Sonic Satam X Ep 3: Chapter 2A

Chapter 2: The Reconnaissance Mission Part 1 of 2

Meanwhile at Robotropolis a few hours later, Snively was doing research about the location of the first Chaos Emeralds on his main computer.

"According to legend," Snively read to himself, "the first emerald was last seen in the desert plains of the Great Unknown, buried deep under ground, surrounded by 3 separate mountain peaks."

Snively furrowed his brow at this information and commented, "Now what does that mean anyway? The Great Unknown as far as I know is wide open with mountain ranges miles apart. Oh, this isn't very helpful to me at all!"

Nevertheless, Snively planned to venture out soon and look for it. He knew if he could locate the Emerald in his possession, his chances of being supreme leader would be much improved.

As he strategized his next move, a Swatbot walked in with news. "What is it?" Snively asked, turning his chair around.

"The dragons have all been roboticized in your new Super Roboticizer and are now awaiting your instructions in the chamber room"

"Excellent." Snively said smirking, rubbing his hands together. "Assemble my army at once. We depart for the Great Unknown within the hour!"

"As you wish, Snively the great."

After the Swatbot left, the small dictator chuckled to himself. "Oh, this is too sweet to savor. If my plans go through without any trouble, I'll soon have those vile rodents on their heels very shortly."

He then stood up and said louder, "And then, I'll conquer those vile Freedom Fighters, once and for all! AH HA HA HA!"

Back at Knothole, the Freedom Fighters began their daily tasks, as they prepared for another mission to Robotropolis later in the day. After returning to her hut, Sally spent the next 3 hours strategizing, but had to use pencil and paper this time since Nicole at the moment was shut down. Nobody knew for sure if she could be repaired to normal, but if anyone could do it, it would be the one who designed the virus, Cyrus himself.

Sonic on the other hand had taken another run around the Forest for some exercise, as this was part of his routine every morning. He had usually done it with his best bud Tails, but since he was seriously injured, the blue hedgehog went at it alone this time.

After he returned to Knothole, Sonic had some breakfast in his hut and then went to find his siblings. He soon found them some time later standing around Sonia's hut, chatting with one another. Sonic then waved his right hand and said greeting them, "Hey, sibs, sup?"

"Oh, not much, Sonic." Sonia replied back. "Just talking about the big mission we'll all be going on later."

"Yea, I can't wait to get back there finally finish the job." Manic added enthused, smacking his fists together. "This time we finally kick old Snobley out of power for good!"

Sonic gave him a high five and commented, "Couldn't have said it better myself, Manic man."

Moments later, Bunnie came walking up to them, greeting the 3 hedgehogs. "Hi, y'all!" she said smiling.

"Hey, Bunnie." Sonic replied, giving a small wave.

Bunnie slowly walked closer to Manic and gave him a passionate kiss on his right cheek. She then asked flirting, "And how's my Sugarhog doing this morning?"

"Oh, just fine, thank you." Manic replied, slightly blushing at her. "Thanks for the kiss by way."

"My pleasure, darling." Bunnie replied grinning at him.

Moments later, Bunnie heard Sally calling for her and said, "Oh, guess Sally girl needs me for something." She then ran off shouting, "I'll see y'all later then!"

The 3 hedgehogs waved to her as she left. Once she was out of sight, Sonic commented to Manic, "I gotta hand it to ya, Manic man, you really made her happy."

Manic shrugged his shoulders and replied, "Well, what can I say, she's a special gal to me.  He then added with a smirk, "Just like Sally is to you."

Sonia then rolled her eyes and said groaning, "Oh please, can we talk about something else?"

"Why not, sis?" Sonic asked teasingly. "After all, you yourself seem to have someone who finds you special too."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Sonia replied firmly.

"Ah, c'mon, Sonia, don't go play dumb." Sonic said, grinning mischievously. "I know someone tried to woo you yesterday."

"You're just imagining things." Sonia answered, trying to dodge the question.

"Really, then can you explain why a rose was on your bedroom table?"

Sonia's cheeks instantly turned bright red and demanded almost stuttering looking at her brother, "H-how would you know about that anyway, Sonic?"

"Let's just say I did a little snooping on ya." The blue hedgehog replied, still grinning.

Manic looked at his sister with a sly grin on his face and said, "Oh, really?"

"Why you…" But before Sonia could retaliate, she was greeted by an unpleasant, "Yoohoo!"

Sonia groaned and rolled her eyes again. Oh, great, she thought. Just my luck. Sonic and Manic on the other hand were trying to stifle a chuckle.

Antoine quickly ran up to Sonia and said trying to flirt with her, "Ah, there she is, my special rose."

