise.

Sonic was puzzled. "What are ya doing here, Naugus? I mean, how? I'm the only one fast enough to get you out of . . ."

"Ahh, that is where you are wrong, Sonic Hedgehog. Look in the corner. An old friend of yours, perhaps?"

Sonic recognized the robotic feline. "That's weird, how did he get his hands on that?" Sonic wondered to himself. "Hello, Rodent," a rather sarcastic and diminutive voice said.

Sonic and Sally spun around toward the other corner. There stood Snivley, wearing such an over-the-top sinister suit complete with cape. "Snobbley! How ya doin'?" Sonic asked with a mocking smile. Sonic ran over and spread the cape out. "Nice duds."

"That's Snivley," the midget retorted, pulling his cape back into place.

"Yah, whatever ya say, Snob," Sonic yawned. "So you got out of Doomsday before . . . it folded like a cheap suit," said the hedgehog, who poked as Snivley's outfit to highlight his joke. "So what'cha doing up here with ol' Naugus?"

"It should be obvious even to someone with your diminished brain power, rodent," replied Snivley as he walked across the room and sat in the central chair. "Naturally, this is where the ruler of Robotropolis would be. And that, you filthy curs," Snivley growled, "would be me."

Sonic and Sally were not very impressed; they never had much, if any, respect for Snivley. They were more concerned with the powerful wizard before them. "Where do you fit into all this, Naugus?" questioned Sally.

"Well, I am very appreciative of Snivley's gift, the cat. In fair payment, I plan to aid him in keeping his new kingdom. Right now, he cannot control any military units, so I intend to help him." With a wave of his hand he hypnotized Sally.

Things were getting out of hand, and Sonic was ticked. "I don't think so, Pal!" Sonic made a lunge at Naugus only to be trapped waist-high in crystal. Sonic laughed. "Ooh! Big bad scary magic you have there, Haggis. You think since we last met we didn't come up with a way to counter your crystal traps? You don't know the Freedom Fighters, pal!" Sonic derided the wizard. "Nicole, my fav artificial bud, do it to it!"

"TIME TO ROCK IT OUT, MY MAIN HEDGEHOG." Nicole let out a high-pitched series of tones. The crystal trap shattered.

"Past cool, Nicky!" Sonic took a melodramatic stance and pointed a finger at Naugus. "Give it up! You're just a has-been, Naugus." The wizard narrowed his eyes.

"Do you think that is the extent of my power? Foolish creature!" He waved his hand toward Sonic. Instantly, the blue hedgehog found himself at the front of the Freedom Fighters making their way to the city. "Sonic," cried Tails, "where did you – woah, what's that?" he asked, pointing toward the city. Sonic spun around and saw a bright red dome of energy enveloping the city. He mumbled the name of Naugus under his breath.

Sonic explained the situation to all the Freedom Fighters: how Snivley and Naugus had taken over Robotropolis and captured Sally. A few took the news pretty hard, falling to the ground like they had no strength to stand. Others showed grim faces; years of war had taught them to accept when fate took an unexpected turn. "Look," Sonic called out, "I know this isn't what we wanted. It stinks big time. But we can't quit now, not when we are so close. Are you really scared of Snivley?"

"What about the wizard?" an armadillo who lay sobbing on the ground asked. "It was hard enough fighting machines; how are we going to might magic too?" Sonic really didn't know how to answer that, but he opened his mouth to say something, anything when he was interrupted.

"You fuels!" cried out a shaky nasal voice. All faces turned toward Antoine. With all the eyes looking at him, he involuntarily squealed nervously. He quickly regained his composure, cleared his throat with an uneasy cough, and continued. "Look, eet iz not az eef we 'ave any choices, no? Iz don't know about yous, but Iz getting very tireds of leeving in zee woods. Iz wants to leeve in zee fresh airs, walk een zee parks, leestening to zee lovely birds singings. Do yous want to leeves in a cave and 'ave your childreens leeve een zee caves too?" he asked pointing to a member from the Wolf Pack. "Or yous een zee icky swamps of the east?" he said pointing to the sobbing armadillo, who slowly shook his head. "For zee first time een years, Iz thought of warm sunny summer days een zee park, by a fountain, reading lover pooms to my Princess." Everyone groaned at Antoine's delusions, but they knew he had a point. There was no way around it; they had to keep fighting. How hard could getting rid of Snivley be?

