Knuckles, Tails and Sonic apparently loved the sleepover idea, because they would now do it once a week. This happened for a long time. One particular morning, the birds chirping and the sun rising through the trees. The three of them are still snoring downstairs, but now Knuckles is older (around what would be his 'classic look' stage), and his friends were a bit older as well.

The echidna yawned and woke up.

"Whoa!" Gasped Tails sleepily, "Watch where you aim that yawn. That should come with a warning label. Whoo, what a wake-up call!" He tucks back in his sleeping bag and goes back to sleep.

"Heh heh heh." Knuckles laughed "Looks like someone woke up on the wrong side of the sleeping bag. What's the matter, bro?" He then added in a patronizing tone "Had a little too much Hakuna Matata?"

"Ooh. Sonny boy," Tails said cockily, "I invented Hakuna Matata."

"Oh, yeah?" Knuckles gave a smug smile, "Well, I perfected it."

"Sure you did, sure you did." Tails sighed, brushing it off, "Sonic, who holds the record for the world's longest ball throw?"

The hedgehog woke from his sleeping bag.

"Uh, that would be Knuckles."

Tails was mildly surprised. "All righty then. Who's the champion at foursquare?"

"Knuckles again."

Tails bolts upright. "Baseball?"

"Knuckles."

"Table tennis?"

"Knuckles."

"Soccer?"

"Still Knuckles."

Tails was sweating now, "Basketball?" He said in trepidation.

"Oh, uh, nobody." Sonic pointed out. "We never had a Basketball contest before. I'll go find a ball for us to play with."

When the trio get to the court the theme from "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly" plays. The sun creates a lens-flare wash to the trio facing off over a basketball. They narrow their eyes at each other in turn; then flex their hands like gunslingers.

"Ready?" Called Sonic. "First one to 10 goals, wins." He blew the whistle and the three friends chase the ball.

Of the three of them, Knuckles is the one that grabs it first, and then throws it into the basket ring.

"One-nil-nil!"

Then, on the next round, Tails grabs the ball, and tosses it in his ring.

"One-one-nil!"

"Sheesh, Sonic." Knuckles laughed, "are you slow today?"

"I'm just warming up!"

Sonic manages to get the ball on the next go, and shoots it in the hoop.

"One all!"

This carries on for a long while, and eventually this lead to the game being a three-way tie.

"Nine all!"

The ball bounced into the field again, and Knuckles manages to grab it, shooting the ball in the hoop once more.

"Ten-Nine-Nine."

"You win again, buddy." Tails smiled, "Good game."

"Well, what can I say?" Knuckles told him, "I had the two best teachers ever!"

"Thus did the pupil surpass the teacher." Sonic recited.

"Have you been hanging around Vector?" Asked Tails.

"Nah, I actually got that from you."

"Oh."

Knuckles walks off to get some drinks.

"Knuckles is growing up…" Tails sighed.

Tails and Sonic stare after him for a moment; then Tails breaks into "Sunrise, Sunset" from "Fiddler On the Roof"

Tails: Is this the little boy I carried?
Sonic: When did he grow to be so tall?
Both: Wasn't it yesterday when he was small?

{The background chorus takes up the song as first Tails, then Sonic, then Knuckles fly into the air, trampolining off a bunch of hanging vines. The three of them are close to adults by now. They bounce into the air again, and Knuckles grabs the other two in a midair embrace.}

Singer: Sunrise, sunset
Sunrise, sunset
Swiftly fly the years

{The three of them lie on their backs looking up at the stars (no doubt, discussing cosmology); dissolve to the three of them hanging from vines, and swinging from side to side. Finally, all three are relaxing at the bubbling hot-tub pool.}

Singer: One season following another
Laden with happiness and tears

"…So you see," Sonic said to Knuckles from his lounge chair, "that's why they call it a 'chili dog'"

"You don't say." Knuckles replied while in the pool, "And yet, still so tasty!"

"Oh, yeah." Sonic sighed happily "And they're my favourite, too."

"Like that hasn't been hard to pick up."

Tails approaches the tub, wearing a towel around his middle. He tosses the towel away and goes to see what his buddies were doing.

He dabs a toe in the water. "Ooh!"

Just right. Tails then slips into the water.

"Ah! Ahhhh." He sighed, "Just what the doctor ordered."

"Yep." Sonic took a sip from his drink "After a long day of doing nothing, it's good to kick back."

"Three pals and no worries." Smiled Knuckles, "What more could you want?"

"Aahhh."

The three of them relax for a bit. This really was the perfect life.

Sonic then yawns and scratches his head, "Aaah-hhh-hh. I'm bushed." He told his friends, "Think I'll turn in for the night."

He gets up from his lounge chair and walks off.

"Ugh, Sonic!" Groaned Tails, "You forgot to put your chair back… again."

"Want me to help put it away?"

"That'd be great. Thanks Knux."

They both get out of the water and put the chair away. When they get to the sleeping bags later, it is shown that Sonic and Tails also have plushies of the other two members of the trio and they tuck into their sleeping bags.

"I'm first back!" Sonic grinned.

"You cheated." Knuckles retorted, "we had to put your chair back, again!"

"I like that chair!"

"Let's get some sleep you two."

"Ok." Sonic said calmly, then turned to his fox friend, "...Tails, it's your turn to say good night."

"Good night."

"Sleep tight."

"Dream of chili dogs tonight." Sonic immediately falls asleep, and Tails and Knuckles do shortly after, but not before exchanging a quick laugh.

Meanwhile Vector had begun his quest to find Knuckles after he had learned that he was still alive.

As he travelled, he could see the three girl echidnas that he remembered seeing on Angel Island when they were babies.

As he watched the girls, he saw them setting up camp somewhere. Although he knew he had to look for Knuckles, he decided to find out that what the girls were doing around here. He had the suspicion that he and the girls were doing the same.

He observed them carefully. Of the three, the orange echidna with blue eyes looked the most determined to find someone to help save their island. He could see that the pink echidna eyes purple and orange echidna purples eyes were accompanying her to make sure nothing bad happened to her.

He tried to stay close to them. Maybe he could be of help in what… or who, they were looking for.

He couldn't talk to the group at once, so he decided to wait for the orange furred, blue eyed echidna to be alone.