Hearing that made Sonic and Manic roll on the floor with laughter. Sonia meanwhile looked like she was ready to literally kill them. Antoine however ignored this and said after kissing her right hand, "So, did you enjoy our little walk together yesterday?"

"Oh yes, it was very riveting." Sonia replied sarcastically. Antoine though didn't catch that part.

"Ah, excellent." He said smiling. "So, after we are done with zis mission, what say we have another chat together? Hmm?" Antoine was looking at her as passionately romantic as he could be while saying the last sentence.

Sonia however thought to herself disgusted, Man, doesn't this guy ever get the hint? But she replied trying to not be completely rude to him, "Uh, can I wait until after the mission is over before I give you my answer?"

"Oh, I see." Antoine said, feeling a bit deflated. "Very well then. After zee mission, I shall anxiously await for your response."

"How nice to know." Sonia commented rolling her eyes, again using sarcasm.

"And now, if you'll excuse me," Antoine said. "I must train for zee mission tonight."He then waved at Sonia and said blowing her a kiss, "Au revoir, Mon Amour!"

Sonia's cheeks turned bright red again at that statement. Her brothers on the other hand were pounding the floor hard with their fists, laughing heartily at what just took place.

"Oh, man, can you believe that, Manic?" Sonic asked, trying to keep from laughing while talking.

"If I didn't know any better, bro," Manic added, "I'd say Ant's got the hots for our sister."

Hearing that made Sonic laugh even louder. Sonia then shouted at them enraged,  "Would you 2 shut up? It's not funny!"

"Yes it is!" Both of them replied in unison.

To make matters worse, both Sonic and Manic began singing the goofy romance song of two kissing in a tree. That unfortunately set the female hedgehog off, as she looked at them with fierce anger, now growling loudly.When the two hedgehogs saw her facial expressions, Sonic said uneasily while backing off, "Uh oh, guess it's we better high tail it outta here!"

"Right behind ya, bro."

As they took off, Sonia shouted chasing after them, "Yea, you better run, because when I'm done with you, you'll be lucky to laugh again for a month!"

While this had taken place, Bunnie walked into Sally's hut and said greeting her, "Hey, Sally girl."

"Hi, Bunnie." Sally greeted back with a warm smile.

"Well, I'll be." Bunnie commented impressed. "I haven't seen you smile that much for quite awhile now." She then said while walking towards her, "I take it that little walk did you a lot of good."

Sally nodded her head and replied, "More than you'll ever know."

"So what happened out there exactly?" the cyborg rabbit inquired.

"Let's just say, I learned I had to go back to my roots to move forward." Sally explained.

While that answer was a bit confusing, Bunnie then asked a slight pause, "So, uh what you need me for, Sally girl?"

Sally sighed deeply and replied, "Well, to be honest, I needed someone to talk to."

"Ah see. Something on your mind?"

"Yea, you could say that, Bunnie."

"You mind sharing it with me?"

"I guess not."

Sally then walked to her bed and sat down on it. "It's about Nicole actually."

"You miss not being able to talk to her, don't you?" Bunnie asked, now sitting down in a chair next to her.

Sally again nodded her head and answered, "Yea, I really do. I mean, it's hard to explain, but when I talk with her, I don't feel like I'm just talking to a computer, but someone who's…"

"A special friend to you?"

Sally nodded her head a 3rd time as she sniffled and continued. "Let me ask you something, Bunnie, do you find it very strange that I consider a super computer a special friend to me?"

"No, of course not, Sally girl." Bunnie replied. "Well, it might be a bit weird, but because you're have such a brilliant mind, you are able to share that with her."

"I don't know, Bunnie… I mean, I get the feeling there's something more to it than that."

"Like what, Sally girl?"

"Like, she's literally alive."

Bunnie was very perplexed by that statement as Sally asked her, "You remember Nicole from childhood right?"

Bunnie nodded her head and replied, "It was very sad what happened to her. You two were like sisters, something similar to what we have now."

"But the strangest thing is when I talked to my computer Nicole all those years, something in the back of mind kept gnawing at me, like maybe a part of her is apart of this computer. Sally then looked at Bunnie and asked her, "Pretty crazy thinking huh?"

"Well, it is a bit." Bunnie replied, scratching her forehead confused. "I mean, we all know she died tragically. Maybe because she was such a brain, having a super computer that you could talk to helped you remind yourself of her."

Sally on the other hand wasn't entirely convinced of that answer, but eventually said, "Maybe…"

Bunnie then hugged Sally and said, "Don't worry, Sally girl, Ah'm sure Chuck and Cyrus will do their best to fix her. They're very brilliant individuals."

"I hope so. I would hate to lose her." Sally commented sadly.