"And," Sonic added, "we hafta rescue Sal." Everyone agreed. "Uncle Chuck?"

"Yes, Sonny Boy?"

"Whadaya make of this glowing stuff around Robo-town?"

Uncle Chuck took a deep breath, placing a hand under his chin as he did when deep in thought. He walked up to it. He thoroughly examined it – looking, listening, touching (it felt solid and slightly warm), and even smelling it (there was no odor). He sighed. "Well, Sonny, I can't really say much about it other than it looks like some kind of summoned barrier from Naugus. Perhaps a power ring will let you get through it."

"All right, stand back everyone. It's juice'n'jam time." He pulled a power ring from his pack and activated it. A yellow aura surrounded him. He curled himself up into a super spin and charged into the wall. It flickered and sparked but did not break. Try as he might, it seemed the barrier repaired itself as fast as he could damage it. The power ring's boost wore off; Sonic stopped. His quills needed some time to cool down. "Well, any other ideas, Unc?"

"Naugus' abilities are not all-powerful, Sonny Boy, but they can be very difficult to overcome. I suspect you could get through , but you need more power."

Sonic began pacing beside the barrier. "But where am I gonna get more juice from, Unc? Sally has the other DP Stone." Uncle Chuck just shook his head and put his hand back under his chin.

"Hey Sonic!" Rotor said as he lumbered up to them.

"Yo Rote, what's cooking?"

"I'm just thinking out loud here, but – Uncle Chuck, are you listening?" asked the inventor. Uncle Chuck started out his reverie, looked over at Rotor, and nodded. Rotor continued. "Anyway, I was thinking I might be able to give you a boost, Sonic."

Sonic gave Rotor a pat on the back. "Really? That would be way past cool. How would you do it?"

Rotor smiled widely. He knew he wasn't strong, fast, or clever, but solving problems with technology was his way of fighting. It felt good when he could help and even better when his friends acknowledged it. "There's no guarantee, but I think I can use your deep power stone to make a deep power ring."

Sonic was speechless. With his mouth wide open he just looked over at his uncle, who had returned to deep in thought.

"Hmm," he mumbled aloud, "it might work. If the power of the stone is inherent to its substance, the generator should be able to convert the power into a usable ring matrix. Of course, we will have to tweak the hydrofilters and adjust the palladium st. . ." Uncle Chuck's voice drifted into unintelligible murmurings.

Sonic's shock had worn off; he stood with arms akimbo, foot tapping impatiently. "Yo, Unc, so will it work or not?"

Once again, the elder hedgehog found himself yanked from his thoughts. He nodded slowly at first, then enthusiastically. "It might, I think it might just be possible, Sonny."

"Then let's get cookin', Unc! Sal needs me!"

With his uncle and Rotor in tow, Sonic burned up the ground back to Knothole. Tails, curious about the new power rings, decided to follow. The rest of the Freedom Fighters decided to start heading back to their respective homes. With Snivley picking up where Robotnik left off, they had to make sure the hard-fought footholds they had established were not lost during their absence. Sonic screeched to a stop at the pool. Rotor and Uncle Chuck took a few moments to get their bearing while Sonic tapped his foot impatiently. "Any year now."

"Remember, Rotor," commented Uncle Chuck, "purge all energy from the generator after you remove the old stone and before you put in the new one. We'll worry about the hydrofilters later."

Sonic pulled the deep power stone from his backpack and gave it to Rotor. Even in its deep blackness, it glowed with the immense energy it contained. "I understand, Chuck." As he dove into the cool forest pool, a power ring emerged. Swimming to the bottom of the crystal pool, he removed the sea-green power stone from the generator, purged the energy from the machine, and then set the jet black deep power stone in the machine. Rotor returned to the surface.

