By: R. J. Adams

In the entire universe, the supposedly infinite universe, there is only one planet that humans know to have life upon it. Therefore they would argue that Earth is the only planet in the universe that contains, supports and maintains life. Nonsense! The universe being as big as it is, there are a great number of worlds with life upon them. Some worlds fairly primitive, others greatly advanced, even to the point where they are successfully exploring their neighbouring galaxies.

But one particular little planet, in a galaxy not so far from the Milky Way, is home to a great number of unusual things. The greatest and most unique thing about this planet is that it is the keeping place of the ‘great gems of power’. Or at least that was what the ancient race of beings that inhabited this planet long ago used to call them.

The planet’s name was Mobius; and it held a history far greater than Earth ever could. It was the great gems of power that had been the cause of this, and so were at the heart of almost everything that had happened up to the present day.

The reuniting, the Age of Peace that lasted more than two millennia, the Great War that lasted just over four millennia and even then was only ended with the cataclysm, were all bought about because of these gems.

Humans had stumbled across the planet Mobius by accident, about three hundred years after they were able to traverse space.

And in the year 3124 (Mobian new calendar), humans reached Mobius and began making plans to colonise.

Another special feature about Mobius was that it was a planet with an absolute balance of resources, which would enable a population of over 3 billion to exist indefinitely. It was because of this that human settlers had been drawn to it; however, as I said it was already inhabited, by a race of creatures that have evolved to respect the planet and all that it gives, they were called 'mobian’s'. At first the relationship between the races was less then friendly, but after a promise of keeping to a single continent to the south, and reassurances that "if the humans didn't bother the mobian’s, then the mobian’s wouldn't bother the humans". Then the humans would be aloud to stay.

A good 500 years later and the humans had kept their word. There was still tension between the two races, but the humans were no longer completely restricted to their corner of the planet, special travel ID cards were given to those who were deemed worthy. For the most part it was only researchers and scientists that were allowed T.ID cards. One particular scientist, Dr Ovi Kintobor, had been travelling the planet, looking for a particular set of gems that he had learned about when translating a text from the ruin of an ancient pyramid. He had finally ended his travels at the city of Metropolis, where he had set up his own laboratory in the basement of a warehouse on the outskirts of the city. In this lab he kept all the gems he had acquired from all over the planet. This was to be the beginning of another great historical change, and once again the gems of power would be at the heart of it. For it was in this laboratory that the most cruel, malicious and evil being, ever to walk the planet, was created.

Dr Kintobor was an outright genius; there was no one on the planet that could match his intellect. Unfortunately, he was also a little on the wacky side, some might have said ‘insane’. But not in a bad way, he just got strange notions and he had a funny way of looking at things. He also had a habit of being a bit blunt towards other people, (but since he hardly ever talked to anyone this didn't matter that much). And his main behavioural feature, was his absentminded nature.

The city of Metropolis was a haven for strange or mysterious people, and 2 months after the doctor had finished his laboratory, unknown to him, an unusual Mobian entered Metropolis city looking for clues about his family. This Mobian was a hedgehog, brown in colour with many long, thin spines that went from the top of his head all the way down his back. His ears were pointed and inside were yellow, the same colour as his muzzle, arms and the oval shape that covered his chest and stomach. He wore a pair of white gloves and socks and a pair of old and tattered looking trainers. As Mobian’s go, he was fairly normal looking, as all Mobian’s were a bipedal type of animal of some kind. However there was something definitely unusual about this hedgehog. When he ran, he was as fast as the wind. His maximum speed had been clocked at 326mph which was what sparked scientific interest with all of the scientists he encountered. And non-other then Dr Ovi Kintobor had looked up from his research to see a blip travelling at 200mph through the city on his mini radar screen.

"What on Mobius is that?" He muttered to himself. His voice was midrange but a little squeaky at times, and his accent suggested that he was from or had lived in Germany at one time.

"That simply can not be the rocket train! It's too small!" He paused and swung his chair around to face the screen fully.

"It's registering as a life form, perhaps an alien being." He leaned forward and tapped the buttons beneath the screen. The words 'identifying target' flashed up, and a moment later it said 'race: mobian, sub-species: hedgehog'.

"Impossible." Kintobor whispered, even as he looked at the evidence on his own radar screen. "Well, there's only one way to be sure." He said, deciding what to do. And with that he turned to another screen and typed in one or two commands on the keyboard. A information window opened on the screen entitled 'Metropolis C.C.T.V. network and a mass of screens and TV’s fired up all over his laboratory showing a huge range of different places all over the city. Kintobor then typed some more information and a group of 11 screens right in front of him began showing a brown blur flying past them, and as it did they would switch to another view to see it go by again.

"Extraordinary!" Kintobor breathed. "I'll have to wait until it stops before I can see it."

It was a minute or two before the thing he was tracking stopped. It was indeed a hedgehog.

"Ah ha!" He shouted. And then typed in another command and the image froze.

"Now then, I will have to try and lure him to my lab. This is simply a once in a lifetime find." He said proceeding to another screen. Then he began creating a poster too put up around the city.

Meanwhile the hedgehog Kintobor had been tracking stopped outside a bed and breakfast. Hoping for somewhere to stay.

"This'll do!" He said, "I'll crash here 'till morning." And with that he wandered in to arrange a bed for the night, unaware that in another part of Metropolis, Dr Ovi Kintobor was scheming ways of getting this particular hedgehog to visit him in his laboratory.

* * *

The next day the hedgehog left the bed and breakfast full of food and completely re-energised.

"Ok then, now where?" He asked himself, "Guess I'd better carry on lookin' for clues."

With that he sprinted off through the city in search of an information desk.

This hedgehog had spent a long time looking for his parents. As far as he knew he was an orphan, and had been ever since he could remember. So far his travels had not been successful, which is why he'd come to Metropolis. He'd hopped that in such a big city there would be records of different family lines, perhaps even his own. And so, he was now up bright and early, speeding through the city, looking for a likely information point.

At first it seemed that everything in the city was just as it was yesterday, except… was that his face on that poster?

"Nah!" He thought to himself and carried on. But there it was again; it was definitely his face.

"What the?" He said out loud. And came to a screeching halt at a lamppost that bore his picture. It was a picture of him with the words 'if you are this hedgehog, then come to my laboratory, (You will be compensated for your time)'.

The hedgehog stared at the poster for a while, and then looked all around him. Who on Mobius would want to meet him in a laboratory? And how did they get a picture of him?

Suddenly there came a voice from above him.

"Good. I’m glad I got your attention."

"What?" the hedgehog said, looking wildly around for the speaker. "Who are you?"

"That’s not important at the moment." Said the voice. "What’s important is weather or not you are interested in my proposition."

"Look." Said the hedgehog. "I don’t have any idea what your proposition is for. All you’ve asked is if wanna’ go to your lab. The answer to that at the moment is no."

"But why? It would be beneficial for both of us." Said the voice, pleadingly.

"Come of it. I don’t even know where I’m supposed to go."

"Don't worry about that my friend, I'll direct you to it. That is if you're interested?" It was the voice of Dr Kintobor (But of course the hedgehog didn't know this).

"Listen buddy, I ain't goin' no where 'till you tell me who you are and what you want."

"Well firstly, my name is Dr Ovi Kintobor a scientist of great renowned. And secondly, I am interested in your ability to run at such impressive speed."

The hedgehog thought for a moment. This guy wanted to know about his speed. Being asked about his ability to run fast wasn’t that uncommon. Any scientist he’d met had asked at least one question about it. However this guy wanted him to go somewhere, to some laboratory.

"Ok Doc, so what exactly do you wanna' do?" He asked.

The hedgehog was suspicious and getting bored already, and besides he didn't really have any intention of going to see this 'Kintobor' guy at all.

"Well I'd like to perform some tests, and a DNA scan." Kintobor began, "You see I have reason to believe that your speed derives from a faulty genetic sequence, possible inherited from your parents or grandparents."

The hedgehog was about to say 'thanks but no thanks' when he realised what the Dr had just said.

"You mean this DNA stuff can tell me about my parents?" He said excitedly.

"Well, in a manner of speaking, yes." Kintobor replied.

"So my DNA could tell me who my parents were?"

"If they are on Mobius' records, then yes it can."

With that the hedgehog sprinted off at top speed, then remembered he didn't know the way to Kintobor’s laboratory and doubled back.

"How do I get to you from here?" He asked.

"From here, go straight down this road. Turn at the 2nd left and then carry straight on until you pass a shop called 'Dave's'. From there, head up through north junction and take the 3rd right. You should be able to see a large warehouse door, with a yellow 'K' on it. Go straight in and I'll meet you there."

With that the hedgehog sprinted towards his destination. It took less then a minute.

When he arrived he saw that there was a large yellow 'K' on the door.

"Who does this guy think he is, some sort of super hero?" The hedgehog thought to himself before going inside. True to his word the Dr was standing there waiting patiently for him. The warehouse he was standing in was completely bare, apart from a thick layer of dust, which was disturbed only where people had walked in and out of the lab entrance.

The lab entrance was just a square hole in the floor with a set of steps that led down to the basement, but it served its purpose.

The Dr himself was tall and (to the hedgehogs distrust) a human. He wore black trousers and shoes, a green sweater and a very old looking white lab coat, which was stained and burnt, in many places. As for his features, he was slim (almost starved) and pale skinned. A pair of very thick glasses, which hung off his large head, hid his light brown eyes. His orange hair was short all the around his head (and completely bald on top) except for his side burns, which stuck out about 5 inches on both sides of his face. All this was finished off with an orange moustache that stuck out just as his side burns did.

"Hi." The hedgehog said with obvious misgivings.

"Greetings." Said the Dr, holding out his hand to shake his visitors. "Dr Kintobor at your service."

There was a painful silence in which the Dr still held out his hand expectantly. Finally the hedgehog shook it and introduced himself.

"Sonic." He said "…the hedgehog."

"Excellent." Kintobor said pleasantly. "Well, now that the formalities have been dealt with…"

He turned and motioned Sonic to the steps leading down. Sonic then thought that it might be a good idea if he left, after all he didn't want to end up trapped in some laboratory with a scientist that might dissect him or something. But the thought of finding out about his parents was too powerful. Slowly he walked towards the steps and climbed down.

The laboratory itself, was very different from the bare and empty warehouse, it was covered from head to toe in machinery. Computer screens, keyboards and many other strange devices that Sonic had never seen before littered every inch of the lab. Sonic simple stared.

"So, what do you think?" Kintobor asked enthusiastically.

"What the heck is all this stuff?" Sonic asked, with distaste.

"My machines!" Kintobor replied fondly, while walking around looking at all of his creations. He then turned to face Sonic and said, "Right then down to business, what do you want to do first?"

Sonic looked at him, taken a back.

"What do you mean?" He asked

"Well." Kintobor began. "There are only two tests I want to perform at the moment, a DNA test and a test to determine what your maximum speed is."

"The DNA test." Sonic said firmly.

"Excellent idea. We will be able to perform the speed test while we are waiting for the results of the DNA."

So Dr Kintobor walked over to a cupboard and brought back a syringe with which to extract some of Sonic's blood. Sonic wasn't very happy about this, but it was essential to get a sample of his DNA, and in the end he agreed.

Dr Kintobor took the sample of blood to a strange looking machine in the left-hand corner, and tipped it into a funnel at the top, he then tapped a few buttons, and the machine hummed into life.

"Right then, if you would follow me?" Kintobor said. And proceeded to a section of wall 10ft tall and 10ft wide, which was covered by a large white sheet.

"This is what I intend to use to measure your speed!" He explained, gripping the white sheet. "Tell me what you think."

With that, Kintobor wrenched the white sheet to the floor. Underneath was revealed to be what looked like a circle cut 4ft deep into the wall.

"Umm…" Sonic began, unsure of what to say. He didn't have a clue what it was.

"I call it a Kinetic Gyratosphere." Kintobor said, tapping buttons at the side of the Gyratosphere. Lights flickered on and the treadmill lit up.

"Oh I get it." Sonic said, cottoning on, "It's like some sort of massive hamster wheel."

"Yes, I suppose you could look at it like that."

"So how come you just happen to have one of these gizmo's lying around?" Sonic asked suspiciously.

"Well it was originally designed to be a source of power, but no one seemed to want to volunteer to be an organic battery. You know run for hours on end."

"Can't say I'm surprised Doc." Sonic said with his eyebrows raised, then he asked, "That's not what you want to do with me is it?"

"No, no of course not." Kintobor explained, chuckling, "I only want to do some research into your speed. I’ve modified the treadmill so that it measures speed, rather then produces energy."

"And what do you want me to do?"