A few minutes later in Robotropolis, Snively entered the room where the Mecha Dragons were being held. As he walked in, he looked on at how many there were. There were 6 in the room, not including Dulcy.

"Excellent work, Swatbots." Snively said, rubbing his hands together. He then looked at his new army with deep excitement. The Mecha Dragons colors ranged between blue, red, and gray. "So, tell me, are they all as powerful as Dulcy is?" the small dictator asked with glee.

"Negative, sir." A Swatbot answered.

Snively was not happy to hear that. "Well do they have any special abilities at all?" he demanded.

The same Swatbot then handed him the reports of their abilities. After reading it thoroughly, he grinned again.

"Ah, I see." He said, chuckling slightly. "Their color determines what powers they have."

As it turned out, the red ones had the ability to breathe fire. The blue ones with the ability to shoot ice beams. And last, but not least, the gray ones were able to blow mighty gusts of wind in the forms of small tornados.

"This may be better than I originally thought." Snively commented, grinning evilly. He then looked at his new robotic soldiers and said loudly, "Come, my Dragons, we head for the Great Unknown at once!"

While his Mecha Dragons roared in reaction from his statement, Snively turned around and added in a loud voice, "And if those Freedom Fighters dare get in my way, they'll be crushed into submission by my new robotic soldiers!"


In another part of Mobius near the Great Unknown, an unknown gray wolf walked around the area with a purple weasel following closely behind. The gray wolf then stopped after a bit and commented as the wind blew around him, "It's quiet, too quiet."

"How do you figure, Sleet?" the purple weasel asked, stopping as well.

"I haven't seen that tub of lard Robotnik around these parts for some time now. Something is up."

"Well, what about his nephew? He and those Freedom Fighters have been at odds the last couple of weeks."

"Yes… you're right, Nack." Sleet replied, putting a hand on his chin to think.

"Do you suppose something happened to Robotnik?" Nack inquired. "Maybe that explains why that Snively bloke now commands the Swatbots."

"Perhaps…"

"What do you suggest we do then, Sleet?"

Sleet began to think long and hard. For many years, he and Nack were forced to keep a low profile in order to avoid being captured and roboticized. That's not to say they didn't stop looking for treasure whenever it was convenient.

"If Robotnik is indeed no more," Sleet concluded. "Perhaps its time we started to look for some of the ancient archeological treasures around this place."

"You sure that's a good idea?" Nack asked, scratching his forehead.

"Of course it is, you stupid simpleton!" Sleet replied sharply.

"But what about that Snively bloke with the Swatbots?" Nack inquired.

"Don't you see, Nack?" Sleet said, looking at him intently. "That little guy with the pointed nose will be too busy dealing with those goody two shoes heroes to even be concerned about us. While they're killing each other, we'll be able to search for gems and jewels with absolutely no interruptions whatsoever!"

"Wow, that's some smart thinking there, mate." Nack commented impressed.

"Why else do you think I made myself leader of us? Now, enough chitchat! Let's be going!" Sleet ordered.

Nack immediately complied and followed Sleet, now heading towards the Great Unknown. As they walked, Sleet said, "Rumor has it, there's a really valuable gem somewhere in the Great Unknown."

"Well, let's go find it then." Nack replied enthused.


Back at Knothole, Sonic visited his Uncle Chuck's hut, where he found him and Rotor trying to snap a tied up Cyrus on the table out his roboticized state of mind. "How's it going, Unc?" Sonic asked as they worked.

Sir Charles let out a heavy sigh and replied, "Not good, Sonic. He's not responding to any of my methods to get his mind back from Robotnik's A.I system." From the grunts and noises he heard, Sonic could tell it was not going well at all. The whole time, Cyrus kept repeating while being restrained by electronic shackles, "Capture Freedom Fighters, by order of Snively the great!"

Rotor then looked at Charles and asked, "Isn't there anything you can do for him?"

Charles stepped back a foot and replied with a hand under his chin, "Well, I could use a Power Ring."

"Yea, but don't Sonic and his siblings need them for their mission coming up?"

"True, Rotor." Charles said softly. "I guess I'll have to try some other ideas in the meantime."

After a brief pause, Sonic asked, "Did you manage to take a look at Nicole by any chance?"

Charles again shook his head and answered, "I did, but it's no use, Sonic. I can't help fix her virus problems because I can't even turn her system on to find out what she got hit by. My guess is, this virus Cyrus came up with was so highly advanced, not even a new computer could diagnose it."

"So what does that mean?" Sonic asked concerned.

"It means, Sonny boy, if we can't get Cyrus back to normal mentally and soon, Nicole may be done for, permanently!"

Hearing that made Sonic gasp in disbelief. "Is it that serious?

"I'm afraid so, Sonic." Charles replied, shaking his head.

