Erazor propped himself on one arm as consciousness returned. Sonic was standing in front of his throne, both arms behind his back.

The evil djinn reached for his sword. "I shall not be defeated! If you defeat me, I will simply return again and again! I am immortal! I cannot be vanquished!" Laughing, the genie was unaware of the object his enemy held.

Sonic extended his left arm, revealing the oil lamp in his hand.

Erazor's arrogant smile quickly changed into shock. "That can't be! That's the—!"

Sonic chuckled, staring at the lamp, recollecting the events. He remembered dropping the relic given to him in the Levitated Ruin when Shahra took Erazor's blade for him. He wished for Shahra to not die and to go back to the way she was. Shahra did not have the power to grant the wish on herself, but the golden sphere reverted back into its original form: the lamp of Erazor Djinn.

The blue blur's focus soon returned to the evil spirit. "The Genie of the Lamp is supposed to grant three wishes. Am I right?"

Erazor defiantly swung an arm to the side. "I shall never grant any wish from the likes of you!"

The speedster scoffed as he sat down in Erazor's throne. "Too bad. You have no choice. Now, my First Wish… Bring Shahra back to life!" A small flame formed on the tip of the lamp as Erazor laughed.

"Ignorant fool! I cannot grant that kind of—"

A ball of fire shot from the lamp's spout, hitting him square in the torso.

Erazor looked on stunned as violet electricity covered him. "My body… my body is—agh!" Two trails of light flew out from his chest.

"You were saying?" Sonic mocked. One of the light vectors touched the speedster's right hand. When the energy dissipated, the ring Shahra had given him at their journey's start formed on his middle finger, completely repaired and without a scratch.

In a matter of seconds, Shahra materialized off to the left of the throne, full of life again.

Sonic glanced from the ring to Shahra, and back to the weakened Erazor. "I am well aware of the code of the genie. Shahra told me everything while on the way to kick your cosmic-powered butt. A genie is omnipotent save for three primary limitations of wish-making. One, you can't grant a wish to kill anyone. Two, you can't force people to fall in love. And three, you can't bring others back from the dead. I figured something out, though. And this was a fatal mistake on your part… In undoing the very words of the Arabian Nights itself, you also undid and removed the rules that limited your powers. Ergo, this enabled you to resurrect my friend. And as far as your wish-granting goes, you may not want to obey your master, but your body betrays your mind because you are shackled to your lamp for all eternity… which brings me to my next request…"

Sonic raised two fingers. "My Second Wish… Return the Arabian Nights to the way they were, so that the world can have its stories again!"

Another fireball brought Erazor to his knees. The evil djinn let out another yell of agony as all of the text from the book flew out of him in a tornado-like fashion and back into the surrounding lands, restoring them to their former glory. The genie's skin color changed from a lavender-pink back to its regular violet pigmentation as his additional power was drained.

Three fingers were raised as the speedster made his final command. "My Third Wish! Erazor Djinn, you shall live out the rest of time trapped inside your lamp as you were in days of old!"

A third projectile of flames knocked Erazor flat on his back. The electricity formed from his skin again as he grunted in pain and weakness. A cyclone of smoke began to surround him as his physical form slowly disappeared.

Erazor begged Shahra to intervene as he began to vaporize. "Shahra, I know you're there! Please, stop him! We can start over, the two of us! I swear! I swear it!"

Sonic had stood up from Erazor's throne with a hand on his hip. He closed his eyes and shook his head in disgust as the djinn ranted on. Some guys just don't learn…

"The world is mine! I cannot be denied by that filthy rat!" The last of Erazor's body dissipated into the tornado as he let out one final cry, lifting into the air. "WHYYYYYYYY?!"

Sonic managed to get the last word in, fed up with the insult as his enemy plummeted for his eternal prison. "I told you! I'm not a rat!"

Erazor Djinn flooded into the lamp's pouring hole as Sonic closed the golden lid behind him. The speedster blew out the flame on its spout. "I'm a hedgehog!"

The blue blur breathed a sigh of relief. It's finally all over… Off to the left, he could hear sniffling.

Shahra, overwhelmed with sadness and guilt over Erazor's fate and her betrayal of her master, was sobbing profusely.

Sonic calmly walked toward the balcony. "Shahra, will you grant me one more wish?"

The Genie of the Ring wiped away her tears as she nodded.

"I wish for a mountain of handkerchiefs…" The wind blew in a gentle breeze as the linen squares rained from above the platform where he stood. The cloth pieces slowly drifted into the palace as Sonic stared at the sky.

The speedster turned around, partially facing his friend as he began to exit the chamber. "Now, just let yourself cry, as much as you need to. You'll have plenty of handkerchiefs to help you through it… I'll give you some time alone."

Before he could exit, Shahra threw herself against her master, sobbing and hugging him tightly. "I'm so, so sorry! For bringing this upon you, for the Flame of Judgment, for my betrayal, for the secrets, for everything…"

Sonic's serious, icy expression finally melted into a warm shadow of a smile. "I know why you did. I'll be outside if you need me."

Exiting the throne room, Sonic sat on the far end of the hall, staring at the lamp in his hand. All this power… All down the drain… He could have used his abilities to do so much good, to help others ease their pain or even make his world a better place… and yet he still wreaked havoc on the Arabian Nights, bringing harm to others and ultimately himself… I guess it's true what they say: ultimate power ultimately corrupts. If this kind of power falls into the wrong hands, something like this could happen again… Erazor has to be completely sealed off from the rest of the world. This time, for good…

A female voice was faintly heard amongst the darkness. It spoke, but softer and gentler than the first time it encountered him. "Hey, wake up. Wake up, Sonic."

The speedster slowly opened his eyes, yawning. "Boy, is it that late already? What time is it?"

Shahra couldn't help but laugh. "This is just like when we first met, isn't it?"

The blue blur remembered the encounter. "Oh, yeah, right… Déjà vu." Noticing a blanket covering his body and a pillow behind him, he scratched his head, looking up at Shahra. "So… how long was I out?"

"Twenty hours."

"Wait, what?"

"You were exhausted. From all the fights you went through today to the Flame of Judgment burning your life force away, you had really strained yourself. An hour or two after you left the room, I found you passed out, leaning against the wall. So, I made you more comfortable so you could rest up better."

"You realize I didn't wish for that this time. You did that on your own."

"I know. But that doesn't matter. After all that you've done for me and this world, you deserve it."

"Thanks, Shahra." Sonic looked at the lamp in his hand. "We need to seal this away from the world so no one can ever misuse this power again. If something like this happens again, I may not be able to stop it."

"You're right… I know how and where we can go to do it."

Helping her master to his feet, the Genie of the Ring led Sonic down the hallway and out of Erazor Djinn's palace as they searched for a place to keep the deadly threat where he belonged: out of the reach of others.