"Simple, hop in and start running." Kintobor said, indicating the Gyratosphere

"No problem."

Sonic hopped into the machine and began to run. As he did so, the Gyratosphere spun round, just as if it were a hamster wheel.

"Cool!" Sonic exclaimed.

For a good two and a half hours, Kintobor conducted his tests, (Sonic was getting tired). Finally Kintobor said "That's fine for now." And pulled a lever on the wall. The Gyratosphere suddenly stopped, where as Sonic, of course, kept on going. He spun around the machine three times before he slowed down and stopped. Unfortunately he stooped when he was on the roof.

"Ouch!" He said, as he hit the floor headfirst.

"Whoops!" said Kintobor. "I suppose I should have waited for you to stop."

Sonic got to his feet, stumbling slightly.

"What do you mean, you suppose?" Sonic raged, "I thought you were supposed to be smart."

"Smart? Yes. But unfortunately, absent minded as well."

Sonic opened his mouth to argue some more, but was interrupted by a beeping sound, coming from the machine that Kintobor had put Sonic's blood in.

"Ah ha!" Kintobor exclaimed. "The DNA results are complete."

Sonic's anger drained, to be replaced with apprehension and excitement. (He even forgot that he had a massive bump on his head).

"Is it finished?" Sonic asked, "Can we check the results?"

"Of course." Kintobor replied gently. And the two of them walked over to the machine, which was still beeping. Kintobor sat down and taped a few keys, the beeping stopped and a screen on the side flickered into life. It showed a list of things, that Sonic didn't understand, but Kintobor obviously did because he started typing madly, clicking on 'icons' and muttering to himself. After a while he had come to a screen entitled 'Metropolis birth registry'. Then he typed in 'scan for match', and the computer hummed loudly as it processed the information. Finally, after 9 or 10 minutes, it said, 'No match found'.

"What?" Sonic exclaimed, "Why can’t it find anything?"

Kintobor thought for a moment, then said "I'll try running a search on every zone on Mobius, then we'll go from there."

With that he started typing again and pretty soon the screen heading 'Mobius birth registry' had popped up on the screen.

"It would be a lot easier if I knew when you where born." Kintobor said aloud, then turned to Sonic and asked, "Just how old are you?"

Sonic opened his mouth to reply, and then shut it again. Kintobor frowned as he watched Sonic's eyes dart this way and that looking along the floor, as if he where trying to remember something he'd been told only once and very long ago.

"I...I don't know." He said bewildered. "I don't remember ever being told."

Kintobor sighed as if this news wasn't at all surprising and muttered, "Well it must be between ten and twenty years, so that would put it between 3606 and 3616." He typed some more information into the computer and then hit the 'enter' key. The computer began to hum loudly again and Kintobor swung round in his chair to face Sonic.

"Well now, you must be hungry after all that running. Would you like anything to eat?"

"Huh?" Sonic said distracted. "Oh, yeah... but, what about the DNA thing?"

"We'll return to that when it's finished, it will take at least an hour to search all the zones on Mobius, you know."

"Fare enough."

"Right then." Kintobor said, getting up and heading towards the fridge. "What would you like to eat?"

"Well, my favourite kind of food is 'chilli dogs'." Sonic replied enthusiastically.

"Right." Said Kintobor with his top half leaning almost all the way in the fridge. "The thing is, I've got the ingredients, but I don't know how to make them."

Sonic perked up immediately, if there was one thing he could do better then anything else (apart from run) then it was being able to cook the best chilli dogs on Mobius.

"No problem, Doc." Said Sonic. And with that he began teaching Kintobor the 'fine art' of chilli dog making.

In, what seemed to be no time (with the distraction of making and eating two rounds of chilli dogs each), the computer had finished its search and was displaying the message 'search complete'.

"Splendid." Said Kintobor. "Now lets see what it came up with."

A file opened, and the words 'Mobitropolis birth registry' were present, along with one file entry that had the word 'match' next to it. Kintobor clicked on the file and it opened to reveal a picture of a brown one-hour-old baby hedgehog, wrapped in a blanket, with the name 'Sonic' underneath it.

"Is that me?" Asked Sonic, amused.

"I think so." Kintobor answered smiling.

Then he scrolled down to reveal some more information, time of birth, what day, weight and much more besides.

"You'll be fifteen in two months." Kintobor told Sonic, who smiled broadly.

But when the word 'Parents' came up, the file read:

Farther: Unknown.

Mother: Unknown.

"Huh?" Sonic said out loud, "How can they not be on record?"

"Any number of reasons, I'm afraid." Kintobor explained, frowning at the screen, "They may have wished to remain anonymous."

"But then, why would they register me?"

"As to that I'm afraid I have no idea."

Sonic leaned on the desk and rested his chin on his right hand. "So is that it?" He asked grumpily "Is that all there is?"

"It certainly looks that way." Kintobor replied. Then he noticed a highlighted icon in the bottom left hand corner of the screen, which read 'similar DNA match/other relations'. "Or perhaps not." He said. Then opened the file to reveal two entries, one had very little information, just a vague recognition of a baby by the name of 'Shadow' that was born two years before Sonic, where as the second was greatly detailed about a 'Sir Charles Hedgehog' who lived in Mobitropolis.

"Well that's something to go on at least." Kintobor said to Sonic, smiling.

For the next week Kintobor continued to conduct his tests. And in between times helped Sonic search the Mobius databases for more information about Shadow and Sir Charles. They hadn't found out much more about Shadow, accept that he had been sent to an orphanage, and at the age of six had run away and not been seen since. Sir Charles on the other hand had a mountain of information on him. Apparently he was a great inventor and engineer, and was currently employed by the king of Mobius himself. There was also a great list of prizes and certificates he'd won for his accomplishments and things he'd invented.

It was now a week and two days that Sonic had been staying with Kintobor. And now the Dr had perfected a little surprise for the young hedgehog.

"Here you are Sonic." Kintobor said, holding up a pair of bright red sneakers with a white stripe running all the way around the width of the middle of them. "For you." And he placed the sneakers in Sonics outstretched hands.

"Wow." Sonic breathed, taken by surprise. "What are these for?"

"Well, two things really; one, I thought you deserved a present for your troubles, and that bump on your head. And two, I thought it would be interesting to see if you can break the sound barrier."

"What do you mean?"

Kintobor cleared his throat and said, "These sneakers have been designed so that they give you extra grip for turning corners and springy soles so that you get more of a bounce when your running, that means longer strides, you see. And those grips don't just help you turn corners they will allow you to run across walls and ceilings for a short time. However only if you are travelling fast enough to do so."

"Cool." Sonic shouted, in ecstasy. Dropping to sit on the floor and change from his old white trainers to his new red ones. He stood up and looked down at them, with contentment all over his face.

"So, do you want to have another go on the Gyratosphere with those new sneakers?" Kintobor asked enthusiastically.

"Sure!" Sonic answered, and hoped onto the machine. He started running and the speed 'o' meter registered 431 mph.

"Unbelievable." Kintobor said, stunned "Your maximum running speed is now 431 mph."

"What are you talking about?" Asked Sonic frowning, "This isn't my top speed, I'm no where near sprinting yet."

"You mean you could go faster then this?"

"You bet!"

"Well, if you're ready?" Kintobor prompted.

And he did, with a look of great effort and concentration Sonic sped up to 597mph. Kintobor stared, mouth open. "Can you, go any faster?" He asked, tentatively.

"I'll give it my best shot." Sonic panted.

He was now putting in so much effort that it was a struggle just to maintain his speed, which was now 676 mph.

"Do you realise how close you are to breaking the sound barrier?" Kintobor asked loudly, almost jumping with excitement.

"I'll give it all I've got." Sonic managed to say, struggling to get enough air.

He poured on all the energy he could muster, and the speed 'o' meter read 734, 748, 755 and 758.

"Come on Sonic!" Kintobor yelled, all dignity forgotten.

And from somewhere within his depths, Sonic found a final burst of strength. 759, 760 and finally 761 mph.

Suddenly there was some kind of invisible explosion and a deafening boom as the sound barrier was broken, Kintobor was thrown backwards, and Sonic was enveloped in a cloud of dust and debris as the Gyratosphere shattered into thousands of glass and metal fragments.

A minute or two later Kintobor regained consciousness, the lab was filled with smoke and dust, and the floor was littered with the remains of the Gyratosphere.

"Sonic!" Kintobor choked, through the dust. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." Came a voice, from the remains of the Gyratosphere. Kintobor recognised it as Sonic's. "In fact, I've never felt better."

Then Sonic stepped through the smoke and rubble, except he didn't look like Sonic any more. He was blue instead of brown and his spikes were different. There weren't lots of thin spikes running down his back, they were thicker and stronger looking, curving downwards in rows of two or three, from the top of his head all the way down his back.

"What on earth happened?" Kintobor asked, getting up off the floor and brushing the dust off his lab coat and trousers.

"You're the scientist, you tell me." Sonic replied, admiring his new streamlined look.

"Well I don't know how or why, but the force of that sonic boom has changed you."

Sonic shrugged and said, "Never mind, I don't feel any bad side affects or anything."

"All the same I think I'd better run some scans, just to be sure."

"Your the Doc, Doc."

Kintobor's scans and tests revealed that there were no ill effects that came with the transformation, but rather beneficial ones. Sonic could now run at the speed of sound with little effort (even without his new sneakers) and he had gained an unbelievable amount of stamina, so that he could run 5 marathons both ways and not even break a sweat. However all this did come with a price, he was now needing to eat six large meals a day, because of his new metabolism. This didn't bother Sonic that much, as it meant that he would now have an excuse to eat twelve chilli dogs in one day, if he wanted to.

With the Gyratosphere destroyed, Kintobor was no longer able to run his tests, and besides Sonic had got a lead on a possible relative in Mobitropolis, the hedgehog named Sir Charles. So Sonic discussed the situation with Kintobor and decided that he would leave at the end of the week.

On the last evening that Sonic was to stay with the absentminded Dr, Kintobor had said that there was one more thing that he wanted to show Sonic before he left.

"It's over here." Kintobor explained, leading Sonic over to a door, which had a sign on it saying, 'Keep Out' and 'Dangerous'. This is why Sonic had never been inside, and whenever he had asked Kintobor about it, Kintobor had just said that it was nothing, and then would change the subject as quickly as possible. So now that it seemed that he would be allowed to see what was on the other side, Sonic was very excited and did not attempt to contain it as he almost sprinted towards the door.

"Now be very careful! Do not touch anything! As it is extremely dangerous in here." Kintobor said, sternly.

Sonic nodded to show he understood.

With that, Kintobor taped a few buttons of a keypad on the wall, and the door slid left and open to reveal a room just as big as Kintobor's laboratory. Except that, in the middle of the room was a giant machine of some kind. It was 5 metres in diameter at the rim, 4 metres at the base and one meter tall, from base to rim. A glass dome, that sat on the top rim and glowed an un-earthly green, was covering what ever was inside.

Sonic wasn't quite sure what to make of it, he was expecting a dangerous 'lab monster', or a deadly robot of some kind, but this couldn't be either of them. Finally he asked, "What is it?"

Kintobor approached the wall opposite and flicked a switch. Suddenly the inside of the dome lit up, and Sonic could see six differently coloured gems inside: red, blue, purple, green, orange and yellow.

They were all about the same size as a videotape, but were a sort of rough oval in shape, with 26 sides. Sonic stared for a moment.

"What are these?" He asked with interest.

"They are, or rather were, the ‘gems of power’ or ‘power emeralds’." Kintobor explained.

Sonic looked confused.

"What do you mean, 'were'?" He said.

"Well, they are no longer the power emeralds because of a little experiment I have been running, which was changed them. They are no longer stable you see. So now, rather then call them power emeralds, I have dubbed them, 'Chaos emeralds'."

"Chaos emeralds?" Sonic repeated, quizzically. "But that sounds a bit dangerous and… evil doesn't it?"

"Oh, they are!" Kintobor said, quickly. "Extremely so, that's why they are sealed in this." He pointed to the domed machine. "It's my Retro Orbital Chaos Compressor, or R.O.C.C. " He paused and then went on, "You see, these six emeralds are supposed to be accompanied by a seventh, 'the grey emerald'. It controls the other six and keeps them in check. Ordinarily it wouldn’t have to, but the chaos energy has made them highly unstable. And so, without it, the chaos energy in these six would rage out of control. That’s why they are being kept in the R.O.C.C."

"That’s all well and good Doc, but how did the chaos energy get there in the first place if it wasn't there before?"

"I, put it there." Kintobor said, unconcerned.

"You put it there? Why?" Sonic asked, bewildered.