Sonic then thought about how Sally might take that news if she found out. But, deciding it would do more harm than good, he decided to wait until it was certain before telling her this information.

"Guess I'll let you get back to work then." Sonic said sheepishly. "Let me know if you have any updates."

But before Sonic could take off however, Sir Charles grabbed his left arm and said, "Wait; there is one thing I want to tell you before you leave."

"What's that?" Sonic asked confused.

Charles then went to the corner of his workshop and dug something out from one of his drawers. Once he grabbed it, Charles placed it on another table near the one where they were working on Cyrus.

Sonic looked at them very intrigued, yet perplexed. What he saw was three different colored glowing rings, yellow, green, and purple.

"Are these all Power Rings?" Sonic inquired.

"You got it, Sonny boy." Charles replied, beaming with pride. "Thanks to a little creativity and a lot of hard work, I was able to alter the stone to the point where now the rings you and your siblings can harness are now color coordinated." Sonic's face now was hyped up. After picking up the yellow one, he said, "All right, Unc! Way to go!"

Sir Charles chuckled at his nephew's excitement and explained, "Well, I figured, this way, you can tell them apart and save you the confusion of knowing which ones you can and cannot use."

Sonic hugged his Uncle tightly and said, "Thanks for all your help. We're making solid progress thanks to you."

"Happy to do it, Sonic." Charles replied. "It's the least I can do to help contribute to the cause."

Just then, Cyrus began to growl louder and tried roll off the table and escape. Sir Charles saw it and said to his nephew a bit rattled, "You better get going. Sally's bound to have her mission meeting any time now."

Sonic nodded his head and took off at once. Sir Charles and Rotor in the meantime did all they could to keep Cyrus under control.


Meanwhile, Snively and his robotic army set out at once for the Great Unknown. Taking no chances, Snively piloted a hover unit, arming himself with 75% of the

Swatbots and Mega Muck Units he could salvage from the previous battle, as well as 7 Mecha Dragons. As they traveled, Snively commented frustrated while looking at a map, "This Chaos Emerald may be harder to find than I originally thought. According to this map, there's not any mountain peaks closer than 3 miles apart." He then tossed the map aside and commented in a huff, "I guess whoever hid this Emerald really wanted to make it hard to find! But, no matter, I'll search every inch of this place until I obtain it!"

10 minutes later, they arrived at the Great Unknown. Soon after this, Snively ordered his Swatbots and Mecha Dragons, "Dig around these parts at once and see if you can find the Emerald!"

His robotic soldiers immediately complied, soon splitting up and digging all around the area.

Unfortunately for Snively though, his machines were coming up empty. An hour soon passed, and despite the intense search and digging they did, it was all for naught. Snively soon stomped his feet in a rage shouting, "Ooh, it's not here! I should have guessed!"

He then turned to his robotic army and said, "Let's be on our way! The Chaos Emerald is definitely not in these parts!"

But before they could go, one of the Swatbots saw something approaching in the distance. It immediately ran to Snively and said, "Sir, organic life forms detected up ahead."

"WHAT? Are you serious?" Snively demanded angrily.

"Affirmative."

Sensing it was the Freedom Fighters, Snively said, "Well, if those rodents think they can get the jump on me, they've got another thing coming! Attack them at once and bring them to me!"

Snively forces instantly complied, as they all headed after the images in the distance. But those images the Swatbot saw were not the Freedom Fighters. Instead, it was two treasure hunters.

Nack began to pant from their long walk and asked, "You think we could take a little break there, Sleet? It's awfully hot out."

"Oh, quit your whining!" Sleet replied, looking at him harshly. "We're almost there!"

But seconds later unfortunately, they found themselves surrounded by Snively's robotic army. Sleet and Nack looked in complete shock as they circled around them in a hurry.

"Freeze, intruders!" A Swatbot commanded, pointing his laser gun at them.

"What are they after us for?" Nack asked, cowering in fear.

"How should I know? Sleet replied deeply annoyed "Just keep it cool, and I'll smooth talk our way out of this."

"You are now prisoners of Snively the great." Another Swatbot announced.

"Well then, take us to your leader." Sleet said, with his hands in the air. "We'd like to speak to him anyway.

The Swatbots then led the two bounty hunters to Snively in a circle formation. Once they arrived, A Swatbot from the front walked up to him and said, "We have detained the prisoners."

"Really? Just like that?" Snively interrogated not convinced.

"Affirmative."

"Well then, let me see them." Snively ordered with glee. "I want to see their defeated faces as I sentence them to their doom."

The Swatbots instantly complied. But when Snively saw who they had captured, his look of glee immediately disappeared from his face. "What is the meaning of this These aren't the Freedom Fighters, just some Mobian lowlifes!"