"How's it look, Rote?" Rotor wiped the water out of his eyes and put his cap back on. He gave Sonic a thumbs up. "Way, way past cool, my main tinker! So how long before the first ring?"

Rotor shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. "No way to know, Sonic. There's a lot about the deep power stones we don't understand. We don't even know yet if it will work."

Sonic clucked his tongue at his humble friend. "Rote Rote, Rote. You are one mondo smart dude. If you tell me its gonna work, then I know it will."

Sonic saw that Tails had the freshly-emerged power ring in his hands, staring at it intently. "I think I understand," Tails mumbled.

"You say something, Big Guy?" asked Sonic. Suddenly, the power ring exploded with a familiar and brilliant yellow shine. An aura of power ring energy enveloped Tails, giving him the appearance of being made of gold. Everyone looked shocked, not least of all Tails. "Sonic, do you usually feel fast when the ring activates?"

Sonic shook himself out of his shock. "Uh... well … yeah, sure, Big Guy. I get this feeling, like a can't stand still, even more than normal, like I am made out of lightning."

"Weird," said Tails to himself. He didn't feel that way at all. In fact, he didn't feel different in the least. He looked down at his glowing hands. As he brought them closer together, he began to feel something. It was a strange, unpleasant feeling, like something crawling through his fur. The glow on his hands grew brighter. As if the glow were made of fine sand, it flowed from his hands into the form of a small sphere levitating between his hands. Tails thought he understood what this meant. He looked at a nearby boulder, and concentrated the flow of ring energy over his body. The ball launched across the way into the boulder, leaving a singed mark on its mossy face. The four Freedom Fighters were amazed.

Sonic was extremely surprised. "Tails, what did, I mean, when, err, how, well . . . gah! Rote? Unc?" Sonic turned to the scientists for answers.

"Well, the ring matrix activation sequence is largely keyed to a soul or personality. I can only take an educated guess. You've been his hero forever, Sonny. You've trained him; he thinks like you. His bioenergy and brainwaves must be close enough to activate the ring but not allow it to absorb it into his biology. Apparently though he does have some control over its flow." Sonic, of course, didn't understand a word of this, but he nodded his head just the same.

Tails still glowed golden. "Can you do that again, lil' bro?" asked Sonic.

"No prob, Sonic." Tails brought his hands together and felt the same strange tingling as the energy around his body flowed and collected into a bright white star between his hands. He again looked at the boulder. With the bit of energy remaining he propelled the missile into the giant rock, splitting it in half.

"So past cool you're sizzling, T2! That could come in serious handy! Unc, ya think he can do that with one of these new DP rings?"

"Could be, Sonny. I expect the properties will be almost the same, only with more power."

Sonic creased his brow in thought. "We'll wait for two rings. We may both need them."

"Need them for what?" Tails asked.

A mischievous smile crept across his face. "To show some Freedom Fighter spirit to ol' Snob and Naug!"

Back in Robotropolis, it did not take long for Sally to crack Robotnik's voice-encryption.

"There you go, Snivley. All commands and programs have been changed to recognize your voice. Now," Naugus said as he looked downward at the crystal slowly encasing his legs, "I must be going. Cat!" The Robocat streaked over and placed itself between Naugus' legs, lifting him off the floor. Naugus turned toward Snivley, "Sally's hypnosis will continue until she finds some method to get me out of the Void permanently. I trust you will not interfere, partner," Naugus placed quite the emphasis on trust and partner; he gave Snivley a hard, cold look. Snivley knew the wizard was thinking back to the treacherous action of his uncle Julian. Snivley swallowed nervously, and he understood Naugus' implication thoroughly and had no intention of making the same mistake his uncle had. Naugus, though, was in the habit of demonstrating his points. He snapped his fingers. Instantly Snivley's nose grew three times as long.

