In contrast to the filth & ruin of Eggopolis, the village of Knothole was clean and peaceful. Located within the depths of the Great Forest, Knothole was populated by a group of Freedom Fighters. One of them was Sally Acorn, a brunette squirrel who served as a leader of the group. She was busy looking around for Sonic the Hedgehog.
"That's easy," said Miles "Tails" Prower – Sonic's best friend – "He went running into the Great Forest again. All he said was he had 'a need for speed, Keed'."
"Thanks, Tails!" said Sally, who went looking for Sonic in the Great Forest. Actually, it didn't take too long to find him. Furthermore, the blue hedgehog was taking a little break from zooming around the forest and was talking with Shadow the Hedgehog. Shadow looked almost like Sonic, barring his black coloration, the red stripes on his head, the differently-styled quills and the white hair on his chest. Ordinarily, he & Sonic were fierce rivals who competed on a near-constant basis, making this conversation seem odd to one who was not listening…
"…Look, I dig that, Shadow," said Sonic, "but all I'm sayin' is that sometimes, ya gotta know when to fold 'em! Show some mercy sometimes, ya know?"
"Mercy is for the weak!" retorted Shadow. "Only the righteous life forms are fit to continue living! Evil in all its forms must die!"
"Sonic! There you are!" exclaimed Sally. Sonic & Shadow stopped talking as Sonic turned around.
"What's shakin', Sal?" asked Sonic.
"I got an urgent distress call!" Sally handed a communiqué to Sonic. It was from a group calling themselves the Kinto Freedom Fighters. The message stated that they had detected some of Robotnik's patrols near their village and that they expected to be located and captured within that day. So, Sonic & friends had to stop the patrol units before Kinto Village was found. The message also contained the coordinates for Kinto & a map of where patrols had been spotted.
"No problemo!" exclaimed Sonic. "I can handle this one!" He turned to Shadow and said "It was nice talkin' to ya, Shadow. Gotta run, son!" Sonic ran off in the direction of Kinto. Not one to be outdone, though, Shadow decided to skate after him.
"Wait, come back!" cried Sally. It was no use, however, because she couldn't run as fast as either of the two hedgehogs. So, she ran back to bring the other Knothole Freedom Fighters.
Meanwhile, Sonic was making good time on that call when Shadow caught up to him.
"So, ya decided to join the party, eh Shadow?" said Sonic.
"Unlike you, Sonic, I do not play around!" said Shadow. "Witness my superior power!"
"HA! Like I haven't heard that one before! Now, cut the chit-chat and let's rescue that village!"
Soon enough, they reached Kinto Village. Or…they reached what should've been Kinto Village, but in reality was an empty clearing in the forest.
"Wow, some village!" remarked Sonic in a sarcastic tone. "What'd they do with this joint!? Did they paint everything invisible? Nah, they probably just gave out bogus directions! I'm outta here!"
Before Sonic left, Shadow said, "You fool! Don't you see!? It's a trap! There was no village in the first place!"
"Ah well, I'm outta here! Smell ya later, Shadow!" Before they could leave, though, Sonic & Shadow found themselves surrounded by Robotnik's forces.
"What a perceptive eye you have there, Shadow!" said Robotnik, hovering in his Eggmobile. "I do admit that your presence here is a surprise. However, you two are powerless to escape! Surrender now or face a painful destruction!"
"Get bent, Egghead!" snapped Sonic. "Time to zap & scrap!" Thus, Sonic & Shadow took off and started engaging Robotnik's forces.
"All forces, ATTACK!" shouted Robotnik. The clearing turned into a real battlefield, with the two hedgehogs dodging laser & missile fire from SWATbots, hoverbots, stealthbots and all kinds of mean, nasty machines that Robotnik had with him. Both of them were really making short work of Robotnik's goons. Then, suddenly…
"NOW!" shouted Robotnik. "Release the special weapon!" A bunch of metal objects were thrown onto the ground by one of Robotnik's goons. Still, Sonic & Shadow kept beating them, until…
"YEEEEEEOOOOOOOOWWWWWW!" Sonic ended up stepping on one of the metal objects, which turned out to be a spike. Sonic tumbled over and fell on the ground, while Shadow continued fighting.