"Hey, who you calling a low life, Shorty?" Sleet demanded indignantly.

"You dare insult me?" Snively retorted, looking at the wolf with fierce anger.

"Why I oughta roboticize your filthy hide this very instant!"

Trying to smooth out this situation, Sleet said diplomatically, "Why bother with us anyway? We're of no threat to you. We just want to do some treasure hunting in peace."

Snively then commented softly after taking a good look at them, "Bounty Hunters I see…" A few seconds later, He waved his hand dismissively and said, "It doesn't matter to me what you are. You're still my prisoners! Swatbots, tie them up!"

When the Swatbots attempted to follow this order, Sleet said now waving his hands back and forth, "Wait! Hold on a second. Can't we talk this over?"

"What's there to talk over?" Snively demanded.

"Well, for starters, what are you doing here?" Nack asked, now speaking up.

"That's none of your business!" Snively replied angrily.

"I told you to let me do the talking, you idiot!" Sleet shouted, smacking Nack  upside the head.

"I don't have time for games. Finish the job I gave you!" Snively ordered the Swatbots.

"At least tell us why you're here." Sleet suggested. "What harm could it do since we're going to be your prisoners anyway?"

Snively debated whether or not to tell to him. He finally said a few seconds later, "Oh all right, I guess telling you won't matter much in the long run. He then showed him his map and said, "We're here to find a Chaos Emerald located somewhere in this area. With it, I can use its power to make me ruler of Mobius."

"I see…" Sleet commented, looking at the map intently with a hand on his chin. "Well then, why not let us give you a hand?"

"Why would I want your help anyway?" Snively demanded.

"Sleet, are you crazy?" Nack asked in disbelief.

"I told you to shut up and let me handle this!" Sleet roared, about to ready to smack him again.

Nack backed off as Sleet continued. "Well, from the looks of things, it appears like your little excavation isn't going so well."

"That's none of your business!" Snively replied sharply. "We're doing just fine, thank you!"

"Are you sure about that?" Sleet asked, trying to plant doubt in his head. "I mean, as you can see, we specialize in finding treasure. So, if anyone could find that gem, certainly we could."

Snively began to think it over thoroughly. "Hmm, you may have a point." He said eventually.

"So, how bout we work together? That way, we can find it faster."

"What's the catch, wolf?" Snively demanded.

"Oh not much really…" Sleet replied humbly. He then looked at Snively grinning mischievously and added "Just a hundred pounds of gold in return for our services"

"WHAT? Have you lost your mind?" Snively interrogated. "You think I'm going to give you that much for one little treasure hunt?"

"Well, since that gem is worth more than gold anyway," Sleet explained. "I thought it would be a nice tradeoff. What do you say?"

Snively by now was disgusted with his tactics and said jabbing a small laser weapon at his chest, "Here's my price… Help me find the gem, and I won't roboticize you. I'll even let you and your weasel friend go, for now anyway."

"Hey, c'mon!" Sleet protested. "We should get something for our troubles!"

"It's that, or I'll tie you up this instant and then roboticize you when we get back! Take your pick!" Snively answered, now shoving the gun on his chest.

"Ok, ok, fine. You win. We'll take your deal." Sleet said in surrender.

"I thought you might." Snively replied grinning. He then turned to his robotic army and ordered, "Stand down! These two are now my personal treasure hunters!"

His robotic army immediately complied, now putting their weapons away.

"All right, let's move out!" Snively shouted. And with those words, they all began to head north.

As they did so, Nack asked Sleet quietly while walking, "You're really going through with this?"

"Relax, Nack." Sleet replied grinning at him. "We'll play this little game of his for now. But when we find that gem, we're taking it for ourselves and splitting."

"But how will we do that without getting caught by that Snively bloke?" Nack asked concerned.

"You let me worry about that. You just make sure you help me find that Chaos Emerald." Sleet replied sharply.

As they continued to walk, Nack looked on very confused. He didn't know what Sleet had up his sleeve, but he decided to trust him on this and find out later.


30 minutes later at Knothole, Sally brought her comrades into her hut for a team meeting, which included Sonic, Bunnie, Manic, Sonia, Sir Charles, Rotor, and
Antoine. "As you all know," she explained. We were forced to flee before we could finish the job at Robotropolis two nights ago."

Her comrades nodded their heads in agreement as she continued.

"This time however, failure is not an option." Sally stated firmly. "It's time we deliver the final blow and put Snively out of commission for good, barring he's still alive of course."

"What you got cooked up, Sally?" Sir Charles inquired curiously.

Sally then grabbed her notepad on the table from what she was writing with earlier and replied pointing to the paper in front of her, "The plan is this… One team will check the building Snively and his dino bot crashed into and check to see if there are any remains inside."

