Sally was really concerned about Sonic. Nothing she'd done had been able to stir him, so she figured that something was really wrong with him. At this point, she decided to do a blood test on him. She pricked his arm, drew some blood and got to work.

Meanwhile, Sonic found himself at the entrance to an ancient temple in an obscure corner of the globe. Strangely, he was wearing a brown fedora and a brown bomber jacket this time. He entered the temple.

In the first room of the temple, there was a bunch of tiles with the 26 letters of the Latin alphabet on them. Sonic was confused as to what these were for, so he pulled out a note from his satchel. The note read: "In the early Latin alphabet, Jehovah begins with an 'I'."

With this information, he jumped over to the tile marked "I". Unfortunately, he was struck in the left arm by a dart.

"OW!" cried Sonic. "What'd ya do that for!?" Suddenly, another dart just barely missed him. At this point, Sonic decided to wing it and forget about the puzzle. He just started running, dodging a whole bunch of darts. Then, the familiar voice echoed through the temple halls:

"YOU CAN NEVER LEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAVE!" It was none other than the voice of Nightmare Sonic. Then, the real Sonic found a large boulder rolling towards him. He tried turning around and running back, only to find another boulder coming for him!

Just then, Bunnie walked in.

"Hey Sally girl, what'cha up to?" asked Bunnie.

"I'm analyzing Sonic's blood," replied Sally. "Something's wrong with him, and I want to find out!"

"Now, ain't y'all gettin' your britches in a knot? Maybe he's just oversleepin'! He does that sometimes, ya know?"

"Trust me, Bunnie, he's not just sleeping late. I tried to wake him, but he wouldn't stir! If you want to try, then you're certainly welcome to try."

"OK then." Bunnie grabbed a glass of water and splashed Sonic with it. However, the only reaction she got out of him was more of his sleep talk: "Help…drowning…"

"Golly, he usually hates that," said Bunnie. "Shouldn't he bolt outta bed when that happens?"

"Now do you see?" asked Sally.

"Yeah, but I still don't get why y'all are buzzin' around like a bee."

"Bunnie, Dr. Robotnik's building a new weapon. We've got to wake Sonic up! NICOLE, analyze this blood sample for me. Check for any toxins, poisons, or any unusual substances."

"Analyzing," said NICOLE.

"Well, ain't that a real humdinger!" said Bunnie. Then, NICOLE chimed in with her report:

"Analysis complete. One toxin detected: Sodium Barboxide, also known as 'the sleeping poison'. Once victims are injected, they fall into a deep sleep and never wake up again."

"Oh no!" exclaimed Sally. "NICOLE, is this fatal!?"

NICOLE answered: "During sleep, victims may expire from one of two causes: 1. Heart attack due to the increased heart rate that results from a prolonged fear response, 2. Lack of food & water."

"Oh my god! NICOLE, is there any cure for this!?"

"Searching…" After a couple of seconds: "One cure located: The Mobian Dragonflower, scientific name Serpenignis Mobicinae. The Mobian Dragonflower is a very rare species of flower. It is only confirmed to be growing on a small island in Azure Lake Zone. Unconfirmed reports also cite it as growing on the outlying shores of the lake. Be warned: Side effects may include a worsening of the victim's dreams prior to waking and in certain cases, a sudden and involuntary reaction upon waking."

"Good enough," said Sally, who ran out of the infirmary. Suddenly, Amy showed up.

"Excuse me, have you seen Sonic?" asked Amy.

"He's…out" replied Sally.

"Out? Where!?"

"He didn't say. All he said was that he had to juice!"

"Fine! You're no help!" Amy stormed off and continued looking for Sonic. Meanwhile, Sally found Tails.

"Tails, I need your help!" exclaimed Sally.

"What is it, Aunt Sally?" asked Tails.

"Sonic's been poisoned! I need you to get some medicine!"

"Oh no! No wonder he wouldn't wake up! What kind of medicine do you need?"

"Tails, get me some Mobian Dragonflowers!"

"Huh? Where am I going to find those?"

"They only grow at Azure Lake Zone."

"Azure Lake Zone? Hey, I've been there before! Now, what about those flowers?"

"Here…" Sally showed Tails a picture of the Mobian Dragonflower, a red-and-yellow flower with a sort of "flame" pattern to it.

