Outside, Hogan was making some small talk with Sergeant Schultz.

"So, Schultz, how 'bout that new chief security officer?" said Hogan.

"Oh, Hogan, please don't mention him," replied Schultz. "These talking animals are going to drive me crazy!"

"Yeah, I think the Colonel feels the same way, too" said Hogan.

"I didn't even know that the Gestapo would hire those things!" said Schultz.

"Yeah, well you know the Gestapo," replied Hogan, "they've always got one trick or another up there sleeve!"

"I think you're quite right about that, Hogan!" said Schultz.

"By the way, you hear about that new tank factory?" asked Hogan. "It'd be a shame if the Allies blew that up, wouldn't it?"

"I know nothing! NOTHING!" replied Schultz.

"Ah, Schultz, you're quite a character!" remarked Hogan. "Well, see you around!"

"See you later, Hogan!" said Schultz.


Back at the barracks, Tails, Rotor & Kinch were working on assembling the teleporter. Without anything more advanced than vacuum tubes or simple electrical wires, however, it was an arduous job. They even had to dig more space underground to fit the whole contraption. Sonic was also impatient about the whole thing.

"IIIIIII'mmmmmm waaaaaaaaiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiinn nnng!" exclaimed Sonic.

"Sonic, they're going as fast as they possibly can!" scolded Sally. "If you think you can do any better, then show me!"

"Fine, maybe I will!" retorted Sonic.

Suddenly, LeBeau rang the dinner bell.

"Dinner is served!" said LeBeau. Everyone gathered around the table.

"So, what's on the menu for today, LeBeau?" asked Hogan?

"It's a real masterpiece!" replied LeBeau, "Chateaubriand, stuffed escargot and croissants, with authentic French Roast coffee, et pour le dessert…apple strudel!"

"Sounds good!" replied Hogan.

Everyone started eating. They all seemed to enjoy it, too, especially the Freedom Fighters, who'd never partaken in such dishes:

"Whoo-ee, these are some delicious vittles!" exclaimed Bunnie.

"This is delicious!" proclaimed Tails.

"Oui, c'est magnifique!" agreed Antoine. "I 'ave not been 'aving authentique French cuisine dans un million d'années!"

"I agree with those guys," said Rotor, "this is good stuff, man!"

"This is wonderful, LeBeau!" marveled Sally. "How do you make this?"

"Ah, mademoiselle, but these are recipes très secrètes!" replied LeBeau, "Some of them were even passed down through my family beaucoup de generations ago!"

"It's OK, I won't tell!" said Sally.

Sonic, however, was not so enthusiastic about LeBeau's cooking.

"It's pretty good," said Sonic, "but where are the chili dogs?"

"Pardon?" replied LeBeau. "What is this 'chili dog' you speak of?"

Sonic then proceeded to tell LeBeau about what a chili dog was and told him the recipe for one.

"Quelle horreur!" cried LeBeau, who was clearly outraged by an otherwise innocuous dish. "I have never heard of such a culinary abomination in my life! Vous devriez ashamed of yourself, you connard! Allez a enfer, vous bouffon!" For the next few moments, LeBeau kept hurling various swear words in French at Sonic, who just sat there, confused as to why somebody could get so upset by chili dogs.

"Ugh…" said Sally. "Sonic, sometimes you should just keep your mouth shut!"

"It's OK, just ignore him!" said Newkirk, "It's clear that 'ee's playin' the garden!"

"Actually, a chili dog doesn't sound half bad!" exclaimed Carter.

"Carter, you'd think a moldy sock wasn't 'alf bad!" retorted Newkirk.

"Actually, I think Carter's right," said Kinch. "Now that I think about it, I believe I ate somethin' similar back in Michigan, but I don't know where I ate it at." After a few seconds of thinking, though, Kinch said: "I remember now! It was Todoroff's Original Coney Island, over in Jackson!"

"Oh, come off it, mate!" exclaimed Newkirk. "You're not seriously goin' to agree with Carter, are you!?"

"All right, settle down! Settle down!" said Hogan. "I understand we have different opinions, but let's not turn this into a food fight, fellas! After all, we've got better things to worry about!"

With that, everyone stopped bickering and continued eating. There were no further incidents, though there was a slight feeling of awkwardness that permeated the air.

After dinner, Carter said, "Hey everybody, I've got a surprise!"

"Uh-oh…" said Newkirk.

Contrary to Newkirk's expectations, Carter brought out a nice surprise: a bowl of mint candies. Everyone grabbed one.

"WOW!" shouted Tails, who grabbed a fistful of them. "Thanks, Mr. Carter!"

"Hey, don't get greedy, now!" said Carter.

"Don't mind Tails," said Sonic. "He just goes nuts over these!"

"Oh, like you don't go gaga for food?" retorted Sally.