Pointing to the middle of the paper, she said, "Teams 2 and 3 will inspect the main building, searching for the computer room. And then hopefully, if the virus is still on the hard drive, I want to try to crash it again."

"There's a good chance you might run into Swatbots and Mega Muck Units during this mission though." Sir Charles commented.

"I figured we might." Sally answered. "That's why we're gonna need you and Rotor to build us some more weapons so we're heavily armed like before."

"You know, we really don't have much ammo left since you used most of it during the last mission." Rotor explained.

Sally looked at him and said sighing, "I know. Just do the best you can." After a brief pause, she added, "We'll be leaving by 5pm on the dot. Make sure you're all packed and ready to go."

"You can count on us, Sal." Sonic replied, giving her a thumbs up.

Sally gave him a slight smile and said, "I appreciate that." She then said to all of them, "I know the last mission was a very heartbreaking and frustrating one. But I do believe if we keep fighting, we'll get the job done."

Her comrades were encouraged by these words, as they all began to make energetic commotion.

"We can do this as long as we work together. Are you with me?" Sally asked them enthusiastically.

This time, they let out a thunderous cheer at her statement, making Sally deeply smile. "Then let's get out there and prepare to return peace to Mobius!" Sally said, now full of swagger.

Sally's comrades ran out the door chanting, "Freedom!" three times. The only one who stayed behind was Sonic, who soon said putting a hand on her right shoulder, "Now that was one passionate speech, Sal."

Sally blushed at his statement and said looking at him, "I couldn't have gotten my confidence back without your support, as well as my Dad's."

"What do you mean?" Sonic asked her confused.

"I'll tell you about it sometime." Sally replied. "Right now, we got a mission to get ready for, do we not?"

Sonic grabbed her right hand and answered, "You bet we do. Let's do it to it!"

While this was going on, Sir Charles walked over to Bunnie as she was preparing to do some training drills and tapped her on the shoulder.

Bunnie turned around a bit startled as Charles said, "Excuse me, Bunnie, but there's something I've been meaning to talk to you about."

Hearing that unfortunately made the cyborg rabbit feel a bit flustered and asked him, "Uh, this doesn't have to do with what I told Sally girl awhile back, does it?"

"Huh? What do you mean?" Charles asked perplexed.

"I was really just kidding around about that, honest!" Bunnie stammered.

"Would you slow down a minute?" Charles told her. "I don't have a clue what you're talking about."

Bunnie then said very embarrassed, "Oh, uh, I guess you don't know about it then. Never mind."

Sir Charles was very confused about this, but decided to think about it later. "The reason I wanted to talk to you was about your laser weapon."

"What about it?" Bunnie inquired.

"Well, according to Rotor, it takes some of your blood to operate, am I right?"

"Yea, what's your point, Sugar Chuck?"

"My point is, I may have a solution that may reduce that problem of yours." Charles explained.

Bunnie was excited to hear about that. "Ya mean Ah'll be able to fire this thing without losing any of my blood?" she asked.

"Eh, not quite." Charles replied a bit awkwardly. "It'll basically be a short term solution, but it'll make it so you can use your laser weapon longer without feeling fatigued."

"Ah like the sound of that." Bunnie said smiling. "Let me see what you have in mind."

"Uh, well, you see, the thing is, I'll have to ask for something kind of embarrassing from you." Charles said softly.

"Like what?' Bunnie asked perplexed.

"Actually, I'll have to ask you if you'll let me remove your metal arm for awhile."

"WHAT?" Hearing that made Bunnie a bit freaked out.

"You see, for me to upgrade your laser weapon so you can use it more without blood loss, I'll have to work on it for a little bit." Charles explained.

Bunnie remembered the last time her metal arm came off. It was quite embarrassing to say the least.

"Ya mean Ah'll have to go around for some time as a one armed rabbit?"

"I'm afraid so." Charles replied.

Bunnie heavily sighed, but finally relented. "Oh, all right. Ah guess as long as I can use this little doodad more, it'll be worth it in the long run. Lead the way."

As they walked, Charles asked her, "I'm just curious, when I first talked to you, what did you think I was going to say that made you freak out?"

Bunnie's cheeks turned bright red as he said this. She then replied, "Uh, well, I'd actually like to forget about that if you don't mind."

Sir Charles got the hint, but was still very curious. Nevertheless he said, "Well, if you insist then."

The two of them then went inside Charles' hut, where he saw Rotor struggling to put the roboticized Cyrus in a secure metal cage. "Mah stars!" Bunnie exclaimed, putting her non metal hand on in front of her mouth. "Ah take it you haven't had much luck restoring Cyrus' mind to normal."

