"When the sun is shining and the day is beautiful, even the bravest of us need to get away from our troubles. But we must never forget that doom hangs above our heads..." Aleena said.

Sonia sighed.

"This is the life! Sun, surf... and no old Buttnik to worry about. We needed a little rest and relaxation..." she said and a frisbee soared past. "Huh?" she said then Sonic sped along. "Hey! You're getting me all gritty!"

"Uh!" Sonic said and yawned. "Hm. Okay, gotta go!" she said and caught the frisbee. "Do I really think I can beat myself? Course I do! Try catchin' this one!"

"Phew! Whoa, jackpot! My day has just been made in the shade. Can you dig it? Two Mobiums!" Manic said strained. "Ahh!" he said while Sonic approached fast.

She wolf whistled.

"Fan-cy!" she said and the frisbee hit her in the head. "Oof! Hey, who's the wise guy? Oh yeah, I'm the wise guy." she said and a shadow covered them. "Okay, who turned out the lights?"

"Uh-oh! Something tells me we've got a Buttnik on the horizon." Sonia said.

"Bail, sibs!" Sonic said, got covered in sand and coughed. "Looks like our vacation's just been sandblasted!"

"Well, at least it's not a total loss." Manic said.

"Heads up! They're getting ready to fire again!" Sonia said.

"Blast Sonic and her siblings back to the pre-Mobian age!" Robotnik said and laughed heartily.

"Excellent shooting, your rotundness. Dingo and I should have no trouble scooping up those hedgehogs for you." Sleet said.

"Oh, why bother? My Fortress of Altitude can take care of a trio of troublesome hedgehogs without your help!"

"We'd better grab the van and vamoose outta here!" Sonic said, got in the van and drove into a forest. "This forest oughta give us some protection. No way they can see us under these trees!"

"That did it! Nobody messes with the forest!" Sonia said.

"Whoa, the armor on that thing must be solid mobibindum!"

"Mobibindum? That weighs a ton! How could Buttnik make it fly?" Manic said.

"Maybe it's time we find out just what makes that Buttnik-ugly thing tick!" she said and stood on a bent tree. "Ready for launch!" she said and Manic and Sonia sent her flying. "Blast off!" she said and flew through a cannon barrel and trapped a SWATbot in it. "Hey, get a load of this!"

"FIRE!" Robotnik said.

"If I could just find the energy reactor to this jalopy, then I could stop Buttnik in his tracks! Hmm... now if I were a reactor, where would I be?" she said and ran around. "Hmm." she said and ran again, seemingly lost. "Hm... must have taken a wrong turn."

"What is that blurry camera on Deck 212?" Sleet said and Dingo pushed him down. "Hey!"

"Maybe it's busted." Dingo said.

"Maybe you're defective! My fortress is perfect. It must be! I designed it myself." Robotnik said.

"That explains the round shape." Sleet said and Dingo sniggered.

"What are you laughing about?!"

"Nothing, sir!" Sleet said and Sonic rushed past on the monitor. "It's blurry again!"

"You must be seeing things! But just to show you what a nice guy I am, we'll just do a little house-cleaning, just in case." Robotnik said and pushed a button. "I designed my fortress with an invincible defense system. Watch and learn."

Sleet and Dingo gasped.

Dingo gasped.

"That doesn't sound friendly." Sonic said and saw the energy field. "Huh?" she said and gasped. "It looks even worse!" she said and ran away towards a wall. "Uh-oh! Dead end! How about a little Sonic Super Spin?" she said and broke out of the fortress; screamed as she found herself plummeting. "Out of the frying pan and into mid-air!"

"Huh?" Manic said and grabbed his hoverboard. "I'll get ya, bro!"

"Manic! Goin' my way, bro?" she said and collided with him. "Uh!"

"Hang twenty, bro! You finished fast. Did you disable that tin can?"

"Uh, not exactly." she said and SWATbots emerge from the fortress. "And we've got company!"

They gasped.

"Incoming! Hang on, bro!" Sonic said and a SWATbot blowed the board away. "Whoa!"