"Well, using the R.O.C.C, and the golden rings of Mobius, I've managed to siphon off most of the 'evil' or 'chaos' on the planet, which is then contained in these emeralds. Thus robbery, murder and all other crimes would simply cease to exist."

"Wow, so soon there won't be any evil at all on the planet." Sonic said, awe struck.

"Precisely."

Sonic stood staring at the R.O.C.C for a moment or two, thinking about a world without crime, pain and everything else that comes with the sense of ‘being evil’.

Kintobor was now busy taping another few keys on the wall next to him. As he did so, a hidden panel in the wall opened to reveal a single golden ring, about 8 inches in diameter and half an inch thick. He took it out and handed it to Sonic.

"This is something that I'd like you to have." Kintobor explained. "It's a holographic version of myself."

"A holo-what?" Asked Sonic, coming out of his daze.

"Holographic." Kintobor said slowly, and then carried on. "It's a computer program that contains a copy of my consciousness. Once properly downloaded into a holographic projection system, 'It' or rather 'I' will become active. You can then talk to it, ask it questions and it will respond as if it were me."

"Isn't that kind of cruel?" Sonic asked, trying not to sound like he was accusing Kintobor of anything. "I mean keeping something that can think for itself in a computer."

"Not at all. I've already activated him once, and I explained every thing. The good thing about this is that, should I die, this program which is my thoughts and consciousness in every respect will remain intact forever."

"That’s cool and everything but, what am I gonna’ use it for?" Sonic asked, confused.

"Well I thought that where ever you go from here, you’re going to need some guidance. You are still young after all. And who better to guide you and give you advice then one of the greatest genius's on Mobius, or at least the nearest thing to it anyway."

"But how do I get it to work?"

"Don't worry about that, if this 'Sir Charles' is half the hedgehog the computer says he is, then he'll have no problems getting it to work what so ever."

Sonic thought for a moment, and then said, smiling. "Ok, I except."

"Excellent." Kintobor said smiling back. "I'll just update it then you can keep it with you."

Kintobor wandered over to a chair with the ring in his hand, then placed it in a small ring shaped holder. He then took a weird helmet type thing, with cables sticking out of it and leading to the ring holder, and placed it over his head. After that he taped a number of keys on the machine that the ring holder was attached to, and it hummed into life. Small lights lit up all over the helmet and the golden ring glowed brightly. After a few seconds the lights and the ring dimmed and Kintobor took off the helmet.

"Simple as that." Kintobor said, handing the ring back to Sonic.

"Thanks." Sonic said appreciatively. And the two of them made to leave.

They had just turned round and were leaving the room, when Kintobor said, "Oh dear, I forgot to turn out the lights in the R.O.C.C!"

Sonic carried on, while Kintobor doubled back to flick the switch. The Dr was half way across when he caught his foot on one of the wires that were strewn about the floor, he tumbled forward straight into the R.O.C.C. Sonic turned just in time to see Kintobor, leaning rigid on the glass, a surge of multi-coloured energy sparking all over him.

"KINTOBOR!!!" Sonic yelled, just about to move towards him. Then the R.O.C.C exploded. Sonic was knocked to the ground, and lay they're for a few seconds enveloped in a cloud of smoke and dust. Kintobor had been thrown against the wall, and the chaos emeralds had shot in all directions for about a meter and then vanished into thin air. Sonic hadn't seen either event as he couldn't see through the smoke and dust, which was very thick in the air. Cables, chunks of ceiling and metal were hanging down like long creepers. The floor was littered with the remains of the R.O.C.C and sparks crackled from the hanging cables and exposed panels on the wall.

"Kintobor, Kintobor..." Sonic said, wildly. "Kintobor, are you alright?"

There was silence for a time and then, "Fine Sonic, just fine."

It didn't sound like Kintobor; it was a harsh and deep voice.

"Is that you, Kintobor?" Sonic asked, concerned.

"Of course it's me, who were you expecting?" Asked the voice, harshly.

Sonic was a bit nervous. "What happened to you?" He asked.

"The power of the chaos emeralds has… has changed me." Said Kintobor, emerging from the smoke suddenly. It was Kintobor, but he had changed, the whites of his eyes were now black and his irises were red. He no longer had any hair on his head and his moustache wasn't neat and well kept anymore. His cloths were torn and hanging lose and his face was contorted with hatred and loathing. "Changed me into what you see before you."

Sonic stared, nervously at Kintobor and Kintobor stared coldly back. Anger and hatred showing visibly.

Finally Kintobor looked away and went off to inspect the ruined R.O.C.C, remnants of which were still smoking on the floor.

"The emeralds." Kintobor said out loud. "Where are they?"

"I… I don’t know." Sonic said in a small voice.

"You didn’t take them?" Kintobor asked, suspicion in every word he spoke.

"No." Sonic said quickly. "The time I saw them they where in the R.O.C.C."

Kintobor turned back to face Sonic, his eyes blazing with a cold, calculated fire.

Sonic wasn't sure what to do, Kintobor was just staring at him. He decided on asking, "I'll just go to sleep then shall I?"

"If you wish." Kintobor replied, coldly.

Sonic wandered out of the devastated room, and over to the door of his temporary sleeping quarters, clutching the golden ring.

"Goodnight, hedgehog." Kintobor said, nastily.

"Night." Sonic replied, still worried.

He opened the door, walked in, and shut it behind him.

All that night Sonic didn't sleep. A mixture of worry for the state of Kintobor and fear for what might happen to him if he fell asleep, kept him awake and thinking. He wanted to know where the chaos emeralds had got to, and what ha become of his friend. Kintobor had like a sort of uncle or older cousin to him for the past week and a half, and suddenly he seemed to have changed. Not just physically, but mentally as well.

When it turned 6:00 am Sonic decided it was time for him to go. If Kintobor was up at this time, he could say 'good bye' but if he weren't, then it wouldn't matter, as Kintobor didn’t seem to want Sonic around anymore.

As it happened, Kintobor was up. He was flitting around his laboratory pulling things off the walls, ripping out wires and muttering to himself. He had just turned round to pick up a screwdriver, when he noticed Sonic, standing in the doorway of his room.

"Your up bright and early Sonic." Kintobor said, with a sneer and slight surprise in his voice. "W, well..." Sonic began, but Kintobor cut him off. "I don't suppose you got much sleep last night, did you?"

"I..." Sonic tried to say, but was interrupted again. "Never mind it does not matter to me in the slightest. I'm sure you'll want to get going as soon as possible, will you?"

"That was the plan." Sonic was finally aloud to say.

"Good." Kintobor said, shortly. "I have a lot of work to do and your presence would only aggravate my situation and slow me down, good day."

With that Kintobor swivelled round, to continue what ever it was that he was doing. Sonic said in a small voice. "Well, see you around." Kintobor didn't even look up.

Sonic walked up the stairs to the trap door, up out into the ware house and out the big door with a yellow 'k' on it.

With the feeling that, perhaps he shouldn't leave Kintobor in the state he was in Sonic swung the back pack, that contained the 'Kintobor ring', over his shoulder and took off running, though the streets of Metropolis, off in the general direction of the Green hill zone. Little did he know that the man he had just left had now become the most evil dangerous and being on Mobius.

Sonic knew that there was a king of Mobius, but didn't no his name, to be honest he didn't much care. It turned out the Kings palace was in Mobitropolis, which was where Sonic was headed to meet Sir Charles. Before he’d changed, Kintobor had suggested visiting the Green hill zone as a rest stop, which Sonic was only too happy to do, as he hadn't eaten since he'd left Metropolis.

When Sonic arrived at the Green hill zone he saw why Kintobor had suggested it. It was breathe taking, the grass was lush and green, and hence the town had got its name. The trees were tall and strong, and some so wide that you could carve a house out of the living tree itself, then Sonic realised that that was exactly what some of the inhabitants had done. Any other houses were built around the trees so as not to damage the environment.

As Sonic approached what seemed to be the boundaries of the Green hill zone, he was spotted by a very young looking squirrel, who jumped down from the tree stump she was sat on and started shouting, "He's here, he's here." back towards the village. "Sonic the hedgehog, he's here."

Sonic stopped in his tracks unsure of what to make of the situation. He'd just turned up at a place he had been to before and here was some kid shouting back the village that he had arrived, as if expected. For good or bad reasons Sonic wasn't sure, but he was tired and wanted to find out what was going on, so he carried on walking up the hill until he noticed someone coming towards him, it was a large dog with brown fur, wearing a white lab coat and heavy, thick rimmed glasses. He was closely followed by the young squirrel that had shouted from the top of the hill. She was short, with brown fur for the most part and had a white face, chest and belly. She also had a little red bow in her hair.

"Ah, you must be Sonic." Said the dog, with a faint German tinge to his accent. Sonic figured the German tinge must be a side affect of being a scientist, like Kintobor.

"That's me." Sonic replied, coming to a halt. Then he asked suspiciously, "Who wants to know?"

"My name is professor Kay Nyne Stein." The dog explained. "Or professor Stein, But you may call me 'Kay'."

"Thanks." Sonic said shortly, he was still a little suspicious. Then his eyes darted down to the young squirrel, who promptly hid herself behind the professor, poking her head round so that she could still see Sonic. Sonic frowned slightly.

"This is Sally Acorn." Said the professor, noticing who Sonic was looking at, and stepping to the right so that he could see her. Sally didn't notice that the professor had moved for a second or two, when she did she squeaked and hid behind him again.

"She's been looking forward to seeing you ever since Dr Kintobor told me you were coming."

Sonic's suspicion lifted at the mention of Kintobor's name. "You know Kintobor?" He asked.

"I do indeed. He and I have often worked on problems concerning the chaos emeralds."

That settled it; Sonic knew that the professor was trustworthy. Kintobor wouldn't have told just anyone about the chaos emeralds after all.

"So what did Kintobor say?" Sonic asked, interest.

"Well, he said that I was to look after you until Sir Charles had returned to Mobitropolis."

"What?!" Sonic exclaimed, "You mean, Sir Charles isn't at Mobitropolis any more?" Sonic had got a bit panicked. But professor Stein smiled kindly and said, "Kintobor always was absent minded you know, I expect he just forgot to tell you."

"Tell me what?" Sonic wanted to know.

"Why don't you come in side and have something to eat? Then I'll explain all about It." professor Stein suggested. Sonic suddenly remembered that he had to eat quite often, and said, "Sure, you see I've got to eat quite a lot to be able to maintain my stamina."

"That's fine, we can deal with that later on." Stein said, nodding. He turned and began walking towards the village. "This way." He said as he walked, then added, "Come along Sally!"

So both Sonic and Sally followed after him Sally avoiding Sonic slightly.

They followed professor Stein all the way in to the Green hill zone, to a house that was made from a massive hollowed out tree that had a large garage standing next to it.

"This is my home." Said professor Stein proudly, pointing to the modified tree. "And that is my Lab." pointing to the large garage of to the side.

"Looks cool." Sonic said, sincerely.

Professor Stein smiled, and then opened the front door to let them in. Unlike Kintobor's messy lab, with it's haphazardly placed items and it's stuffy atmosphere, Professor Kay Nyne Stein's house was immaculate. The room Sonic had been led into what was obviously the living room. A three-piece sweet and two armchairs surrounded a large wide screen TV, a VCR, a CD player and an amplifier. Four speakers were set, one in each corner of the ceiling, a number of pictures hung on the wall, and most of them were of professor Stein receiving an award of some kind or another. And one was of professor Stein and Dr Kintobor at some ceremony. In the far corner of the room was a glass cabinet full to bursting with trophy's and certificates that professor Stein had been awarded, for advancing the fields of science and inventing numerous gadgets for everyday life.

"Whoa." Sonic said as he stared around. "You've been busy."

"Thank you." Said Professor Stein, appreciatively.

Sally, who seemed quite unmoved by the masses of trophy's and photos, walked straight past Sonic, jumped into one of the armchairs and clicked the TV on with the remote. Being on the move all the time Sonic hadn't had much experience with TV's and other technological things, he had been quite intimidated when he first entered Kintobor's lab. But this place was definitely more of a home, and Sonic felt very comfortable just being in the house.

"Chilli dogs for you Sonic?" Professor Stein asked, smiling.

"Yeah... that'll be great." Sonic said frowning; he guessed that Kintobor had told professor Stein at some point that he liked chilli dogs.

So Professor Stein wondered off down the hallway to what Sonic could see was the kitchen, calling, "Make yourself at home Sonic!"

Sonic, knowing that Sally seemed a bit apprehensive about him, sat away from her on the far side of the three piece suit. He noticed that she was watching the news, which he found extremely boring.

"Do you like the news?" Sonic asked, after a long silence.