"Unfortunately not." Charles replied with a deep sigh. "But, we'll worry about him later. Right now, I need to work on your arm, as well as your team's arsenal of weapons."

"Well, just do what you gotta do, Sugar." Bunnie said, rolling her eyes.

Several minutes later, Bunnie walked out of the hut, but now without her metal arm. Unfortunately for her, Manic happened to pass by, making the cyborg rabbit's face turned red with embarrassment when she saw him.

"My my," Manic commented with a sly grin. "Looks like my girlfriend lost one of her arms again."

"Keep talking like that, and ah'll give you what for." Bunnie retorted sharply to him, but had a hint of playfulness in her tone.

"Ah, C'mon," Manic said still smiling. "I was just having a little fun with ya. Relax, babe."

Bunnie gave him a slight smile at his pet name and replied sighing, "Well, ah guess so."

Manic then put his arm around her and added as they walked, "Besides, It's easier for me to cuddle with ya."

Bunnie grinned at his flirting and commented looking at him, "You really know how to make a girl feel special, you know that? Thanks, Sugarhog."

"Hey, you're worth it." Manic replied.


Meanwhile, Sally and Sonic went to see how Tails was doing. As they walked in the door, the 2 of them saw Vanilla on the right side of the bed applying soothing ointment to the burns on his body. Cream on the hand was on the left, watched intently while giggling.

"Hey, guys, sup?" Sonic greeted, waving his right hand.

"Hi, Sonic, Sally. Nice to see you again." Vanilla greeted back, looking at them warmly.

Sonic and Sally then walked over to the left side of Tails' bed with Sonic asking him, "So, how's my lil bro doing?"

"Uh, ok I guess." Tails replied softly.

"He's doing better everyday." Cream commented smiling.

"And I'm sure you're doing a great job helping out your Mom." Sally said, patting Cream's head.

"You know it!" Cream answered enthusiastic. "He'll be back to normal in no time."

"Aunt Sally, you're embarrassing me." Tails said with a slight groan, now deeply
blushing.

Sonic then noticed something and asked, "Hey, how come Tails' fur is shorter than last time?"

"Oh, I had to shave off the burnt fur on his body so new ones can grow back in its place." Vanilla explained.

"I see." Sonic commented in deep thought. Tails though began to groan again, as he now felt humiliated inside.

After an awkward pause, Tails asked Sally, "So, how long do you think it'll be before I'll be back with you guys on the missions?"

"Well, at least not for a week or two." Sally replied, putting a hand on his right shoulder. "Your body went through a lot when you got seriously burned by Dulcy."

"Yea, I know. Guess I shouldn't have been so careless out there." Tails commented softly.

"We all make mistakes, honey." Sally said, hugging him tightly. "Just make sure you learn from them."

Tails noticed Sally's attitude was much different from the last time he talked with her. So he asked, "Uh, I take it you're feeling better now."

"Indeed I do." She replied smiling.

"Mind sharing with me about what happened?" Tails inquired curiously.

"Maybe later." Sally answered. "Right now though, you need to rest and get your strength back."

"Yea, I know." Tails commented with a deep sigh.

Sally and Sonic then walked away from the bed and began to head for the door. But before leaving, Sally said to Vanilla, "Thank you so much for your help. You really have no idea how much I appreciate you taking care of him for us."

"Happy to do it, Princess." Vanilla replied smiling.

"Take care, honey." Sally said, waving goodbye to Tails.

"Get better soon, lil bro." Sonic added with a thumbs up.

After they left, Cream said looking at Tails while giggling, "You know, I think you look really cute with shaved fur."

Tails groaned loudly once more, now pulling the covers over his head, dying of embarrassment. Vanilla on the other hand just chuckled from this scene.


5 hours later, the team was preparing to leave for Robotropolis. But just before they headed out, Sir Charles took his two nephews, niece, and Bunnie aside for one final talk. He then showed them his new developed Power Rings on the table. "Wow, this is really cool, Uncle Chuck!" Manic exclaimed pumped, holding his green ring proudly.

Sir Charles chuckled at his excitement and replied, "Well, let's just say it made things easier for you to tell them apart."

Sonic and his siblings then put them in their backpacks. After they did this, Charles showed Bunnie his finished work on her metal arm.

"Well, here it is." He stated.

Bunnie scratched her forehead with her non metal hand and said, "I don't get it, it doesn't look that much different from the last time I saw it."

"Then allow me to demonstrate." Charles said. Pressing a button near her metal forearm, Bunnie saw a small part of it open up, revealing a small crevice near the back of it.

"Ya mean to tell me you wanted to work on mah metal arm just for this?" Bunnie said, looking at him a bit annoyed.

