"Deadliest of Foes" A work of Sonic the Hedgehog "Fan-faction" by Ian 
Patterson A few technicalities... I've read enough fanfic to know what 
title 17 (the copyright law) does and does not allow; you can't change 
the text in any way or charge anyone money to read this without my 
expressed written permission. All situations and characters from the 
Sonic the Hedgehog Saturday morning cartoon series, as aired on ABC, are 
copyright SEGA, DiC, and/or Archie Comics, and are used (or at least 
referred to here) without permission, except the characters created by 
yours truly, which are copyrighted by me.

***Rated R for violence and profanity***


Part I
DEADLIEST OF FOES


CHAPTER I
LET'S MAKE A DEAL

	It was night in Robo-Tropolis.  Not that it was exactly easy to tell 
the difference between night and day in the polluted city that had once 
been the symbol of peace on the war-torn planet Mobius.
	In the Death Egg Command Center, Dr. Robotnik sat in his control 
chair, monitoring the activities that were going on even at night.  He saw 
SWATbots doing this duty or that duty.  An evil grin worked its way up his 
face.
	"Ah", he said to himself, "That is what I love about robots.  They 
don't need sleep or food.  They just work and work until I tell them to 
stop."
	Robotnik looked at the chronometer on his chair.  It was well after 
midnight.  He decided that he would retire for the night in a few minutes.  
	Across the room from the evil doctor, stood Snively.  He was running 
the night's activities for his evil uncle.  If it was one thing he hated, 
it was night shifts.  Nothing alive was out there at this time of night.  
Of course, there was the occasional terrorist attack on the city, but that 
never happened this late.  
	"This has to be the most boring shift I've had by far", he mumbled to 
himself, low enough that Robotnik wouldn't hear him, "I wish something 
would happen."
	As if by magic, the alarm on the terminal went off.  
	"Yikes!!", yelled Snively, jumping, "Security, report!"
	Robotnik lifted his head up when he heard the noise.  He saw Snively 
running frantically back and forth, trying figure out what was wrong.
	"What's happening!", yelled Robotnik, seeing the security alarm 
blinking.
	"Squad 4 has detected an intruder in the city limits, Sir", said 
Snively, "They're having trouble homing in on him."
	"It must be that wretched hedgehog", growled Robotnik, "Send Squad 
6 and 7 to assist them."
	"Yes, Sir", said Snivley, typing in the commands to the SWATbot 
squad leaders.
	Out in the city, all of the SWATbots were searching for the organic 
life-form that their sensors had picked up.  
	"Searching", said one SWATbot, scanning around the area.
	All of sudden, something burst out of a pile of scrap metal, and 
slashed at the SWATbot, sending sparks flying everywhere.  All the others 
looked, and saw the SWATbot fall to the ground, with half of its circutry 
hanging out of its neck.
	"Halt, Intruder", said another SWATbot.
	The creature that had done this was no more than a blur in the air.  
The SWATbots decided that it must be some sort of dampening device to 
confuse their optical sensors.  They all switched to infra-red, and saw the
life-form clearly.
	"Suck on this", said the creature.
	A blast of white light exploded from its shoulder, and hit one of the 
SWATbots, blowing a huge hole in its torso.  After the bot hit the ground, 
the creature darted past the rest of them, and towards the Death Egg 
Command Center.
	"What's going on out there!?", screamed Robotnik, throwing Snively 
out of the way, "All SWATbot units, destroy the intruder.  NOW!!!!"
	The blur ran down the empty streets, seeing all the security droids 
in the area being diverted to chase him.  Amusing, he thought.  
	From behind, he saw six SWATbots running after him, firing their 
plasma rifles.  One shot knicked him on the arm.  He looked down, and saw 
his armor smoking from the shot.
	"Alright", he said, stopping, "That's it!"
	He turned around, and turned his cloaking device off, revealing a 
snake-like creature that was amored to the core.  His right eye had a red 
aiming device on it.  He wrinkled his lips, showing rows of razor sharp 
teeth.
	"Nobody takes a shot at me with those pea-shooters and lives!", he 
hissed, pulling out a huge rifle.
	He fired, and the shots hit the SWATbots, and sent them flying back 
almost twenty to thirty feet.  They smashed when they hit the ground or 
walls.  He looked up, and saw a hover-unit closing in on him.
	"You wanna piece of me too?", he said, aiming the rifle at them, 
"Energy Net Mode."
	"ENGERY NET MODE", said the rifle.
	The snake fired, and a yellow energy net shot out of the barrel.  It 
hit the hover-unit, and wrapped itself around it.  All of the hover-unit's 
systems began to over-load, and it exploded in mid-air, raining the area 
with fire and debris.
	"Gotcha", said the snake, hooking the rifle behind his back.
	In the command center, Robotnik pounded the panel when he saw the 
snake destroy an entire squad of SWATbots, plus a hover-unit.
	"Where is he?!", he screamed at Snively, who was trying to find the 
target.
	"I don't know, Sir", said Snively, feeling the sweat pour down his 
face.
	"He's right here", hissed a voice from behind them.
	Both Robotnik and Snively turned, and saw the snake standing not 
more than ten feet from them, with his arms folded.
	Two SWATbots appeared from the door, and fired at the snake.  For 
one shot, he merely held out his hand, and the blast riquoceted right off 
of it, and back at the SWATbot.  His shoulder cannon went off, and 
destroyed the other one.  After both of the bots hit the floor, the snake 
looked back at Robotnik and Snively.
	"That was....exhilarating", he said, smiling, "Now, to business.  
Which of you is the being known as, Robotnik?"
	Robotnik stepped forward, and right up to the snake.  The doctor's 
massive form towered over the new-comer.
	"I am Robotnik", he growled, "Who are you?"
	"My name is Vypryn", hissed the snake, "I'm here to do you a favor."
	"You call this a favor?", said Robotnik, pointing at the destroyed 
SWATbots.
	"Terminating those tin cans was but a sample of my abilities", said 
Vypryn, "As I was saying, I understand you have a pest problem you want 
taken care of."
	"What are you talking about?", said Robotnik, not knowing what this 
snake was going on about.
	"I'm speaking of a creature called Sonic the Hedgehog", said Vypryn.
	"How do you know about him?", asked Robotnik.
	"I was passing through this solar system a few days ago", said 
Vypryn, "When I intercepted a stray transmission from the third planet in 
this system.  It mentioned a being called Robotnik, who was having trouble 
eliminating a threat to his empire called Sonic the Hedgehog.  I decided 
to alter course, and lend you a hand."
	"Hmmmm", said Robotnik, sitting down in his chair, "I'm quite sure 
you aren't doing this for free.  What do you want out of the deal?"
	"My ship refueled and a cache of your latest weaponary", said Vypryn.
	Robotnik smiled, and folded his hands.
	"Your price is, acceptable", said Robotnik.
	"Then it's a deal", said Vypryn, folding his arms, "Good.  Is there 
any part of the hedgehog's anatomy you would care for me to bring back as 
proof of his demise?"
	Robotnik sat back in his chair, and smiled.
	"His head will do nicely", he said.
	Vypryn grinned, showing his teeth.  His tongue shot in and out as he 
chuckled softly.
	"Know something, Doc?", he said, "I think I'm going to like working 
for you.  You're just my type of tyrant."
	"Flattery will gain you nothing", said Robotnik, "Now, get out there 
and get that hedgehog."
	Vypryn bowed to Robotnik, and then hit a button on his belt.  He 
slowly blurred again, and walked back into the darkness.  Robotnik waited 
a few moments until he was sure that the snake was gone.  Then he looked 
over at Snively.
	"Snively", he said.
	"Yes, Sir?", asked Snively, who was hiding behind Robotnik's chair.
	"You have however long it takes that filthy vermin to catch the 
hedgehog to figure out a way of destroying him", said Robotnik, "He'll 
soon learn what Naugus did.  Never trust anyone, especially me."
	Robotnik put his hands together, and grinned an evil grin.  Behind 
the chair, Snively just sighed.  What had Robotnik gotten him into this 
time?
	