Sally didn't answer; she just turned her head away slightly and looked down embarrassed at being asked a question by a stranger. There was another silence and then Sonic said, "Can't say that I like it that much, a bit boring if you ask me."

"I think it's interesting." Sally said finally, still not looking at Sonic.

"Really?" Sonic asked, surprised that Sally had said anything at all. "Why’s that?"

She turned to face him and said, "Well, it's all about the events of the world. You have to keep up with things like that you know."

"Do you?" Sonic said trying to prompt her into talking some more.

"Yep. I especially like the things to do with Mobitropolis and the palace there."

"I'm going to Mobitropolis." Sonic said, getting up off the three-piece suit and sitting down back on the end nearest Sally.

"Really?" Sally asked turning right around in her chair to face Sonic. "When are you going?"

"Soon I hope, but I'm not sure. I've got to talk to the professor first to see if Sir Charles is there."

They talked for what seemed like hours, Sonic telling Sally all about Sir Charles and how he might be related to him, about how had stayed with Dr Kintobor for a couple of weeks and about the explosion that turned him blue. While Sally told Sonic all she knew about the palace of Mobitropolis and how she'd love to live there one day. She was just explaining to Sonic about Professor Stein's workshop, when professor Stein himself came back from the Kitchen with a large tray and set it down on the coffee table. It had three plates; one with four large chilli dogs for Sonic, another with salad and two pieces of toast which the professor handed to Sally, and the last one was fish, chips and beans for the professor himself.

"There you are." Said Professor Stein, sitting down on the free armchair between Sally and Sonic.

"Cheers professor." Said Sonic.

Sally looked at Sonic, then at Professor Stein and said. "Yeah, 'cheers' uncle Stein."

"Don't mention it." Professor Stein said, chuckling at Sally’s use of the word 'cheers'.

None of them spoke for a while as they ate their meals. Finally Professor Stein broke the silence by turning to Sonic and asking, "So, you wanted to know about Sir Charles?"

"Um... yeah I did." Said Sonic, thickly through a mouthful of chilli dog. He swallowed and then said. "You said something about him being away from Mobitropolis."

"Yes, he is currently off in the west, trying to sort some technological problem out in one of the zones. It shouldn't take as long as some of his other projects have taken."

"So how long do you think it will be till he gets back?" Sonic asked, dreading the answer.

Stein sighed and said. "Six months, maybe a year."

Sonic’s heart sank like a stone, it was worse then he thought.

"No wonder Kintobor didn't want to tell me." He said dejectedly.

"Which is why I promised I'd look after you until Sir Charles returns to Mobitropolis." Professor Stein said, trying to cheer Sonic up.

"Does that mean he's going to stay with us?" Sally asked excitedly.

"Only temporarily." Stein explained.

"Will it be long?" She asked Sonic, apprehensively.

Sonic, sitting up and trying not to sound to miserable, said. "About a year probably."

"Excellent!" Sally said excitedly. "You can be my big brother for a while."

Sonic grinned and carried on eating, while Professor Stein smiled at the fact that Sonic wasn't taking the news to badly.

They ate the rest of their meals, talking occasionally, and discussing ideas for the next day.

"I thought I'd introduce you to two of the boys that live here at Green hill tomorrow." professor Stein explained. "There both about your age so you should get along fine with them."

"Sure, ok." Sonic said eagerly. As he had never had much time for meeting people, being on the move all the time. He was quite looking forward to it.

When they had all finished eating, Professor Stein gathered up all the plates and things onto the tray, and took them off to the kitchen. When he returned he asked Sonic, "Would you like to see my workshop?"

"Yeah, why not?" Sonic said enthusiastically.

With that professor Stein led them out through the front door and headed towards the double doors of the workshop. When he reached them, Stein took hold of one of the handles and tugged, pulling it open. Like his house, Professor Stein’s workshop was clean and tidy. There were numerous machines and computers, but they and their cables and wires were tucked away neatly, along the walls and floor.

The professor led the way down through the workshop, pointing out things of interest. He came to what seemed to be a television built into the wall with a telephone attached to it.

"This is a TV-phone." Stein explained. "It's used so that you can see the person you speaking to on the phone."

"That's pretty cool." Sonic said, only half interested, he didn't particularly like technology that much.

"I'm going to call Kintobor and tell him you've arrived safely." Stein went on.

Then Sonic suddenly remembered the transformation that seemed to change Kintobor, and he said quickly. "Hang on! I've got to tell you something about before I left Kintobor’s place."

Professor Stein put back the receiver he'd just picked up and frowned. "Go on then." He prompted.

"Well." Sonic began. "The last night I stayed at Kintobor's lab, he wanted to show me this R.O.C.C thing..."

Sonic explained all about the explosion and how Kintobor suddenly seemed not to want him around, while Stein, listened intently.

"...And when I said 'good bye' he didn't even look up." Sonic finished, looking at Stein.

"Hmm." Said Stein, thinking. "I think that's all the more reason I should call him. To make sure he's all right."

Stein picked up the receiver and dialled, after three tones Kintobor picked and his face appeared on the screen.

"What is it?" He asked, irritably. Then he noticed it was professor Stein and his face broke into a wicked smile. "Of coarse, I'd almost forgotten you were going to call." He said, a little nastily.

"Yes I was going to tell you..." Stein began, but was interrupted when Kintobor noticed Sonic in the background. "That Sonic had arrived safely, good. I'd hate to think that anything might have happened to him." Kintobor said, without sounding at all sincere.

"Err, yes he did. "Said professor Stein, "Anyway how are you? Are you working on anything interesting?"

"I'm afraid that I have no time for idle chat." Kintobor said in a very business like manner. "I have much to do and very little time to do it in. So I'll bid you farewell and hope that you will not bother me again! Good day."

And the he slammed the receiver down at his end and the signal cut off. Professor Stein frowned then looked quizzically at Sonic, who just shrugged.

"Do you think we should try again?" Sonic asked.

"No, not just yet, we’ll give it a day or two… maybe a week and then try again." Stein replied, thinking hard of what had happened to Kintobor.

The next day Sonic woke up to a bright sun filled bedroom with the windows wide open and a cool, fresh breeze playing across his face.

"Good morning." Came a voice from the doorway. Sonic sat bolt upright with fright, and looked in the direction that the voice had come from. It was Sally and she was smiling.

"Sorry." She giggled. "I didn't mean to startle you."

"You didn't startle me." Sonic lied, unconvincingly.

"Breakfast is ready down stairs if you want it." Sally informed him. And then she turned round and walked away down the hall, turning left and going down the stairs.

Sonic flopped back down, breathing slightly fast after his wake up call. Then he flung the sheet he'd been sleeping under off, and put on his socks, sneakers and then gloves before following Sally's foot steps in the direction of the kitchen. When he got there he found that Sally was sitting at the table with a bowl of Mobi-O's in front of her. She smiled as he walked in and asked, a little cheekily. "Did you sleep well?" Sonic turned his head towards her and scowled.

"Fine until this morning." He replied nastily.

Sally froze looking worried, Sonic's scowl then turned into a smile and he winked. And Sally realised that he was only joking. She smiled back with relief and then laughed.

Just then, Professor Stein entered the room looking extremely cheerful. He noticed Sonic and said. "Good morning Sonic. Did you sleep well?"

Sonic smiled at Sally, and she answered in a harsh voice. "Fine, until this morning."

Professor Stein frowned. Then both Sonic and Sally burst out laughing while Stein raised his eyebrows.

"Must be a private joke I suppose?" He said, baffled. "Sonic when you've finished breakfast, there is some people I'd like to introduce you to."

"Sure." Sonic agreed.

After he'd eaten his own bowl of Mobi O's, Sonic headed outside to meet Professor Stein, who was waiting by the door of his workshop.

"This way." He indicated down the road. "Were going down to the fountain to meet two off the locals."

He led Sonic down the road past a bunch of houses, to a 3-foot high fountain where a rabbit and a pig were sitting chatting. The rabbit was speaking animatedly, where as the pig was just sat nervous on the rim of the fountain looking around as if waiting for something bad to happen. As Sonic and Stein approached, the rabbit spotted them and jumped to his feet.

"Morning, professor." He said, happily. "How's everything going?"

"Fine thank you Jonathon." Stein replied, and then he gestured towards Sonic and said. "This is Sonic the hedgehog. Sonic, meet Jonathon Lightfoot and Oscar Lewis." He indicated first, the rabbit and then the pig.

"Hi." Sonic said weakly, he didn't like meeting new people very much. Jonathon noticed this and held out his hand invitingly, saying, "Call me Johnny, everyone but the professor does."

Sonic took his hand and shook it, feeling a bit better. He thought that he was going like Johnny, as he seemed like a genuinely nice guy, but he wasn't sure about Oscar. He seemed as if he'd have a heart attack if someone sneezed behind him without warning.

"H, hello, err… everyone calls me Porker." Said Oscar quietly, but smiling all the same. "You know, for obvious reasons."

Sonic returned the smile and shook his hand as well.

"Right then." Said Professor Stein. "I will leave you three to go exploring then shall I?"

He didn't wait for an answer, turned and left saying. " See you back at the house sonic, no later then ten if you don't mind."

"Uh, yeah sure." Sonic replied, unsure. He didn't want Stein to go.

"So." Johnny said suddenly. "What do you want to do Sonic?"

"Dunno." Sonic replied dully.

"What have you seen of this place?" Asked Johnny, enthusiastically.

"Not much, just the professors work shop."

"In that case." Johnny said slyly. "Our next stop will have to be the Great forest."

Porker's eye's suddenly became wide, not with excitement, but with apprehension. Sonic's interest was caught immediately.

"Great forest?" He repeated. "How 'Great'?"

"Massive!" Johnny replied. "It's the size of a hundred Green Hill zones put together, probably more. Come on it's right on the edge of the villages boarders."

With that, Johnny turned and headed off towards a group of huts and houses a little way to the left, Sonic and, a little reluctantly, Porker followed. They followed him all the way around and in between the house until they came to the edge of what could only be the Great forest zone. Johnny hadn't exaggerated, it was immense the trees went on so far that they blocked the view going in. there seemed to be no end to them.

"Wow." Sonic exclaimed, walking up to the nearest tree and placing the palm of his hand on it. "How far have you two been inside it?"

"Quite far." Johnny replied. Porker wasn't really the type for talking. "But not far compared with the size of this place, you'd get lost if you went in to far. But I do know this surrounding area quite well. Wanna' see?"

"Sure." Said Sonic, eagerly. And he followed Johnny past the boundaries of the trees. Poker muttered about something 'not being a good idea' which neither Sonic nor Johnny heard, before following them in.

They walked for a good distance, Johnny pointing out how he recognised where he was to Sonic, and Porker jumping at small noises. Quite a way in, when Johnny was pointing out to Sonic, a tree that had died years ago and was now just a hollowed out skin of bark and old wood. Sonic began to get a peculiar feeling, the feeling that he was being watched. Without thinking he turned and looked at a spot some 20ft into the trees, to the left of Porker. He figured he was just imagining it, and turned back to listen to Johnny telling him about the time Porker got stuck half way down the hollowed out ‘tree slide’, when he was struck by the same feeling. He turned right the way around, his whole body facing the spot that he had looked at the last time.

"What's up?" Johnny asked, concerned.

Sonic didn't reply right away, he stood staring at the spot for a while and then asked. "What's over there?" pointing ahead of him. Johnny looked over to where Sonic was pointing.

"Not much." He explained. "Just a bunch more trees, and then the rest of the forest."

Sonic frowned still staring at the same point "I could have sworn that something was there, watching us." He said suspiciously.

Porker quickly moved. Putting Sonic in between him and the point he was looking at.

"Wanna' check it out?" Johnny asked, the sound of a want for adventure in his voice.

Sonic smiled wryly and said. "Ok."

They split up; Johnny went off round to the left closely followed by Porker, while Sonic branched off around to the right. They tip toed all the way, making as little noise as possible, (Porker making more then the other two put together). They were now approaching the spot that Sonic had indicated, and all three were extremely tense. They past round their own trees and were now looking at each other and the spot they were trying to find. But there was nothing there.

"What the?" Sonic exclaimed his face screwed up in frustration.

"Guess it was nothing then." Said Johnny disappointed.

Porker let out a long sigh of obvious relief.

"What now then?" Sonic asked enthusiastically. He was fully relaxed now and felt like he would enjoy being one the group.

"How about going to Mighty falls?"

"Yeah that sounds ok."