"Well then, maybe I should show you why I made this crevice in the first place." Charles then took out a Power Ring he had recently collected from the pool and placed it inside the crevice, securing it tightly inside to 2 small cables. After that, he pressed the button again, closing the small compartment. Charles then asked proudly, "Now what do you think, Bunnie?"

Bunnie was beside herself. "Oh mah stars! Ya mean I can use the Power Ring as a power source for my gun?"

"That's right. Here, let me reattach your arm for ya." After he did so, Bunnie instantly embraced him tightly and said squealing with delight, "Thank you so much for this!"

Charles chuckled at her response and said, "Happy to do it. Although there is one thing I should inform you about though."

"Like what, Chuck?"

"Well, like with the Power Rings my nephews and niece use, it will only last you a short awhile."

"How long exactly" Bunnie inquired.

"I'm not sure." Charles replied. "You see, when I made the modifications from the stone, each one has a different power rating. Some might last 3-4 minutes, others no more than 60 seconds."

"Ah see." Bunnie commented.

"Just remember," Charles explained. "When you use the gun, it will instantly activate the Power Ring inside. Use it with discretion."

Bunnie nodded her head and replied, "Ah'll try to keep that in mind, Sugar Chuck."

Seconds later, Sally came in and said, "Oh, there you guys are. I was wondering where you all went. What's going on?"

"Not much, Sal." Sonic answered. "Just stocking up on weapons before heading out."

"Err, yes, good thinking." Sally said, now beginning to lose her track of thought.

"Something the matter, Sally?" Charles asked.

"Well, it's just that… I wish we had more weapons to work with." She replied softly. Due to the time restraints and Charles focusing on upgrading Bunnie's metal arm, they were only able to make less than 3 dozen new weapons from the scrap metal parts they collected earlier.

"Don't worry, Sal." Sonic said, putting a hand on her right shoulder. "We should have enough firepower to do the job."

Sally sighed deeply and replied, "I guess so. I just don't hope we don't run into Dulcy again. She was very tough to beat in her roboticized state."

"We'll worry about that later." Sonic told her. "Right now, we gotta job to do."

"You're right, Sonic." Sally said, now regaining her focus. "Let's do it to it!" And with those words, the Freedom Fighters headed for the exit to Robotropolis, preparing to do battle once again.

Before leaving however, they passed by Roxy's stand. She gave them a friendly wave as they did so and said, "Good luck, guys!"

Sonic gave her a thumbs up in response and then headed for the secret exit with the team.


While this was going on, Snively was still having no luck finding the Chaos Emerald.

Even though he now had help from Sleet and Nack, it didn't make much difference, as neither of them could solve the riddle Snively had discovered from his Uncle's documents.

"You two are completely incompetent!" Snively shouted at them, now losing his patience.

"Hey, don't blame us." Sleet said defending himself. "It's not our fault your code is not easy to break."

"I thought you told me finding treasure was your specialty." Snively retorted disgusted. "It is, but we're not experts on solving riddles." Nack explained. "Once we know where a treasure is, we can find it easily."

"Enough of your excuses!" Snively roared. "If you want to keep your hides unroboticized, I suggest you look harder, and quickly!"

As Sleet and Nack got back to work digging, Nack muttered, "Now what, Sleet? If we don't find that emerald soon, we're in deep trouble."

"Relax, my naïve friend." Sleet whispered with a sly grin. "I'm pretending not to know for now."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Nack inquired puzzled.

Sleet then showed Nack the document Snively gave him about the clue to the Emerald and replied, "You see, according to this, it's surrounded by 3 mountain peaks."

"Yea, what's your point?"

"The point is, stupid, there's not any mountain peaks around here that are that close together. Ergo, the Emerald must be somewhere else. My guess is it's either nearby in the shape of 3 mountain peaks, or something of that nature."

"But why did the writer say that then?" Nack asked confused.

"Why, to throw off anyone reading this document of course!" Sleet explained.  "What, you think he wanted to make it easy for someone else to find this legendary jewel?"

Nack had to admit, this made sense. "So what you're saying is, if we find a spot that's surrounded by 3 things, the Emerald might be there?"

"Now you're catching on, genius."

"But how long can you play dumb without getting the Swatbots on our hides?" Nack inquired.

"You just leave that to me." Sleet replied. "I'll lead these guys on a wild goose chase for now, and then when the timing is right, we'll split and take the Emerald for ourselves."

"I like the way you think, mate." Nack commented impressed.

"More digging, less talking!" Snively yelled, ordering them from 20 feet away.

"As you wish, my commander." Sleet replied turning around and saluting him.

But deep inside, Sleet was already plotting his sneaky plan to take the Emerald for himself and escape when the timing was right.