"Come on, Sal!" said Sonic, "Let's not go there again!"

After this, everyone returned to whatever they were doing before dinner and continued up until bedtime.


The next morning, Sonic was in for quite a shock when he saw Shadow supervising roll call.

"SHADOW!" exclaimed Sonic.

"SONIC!" exclaimed Shadow.

"Wait…you two actually know each other!?" said Schultz, who stopped counting prisoners when the two took notice of each other. "HERR KOMMANDANT!"

Klink heard Schultz's yelling and came outside.

"Schultz, what do you want now!?" asked Klink.

"It's about the chief security officer," replied Schultz, who had walked over to Klink. "He appears to know one of the prisoners."

"Well, which one?" queried Klink.

"The blue one," said Schultz. "I believe it's the one they call Sonic."

"SO-NIIIIIIC!" called Klink. "Get over here!"

Naturally, Sonic was over there almost instantly.

"Sonic, Shadow," began Klink, "Do you two really know each other!?"

Sonic & Shadow both said "yes".

"Listen," said Colonel Klink. "I don't care how long you've known each other for, but personal vendettas will not be tolerated here at Stalag 13! Is that clear!?"

Sonic & Shadow both said "yes, sir" with varying degrees of enthusiasm.

"Good", said Klink. Sonic went back to his spot in the roll, while Shadow gave him a cold stare briefly.

"Well, don't just sit there, Schultz!" shouted Klink, "Carry on!"

"Jawohl, Herr Kommandant!" said Schultz, who continued with roll call.


Back at Robotnik's ranch, Robotnik was still up in arms over the disappearance of the Freedom Fighters, in addition to the random power fluctuations going on at his fortress.

"Snively, what's the situation with those recon teams?" asked Robotnik.

"Sir, you just asked that question half a minute ago," replied Snively, "and the answer's still the same: They still haven't found the Freedom Fighters."

"WELL, I'LL ASK AS MANY TIMES AS I WANT!" shouted Robotnik "I'm Dr. Ivo Robotnik, and I'll keep asking until I have them! Now, let's see what Scratch & Grounder are up to…"

Robotnik placed a call to his two robotic foot soldiers. Grounder picked up and said, "Hello?"

"Scratch, Grounder, have you located the Freedom Fighters yet?" asked Robotnik.

"No, Your Egginess, but [kssshhhht] we'll keep looking!" replied Scratch.

"THEN DO IT!" yelled Robotnik. "Check every inch of that factory until you are sure! While you're at it, check the rest of Eggopolis until you find them! Whatever you do, DO NOT come back here until you find them! Is that clear!?"

"Yes sir!" said Scratch & Grounder, who hung up.

"On second thought, Snively," said Dr. Robotnik, "it does not matter where they are. My workers tell me that the factory is almost complete, and by the time the Freedom Fighters get there, they'll be powerless to stop it! Hahahahahaha! Now, about those random power disruptions…"


At Stalag 13, things were pretty normal in Hogan's barracks. Tails, Rotor & Kinch were still working on the teleporter, while Carter was building some bombs to take care of the factory. Newkirk was doing maintenance on some firearms. Hogan was going over the pictures that Tails had taken. LeBeau & Antoine were conversing in French. Of course, everyone was taking care not to get caught.

Then, Shadow opened the door.

"Sonic, get over here!" said Shadow.

"Sure, whatever you say!" replied Sonic, who went outside with Shadow.

The two walked outside as Sonic closed the door. They rounded a corner and stopped behind another barracks.

"OK Shadow, what do ya want with me?" asked Sonic.

"Let's get this straight from Jump Street," said Shadow, "I don't know how you got here, or why you're even here. I don't even care about either of those, but let me tell you this: If you or any of your stupid friends try anything funny while I'm here, I will punish you severely! Is that understood, Hedgehog?"

"Yes, Shadow, I get what you're saying," said Sonic, "but do ya even know what you're doing? How can ya go working for the slime of humanity?"

"You don't understand me, Sonic! For the first time in my life, I have found a group of people who accept me for what I am! They even said they were part of a Master Race, and together, we will do many great things!"

"Shadow, listen to me! These people aren't who they seem to be! Look, I know you're not evil, man! Ask yourself: Is this really the right thing to do? Is this what Maria would've wanted?"

Shadow grabbed Sonic by the collar and pulled him closer. "Don't you ever, EVER speak her name to me again!" said Shadow.

"Whoa, chill out!" said Sonic. "I'm sorry, man!"

"I'll bet you are!" retorted Shadow.

"Uh…can ya let go of me, Shadow?" asked Sonic, who was slightly scared by Shadow's disposition.