So Porker and Sonic followed Johnny, off threw the trees again. They were walking along absent minded, chatting about the world in general, when Sonic felt it again. He was being watched, but he also heard something this time, a sort of rustling, like something creeping through the woods. He whipped round to see something, light brown, scrambling away behind the trees. Without hesitation, he leapt after it, past a few trees until he was upon it. The thing he was looking at dropped to the ground and covered its face with its hands. He was just about to shout something at it when he recognised what, or rather who it was; it was a squirrel, a squirrel with a little red bow in her hair.

"Sally?" Sonic said dumbfounded.

She took her hands away from her face and smiled weakly. Sonic looked down at her and frowned.

"Does the professor know you're here?" He asked.

"He knows I'm with you." She replied. "But he doesn't know I'm in the forest."

By this time Johnny and Porker had caught up with Sonic, they were a little surprised to see Sally but both were more interested in Sonic, who was helping Sally to her feet.

"What?" Sonic asked when he realised that Johnny and Porker were staring at him.

"Do you know how fast you were going?" Johnny asked.

Sonic realised what they were gawping at and smiled. He had neglected to tell them about his speed and he thought that it would be a good opportunity to show them something for once.

He explained all about visiting Dr Kintobor, and the accident that changed him blue. He didn't mention about how Kintobor had suddenly turned cold and vicious on him.

He finished off with a sprint around the area at break neck speeds. He ran around and in and out of the trees bouncing of one or two, hitting the sides and then propelling himself off them towards another.

Finally he came to a screeching halt in front of the three, stunned spectators who, as he bowed, burst into applause.

They whiled the rest of their time away by talking about Sonic's incredible speed and debating weather or not to return to the forest the next day, (with Sally).

When they returned to the Green Hill zone with droopy eyes and dragging feet, they split up. Johnny and Porker wandered off in the direction of their own houses, While Sonic and Sally headed towards Professor Stein's workshop. It was late in the evening and the sun was already half way below the horizon when they finally reached the front door, Sally almost hanging asleep, hand in hand with Sonic.

Sonic knocked hard on the door, jerking Sally out of her half slumber. It was only a second or two before the professor opened the door; he looked anxious as he began to say. "There you are Sonic. Come in we need to find…" Stein broke off. He had spotted Sally, who was hiding behind Sonic.

"Sally." Stein exclaimed, swooping down and hugging her. " Where have you been? I've been worried sick!" He drew away form her, his hands still on her shoulders, and looked up at Sonic. "Thank you Sonic, I was worried that she had been kid napped or something."

Sonic hesitated, unsure of what to say. "I just sort of ran across her as I was walking around the zone." He decided on finally.

Stein accepted this statement without question; he was obviously too relieved to see Sally back safe.

The next two weeks went on in much the same manner as before, Sonic (with Sally) met up with Johnny and Porker every morning and they went off to play out an adventure of one so sort or another. There games were usually played out in the Great forest, and they had many days of fun there, until Professor Stein found out where they kept sneaking off each morning. Stein had forbidden Sonic and Sally to go back there. But then, after a lot of pleading, Stein agreed to let them not only go to the forest, but to go on a one-week camping trip. Provided Sonic, Sally, Johnny and Porker all stick together and take a communicator with them.

"Make sure that you come straight home if anything happens." Stein was instructing the four of them.

They were at the edge of the forest ready to set off on their camping trip, and stein was giving them some last minute instructions.

After taking a communicator each, and another to speak to Professor Stein with. Sonic, Sally, Johnny and Porker set of into the forest on their greatest adventure yet.

* * *

Their first day in the forest was fairly uneventful. They pitched their tents, had a bite to eat, played games for couple of hours, ate some more (Sonic more than anyone) then got ready to go to sleep. Johnny and Porker shared a three-man tent, while Sally and Sonic each had separate one-man tents all to them selves.

That night all four of them slept soundly, unaware of the implications of the next days adventures.

Sally was the first to wake that day (as she usually was), she stepped out of her tent into the forest, which was still damp with dew, and looked up at a cloudless sky, hidden by a thick canopy of leaves and branches. Here and there diagonal beams of solid sunlight were breaking threw the forest roof, lighting the area around her, while birds in there thousands were singing their morning songs for all to hear.

Sally stretched and yawned, before shaking Sonic's tent and saying loudly, "Sonic, hey Sonic, Wake up!"

There was a sound of someone shuffling around in a sleeping bag and Sally suspected that Sonic had just pulled the opening of his sleeping bag over his head.

She hesitated for a while and then pulled the zip up and open on Sonic's tent, poked her head threw and found herself nose to nose with an angry blue hedgehog wearing a scowl. Sally was so surprised that Sonic was not curled up in his sleeping bag, and that he looked so angry, that she jumped backwards and tripped over a tree root sticking out of the ground. She fell on her back and sat up to see Sonic with his head poking threw his tent opening, now with his eyebrows raised and a slight smile on his face.

"Serves you right for invading peoples privacy." He said. Though kindly, as Sally looked a little upset.

"Are you okay?" Sonic asked concerned, stepping out of his tent and going over to her.

She smiled, got up and dusted herself off, pleased that Sonic wasn't mad at her. And they both turned round to see Johnny getting out of his and Porkers tent, rubbing his eyes, yawning and stretching.

"What was all that about?" He asked still in mid yawn. "I thought I heard someone yell."

"Don't worry about it." Replied Sonic. "It wasn't anything important. So, what's the plan for today?"

Johnny looked down at his stomach and then back up at Sonic. "Breakfast!" He said firmly.

So Johnny and Sally got to work unpacking the food, while Sonic ran around the forest at break neck speed, collecting dead wood for a fire. Half way through cooking the bacon, sausage, potato and eggs, Porker finally woke up and gave them a hand. "It was probably the smell of the food that woke him up." Sonic teased.

They ate their meals appreciatively. Sonic however didn't touch the eggs, as he had strong dislike for them. Once they were all finished they packed up their food and equipment and put out the fire with some loose earth.

They had decided to leave the tents pitched where they were and explore the surrounding area.

Just before they left, they had spoken to Stein on the radio, to tell him that they were all fine and that they would contact him again this evening.

They had a lot of fun exploring the forest, and were playing their usual games when it happened.

Sonic had just stolen Sally's bow and was now circling her, daring her to try and get it back, when she suddenly stopped, staring at a point way off through the trees.

"What's up?" Sonic asked, coming to a halt and looking at Sally, puzzled.

She continued to stare through the trees, as Johnny and Porker turned up, panting slightly at the effort of keeping up.

"What are you looking at?" Sonic pressed on, looking around to see what Sally was looking at. Johnny and Porker followed suit, and their eyes fell on the form of a wooden hut.

"What's that?" Asked Johnny, with curiosity and obvious excitement.

They all began to walk forwards, Porker with obvious misgivings about approaching a mysterious hut, out in the middle of the great forest.

As they got closer, all four could see that there were many more huts around the first, all set in amongst the trees with a large clearing in the middle. At least it seemed to have been a clearing at one time but was now over grown with weeds and vines. Here and there bushes had started creeping their way through the gaps in the wooden walls of the huts.

"Whoa!" Sonic said, a massive grin spreading across his. "Do you see what I see?" He asked turning to the others.

The other three grinned.

"Our very own village." Sally whispered, excitedly.

They were all thinking the exact same thing, no one else could possible know about this place. It seemed to have been left here for so long. And it was all theirs!

All four of them ran forwards at once into what was once clearing, and started jabbering about what they were going to do, suggesting ideas, and planning on how they were going to clean the area out a bit.

Sonic ran up to one of the big huts, which there were two of. "I call this hut." He said pointing up to it, wide eyed.

The others turned to look at the hut he was pointing to, and frowned.

"Don't you think it would be better for the two big huts to be store rooms?" Piped up Porker.

Sonic looked a little disappointed but was content to have one of any of the smaller ones, which were all roughly the same size.

They spent the rest of the day clearing plants and weeds from the huts, which was difficult without proper cutting tools to do it with, and Sonic sprinted back and forth collecting the camping things and bringing them to the village.

When they had done as much as they could they set about making a fire in their newly cleaned out clearing.

"So what are we going to do tomorrow?" Asked Sally, tired out from the days work.

"I'm going to leg it back to the Green hill zone first thing in the morning." Said Sonic. "I want to get a few things; tools, gardening stuff that sort of thing."

"Great idea!" said Johnny, enthusiastically. "We can repair the huts that we want to stay in and maybe, if we get them finished, we'll be able to stay in them the last night we're here."

"Cool." Replied Sonic shaking out his sleeping bag and laying it by the fire.

The other three did the same; they had decided to sleep under the stars to night, as the sky was so clear and with a fire to keep them warm.

* * *

The first to rise the next morning was Johnny, or so he thought. He had awakened to another perfectly clear sky; it was so early in fact that the sun hadn't even started to rise above the horizon yet. (But the tall trees masked this fact). He sat up, and looked around at his three companions. Then he noticed Sonic was missing, and in his place were a vast variety of tools, gardening equipment and some really big power tools.

"What the?" He breathed, as Sonic came skidding into the clearing wearing a backpack.

He winked and mouthed. 'Morning.' to Johnny, who returned it and then asked quietly. "Have you been doing this all morning?"

"Yep." Sonic replied, a little louder then he had intended. Both Porker and Sally stirred and then began disentangling them selves from their sleeping bags.

"Sonic!" Porker exclaimed sharply. "Where did you get those power tools?"

Sonic looked down at the pile of tools and other implements, then back up at the disgusted pig.

"From Green hill." He said, a little startled at Porkers attitude.

"People gave them to you?" Porker inquired, in disbelieve.

"Well... yeah." Sonic replied, sheepishly.

Porker stared at him with an eyebrow raised.

"Ok." Sonic burst out irritated, quailing under Porkers stare. "I told them that Professor Stein wanted them."

Porkers eyes widened in shock and his mouth dropped.

"Sonic! You not only tricked people into giving you power tools, but you did it in Professor Steins name."

"Lay off alright." Sonic said, feeling a bit un-appreciated. "I won't make a habit of it ok? And besides I'm gonna’ return them this evening."

Porker scowled, then said. "Fair enough. Just make sure that you do."

The rest of that day Porker didn't speak to Sonic much, but non the less with the help of the battery powered power tools and a lot of luck (Porker's amazing electronic and engineering skills) they managed to set up some underground power lines leading to all of the huts. The only problem was that there was nothing to supply them with power, however Sally (who was fantastic at thinking up good plans and ideas) suggested that the next time they came to the village they would get to work on setting up solar panels and generator powered by the river that ran through the forest. The nearest edge of which was about 20 meters east of the village.

They carried on making improvements to the huts and the surrounding area all day, and before five o'clock; Porker suggested that Sonic should take back the tools and things, which he did, though a little reluctantly. He had had a great time with the saws and drills, and even more fun with the jackhammer.

It was past nine before Sonic had finished his trips back and forth, he hadn't taken Professor Steins tools back as the professor had said that he didn't mind the four adventures using them.

"So then." Sonic said, slumping down on the floor, tired. "What's on for tomorrow?"

"Rest." said Johnny wearily. "I don't think I'd have the energy to do any work and walk all the way back to Green hill."

"Sounds good to me." Agreed Sally.

"Me too." finished Porker.

Sonic frowned but didn't argue. The other three were obviously not up to the level of stamina that Sonic was.

So all the next day they lazed about the village, getting up now and then to do a little work on there own huts.

On the last night in the forest each of them got up from the fire they had been cooking with and went off to sleep in their very own huts.

As Sonic walked up to his own hut he turned to wish his companions good night. Porker and Johnny replied 'good night' and went off into there huts without fuss, however Sally stood for a moment looking in at her hut, then she turned, smiled weakly and went in.

Sonic slept fairly easily that night, and woke up feeling fully refreshed yet a little disappointed, by the end of today, he (Sonic), Porker, Johnny and Sally would have to go back to the Green hill zone and leave there new found village behind them. But this was by no means the last time they would come here; the four of them were already making plans to come back as soon as possible.

As Sonic lay there, his thoughts became wish full and he imagined what it would be like to live in the village forever and never have to worry about anything again, when he drifted off to sleep.

* * *

The next morning Sonic woke, as he usually did, very early in the morning. He could hear the birds singing outside and looked up to see the newly risen sun pouring sun light through his window, onto the opposite wall, where he could see the shadows of the trees that the sun had not quite reached over yet.

Sonic, feeling fully awake, stretched and threw off his sleeping bag. He swivelled his legs round on his bed to the right so his legs were dangling over the side, and was just about to slide down to the floor when he felt something soft touch the soles of his feet. He looked down and recognised Sally's sleeping bag, Sonic frowned but then remembered that she hadn't looked to happy about going into her hut last night.

"Poor kid." Sonic whispered. "Guess she got scared during the night or something."