"Wipeout!" Manic said.

"MANIC!"

"Hop on, sis!"

"Aaargh!"

"We may need to hide in that cave!" Sonia said and shot down two SWATbots. "Come on! Buttnik's getting ready to fire again!" she said and the fortress approached and she screamed.

"Incoming!" Manic said.

"Ugh, ugh, ugh!" Sonic said.

"Cease fire! There's nothing left to destroy. Least of all Sonic and his meddlesome siblings." Robotnik said.

"This is horrible! That Buttnik's destroyed everything!" Sonia said.

"Yeah! All we got now is a lifetime supply of toothpicks." Manic said.

"The Resistance won't stand a chance unless we knock Buttnik's flying fortress out of the sky." Sonic said.

"Okay, but how? You were up there and you couldn't stop him!" Sonia said.

"I know, but we gotta crash that flying fortress before Mobius is trashed!"

"Yeah, but man, we don't even know what makes that thing fly." Manic said.

"I was run out of there by a big wave of green energy. Oh yeah, emerald green! Maybe Buttnik's gotten his hands on a Chaos Emerald!"

"Can't be! If he did, then that would mean..." Sonia said.

"The Floating Island will have fallen from the sky!" Manic said.

"And if Buttnik had destroyed the Floating Island, we'd have heard about it. Could there be another Chaos Emerald?" Sonic said.

"He'd be able to tap almost unlimited power! We'll need help getting to that fortress's engine room." Sonia said.

"And there's only one person I know who can handle a Chaos Emerald." Manic said.

"Time for a little post-vacation trip." Sonic said.

"Floating Island to unknown aircraft. Identify yourself." Knuckles said and looked at the radar. "Hm, looks like a Robotnik-built flying SWATbot!"

"Oh, I can't believe I let you talk me into flying in this patched-up bot!" Sonic said.

"Chill, bro! It'll get us to the Floating Island, no prob." Manic said.

"Arm all anti-aircraft systems. Fire at will!" Knuckles said.

"Whoops! Problemo, sibs! They've locked on to us. Wish this bot had a radio."

"Just fly friendly. They won't shoot us down if we're not hostile."

Sonic, Manic and Sonia gasped.

"I don't think they know that." Sonia said.

"Whooaa!" they said

"I've got an idea." Sonic said.

"Oh, like your last one was just so good!" Manic said

"Cease fire - they're friendlies!" Knuckles said.

"Phew!" Sonic said.

Sonic, Manic and Sonia gasped.

"It's good to have solid ground under my feet." Sonic said and looked over the edge. "Almost."

"Sonic? Manic? Sonia? What are you doing here? You could've been blasted to bits!" Knuckles said.

"Yeah, thanks for almost blowin' us outta the sky!" Sonic said.

"The round dude's built himself one seriously bad flying fortress!" Manic said.

"And we think it may be powered by a Chaos Emerald." Sonia said.

"A Chaos Emerald?!" Knuckles said.

"Yeah, is it possible that more than one Chaos Emerald exists?" Sonic said.

"They're rare, but if Buttnik's got his hands on one, he could be unstoppable!"

"That's why we need your help, big guy!"

"I'd like to help, but my first duty is to protect the Floating Island. I can't go chasin' all over Mobius! I gotta take care of my own people."

"Hey, wait a minute! You're a part of Mobius. If it goes, so does your precious island!" Sonia said.

"True, and you're the only dude who knows the skinny on Chaos Emeralds." Manic said.

"I'm sorry, but there's nothing I can do." Knuckles said.

["No One Is An Island"]

"All right, enough! I'll do it! I'll help you." Knuckles said.

"I knew you couldn't resist a good Buttnik kickin'!" Sonic said.

Later.

"Flaps: check! Rudder: check! Tires: check! Oil: check!" Knuckles said.

"Knuckles..." Athair said.

"In a minute. Extra little bags of in-flight peanuts: check!"

"Knuckles, listen to me."

"All right, already! I'm all ears." Knuckles said and turned around. "Great grandpa Athair! Is that you?"

