"Though the land was under a dark cloud, my children still found time to kill." Aleena said.

"Yaa-hooooo!" Manic said.

"But Manic had a lesson to learn... about teamwork."

"Is this cool or what? Ha-ha! Wow!" Manic said and rode his board down to the lake. "Ya-hooo!" he said and landed on the water. "Yeah!" he said and a Swatbot gave chase, shot at him and he gasped. "Hang in, bro!"

"Yippee ki yi yay!" Sonic said and wrangled the Swatbot's leg. "Agh!" she said strained and pulled the Swatbot backwards. "Think you're gonna take down the hedgehog, huh sweat-butt? I don't think so!"

"That's my bro!"

"Uhh!"

"My main hedgehog! Yeah!" he said and crashed to the ground. "Whoa!"

"You'd better bring a lotta help next time, pal." she said and heard Sleet's voice from a radio. "Huh?"

"Swatbot 27, this is Sleet. Queen Aleena has been spotted in Quadrant 10. Check it out and report back. Do you understand?" Sleet said.

"Affirmative. Check Quadrant 10. Over and out!"

"Sonic! A little help here!" Manic said and she gasped and ran over to his location.

"Yo, Manic! Where are ya, man?"

"Over here!" he said and she gasped and tried to pull him out of the cliff.

"Argh, argh!" she said and he broke out and gasped.

"Whoaaa!" they said.

"Oof!" Sonic said and Manic was about to land on her. "Yaaahhh!"

"Look out below!" Manic said.

"Ugh!" they said.

"Wanna tell me what you were doin' out here alone?!" Sonic asked.

"Blagh, blagh, agh!" Manic said and spit. "Surfin' some awesome thermals." he said and tried to free his board from the rock but was strained.

"Yeah, and what happened to the buddy system?! Next time we go together, and I'll show you how to shoot thermals." she said and dislodged his board. "Waahhh!"

"You surf thermals?" he asked and threw her down as he got on the board. "Whoa, oof!" he said and watched her. "All right!" he said and she was heading towards him. "Ahh!"

"Man, you're lookin' at Sonic the Surfhog. I can surf thermals standin' on my head." she said and threw the board to him. "Hop on! I heard some news about Mom. We gotta find Sonia!"

"Whoa!" he said and she pushed him along. "Uh, uh... ha-ha! Yeah!" he said and she let go. "Yee-haw!" he said. "Man, that stinks!"

"You can always smell when Robotnik's been somewhere, can't you?"

"These wells have been burning for months! Why would Mother wanna come to a place like this? Eww!" Sonia said.

"I don't know, but-"

"Manic, look out!"

"Aargh!" They said.

"What is it with you and potholes, bro? You never get enough of 'em!" Sonic said.

"I don't know how many more my teeth can take." Sonia said.

"Come on, you guys, how many have I hit?" Manic asked.

"Thirty-eight." Sonic and Sonia said.

Then Manic and Sonia gasped.

"Argh!" Sonic said.

"Ahh!" Sonia said and gasped. "Whoa!"

"Ugh! Gah!"

"Wrong, forty-two. So button it up with the backseat drivin', all right?" Manic said.

"How much farther?" Sonia asked.

"Twelve miles."

"Aaaarrghh!" Sonic and Sonia said and Manic drove over another pothole. "Argh!"

"Waaaargh!" they all said.

"Way to go, little bro!" Sonic said.

"Huh?" Sonia said as a car headed towards them. "We've got company, guys."

"Huh?" Manic said.

"Ugh!" Sonic said and pushed a tire away. "Hmmm..."

"Show yourself, whoever you are!" Sonia said.

"You Sonic?" Ruby asked.

"Who wants to know?!" Sonic asked.

"Name's Rudy. The party's at Mother's."

"And the musicians are down the hall. I'm Sonic, and this is Sonia and Manic!"

"We heard Queen Aleena was headed here!" Sonia said.

"Nah, I ain't seen 'er and that's a good thing." Ruby said.

"Why?!"

"Something strange is goin' on here."

Later.

"Last night I was comin' 'ome when I saw a swarm of bright orange bugs flyin' away from my village. Looked something like bottle flies." Ruby said.

"Bottle flies? Bugs?! Ewwww!" Sonia said.

"Shhh!" Manic said.

"Ah, it's just a honkin' big fly we got round here, except I never saw 'em glow before. Then…" Ruby said.

"Aargh!" Ruby said.

"...suddenly one of me mates, a Freedom Fighter, same as me..."

"Aaaargh!"

"...turned on me!"

Then he growled strained.

"A bunch of me friends wanted to take me to Robotnik. I was lucky to get out alive. I think it's somethin' to do with those bugs."

"This stinks like Robotnik!" Sonic said.

"We could do with a bit of help here, hedgehogs."

"And what do you think?"

"Hmmm!" Manic and Sonia said.