"All forces, retreat!" ordered Robotnik. Robotnik & his goons started falling back.
"Wait, Shadow, help me out!" cried Sonic. Shadow stopped briefly and turned around.
"What was it that you said earlier?" said Shadow. "Ah yes! Smell you later, Sonic!" Shadow left Sonic on the ground.
"NO…WAIT!" cried Sonic. "TAILS! SALLY! SOMEBODY HELP ME!"
Not long after, Tails came flying in.
"TAILS!" exclaimed Sonic "Boy, am I glad to see you!"
"Sonic, what's wrong!?" asked Tails.
"I dunno; I stepped on something and it busted my foot! Please, help me, Tails!"
"Don't worry, Sonic, I'll help you!" Tails picked up Sonic and flew him back to Knothole.
Back in Knothole, Sonic was at the infirmary getting his foot patched up by Sally & Rotor Walrus. Rotor was a gray walrus with a yellow baseball cap. Ordinarily, he worked as a mechanic, but he was also fairly skilled when it came to medicine.
"How bad is it, guys?" asked Sonic, who woke up after the spike was removed and the operations completed.
"It's pretty bad," replied Rotor. "That spike went pretty far into your foot. We had to remove parts of your shoe & sock, too."
"It's a good thing that Tails found you when he did!" said Sally. "You could've gotten a serious infection! What were you thinking running off like that!?"
"I'm sorry, Sal!" said Sonic. "I didn't see the thing! Eh, it was a trap, anyways. I'm just glad that none of you got one, either!"
"Well, the important thing is that you're all right," said Sally. "Just take it easy for a while, OK? Don't put lots of weight on that foot, either!"
"All right, Sal." Sonic looked pretty depressed. He depended on his feet. Without a properly-functioning foot, how was he ever going to run as fast as he did? On the other hand, if he ignored Sally's advice, he might never be able to run again.
After Sonic's recovery period, Tails came in to see him.
"How are you feeling, Sonic?" asked Tails.
"Bummed out," replied Sonic. "I can't believe I'm not gonna be able to run for a while! Still, I gotta hand it to ya, Keed; if you hadn't been there as quickly as you were, they probably woulda chopped my foot off!"
"Yeah, I see what you mean," said Tails.
"Hey, Sugar-hog, we got somethin' for y'all!" Bunnie Rabbot, a golden rabbit with a robotic arm & legs entered, carrying a platter of chili dogs. She was accompanied by Antoine Depardieu (Antoine D'Coolette), a tan coyote wearing the blue uniform of a royal guard.
"Is that a plate of chili dogs?" queried Sonic. "For Moi?"
"Yep, sure is!" replied Bunnie. "Antoine & I figured y'all could use a special treat!"
"Oui, we were not wanting the great Sonic the 'edge'og to be without one of my grand culinary cremations!" said Antoine.
"Thanks, guys!" said Sonic. "You two are real chums!" Despite his injury, Sonic was still able to wolf down all those chili dogs quickly.
"Well, that really took the edge off of not bein' able to run like the wind!" said Sonic.
"Do not worry; it is not so bad!" assured Antoine. "I am sure you will be finding that there is a certain joie in just loafing around, non?"
"Easy for you to say!" retorted Sonic. "The only time I'd ever loaf around is if I had somethin' to do while I was loafin'!"
"It's all right, hon!" assured Bunnie. "I'm sure y'all will be rollin' up a storm by the time the trumpets get to singin'! Besides, it's like Sally girl said, It's a good thing Tails caught ya when he did!"
"That's right!" said Tails
"Yeah, Tails is real solid!" said Sonic. "All of you are! I'm glad I got pals…like…" Sonic trailed off as he started yawning. "Man, I'm really feelin' out of it! Guys, I think I'm gonna crash early! Catch ya in the morning!"
"Good night, Sonic!" said Tails.
"See y'all in the mornin'!" said Bunnie.
"Bonne nuit!" said Antoine. The three left the infirmary and left the Blue Blur to his own devices. Soon, he was fast asleep…