"Ahhh!" he shrieked, as only Snivley could. "Please, Naugus, put back the way it was! I have given you the Cat. Surely, that demonstrates my good intentions!" Naugus waved his hand, and Snivley's nose returned to normal.

"Just keep that in mind, in case you sense a change of heart." Naugus turned to Sally, who was still working at the console, "Keep up the good work, Princess. You are most kind." With a laugh that was more like a symptom of pneumonia, Naugus opened the Void and rode into the vortex.

Meanwhile, it seemed that Rotor had been right. "Here comes the first ring, Sonic!" Tails cried out.

The normal rings, when they emerged from the pool, would agitate the water into a golden waterspout. But this was something entirely different. As the ground began to rumble, the pool turned black like ink. The water surged, towering like the ancient oaks of the forest. The sky grew dark as if the sun were being eclipsed. Then all went silent as the water froze, turning into a pinnacle of obsidian. At the top of the pillar, violet beams of light burst forth. The water returned to a normal color and collapsed back into the pool. A jet black ring drifted toward them. Tails nabbed it and brought it to Uncle Chuck. He gave a quick look. "Hmm. Without a scanning device, it's hard to say if everything is in order. But as far as I can tell, it all looks okay."

"Way past cool, Unc! I can't wait to try out one of these bad boys on Naugus' ol' domeski." Suddenly, the ground began to shake again. "Whoa, Unc! What's cookin'?"

"It seems the ring generator could use some adjustments. We'll get to that later though." Soon, another black deep power ring emerged from the water.

"Way cool! We got our rings. Juice time, Big Guy!"

"Right behind you, Sonic," replied Tails. In the blink of an eye and a whirlwind later, they were out of Knothole. The trip to the edge of the forcefield was uneventful.

"All right, T2. Get ready to motor!" Sonic pulled out the black ring. He raised it above his head to activate its power. A deep purple light exploded in his hand; Tails gasped.

"Sonic, what's with the glow?"

"Say what?!"

"You're bright orange!" Sonic pulled a small mirror from his pack. Hey you never knew when you might need one! Looking back at him was a handsome hunk of a hedgehog, except his signature blue quills shone a neon orange.

"Whoa, weirdsville. I don't remember glowing like that when we used the DP stones at Doomsday." Sonic shrugged.

"Didn't you say the deep power stones are, like, ten-thousand times more powerful than a power ring? I guess it is a side-effect of hypercharging you with ring power."

"Mondo awesome! Let's see what this puppy can do. Time to kick it!" Sonic charged at the forcefield. Before he could even touch it, it vaporized like steam into the air. "Now that's what I'm taking about! With this kind of juice, I'm like some kind of super Sonic." Sonic signaled Tails to follow. "Let's go Tails; Sal needs us." Tails grabbed on to Sonic. "Time to take off the brakes." With that, he charged forward at a speed he never even imagined possible! It felt like the air just stepped aside and let him slide through the atmosphere. "Hang on, Sal. Super Sonic is on the way."

Like a bolt of lightning, Sonic was instantly at the outskirts of Robotropolis. "HEDGEHOG! PRIORITY ONE! CAPTURE BY ORDER OF SNIVLEY THE GREAT!" Sonic had not expected to see the 'bots up and running yet, but they were never really that much trouble. "Well, botbutts, here I am, come and get me!" He charged into patrol of SWATbots, only to have them fall before he got there. Sonic pouted as he tapped his foot on one of the disabled guards. "This is boring. I don't get to hit anything."

"The hyper charge from the ring must be surrounding you with an electromagnetic field. It toasts anything electrical. I think it's cool!" remarked Tails.

"Of course it's cool, but there's no action. Ah, it's wearing off. Good, it's too hard to motor that fast in the city. Let's scoot 'n' root, Big Guy!" They encountered a few 'bots along the way, but shook them off in the alleys. Unlike earlier that day, they had to take the air ducts to get into Snivley's headquarters. It was a maze of ductwork, but the Freedom Fighters were very familiar with the path. They finally reached Snivley's office to find only Sally there, typing away.