"You got it, Rudy!" Sonic said.

"First, we gotta catch one of those bottle flies." Manic said.

"Oh, ick!" Sonia said.

"We need to check out your village." Sonic said.

"Sonic, why don't you check it out? And when you get back, we'll pick a plan to get those icky bugs. Guh..."

"No prob! Back in a flash."

"I'm with ya, sis!" Manic said.

"Sorry, guy, no time! This calls for a speed warp."

"Huh?" Sonia said.

"Huh?" Manic said.

"Manic, where are you going?"

"Come back, mate!" Ruby said.

"If Sonic can go solo, so can I! I'm gonna find those flies." Manic said.

"But Sonic's faster!" Sonia said and he soared away. "Manic, no! Come back!"

"Mondo uncool! Yo, Freedom Fighters! Hellooo? I'm waiting..." Sonic said and a fly-bot appeared. "Hey! Needle-nose!" she said and lured the fly-bot into a jar. "Whoa, if you're a real bug, I'm a SWATbot!"

"Yaa-hoooo!" Manic said and a fly-bot appeared. "Huh?" he said and the fly-bot stung his nose. "Ouch!" he said and became dazed. "Must report. Must report to Robotnik."

"Any sign of Manic?" Sonia asked.

"Not yet. Wait! Something's coming!" Ruby said and Sonic arrived. "It's moving too fast. I can't tell what it is!"

"It's me!" Sonic said and he gasped.

"My village. Did you see-?"

"Sorry, bud. It's burned. Gone! No sign of Freedom Fighters!"

"Noooo!"

"We'll find 'em, Rudy." Sonia said.

"We've got to stop them. It's those flies."

"Oh yeah, almost forgot." Sonic said and handed him the bug in a jar. "Check this sucker out!" she said and looked around. "Hey, where's Manic?"

"He wanted to get one of those" Sonia said and shuddered. "awful flies and he's not back yet! I'm worried, Sonic."

"They're Robotnik's flies, all right. Metal." Ruby said.

"Fake flies with full metal jackets? Oh, just what we need!" Sonic said.

"How do the fly-bots make you loyal to Robotnik?" Sonia asked.

"Must be this serum. They inject it through their stingers." Ruby said.

"And boom! You're pledgin' allegiance to Buttnik." Sonic said and Sonia gasped.

Meanwhile.

"So as you see, sir, a full dose lasts an hour or so. Plenty of time to restrain the prisoners and roboticize them!" Sleet said.

"Excellent!" Robotnik said.

"The fly-bots are working just as you planned." Sleet said and Robotnik snickered.

"Sometimes I'm awed by my own brilliance! What of the Freedom Fighter village?"

"Burned to a cinder, sir! Just as you ordered."

"Ha! And what news of the Queen?"

"Er, well, we haven't been able to raise the stealth bot on the radio."

"D'oh! Blithering incompetent! Find that stealth bot or I'll turn you into a can opener!" Robotnik said and Sleet gasped.

"I understand, sir."

"Look what I found." Dingo said.

"Well, well, a hedgehog come to visit!" Sleet said and chuckled. "I am pleased."

"I am your humble servant, sir." Manic said.

"I believe he's a fly-bot victim, sir. You see the sting mark?" Sleet said.

"Ha!" Robotnik said.

"At your service, Doctor Robotnik." Manic said.

"Excellent, hedgehog! Because I have a very important job for you."

"Anything for you, sir."

"We need to extend the effects. Give me one of the modified fly-bots!" Robotnik said and Sleet gave him an upgraded fly-bot. "To redose, we'll simply activate a radio signal, and the fly-bot will administer a microdose with its stinger."

"So, just before the effects wear off, we drop him in the outback?" Sleet said.

"Exactly. Then he'll deliver the hedgehogs to us. Bark like a dog!" Robotnik said and Manic barked. "Ah, loyalty! You've gotta love it." he said and laughed.

"What time is it now?" Sonic asked.

"Five seconds later than the last time you asked!" Sonia said.

"Manic's been gone too long. Somethin's wrong."

"Yaa-hooo!" Manic said.

"'Bout time, man! Where ya been?"

"Er, I'm not exactly sure."

"I know you wanna help, bro, but disappearin' ain't cool."

"Sorry!" he said and shook his head. "Ugh! I saw one of those bottle fly things and chased it all over the place, but it got away!"

"They're not bugs!"

"Bogus. So like, er, what's the plan?"

"Check out the heavy hitters."

"Whoa, awesome! Where'd you get those?"

"Remember that stealth bot that was on your tail?"

"We scavenged parts, and Rudy patched the lasers back together." Sonia said.

"Sonic's gonna lure the fly-bots into a trap, then we'll blast 'em out of the sky." Ruby said.

"Er, cool! How we doin' it?" Manic asked.