He swivelled back round to the left side and slide off that way, not wanting to disturb Sally. He pulled on his gloves, socks then sneakers and tip toed out of his hut.

"Wow." He exclaimed, softly.

What little clouds there were in the sky were situated high in the air so high they could have been touching the very edge of the atmosphere. It seemed as if waves had been etched against the blue sky moving at a snails pace across the sky.

Sonic decided that, since no one was up yet, he'd best make a start on clearing things up, and as he was so fast the task took an extremely short time.

He whiled away the time waiting for the others to wake up, by having pretend sword fights with imaginary bad guys, using sticks he found lying around the forest.

The others woke almost in unison. Johnny and Porker emerged from their own huts within a minute of each other and finally Sally emerged five minutes after that.

When they were all awake enough to speak, the subject of what to do today popped up.

"Well…" Began Porker. "I don't mean to be a spoil sport or anything, but we really should get going as soon as possible. It's a long way back to Green hill and if we don't set off within the hour, we won't get back until night fall."

The other three looked down cast, but knew what Porker said was true. So Sally, Johnny and Porker packed away all the things that Sonic hadn't (things like sleeping bags), radioed to the professor that they would be leaving soon and finally, they set off.

"What should we call this place?" Johnny asked looking back at the village.

"I've been thinking about that." Sally said, stopping and looking around at the other three. "I once saw in one of Professor Grant's concept drawings, Professor Grant is a researcher in ancient cultures, it was an image of a beautiful city that had been destroyed thousands of years ago, the researchers had called 'Knothole'."

"Then that's what our village will be called." Sonic said enthusiastically.

After the discovery of Knothole, the four 'adventurers' had returned to it many times mostly on camping trips. But they didn't always stay by the village (nor did Sally sneak into Sonic's hut any more). Instead they took to exploring the surrounding area, each of them now knew a portion of the Great forest like it was there own back garden.

Unfortunately their plans to build a means of supplying the village with electricity had fallen flat on its face. After all, none of them had nearly enough money to buy the parts for such a project. They had however asked professor Stein for any scrap pieces of technology that he didn't want, and by now had a considerable amount of spare bits an bobs which they stored in the second big hut in the village. Only three or four items could be used for a water wheel but Porker was already cooking up ideas for the other parts as well.

By now a month had nearly past and Sonic was getting very hyped up about his up coming birthday, Sally had been teasing him that he shouldn't expect any presents as no one really liked him very much, but he was ignoring this.

When the big day finally arrived Sonic had expected that he would probably wake up even earlier than usual, but instead he was rudely awakened when Sally burst through the door and flung her self on to the end of his bed, shouting. "Happy birthday Sonic!"

Sonic fairly fell out of his bed in shock but recovered him self just in time.

"What on Mobius are you playing at?" He gasped trying to regain his breath.

Sally smiled and giggled at the look of shock on his face.

"I thought you might enjoy a surprise." She said innocently, still smiling.

Sonic got up donned his gloves, socks and sneakers then walked out of his room and down the stairs, Sally trotting behind him.

"Good morning, Sonic." Said the professor kindly, as Sonic entered the kitchen and sat on one of the three 'bar stools'. "Sleep well?"

"Not to bad." Sonic replied, pretending it didn't matter that it was his birthday.

Professor Stein pulled up from beneath the table, a box wrapped in blue and yellow paper, with a bow wrapped around it. "Happy birthday." He said, handing Sonic the present.

"Wow thanks." Said Sonic, beginning to unwrap it.

He tore through the paper to reveal a closed cardboard box, taped up at the opening. Stein handed Sonic a pair of scissors and Sonic cut through the tape and opened the lid of the box, he placed his hand in the box and pulled out a small paper envelope. He looked back inside the box but there was nothing else in there, then he glanced back at the little envelope and frowned. He was completely baffled as to what might be inside and without hesitation opened it and looked inside. There were two plastic magnetic strip cards looking up at him.

"What are they?" He asked.

"That first one…" Stein began. "Is a bank card. I started putting money into an account before you arrived in the Green hill zone and will continue to do so until you're eighteen and or can fend for your self."

Sonic looked up completely stunned. Then Stein continued. "The second one, with your picture on it, is a citizens pass to Mobitropolis. It means that you can just get into the city when ever you like, with out having to register every time."

Sonic couldn't believe it, not only had professor Stein given him the means to buy his own things but he'd gone to all this trouble to register Sonic so that he could get into Mobitropolis with out any hassle.

"I… uh thanks." Sonic said quietly. He got an almost over powering thought of going over to give the professor a hug. But decided against it, just in case it destroyed his cool image or something.

"Here!" Sally piped up, from the stool next to Sonic. "This is from me."

Sonic opened the red and orange wrapped box and looked down at a hand drawn card that said 'happy birthday Sonic' with a picture of (sonic could only assume was) him self and Sally holding hands outside the professors house. Sonic smiled and said. "Thanks Sally." Then he pulled out a large bar of chocolate and a stopwatch.

"It's so you can be timed and stuff." Sally explained enthusiastically.

"Thanks again." Sonic said, and then added, looking up at the professor. "Both of you."

Sonic didn't have a choice about hugging Sally as at that moment she jumped on his neck, squeezing hard. Sonic choked slightly as she let go of him, then she said happily. "Glad you like It." Then she trotted off to watch television in the living room.

Sonic also got a present each from Porker and Johnny. Porker had given him a pair of binoculars that had heat and night vision. Sonic stammered that he couldn't accept a present like that, but Johnny explained later that Porkers parents were rich, and that acquiring an item like that was just like buying a video. And Johnny had given Sonic a remote control stunt plane that had a range of 300ft.

Apart from testing out his presents, Sonic's day was fairly un-eventful, until he returned home to find professor stein reading the paper, with a grim expression on his face.

"What's up professor?" Sonic asked.

Stein didn't answer right away; he continued reading for a few seconds and then said. "It's Dr Kintobor."

"What about him?" Sonic inquired with interest.

"Apparently he's disappeared. The paper says that he shut himself up completely in his lab and severed all ties with the out side world. Police had been aware of this for some time and when no hint of life could be detected from him for so long they went to investigate, only to find that his lab had been deserted for some time."

Sonic thought about this for a moment, and then asked. "Why were they so interest in Kintobor? Why did he make the front page?"

"Well." Said Stein. "He is a human after all. And when someone who is a suspicious character already, suddenly severs all connections to the world, people start to ask questions. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a full search for him all over this continent."

"But if Kintobor was up to something he wouldn't be stupid enough to stay on the same continent, would he?"

"Who knows Sonic, your guess is as good as mine." Stein said heavily.

Sonic spent that night thinking about why Kintobor was acting so weirdly. He had been perfectly fine until the accident with the 'Wacky Gems' or what ever it was they were called. But now he was missing and quite likely on the run for some reason. He thought again of the machine that held the 'Gems' inside and wondered where they had all gone after the explosion.

* * *

Sonic's stay at the Green hill zone was now nearly at an end. There was just over a month to go before 'Sir Charles', Sonic's possible relative, would be returning to Mobitropolis, where Sonic hoped to meet him.

Sonic had thought about meeting him endlessly on and off since he arrived at the Green hill zone, but now that he had spent so long in the zone he thought he would find it difficult when he had to leave for the big city.

Today he and his three friends; Johnny, Porker and Sally were just returning from another week in Knothole. Porker and Johnny each went off to their own houses, while Sally and Sonic headed towards the professors house.

When they got inside they found professor Stein standing with his arms folded watching the television with a very grave look on his face.

"Everything ok professor?" Sonic asked slightly worried.

"Oh yes, everything's fine." Stein replied, sounding it, but still looking grave.

Sonic looked at him, in disbelief and Stein gave a meaningful look at Sally while she wasn't looking. Then Sonic understood, what ever it was that had happened Stein obviously didn't want Sally to know.

So Sonic did not pursuer the matter until later that evening when Sally had gone to bed.

"So what was wrong?" Sonic asked, unable to contain him self any longer.

Professor Stein took Sonic out to his workshop, closed the door then said. "Something terrible is happening to the environment. Trees, grasses and many other types of plants have started wilting and dying all over this continent."

"What's causing it?" Asked Sonic worried.

"No one is quite sure." Stein answered. "But yesterday the leaders of the major city's received threats form an unknown source. Saying that if the control of Mobius was not turned over to him, then he will continue to use some device that is causing the environmental change."

"Who's 'him'?" Sonic inquired with interest.

"Well if the police knew that, then they would already be after him."

"And there are no leads what so ever?" There was a light of adventure in Sonic's eyes now.

"No. The only other unusual thing that has happened is that the golden rings of Mobius have started going missing about the same time. But no one knows how that can have any bearing on anything at all."

Sonic stood and ran all this information through his mind. Then he asked. "So what will happen if 'his' device isn't stopped?"

There was a pause.

"Then the planet will not recover." Stein said heavily. "Mobian scientists predict that if this catastrophe is not stopped within approximately three weeks, then the ecosystem will be permanently harmed. The damage will be irreversible and all life on Mobius will be destroyed."

"But this doesn't make any sense." Sonic said confused. "How can the leaders of Mobius turn control of the planet over to someone, without knowing who he is?"

"Apparently he will contact King Acorn at Mobitropolis in two weeks, for the immediate and unconditional surrender of the planet."

Sonic didn't know what else to ask, but his mind was racing. He had already acquired a high opinion of himself, and now the thought of tracking down this 'him', who was causing so much trouble, had fired up in his mind.

"Well then Sonic now you know." Stein said with a sigh. Then he asked. "Please don't tell anybody else Sonic."

"But wasn't it on the news?"

"Only parts of it." Stein explained. "They only know that there's something going wrong with the environment."

Sonic nodded and then left the workshop, his mind still racing.

* * *

The next day sonic got up early and left the house straight away, thinking of going to see Johnny and Porker. He went to Johnny's house first and found him outside playing with a remote control car.

"Morning Sonic." Johnny said quietly. "Your up kind of early?"

Sonic quickly explained about the problems with the environment. (Though he didn't mention the threats the Mobius leaders had received).

"I know I've seen it on the news." Johnny said unconcernedly. "Probably another freak weather pattern or something."

Sonic wasn't sure what to tell him, as Johnny didn't seem to think that the problem was very serious at all.

"The thing is," Sonic went on. "That if this change doesn't stop then the planet will never recover."

Johnny frowned and then asked. "What do you mean?"

"All life on the planet will die out."

"How do you know?"

"Because professor Stein told me." Sonic answered, simply.

Johnny eyes widened in shock.

"But you can't tell anyone I told you." Sonic said quickly. "If anyone else found out there would be wide spread panic."

Johnny fixed a look of concentration, and then asked. "So what are we going to do about it?"

Sonic was so glad that Johnny definitely wanted to do somethin’ about the situation. He was kind of worried that he would end up doing it by himself.

Sonic explained all about this mystery man who was threatening Mobius and told Johnny about the time limit until the damage would be to extensive to repair.

"And there are no leads what so ever?" Johnny asked once Sonic had finished.

"Well, Stein mentioned something about the golden rings of Mobius going missing."

The golden rings had been around for as long as anyone could remember. Then suddenly it hit Sonic.

"My golden ring!" He said, slapping his hand to his forehead. "Quick, we've got to get Porker then go back to my room!"

"But why?" Asked Johnny, getting up and following sonic who was already heading towards Porkers house.

"No time!" Sonic shouted back.

They got to Porker's house, and Sonic Knocked on the door. Five minutes later Porker opened the door, puffy eyed and scowling.

"Do you have any idea what time it is?" He asked angrily.

Sonic quickly told Porker all that he had told Johnny. And the three of them were soon heading back towards the professors house.

They went inside and headed as quietly as possible to Sonic's room.

"What the?" The three of them exclaimed.

Sonic's backpack was stuck against the wall opposite the window.

"Did you do that?" Johnny asked Sonic, who shook his head and moved towards the bag. He reached up and tried to pull it from the wall. It wouldn't budge. He opened the bag and looked inside.

"This is weird." He said turning to the other two. Who walked up to the bag and peered inside. They could see inside that it was Sonic's golden ring, the one with the Kintobor program stored on it. It was pining the bag against the wall.

"Why is it doing that?" Johnny asked.

"You remember that Stein didn't think the missing golden rings was related to what’s going on?" Sonic explained. "Well what if they are? What if there being attracted somewhere? Towards the device that’s causing all this."

"If we were able to move this ring." Porker said, frowning with thought and rubbing his chin. "Then we could get a more precise idea of what direction it's trying to move in."

"Brilliant!" Johnny exclaimed.

"So your both up for going to investigate?" Sonic asked the other two.

"You bet!" said Johnny enthusiastically.