"You must not leave the Floating Island."

"Why? But I promised my friends! Buttnik has to be stopped!"

"Great grandson, you have been warned. If you leave the Floating Island, all of Mobius could be destroyed. The fate of Mobius is in your hands."

"Great grandfather, what can I do to protect both Mobius and my friends?"

"There may be a way. The future can be changed. The fate of Mobius depends on your decision."

"Great grandfather-" Knuckles said and Athair vanished. "Wait! Don't leave!"

"Yo, who are you talkin' to, Knuckles?" Manic asked.

"Ah, er, no one. Hope I'm doin' the right thing!"

"Then let's haul haunch!" Sonic said.

"Prepare to obliterate Port Mobius! They'll see what happens when they turn against Robotnik!" Robotnik said and headed towards SWATbots. "Stand by for bombardment on my command!"

"Y'know, those Port Mobians only sided with you because of us." Dingo said.

"Yeah. We rigged up that fake sea monster." Sleet said.

"You two have had so many failures, it's hard to keep them all straight! Interrupt my work again, and I'll have you tossed off the fortress while we're still in the air!" Robotnk said and returned to monitors. "Ah, now where was I?"

"Robotnik thinks he doesn't need us anymore. And you know what happens to people he doesn't need!"

"Er... no, what?" Dingo said.

"He roboticizes them. Where have you been? It's time for us to act."

"Okay. But I won't wear a girly costume."

"Come on, you flea paradise!"

"What is it now? An unidentified aircraft?! How dare it approach my fortress!" Robotnik said.

"Request emergency landing. Request emergency landing. Request emergency landing." Knuckles tape recording said.

"Certainly. We'll give you a warm welcome - a very warm welcome indeed!" Robotnik said and pushed a button. "BLOW HIM OUT OF THE SKY!" he said and the turrets shot the plane down. "Welcome to my Fortress of Altitude!" he said and sinister laughed.

"Ready to dig in?" Knuckles asked.

"We're behind ya all the way." Sonic said.

"Now all we have to do is find the Chaos Emerald."

"What's that thing do?" Manic asked.

"This is a Chaometer. It tracks the energy from a Chaos Emerald, and there's one on board all right! Follow me."

"That's impossible! How did they get aboard my fortress?!"Robotnik said.

"Whoa, this Chaometer's going crazy! Something's coming..." Knuckles said.

"Uh-oh. Could be that green stuff that chased me before. We gotta get outta here!" Sonic said.

"Stand back!"

"Whoa!"

"There's a Chaos Emerald under us... through about a Mobius mile of mobibindum."

"So what are we waitin' for? Do your stuff, Knuckles!"

"I never knew blowing up SWATbots could be so much fun! With the Chaos Emerald in our hands, Robotnik won't dare try to get rid of us!" Sleet said.

"Good thinking, Sleet!" Dingo said .

"If nothing else, he won't have his precious fortress anymore, and he'll need our help again!"

"This is bad! Residual energy's high, but it looks like somebody's already swiped the Emerald!" Knuckles said.

"Whoooaaa!" Sonia said and Manic gasped.

"Without the Chaos Emerald, this fortress is sunk! We'll drop like a rock into the Mobian Sea!"

"Into the..." Sonic said and gulped. "sea?"

"Those hedgehogs must have stolen my Chaos Emerald! SWATbots! Reach for a crash landing!" Robotnik said and saw Sleet and Dingo on the monitor, fleeing. "Ooh, those rats! Deserting the sinking ship!" he said and the fortress started its fall. "Someone is going to PAY FOR THIS!"

"Arrrgh! Aaaarrggh!" everyone said and the fortress hit the ocean. "Whoooaaa, oof!"

"Man, that was some ride! At least Buttnik's overgrown beach ball was trashed and crashed." Manic said.

"But we didn't take the Chaos Emerald!" Sonia said.

"Yeah! So who did?" Sonic said.

"Now we've got the power, instead of Robotnik!" Sleet said.

"Yeah. Just wait 'til we're in charge!" Dingo said and they laughed.