"Oh, and one more thing," said Shadow, who pressed the muzzle of his P-38 against Sonic's left cheek, "If I hear about anything else going wrong around the area of this camp, I'm gonna blow your damn head off! Is that clear, you horrid little faker?"

"OK, OK!" said Sonic. "No need to use that thing, man!"

Shadow let go of Sonic and said, "Go back to your barracks! I'll be watching you!"

"Whatever ya say, Shadow!" replied Sonic, who zoomed back to his barracks.

When Sonic was out of sight, Shadow turned away and started talking to himself quietly. His disposition changed from angry to somewhat depressed. "Hmmm…maybe Sonic's right," he said. "What am I even doing? I made a promise to Maria! I swore to her that I would defend humanity! Can I even trust the people I'm working for?" However, Shadow quickly shook away such thoughts and took on a more defensive tone: "Forget it, I've got a job to do, and I'm gonna do it!"


When Sonic got back into the barracks, Knuckles said to him: "Well, what happened?"

"Ah, nothin' much," replied Sonic, "Shadow just talked about how he was the Ultimate Life Form and how he's gonna whoop our butts and stuff!"

"Yep, that's Shadow, all right!" said Knuckles, in a slightly joking tone of voice.

"How long have you known that other hedgehog?" asked Hogan.

"Oh, we go a long way back!" replied Sonic. "Even ask Tails & Knuckles! They know it too!"

"Sonic's right," said Tails. "We've known Shadow for a while!"

"Yeah," said Knuckles! "He's been trouble for us ever since!"

"But how did Shadow get here?" wondered Sally.

"And why's 'ee workin' for the bloody Gestapo?" added Newkirk.

"I don't know," replied Sonic, "but we're gonna have to be real careful now that he's around!"

"Pas de problème!" said LeBeau, "If there is one thing I know about the Germans, it is that they are unable to resist a good apple strudel!"

"Hey LeBeau," said Knuckles, "Shadow ain't German! Well, not that I know of."

"Do not worry, mes amis!" exclaimed Antoine, "for I shall teaching a leçon to this Shadow!"

"Right, this should be interesting!" said Newkirk sarcastically.


Antoine bravely made his way over to Klink's office, where Shadow was still standing outside of Klink's door, arms crossed.

"Monsieur Shadow, I am Antoine Depardieu of the Mobius Royal Guard!" said Antoine. "By ordering of the king & queens of Mobius, I must ask you to surrendering!"

"You're in no position to ask me to surrender," replied Shadow. "Get lost!"

"Do you take me for a fuel!?" said Antoine. "Surrender now and I may allow you to living!"

"I said, get lost and stop this insolence!" replied Shadow.

"No! You are getting lost!" exclaimed Antoine. "If you will don't give up, then prepare to meet your baker!"

Shadow literally threw Antoine out of Klink's office and onto the ground. "…and don't EVER bother me again!" yelled Shadow, who went back to his post. Schultz observed the whole thing & thought, "I'd sure hate to be him!"

As a result of the fall, Antoine was somewhat dazed. He got up and asked Schultz, "Excuse me, Monsieur, but could you please defect me to the nearest bus slop?"

Schultz gave Antoine a strange look, after which Antoine came to and walked back to the barracks.

"Guys, I am thinking that this Shadow is soapless!" said Antoine.

"It's 'hopeless', Antoine," said Sonic.

"Do not worry, mon ami!" replied LeBeau. "We just need to approach him in the right way! I am sure that 'ee cannot resist a good apple strudel!"

"Great idea, LeBeau!" said Hogan.

LeBeau brought out a tray of apple strudel that he had just baked and carried it over to Klink's office, where he offered a couple to Schultz. After Schultz had some, LeBeau went inside and said, "Bonjour, Monsieur Shadow, I apologize for my friend's behavior earlier…"

"What do you want, Frenchie!?" demanded Shadow.

"Ah, I 'ave come to make a peace offering!" replied LeBeau. "Have some apple strudel!"

"Pastries!?" exclaimed Shadow. "Those are against regulations! I'm confiscating these!"

Shadow snatched the entire tray from LeBeau and put it down on Hilda's desk. He then said to LeBeau: "If I catch you breaking any more regulations, then I'm gonna break your neck, you little cockroach! Is that clear!?"

"Oui, Monsieur." replied LeBeau, calmly. He turned around and walked back to his barracks. "Quelle brute!" he muttered to himself.

Shadow continued standing guard. At first, he just looked straight ahead, arms folded, but after a few moments, he quickly glanced over at the apple strudel. Eventually, after so many glances at the strudel, he gave in and took one for himself. He took a bite, and after chewing it for a few seconds, he raised his eyebrows slightly, enjoying the taste. As he was eating, he glanced over at Hilda, who was looking at him and smiling. Shadow just gave her a cold glare and looked away from her as he ate his strudel.