"Of course." Agreed Porker, to Sonic and Johnny’s surprise. "Something’s got to be done."

Sonic and Johnny looked at Porker in amazement. Normally Porker would start stuttering and then would list a bunch of reasons why they shouldn't do something like this.

"Right." Said Sonic. "I'll go and ask Stein if it's alright to go to 'Mobitropolis early'." He made the bunny ears motion with his fingers. "And you two had better ask if you can go with me."

Johnny and Porker both nodded then headed for their own houses, while Sonic went to see if professor Stein was up yet.

He found him in his workshop, tinkering with some small hand held device.

"Professor?" He said tentatively. Stein looked up and smiled.

"Morning." He said.

"Professor." Sonic said again. "Would it be ok if me, Porker and Johnny went to Mobitropolis early?"

Professor Stein frowned and said. "But Oscar and Jonathon," (Porker and Johnny) "don't have passes."

"I know that." Sonic replied. "But we could register them when we get there, couldn't we?"

"Well, yes. But their passes would only be good for two weeks."

"That’s ok." Said Sonic, thinking on the spot. "That way they won't be in the way when I meet Sir Charles and they will have been able to visit the city."

Stein stood and thought for a moment. Then said. "Well it's ok with me. But I won't a phone call from both Oscar and Jonathan's parents, saying that it's ok."

"YES!" Sonic shouted, sprinting out of the workshop. Then he stopped and returned to the workshop, poking his head through the door.

"What about Sally?"

"No!" Stein said, sharply. "I'm Sorry but she’s not to leave Green hill."

"Ok." Sonic replied, apologetically. "And um... you know the golden rings of Mobius?"

"Yes." Stein said thinking.

"Is there anything particularly special about them?"

"Well not really, there not actually made of gold you see. But they do give off a fair amount of energy, especially lately. They seem to have absorbed a small amount of an unstable energy that no one can identify."

"Right." Said Sonic, only half interested. "Then, do you know how to get one off my bedroom wall?"

With the help of professor Stein and one of his most powerful droid’s, the Kintobor ring was removed from Sonic's room and put outside. It had to be chained to a giant iron tent peg that was forced a full meter into the ground, to stop it from getting away.

Porker had discreetly taken an exact reading of the bearing from Green hill so they could find what ever it was the gold rings were being drawn to.

The three of them (Sonic, Johnny and Porker) had planed to head away from Green hill towards Mobitropolis, then head in the direction of the Ruby sands zone once they were out of sight of Green hill. Then when they got to the Ruby sands zone, they would decide what to do according to their situation.

They left fairly early next day. Sonic brought his binoculars and remote control plane (which Porker had cleverly modified to hold a camera), and three CB radios.

Porker brought a range of various different gadgets, including the 'path finder' which was a device that could tell you were you are in the world with the accuracy error of barely one or two centimetres.

Johnny brought an extendible iron bar with two cylindrical weights, one at each end. Also a large length of rope and a compass.

"Safe journey!" Stein shouted, waving as the three of them walked up the hill.

"Come home soon!" Sally sobbed, clutching at the professor's lab coat.

The three stopped and waved for a few seconds before disappearing over the hill completely.

Once there they stopped and sat down to run over their plan.

"From here." Porker explained. "We'll head in that direction until we get to Ruby Sands. Then we can carry on up till we get to Crystal Springs, then over or round Diamond Mountain, and finally on to Gigapolis city."

"Why go to Gigapolis?" Sonic asked, puzzled.

"Because that is the most likely place, in the direction that the ring was pointing, that could be capable of creating such a machine."

"Right." Agreed Sonic, but still not quite sure.

So with their plan in mind they set of for Ruby Sands, abandoning their path to Mobitropolis.

Their first sign that they were getting close to Ruby Sands came late in the evening when the Sun had started sinking below the hills.

They could hear the lapping of waves somewhere up ahead, and the smell of the sea, that had started a while back, was getting stronger.

Suddenly it came into sight. Even in the dim, fading light they could see the red of the sand that stretched for miles along the coast.

"Unbelievable." Sonic said, in awe.

Here and there were palm trees swaying lightly in a cool breeze, birds whistled and sung their evening tunes while the light faded as the sun dropped below the skyline.

The three of them quickly set to work setting up their tents, but half way through they could no longer see the tent pegs they were trying to force into the ground and had to light a fire before they could see again to continue.

They had soon however got their tents pitched and were settling down around the fire to cook themselves some dinner.

"That was good eating Porker." Sonic said, honestly. "Thanks."

"Yeah thanks." Agreed Johnny.

Porker shrugged and said. "It was nothing." And went about clearing up the cooking utensils.

"So." Said Sonic, collecting up the three plates and placing the knives and forks on top of them. "What do you guys think about all this?"

"About what?" Johnny and Porker asked.

"About being on an adventure like this. Tracking down the problem with the golden rings and possibly finding out the cause of the environmental change."

"Sounds like fun." Said Johnny, with interest and enthusiasm.

Porker didn't say anything.

"What about you, Porker?" Sonic prompted.

"W, well I..." He began. His voice quavered, much as it had done when he and Sonic had first met. "I, um, I'm not sure. I guess it would be nice if we stopped all this and, um..." He broke off.

Sonic looked at Johnny and Johnny at him. Then Johnny said. "Porker, if you don't want to go any further, then we can always go back."

Porker sat quietly for a moment. He seemed to be thinking things over. Then he said, in a small voice. "No. I said I would help you, and I will. Besides, it's quite likely that what ever is causing this damage is a machine, and I’m the best person to have around when dealing with things like that."

Both Johnny and Sonic patted him on the back and smiled.

"Glad to have you with us." Said Johnny.

The night yielded to be peaceful and quiet. The three companions all slept well and rose from their slumbers at roughly the same time, give or take a few minutes. When they did, they found themselves on a Red sanded beach bathed in sunlight. The logs from last night’s fire were still glowing faintly and the birds were all singing again at the top of their lungs.

"Ready to get going?" Sonic asked brightly, when the breakfast had been eaten and the equipment packed away.

"Yep." Replied Johnny, ready as ever.

Porker looked slightly nervous but still said, as enthusiastically as possible. "I'm ready."

And they set off once more, trudging over the Red sands of the beach.

After a while, they got very tired. The sun had been beating down on them all day, and walking along sand isn't exactly easy on anyone’s stamina. So Sonic, Johnny and Porker, took to walking right along the shoreline where the beach met sea. The sand was firmer there and easier to walk on, they also had the cool sea to keep them from getting to hot.

Around midday they stopped to rest in the shade of a group of palm trees. The Sun was far to hot now to walk in, and their feet were starting to ache as it was. Sonic who always seemed to be able to do something, even in the mid day sun, contented himself by climbing the palm trees and fetching coconuts from them, which he broke open using small rocks. He had just opened a sixth and pasted it to Porker when he got a familiar feeling. The feeling they were being watched. He spun around suddenly and looked up into the tallest tree (which he hadn’t tried climbing yet) and saw a pair of eyes looking down at him. As he looked, the eyes blinked in surprise that, who ever it was, had been spotted.

"Hey!" Sonic shouted, making Porker jump and Johnny turn to see what was wrong. "Who are you?"

Porker and Johnny got to their feet and looked up at the tree. A look of suspicion suddenly dawned on Sonics face, and then he said. "Sally? Sally if that’s you again following us..."

"Names not Sally mister!" Squawked a voice from the tree.

Who ever it was could only be a bird (unless it was someone with a really bad throat infection). And it sounded like they were quite young as well.

"The names 'Chirps'!" The voice said stoutly.

"Well then Chirps." Sonic said, annoyed that someone had been spying on them. "What are you doing hiding in the trees?"

"I'm not hiding!" Chirps replied, as if it were an insult. "These trees are my home, and your eating my coconuts."

"Sorry, but we didn't know these were your trees, or your coconuts."

"Well know you do so... so clear off." Chirps sounded if he wasn't as quite as brave as he was pretending to be.

"Just how old are you?" Sonic asked, curiously. Chirps kind of reminded him of Sally.

"I'm Five." Chirps said, as if this was something to be frightened of.

"Really!" Said Sonic, with mock surprise. "Wow, you must be really brave to try and fight us off all by your self."

"Yeah well I’m used to it." Chirps said moodily. "If you were 'bandoned like I am then you gotta’ know to take care of your self."

"You were abandoned?" Sonic pressed on, actually surprised this time. "How long ago?"

"Long time." Chirps replied sadly. "I can hardly remember my Mum and Dad."

Sonic looked around at Johnny and Porker, and they all agreed silently, they would have to take Chirps with them.

"Listen, Chirps." Sonic began. "Why don't you come with me and my friends?"

"Why would I wanna' do that? I don't even know your names." Chirps said suspiciously.

"I guess we'd better introduce ourselves then. My names Sonic, and these two are Johnny and Porker." Sonic pointed to them as he said their names.

Chirps waited a little before asking the next question. He seemed to want to interrogate them but was unable to think of things to ask. Finally he settled on. "How old are you?"

"I'm fifteen, and these two are both fourteen."

From up in the trees, Chirps' eyes lit up. "Really?" He said, sounding impressed, then he asked. "Will you really take me with you?"

"Sure." Sonic replied.

There was a great rustling of leaves and a pair of wings, then suddenly a small brightly coloured bird fell out of the tree, flapping just enough so he didn't hurt himself as he hit the ground.

Chirps was a bright red for the most part, and also had stripes of orange and yellow feathers all over him and his beak looked more golden then yellow, as did his small clawed feet.

"So then." Chirps said brightly. "Where are we going?"

Sonic and Johnny explained all about the mission they were on and where they were heading.

"Cool!" Chirps exclaimed when they had finished. "So what’s my job?

Sonic thought quickly, and then asked, "Can you fly well?"

"You bet I can." Chirps said happily, extending his wings to show them to Sonic.

"Great." Said Sonic. "You can be our look out." Then Sonic reached inside his backpack and pulled out his pair of binoculars. And handed them to Chirps. "You can use these."

"Wow thanks." Said Chirps. And put the carry strap around his neck, holding the binoculars as if they were made of gold.

It took the four adventurers the rest of the day and the morning of the next, before the finally got past the borders of Ruby sands.

They had spent a great deal of time swimming and having fun. The pull of a tropical beach like this was just too great.

In the distance ahead they could see an enormous mountain with it's peak high up in the clouds, and just ahead of them leading all the way to base of the mountain was a area of flat grass land, dotted with clumps of trees and massive exposed boulders of granite.

By the end of that day, they had crossed into what was called 'Crystal springs', a zone that had a number of massive hot springs surrounded by large amounts of trees. The springs themselves were heated by the under ground lava system that ran down from the mountain.

"W, well, here we are." Said Porker, as cheerfully as possible. "T, this is the C, crystal springs. We have to cross this zone and travel around the base of Diamond Mountain."

"No problem." Sonic said, easily. "Then it's on to Gigapolis."

They spent the rest of that day getting as far as they could into Crystal Springs, stopping every now and then to rest. Nothing of particular interest happened that night or the next morning. By the afternoon however the four of them had stumbled across a particularly large spring in the middle of a large clump of trees. They decided that they would all stop and take the rest of this afternoon off to enjoy the relaxation of the secluded hot spring.

As Porker looked around he noticed something that had been bugging ever since they had been travelling through Ruby sands and then arrived in the Crystal springs zone. There weren’t any other people here.

"This would be a great vacation spot." Sonic declared, putting down his backpack and removing his shoes, socks and gloves.

"No arguments there." Johnny agreed, setting his pack by a towering tree.

Chirps took a look at the water and frowned. "Well much as I'd like to go swimming." He began "Water doesn't exactly agree with us birds and their feathers."

Then he took to the air and perched himself on the bottom most branch of the tree that Johnny had set his bag against.

"Suit your self." Sonic said shrugging. Then he bent his knees and jumped. Propelling himself 15ft into the air and 20ft out into the spring. He splashed down into and under the water, but did not resurface.

"W, where is he?" Porker asked nervously.

The three looked into the shimmering crystal like water, but still Sonic didn't surface.

"Umm." Johnny Murmured. "Do you think we should try to help him?"

Suddenly there was a massive splash as something blue shot out of the water and hit the trunk of Chirps' tree.

"Sonic!" Porker shouted, concerned, as the hedgehog slumped to the floor, unconscious.

There was another great splash, as something long and metallic rose out of the water. It was a gigantic snake, with a frill of spikes that ran from the top of its head to below the water line. It was not however alive, it was like some sort machine, a robot. Its eyes blazed red and its jaw creaked as it revealed long silver teeth.