"By the oil wells! At dawn!" Sonic said and Sonia scoffed.

"Dawn? Couldn't we make it nine-thirty-ish? I hate to lose my beauty sleep." she said and Sonic and Manic looked at her disapprovingly. "Just kidding!" she said and everyone snored.

"Huh?" Manic said, marched outside and got out a walkie-talkie. "This is Manic calling Doctor Robotnik. Come in." he said and Sonic gasped and checked him.

"Huh?" she said and headed outside to a rumbling noise. "Hmm..." she said, ran to a clifftop and saw many vehicles approaching. "Time to launch some major haunch!"

"But how did Robotnik know?" Sonia asked.

"Oh, I'm clueless, sis. Rudy, we need a place to hide this tank. Any ideas?"

"There's a cave just south of here. They won't find us there." Ruby said.

"What's that?" Sonia asked and Manic walked away. "Huh?" she said and he grabbed a walkie-talkie and entered the toilet. "Manic, you all right?"

"Doctor Robotnik. This is Manic. Over." Manic said.

"I hope you have good news for me, hedgehog." Robotnik said.

"They know you're comin'. They're headed for-"

"Manic, what are you doing?!" Sonia asked.

"Must contact Robotnik."

"Oh my gosh!"

"Hedgehog! Come in! Where are they heading? I repeat: where are the hedgehogs heading?!" Robotnik said and the signal was lost. "Dahhh!" he said and threw the walkie-talkie. "BLAST!"

"Manic? Talkin' to Robuttnik?" Sonic asked.

"He's obviously been stung by one of those disgusting fly-bot things." Sonia said.

"Hey guys, what's up?" Manic asked and indicated the walkie-talkie. "What are you doin' with that?"

"You don't know?" Sonic said and the team entered the cave. "So you don't remember talkin' to Robuttnik?"

"Oh man, that's bogus! I wouldn't talk to Robotnik! Why would I?"

"Because you were stung by a fly-bot which makes you loyal to Robotnik." Ruby said.

"I was stung by a fly-bot? I don't remember bein' stung by a..." Manic said and the sting took effect again. "flybot..."

"I've heard that sound before!" Sonic said.

"Me too." Ruby said.

"Must contact Doctor Robotnik." Manic said.

"It's coming from his fanny pack!" Sonia said.

"Ah!" Ruby said and ducked to avoid the fly-bot. "Ahh!"

Sonia gasped and took an antenna from the splattered fly-bot.

"This one's radio controlled!" she said.

"Oh, man!" Sonic said and picked up Manic's pierced fanny pack. "Focus. Manic's a hedgehog pincushion!"

"This is how Robotnik's been making the fly-bot sting Manic!" Sonia said.

"Oh, man! I feel like roadkill!" Manic said.

"Robuttnik's gonna pay for this, bro!" Sonic said.

"Oh, we'll get him all right! But first, we need a plan." Sonia said.

"Plan? Huh. Plan's my middle name!"

"Yeah, sure!"

"No, listen! Rudy and I have been talkin' about it."

"First, we use the van as bait, so the fly-bots follow it to this place I know." Ruby said. "Strike zone, here we come!"

"A one, two, three, and…!" Sonia said.

["Never Give Up"]

Then Sonic yawned and a lightning bolt struck her in the tail and set it on fire.

"Argh! Ooh!" she said and blew. "Whoo! Ooh!" she said, gasped and the fly-bots arrived. "Well, it's about time you got here! Let's see... this should be a good spot for a fly roast." she said and the lightning obliterated the entire swarm of fly-bots. "YESSS! Bye-bye, bug buds!" she said and lightning struck her in the tail. "Ow!" she said and was struck again. "Oww!" she said and was struck again. "Ah, ooh, ah!" she said and groaned.

"I think we got them all." Ruby said.

"I hope Sonic took care of the rest." Sonia said.

"Ow!" Sonic said, rubbed her backside and whistled.

"Sonic! Are you okay?"

"Course I'm okay!" Sonic said and Sonia gasped. "I just wanna be alone."

"Huh?" Manic said.

"OWWW!"

"Everything's gone." Ruby said.

"Rudy, look!" Sonia said.

"Sheila, you're alive!"

"Rudy!" Sheila said.

"Oh, I'm so glad you're safe."

"Oh, it's great to see ya, mate! SWATbots burned the village, but we got away."

"Where are the others?"

"Well, we got rid of the fly-bots, but we missed Mother again!" Sonia said.

"No biggie. We'll catch up to her. But in the meantime..." Sonic said and looked at Manic. "Now bro, about your goin' solo..."

"I know, dumb idea. From now on, it's all for one and one for... Robotnik. Must contact Robotnik." Manic said.

"Oh my gosh!" Sonia said.

"Gotcha!" he said and Sonic gasped and he laughed.

Then Sonic and Sonia laughed.