Sonic, meanwhile, found himself in a strange place. This was most likely his home planet of Aigess, but not as he knew it. For one thing, the vegetation was somewhat barren. No, Sonic hadn't ended up in the bleak future that his comrades had witnessed. In fact, the reason the vegetation was thinner was because the place was just starting to warm up after a cold spell.

"Man, where is this place?" said Sonic to himself. "Tails! Sally! Where are you!?" When he got no response, he said to himself, "Time to turn and burn!" and proceeded to speed through this brave new world. However, he stopped when he saw some unusual looking animals. At this point, he realized it was futile to search for his friends, because it was here that he realized that he was in the so-called "Caveman" Era…or rather, "Cavehog" Era.

Speaking of cavehogs, Sonic happened to meet one soon enough. This cavehog was about the same height as True Blue, but there were a few differences: First of all, the cavehog's quills were not as well groomed as Sonic's. Second of all, the cavehog had longer fangs than Sonic's & a poor temper.

"YIKES! Gotta jet, Brett!" exclaimed Sonic as the cavehog charged at him. Thankfully for Sonic, the cavehog couldn't run as fast as him. Just when Sonic was outrunning his prehistoric counterpart, he got teleported again…

Meanwhile, in the present day, Sonic's friends were searching for him. In the eastern part of the forest, Sally was using NICOLE, her tan hand-held computer, to look for Sonic. However, NICOLE couldn't locate Sonic's life force anywhere.

"Come on, where is he!?" said Sally.

"We'll find him, Sally girl!" said Bunnie. "Y'all remember what Tails said: Sonic always gets back!"

"Maybe so," replied Sally, "but I'm still worried. He should still be in Mobius!"

"Are y'all sure that that little gizmo of yours is workin' OK?" asked Bunnie.

"Trust me, Bunnie, I had NICOLE calibrated & serviced this morning," replied Sally. "NICOLE, when was the last time you were calibrated?"

"Previous date of calibration: Today at 9:18 AM" replied NICOLE.

"Well, I reckon we done got our work cut out for us!" remarked Bunnie.

At the other end of the forest, Antoine & Rotor were having no luck either.

"This is Gold Leader to Green Leader," said Rotor on his wrist communicator, "have you found Old Blue? Over."

"Negative, Gold Leader," replied Sally. "We'll keep looking, though. Over and out."

"Roger. Gold Leader out."

Antoine & Rotor continued their search. A few moments later, they encountered Rouge.

"Hello, boys," she said, "What are you looking for?"

"AAAAAAAAHHHH! VAMPIRE!" screamed Antoine, who hid behind Rotor.

"Gee, what's his problem?" said Rouge, who thought Antoine was being weird.

"Oh, don't mind him," replied Rotor, who turned to Antoine and said, "It's all right, Antoine, she's not a vampire! Besides, vampires don't even come out during the daytime!"

"A-are you sure?" asked Antoine.

"Yes," said Rotor. "Trust me, we've run into her before! Remember Stalag 13? If she's helped us before, then she must be on our side…right?"

"Oh really? What a wonderful philosophy!" remarked Rouge. "We could go very far!"

"What was your name, again?" asked Rotor.

"My name is Rouge the Bat, but you can call me Rouge!"

"Mine's Rotor."

Antoine, having worked up the courage to talk to Rouge, said: "To answering your early question, mademoiselle, we are cooking for Sonic!"

"That's 'looking'," said Rotor.

"I was knowing that!" snapped Antoine.

"Sonic, you say?" said Rouge. "Sorry boys, but I haven't seen Big Blue lately."

Suddenly, Shadow showed up! "OH NOOOO!" screamed Antoine, who hid behind Rotor. "Do not kill me, Shadow!"

"Calm down, pipsqueak," said Shadow. "I won't hurt you; I'm not with the Gestapo anymore." Antoine slowly came out from hiding. Everyone said "hi" to him, and he returned the greetings coldly.

"Listen…Shadow…" began Rotor, "…you didn't happen to see Sonic, did you?"

"The last time I saw him, he was near Eggopolis," replied Shadow. "Not that I care, anyways. Goodbye!" Shadow left and kept on skating around.

"Now, if you shall be excusing us, mademoiselle," said Antoine, "we are to be going now! Au revoir!"

"Antoine's right," said Rotor. "In the meantime, if you see Sonic, please tell us! See you later, Rouge!"

"Sure! Good luck, boys!" said Rouge, who flew off to somewhere else. However, she came back a couple of seconds later. "Oh, and by the way…"

"Yes?" said Antoine & Rotor.

"You boys don't happen to have any gems with you, do you?" asked Rouge.

Both the guys said "no".

"Well, if you see any, could you do me a favor and bring back any for me if you find them?" asked Rouge

"Yeah…sure!" said Rotor, who was actually pretty reluctant to do so.

"Thank you! I will reward you handsomely!" With that, everyone parted ways. Antoine & Rotor moved closer to Eggopolis, hoping that Sonic would show up there.

Speaking of Eggopolis, Blaze the Cat was already there. She was being very careful to avoid the random patrols in the city. With a few cartwheels, flips and jumps, she made it to Robotnik's HQ without being spotted. Once she got in, there would be no turning back…