"AAAGGGHHHH." Porker yelled as the snake opened its mouth wide in a screeching high-pitched roar. Johnny had sprung back to his pack and was retrieving the extendible bar that he had brought. Porker stood petrified as the snake fixed it's attention on Johnny, who buy now was standing ready with his weapon in both hands.

"Porker!" He shouted. "Get out of there!"

Porker didn't move as the snake swayed, turning its head this way and that, apparently checking out its opponents. Johnny sprang to the left of Porker to get the snakes attention, it worked, the snake turned and focused on Johnny as soon as he started moving. Johnny swung his weapon around his head, and suddenly the snake lunged towards him. Johnny's reflexes were tested, he only just managed to dive out of the way, and as the snakes head went past Johnny was able to land a decent shot on the side of the snakes face, just under the right eye. The snake reared as it detected damage to its visual sensor system, and then stopped to look around again. Johnny was now standing ready to fend off another attack, which never came. The snake seemed to be searching for him, yet Johnny was standing right in front of it. Perhaps he had blinded it. Johnny moved to the right and the snake reacted, darting towards Johnny with its mouth wide open, teeth gleaming. Again Johnny sprang out of the way and landed another hit, this time squarely between the eyes. The already damaged right eye smashed and went out with a spark, the metal plating buckled in on the snakes head misaligning the sensor lens to the left, but it was still functioning.

Meanwhile, Chirps had snuck down to the bottom of his tree and pulled the unconscious Sonic away from danger, and was now trying to awaken him.

"Sonic wake up!" Chirps said franticly "Wake up!"

Sonic stirred and blinked with a frown on his face.

"What’s going on?" He asked groggily.

"There’s some huge robot snake thing." Chirps explained. "Porker won't move and Johnny’s trying to fight it off on his own."

Sonic didn't hesitate, he was on his feet and heading towards the spring at a run, he arrived to find the snake making it's third attack on Johnny, who had made another dodge at the cost of falling help less to the floor. The snake instantly turned to face the speeding hedgehog; it let out another screeching roar and lunged towards him instead.

"Sonic, wait!" Porker shouted. "Stop moving!"

Sonic jumped to avoid the snake’s attack, then shouted back. "What! Are you crazy?" As he ducked and rolled to dodge another lunge.

"Just trust me!" Porker shouted back, not moving from his spot. "There’s no time to explain."

Sonic curled up into a ball and 'spin dashed' into the side of the snake forcing it to reel back, damaged. Then he froze where he stood, after dropping back to the floor. The snake looked up again and seemed to start searching for the missing hedgehog, who was standing in plain view.

"What the?" Sonic breathed.

The snake continued to search, while Sonic and Porker stood, motion less. Chirps stayed out of sight behind his tree, and Johnny lay awake where he fell, not moving on Porkers advice.

After a minute or two the snake went back from 'search mode' into 'sleep mode', descending slowly back into the water, as it's eyes began descending below the water line, the robotic snake fairly exploded with electrical energy as the water seeped through where the right eye once was, it shorted the snake out completely. It twitched its head to the side then remained motionless, still poking slightly out of the water.

"Huh?" Sonic said, not quite cottoning on to what had happened. "Why did it do that?"

"It, It s, shorted out when water l, leaked in through the eye." Porker said, his nervousness returning.

"Cool." Sonic said, realisation sinking in.

Johnny got up off the floor and dusted him self off, while Chirps emerged from his hiding place.

"What the heck was something like that doing way out here?" Johnny asked, picking up his twin cylindrical weight ended bar off the floor, and returning it to the size capable of fitting in his backpack.

"I think we're n, nearing the, or are already in, the territory of who ever is behind the golden rings disappearance." Porker answered nervously.

"But you said that guy who was doing that was in Gigapolis city." Johnny said, confused.

"I know that. B, but we don't know how long this p, person or these persons have been around for. They c, could have been gaining power for months, p, perhaps years."

"With out anybody noticing?" Johnny said, in disbelief.

Porker thought for a moment, then explained. "If this person had taken over Gigapolis, then they would be able to force people of the city to tell the neighbouring zones and cities that everything’s fine. Either that or they would just fake some transmissions."

"So is that why there’s no one else around here?" Sonic asked. "Because of these things." He jabbed a thumb at the life less robot still poking out of the middle of the spring.

"More than likely. And if the zones surrounding this area knew about these robots something would have been done about them already." Porker explained, calming a little.

"So, let me get this straight." Johnny said, trying to understand. "There could be more of these things around here." He pointed to the motionless snake. "Or things like it. And Gigapolis could be under the control of who ever built them."

Porker smiled weakly and said. "It's possible."

"Well that all sounds like fun to me." Johnny said, with genuine enthusiasm.

Sonic was glad that at least one of his friends was still up for going on this trip, he was afraid that they would have to turn back and go home or something.

All together, Sonic, Porker, Johnny and Chirps managed to haul the great robotic snake out of the water, and it was now lying on the bank. If it were entirely up to Sonic, they would have left the snake where it was, gone to sleep and then set of next morning as usual. However porker wanted to find out if there was any markings on it anywhere, something that would lead the four of them to any conclusion as to who built it and why. Porker had already said that it couldn't have contained a very sophisticated program, and that was probably why it could only respond to a simple choice; if something moves, kill it! If nothing is moving, then remain dormant.

"But what about the trees?" Sonic asked, puzzled.

"What about them?" Said Porker, slightly irritated that he had to keep explaining things.

"Well if the trees moved then wouldn't the snake go for them to."

Porker sighed. "I'm quite sure that any one smart enough to build this snake-bot, would have the sense to write a program to enable the it to tell the difference between a tree and a mobian." Porker said, with the air of someone who is explaining something to a pre-school child. "Otherwise it would attack just about anything that moved."

After Porker had finished explaining everything, he proceeded to examine the snake more closely. Sonic and the others however, decided to get a good fire going and recount the action packed encounter with the giant robotic snake.

By the time dinner was cooking, Porker had finished checking the snake and was sat thinking while cooking at the same time, the other three were pitching the tents.

"Well I'm non the wiser as to who built that snake." Porker said once Sonic, Johnny and Chirps had sat back down. "But who ever it was, must have made at least 7, and made them very well."

"Seven?" Chirps blurted out, a note of panic in his voice. "How do you know there's seven?"

"Because that one," Porker said, pointing at the snake-bot. "Is called 'Leviathan 7',"

"But that might only mean 'version 7'." Sonic piped up, displaying some unusual intelligence.

Porker rolled his eyes and then said, flatly. "No. The full name on the thing was 'Mecha-Snake Version 2. Leviathan 7'."

"Oh." Sonic said, a little downtrodden.

"So do you reckon these 'Levy-wotsits' are guarding all the springs?" Johnny asked.

"Maybe not all." Porker replied "But 7 of them at least. In which case I think it would be best if we left of Crystal Springs as quickly as possible"

"No problem." Said Sonic easily. "Right after we've had a good nights sleep."

Despite the shock of the robotic snake, the four adventurers slept soundly that night, only waking now and then to the hoot of an owl or the rustle of the trees.

Next morning Sonic, Johnny, Porker and Chirps got up to find that the environmental situation was getting worse. The trees that had looked so green the day before were now looking slightly dull and brown in places, as if the weren't getting enough sun light.

"I don't understand." Said Sonic. "We haven't been gone that long and these trees are already dying."

The four looked around at the trees concerned. Sonic thought for a moment, then said. "I'm gonna’ radio the professor and find out if the Green hill zone is as bad as this yet."

Sonic rooted around in his back pack and pulled out the radio, moved off a little way into the trees and tuned in professor Steins frequency. After a short time he got it right and said in a clear voice. "Professor Stein, this is Sonic. Over."

No one replied.

"Professor Stein, this is Sonic the hedgehog. Do you read me? Over."

A couple of seconds later the static sound lessened and the professor's voice could be heard. "Sonic? Is every thing all right? Over."

"Yes everything's fine." Sonic lied. "The thing is, I wanted to know if the Green hill zone had got any worse? Over."

"What do you mean by 'worse'?" Stein asked sounding puzzled.

"Has it been badly effected by environmentally change?"

"Well no, it will be a while yet before anything starts to be badly effected. That is, according to the experts at Mobitropolis."

"Oh." Sonic said, surprised. "Ok then. I just wanted to make sure if you, Sally and the zone were alright."

"Yes, yes. I am perfectly fine, as is Sally."

"Alright then, talk to you when we get to Mobitropolis."

"Safe journey Sonic."

"Thanks professor. Bye."

Sonic turned off the radio and went off back to the camp. The other three were waiting with everything already packed and ready to go.

"I think we've just discovered something." Sonic said to the other three.

"Discovered what?" Johnny asked puzzled.

Sonic looked up and around at the trees, then back at his friends and said. "You know that there's this problem with the environment." The three nodded. "Well, I've just asked professor Stein, and he said that Green hill is still perfectly fine, no sign of dying plants or anything."

"But that doesn't make any sense." Porker said, thoughtfully. "Surely if this place is…" He trailed off thinking. "Unless…"

"Unless we're getting close to the source of the problem." Sonic explained. "I'll bet you were right from the start Porker. I bet the disappearing rings and the dying environment are both connected some how."

"So then the direction the ring was pointing at is the right way. To Gigapolis." Porker said triumphantly.

"Right then." Johnny said, swinging his bag on to his back. "We'd best get going then."

The four took up there bags and headed off again towards Gigapolis, with a renewed sense of adventure. Sonic thought to himself how nice it would be to put an end to the damage being caused, and to become celebrated hero with his friends.

Sonic usually had a sixth sense about people watching, or being close to him, but it only worked if there was a soul behind the eyes that are upon him. There for he didn't, nor did any of the other three, feel that they were being watched by something with no capacity for compassion, love or any other type of emotion, something not alive.

* * *

Far off ahead of the four adventurers, in a darkened office within an extremely tall building, a figure sits in a black, tall backed chair watching a security screen with interest. The screen depicted four young mobian’s trekking through the Crystal springs zone, heading towards Gigapolis.

"So." Said the figure, slowly. He had a low, rumbling and sinister voice, full of anger and hate. "Not only do you have the nerve to destroy one of my Leviathan's, but now you conspire to stop my little toy from destroying the environment. How can I possible take over Mobius if you were to do that?" The figure leaned back into his chair and away from the screen. "I think I'll have to dispose of you, Sonic the hedgehog."

* * *

It was nearly dark, by the time Sonic, and his friends set down their packs, and Porker said wearily. "Here we are. This is the base of Diamond Mountain."

"At last." said Chirps, slumping down on the grass beside Sonic, who had just sat down himself.

They all started unpacking food and cooking utensils, setting them out ready to make dinner. When Porker voiced something that had been bothering him for a while.

"I, I don't mean to be the b, bearer of bad news." He said, his stutter had returned in light of what there was to do before them. "But we are fast r, running out of food."

"I know." Said Sonic a little subdued. Then he asked. "How long do you think it will take to get to Gigapolis?"

"Another one or two d, days." Porker said checking his pathfinder.

"And how much more food is there?" Johnny asked.

"Enough for dinner this evening and b, breakfast tomorrow." Porker stuttered.

Sonic thought for a moment, then said. "Then we'll just have to crank it tomorrow. Hopefully we'll be able to get to Gigapolis by the afternoon. If not, then I’ll leg it in and get a massive take out."

"Sounds like a plan to me." Said Johnny settling down under a huge tree.

That night would have been as uneventful as the rest, if it hadn't been for the tree. The sky was cool and starry only a few clouds dotted the black blanket of the night. And the four tired travellers went off to sleep as soon as they were in there sleeping bags. (They hadn't bothered putting up the tents, as it was warm enough without them).

Sonic had been dreaming about chilli dogs, a cute girl he'd met on his travels and then the chilli dogs again when a semi-nightmare forced it's way in. Sonic was walking through a city full of people; he couldn't run, as the crowd was so thick. He pushed and shoved his way through the mass of people tying to get to an open area, but there were simple to many people. Suddenly the buildings around him started to crumble, until one of them collapsed, enveloping the crowd and Sonic with dust and debris. The people however didn't seem to care that buildings were falling around them, nor that some of there friends and fellow citizens were being struck down by chunks of brick and breeze block.

Suddenly Sonic was aware that he was half awake and that there was a loud crashing noise mingling with the sound of someone shouting from far away. Now Sonic was fully awake and on his feet, with the sound of Porkers petrified voice shouting. "What’s happening?" and the loud creaking of snapping wood.

Suddenly the area, in which the four were camped, was bathed in moonlight as one of the trees shifted and fell to the floor, with a deafening crash. Sonic looked wildly around for his friends, Chirps was in the air, Porker was sitting scared, still in his sleeping bag, wh