Episode One

Far up in the heavens soars the Sky Patrol one dusky Thursday night. Inside the large airship resides the New Freedom Fighters, currently on their way to the Eastern Hemisphere since discovering their nemesis Dr. Eggman has already set out on heading there.

v Sally: (thinking) "What is that deranged lunatic up to this time? Time and again we stop his evil plans, and he constantly gets back up and tries again. And with his recent endeavors with the Genesis Portals the fabric of the Multiverse was even further abused due to his insatiable greed. Eggman truly is relentless..."

v Bunnie: "Sally-girl? You feelin' okay over there?"

v Sally: (surprised, looking over to Bunnie) "Bunnie! I didn't see you come in. How are you doing?"

v Bunnie: "I'm just fine, considerin'. Kinda sad that my precious Sugar-Twan isn't here but you know me; I'll manage. But the real question is..." (placing her hand on Sally's shoulder) "Are you feelin' okay? Y'all haven't said much since the last scuffle with Doc Eggman."

v Sally: (slouches) "It's just…discouraging, Bunnie. I mean, we've defeated him for how long? And every single time he gets back up and comes up with a new plan. I'm beginning to even wonder if he's got this all planned out, like he's just aiming to wait us out make us so sick of beating him only for him to return shortly after that we'll just quit and let him have his way."

v Bunnie: (shocked) "Y'all can't seriously be thinkin' of givin' in to him are you, Sally-girl?!"

v Sally: "No! As long as I draw breath I will continue to fight against the Eggman Empire. But at times it just gets…downright maddening."

v Bunnie: "Aw, I know how y'all feel, Sally-girl. I have those moments too. I think we all have those moments. But we gotta keep the big picture in mind. One day we'll finally beat that Eggman, for good! I know we will!"

v Sally: "Yeah. Hopefully very soon."

v Bunnie: "Hey, you never know! This could very well be the big hoedown! We can always hope, right Sally-girl?"

v Sally: (smiles) "Certainly. Hope is always one thing we have. It's the one thing that's always kept us going."

Shortly afterward, Sonic the Hedgehog runs into the room, a can of soda in one hand and a chili dog in the other.

v Sonic: (taking a huge bite of his chili dog) "Hey girls! Whatcha doing?"

v Sally: (repulsed) "Sonic...Why can't you eat like a civilized person?"

v Bunnie: (laughing) "What's happenin', Sugar-Hog?"

v Sonic: (swallows) "Nothing much, just waiting for us to get to our destination. Kinda bored, wishing I had something to do. Any suggestions?"

v Sally: "Hmm. You know what? I'm going to go to my quarters for a bit; I can't really deal with you today. Thanks for your help Bunnie."

v Bunnie: "Don't mention it, Sally-girl?"

v Sonic: (after Sally left) "So what was it you two were talking about anyway?"

v Bunnie: "Sally-girl's been down in the dumps ever since that last battle with ol' Eggy."

v Sonic: "Yeah, that was pretty heavy stuff. The Unified World...Good thing we found Mega Man and his crew and stopped Eggman and Wily again. That's a thing too, you know? Something I never thought Eggman would do."

v Bunnie: "What's that?"

v Sonic: "He actually planned for it. I mean, actually planned for it. Before he even started collecting the Chaos Emeralds en masse he built a machine that could temporarily do the job so he could see what he was doing before plunging in. Scary stuff, huh?"

v Bunnie: "Guess Eggman learned his lesson with the Super Genesis Wave."

v Sonic: (shudders) "Don't remind me. Well in any case, we've picked up his trail, we know he's going to Japan, and we're gonna beat the living heck out of him. Like we always do."

v Bunnie: "That's the spirit Sugar-Hog!"

v Sonic: (groans) "How long before we get there? I need to freakin' move my legs!"

Suddenly one of the monitors in the room lit up, revealing the face of Nicole the Holo-Lynx.

v Nicole: "Try to calm down, Sonic. At our present location and velocity it should take us approximately five more hours before we reach Japan."

v Sonic: (freezing up) "Oh. My. God."

v Bunnie: "Here we go..."

v Sonic: "WHY DID I LET YOU TALK ME INTO GETTING ON BOARD THIS STUPID THING?! I'M GONNA DIE FROM BEING TRAPPED HERE! I WAS BORN TO RUN! I CAN'T BE TAMED!"

And so the blue hedgehog began bouncing off the walls in a mad tirade, causing Bunnie to just get up and walk out of the room.

Earlier that day, on Angel Island, taking a nap before the Master Emerald at Shrine Isle rests its Guardian, Knuckles the Echidna. Awakened by the clatter of items he sits up and sees his "permanent visitor" Relic the Pika.

v Relic: "Oh! Sorry, Knuckles. I didn't mean to wake you."

v Knuckles: "No problem, Relic. I wasn't sleeping deeply. What are you doing anyway?"

v Relic: (blushing) "I was thinking about us maybe, um...Maybe, uh..."

v Knuckles: "Yeah, Relic?"

v Relic: (blushing) "Well, maybe we could, um…take a vacation together?"

v Knuckles: "Relic, you know I can't do that. The Chaotix are all busy doing their thing and I don't have anyone else to call on in case something happened here, what with you wanting to take a holiday. I'd enjoy the vacation, without a doubt, but with you and I off the island there's no one here to protect the Master Emerald, much less the island itself."

v Relic: "No one handy to call on? Not even any of the Freedom Fighters?"

v Knuckles: "They're all doing their own thing. I was told in fact that Sally and her team are going overseas to follow Eggman."

v Relic: (slouching) "Bummer."

v Knuckles: "I don't see why you'd need me to go with you on a vacation; you've done a lot of work keeping the Hidden Palace up, so you can still go."

v Relic: "I know, but —"

v Knuckles: "Go on, Relic. Take a breather. You deserve it."

v Relic: "But..." (sighs) "All right, Knuckles. If you really want me to..."

v Knuckles: "You deserve it. I want you to take this vacation and refresh yourself. Take in those rays, get those massages, drink those martinis, and before you know it, you'll be raring to get back here."

v Relic: (sad) "I guess..."

With that the archaeologist picked up her bags and slowly walked away from the totally oblivious echidna who was certain he did the right thing. After she was gone Knuckles laid back down and closed his eyes, trying to get back to sleep. Soon after though he received a startling vision! A massive firestorm was devouring a modern metropolis, fueled by the Chaos Emeralds that were surrounding a blinding white light! Knuckles' eyes flew open and the echidna bolted up! Knowing that whatever that firestorm was, it would eventually envelop the entire world, Knuckles let out a heavy sigh. He knew what had to be done. He considered asking Relic to stay back and guard the Master Emerald, but he knew how much this holiday meant to her, and didn't want to ruin that for her. Instead he chose to head into the underground abode known as the Hidden Palace and request the assistance of Relic's robotic assistance Fixit. Being a member of the renowned "Gizoid" series Fixit should be able to do something relevant in case of an emergency. Unfortunately, it seemed he would only be able to relay the message to other heroes if something did in fact happen. Nevertheless, Fixit was all Knuckles had in this case, so he reluctantly appointed Fixit to be the temporary Guardian while he went off to Japan to help his allies.