"Naugus probably put a spell on her. Slap me a normal ring, Tails. I'll use the juice to snap her out of it." Tails pulled the ring out of his own backpack and handed it to Sonic. He stole out of the duct, sneaked behind Sally and placed the ring over her heart. He activated it. The blank look left Sally's eyes. "Sal?"

Sally rubbed her forehead with her hands. She hated how Naugus hypnotism left her with a two-day headache. She turned around and saw her hero. "Oh Sonic, thank you!" She gave him a peck on the cheek. "Now let's get out of here." She grimaced. "I need a couple aspirin."

"Not so fast, rodents," Snivley announced as he entered the Central Room with a small contingent of SWATbots and Hoverbots. "You're going nowhere fast," Snivley snickered. He then lost it at his own joke. "HAHAHAAAA! Get it! Nowhere - Sonic - fast! HAAAAAHA!"

Sonic and Sally rolled their eyes. "Excuse me while a chunk," muttered Sonic.

Snivley wiped the tears from his eyes and regained his composure. "Insult me while you can, Hedgehog. As soon as you're robotacized, you never will again." No one noticed Tails behind Sally and Sonic. He took the deep power ring out of his pack.

The Void opened up, and Naugus entered the room. "Now, now, Sonic. I can't have you ruining all my and Snivley's plans all the time." He waved his hand above his head, "Any last words, Hedgehog, before I turn you into a crystal doorstop?"

A flash of violet lightning lit the room up like midday. "I don't think so, Ugly!" yelled Tails as jumped out from behind his companions.

"Tails!" Sally and Sonic cried. Instead of the familiar orange fox stood before them a deep blue one with an iridescent aura. He held his arms out toward the enemies and channeled the immense power to the tips of his fingers. Sparks in every shade of the rainbow constantly shifting in hue blasted all the enemies. The robots, including the Robocat, were all fried.

"Way past, li'l bro!" Sonic high-fived his pal. Snivley lay stunned on the floor, moaning. Naugus groaned in pain as he fell to his hands and knees.

"You foul, tick-infested vermin! You destroyed my Cat! Do you think for a moment I would let you leave this place?" He waved his hand; the three friends flinched. Nothing happened. Naugus looked puzzled. Again he waved his hand toward the Freedom Fighters. Again nothing happened. His face scrunched up in rage. "You beasts! What have you done to me?"

Sonic relished the moment. He walked up to Naugus, placing an elbow on his back, leaning on the wizard. "Well, ain't that just too bad," mocked Sonic. Naugus snapped at him with his claw, but Sonic easily dodged. The sound of metallic guards running toward them echoed from the corridors. "See you later, Haggis! We gotta juice."

"That's Naugus!" But the Hedgehog never heard him, because he was long gone with his friends. Naugus coughed. "I have to get back to the Void before I crystallize." He tried his magic again. Nothing, not even a spark. "I hate that hedgehog, and I hate that fox," he hissed.

Back in Knothole later, Sonic related the mission to the Freedom Fighters. "So is that it? Are little ol' Snivley and Naugus down for the count?" asked Bunnie.

"Probably not, dear," replied Uncle Chuck. "The energy of the rings are very biologically matched. Tails probably just knocked Snivley out and stunned Naugus. I am sure both have already recovered."

"Man, what a drag!" moped Sonic.

That evening, Sonic and Sally went to wish Tails a good night. "You were too cool, Tails - frying all those bots and taking out Wheezy!"

"Cool? Is that all I get?"

"How about - WAY PAST COOL!" Sonic gave his little pal a fist-bump.

"Yeah, too cool!" Tails replied.

"He sounds just like you. I can't believe it!" cried Sally with feigned irritation.

"Yeah, he sounds like me, but he thinks smart like you. The best of the both I would say." He took her hand. "But you're prettier," he whispered. Sally blushed. Tails just cringed with embarrassment.

"Yuck! Can't you guys take that somewhere else?"

-END EPISODE 1-