"Got it! See you later, Aunt Sally!" Tails hurried off to the motor pool, a Quonset hut where the Knothole Freedom Fighters kept any vehicles that they might require. He dragged out the Tornado 2, a blue-and-yellow biplane that he'd built. Both he & Sonic had used this and similar aircraft on previous adventures.

Tails fired up the Tornado 2 and taxied down a long patch of dirt road that was supposed to pass for a runway. He took off and set sail for Azure Lake Zone. Now, certain readers may be asking why Tails is using an airplane when he himself can fly. Well, Azure Lake Zone is pretty far from Knothole, and Tails can't fly all that distance by himself, eh?

Anyways, Tails came to Azure Lake Zone, found a suitable spot to land the Tornado 2 and hopped out after coming to a stop. The zone was a beautiful, unspoiled lake with some ancient ruins by the shore, overgrown with lush plant life. When Tails looked out at the scene before him, he shed some tears as he was reminded of a happier time, a time when Sonic & him used to have so much fun racing around this lake. Tails wanted to cry even more when he thought about it. Sonic was his best friend, almost like a brother to him, too. Now, they would never get to do anything fun like this ever again.

But no! This couldn't be true! Tails pushed all that aside and focused on the mission. There was a cure, after all, and he was going to bring it back to Sonic! With a renewed sense of determination, Tails flew over the lake using his twin tails and landed on the island where the Mobian Dragonflowers were supposed to grow. Seeing that the intensely glowing flowers were in bloom, Tails picked a few of them and flew back for the Tornado 2.

Just as he was about to hop in, though, Amy came by.

"Hi, Tails!" said Amy. "What are you doing out…hey, are those flowers for me!? Tails…I didn't know you cared about me, too!"

"Sorry Amy, but these aren't for you," replied Tails. "They're for Sonic."

"Sonic?" Amy paused for a couple of seconds. "Oh…I get it now! I didn't know you were into that kind of thing, Tails!"

"No, it's not like that…"

"Come on, don't be shy! There's nothing wrong with having those feelings!"

"Amy, listen to me…"

"It's OK to be nervous, Tails! Just stand up and have pride in yourself!"

"Amy, Sonic's in trouble!"

"Tai…WHA…!?" Amy dropped her little spiel and stood there, astonished.

"That's why I got these flowers!" said Tails.

"OH NO!" cried Amy. "The cards were right! I'm coming for you, Sonic!" She ran off, hoping to find Ol' Blue. Meanwhile, Tails fired up the Tornado 2 and took to the skies.

"I just hope I'm not too late," said Tails. Suddenly, he got a nasty surprise: He ran into a trio of stealthbots.

"Uh-oh! I didn't think that curing Sonic was going to be this tough!" said Tails. The three stealthbots opened fire with their laser cannons. Luckily, the stealthbots missed the Tornado 2. Tails returned fire with the Tornado 2's twin .50-caliber machine guns, shooting down one of the stealthbots.

The two other stealthbots broke away from the formation and began pursuit. Tails went after one of them. However, the stealthbot he chose as his target was a tricky one. Tails attempted to get a fix on it, but it was no use; the stealthbot outmaneuvered him. Worse, Tails found that he had the other stealthbot right on his tail. He banked left, banked right and tried to shake this one, but it was little use. Then, he got an idea: He pulled a backflip and got behind the stealthbot. Unfortunately, the stealthbot that he was originally pursuing was now pursuing him. The stealthbot launched a missile at the Tornado 2. Tails banked a hard left and just barely dodged the missile, which ended up shooting down the second stealthbot instead.

Now, it was just Tails and that one last stealthbot. As mentioned before, this guy was a tricky one. No matter how hard Tails tried, he just couldn't shake that bogey. The stealthbot fired a few volleys at Tails with its laser cannons, which missed, but came too close. Next, it fired a missile at the Tornado 2, but Tails countered it by dropping a flare. Then, it fired another volley of lasers, some of which struck the Tornado 2. Luckily, damage was minimal and mainly consisted of some puncture wounds. Tails tried another maneuver to shake the stealthbot: dropping speed. Unfortunately, the stealthbot held on to the Tornado 2 like glue.

Then, the stealthbot fired another missile. Tails attempted to drop another flare, but he was all out…