	Just outside the city, Vypryn uncloaked.  In front of him, sat a huge 
space craft.  He hit a button on his arm, and a face appeared on the tiny 
monitor.
	"Sectoid here", said the robot.
	"The deal has been made", said Vypryn, "Take the Python back into 
orbit around this miserable mudball and meet me at these coordinates."
	He sent a set of coordinates to the ship.  Sectoid took a second or 
to look at them, and the turned his attention back to Vypryn.
	"I'll meet you in twenty minutes", he said.
	"Good", said Vypryn, "I'll be waiting."
	"One more thing", said Sectoid, before Vypryn signed off.
	"What?", he asked.
	"This, Robotnik character", said the robotic mosquito, "Can he be 
trusted?"
	"Probably not", said Vypryn, "But after the show I put on for him in 
the city, he'll be little hesitant to cross me.  However, if he does, I 
will personally fry his lard ass."
	Sectoid chuckled at what Vypryn said, and then signed off.  Vypryn 
put his arm down, and turned his head towards the Great Forest.  He 
narrowed his left eye to a slit.
	"You're out there somewhere, Hedgehog", he hissed, "And I'm going to 
find you, no matter what it takes."
	With that, he cloaked, and walked slowly into the Great Forest.

CHAPTER II
FIRST ENCOUNTER

	Sally opened her eyes, and saw the light coming in through her 
bedroom window.  Outside, she could hear the birds chirping, and the voices 
of those Freedom Fighters who liked to get up and start the day at the 
crack of dawn.  
	Slowly, she sat up, and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.  She then 
stretched and yawned at the same time.
	"Ohhhhh", she yawned, "What do I have to do today?"
	After sitting in bed, trying for another ten minutes to wake up 
completely, Sally rolled out, and headed for the bathroom.
	"Ah!", she exclaimed, walking out of the bathroom, several minutes 
later, "Nothing like a hot shower to make you feel great."
	Sally had a towel wrapped around her head like a turban, after giving 
her hair a good washing.  Her fur felt extra soft as well.  She didn't 
quite know what Rosie was making her soap out of, but she liked it.  She 
liked it a lot.
	After spending a while searching around her room for her vest, she 
decided to iron it.  She held it up in front of her, and examined the 
wrinkles in it.
	"Geez", she said, shaking it, "I've got to learn to hang this thing 
up instead of just throwing it on the floor at night."
	Sally put her white bath-robe on, and pulled her ironing board out of 
her closet.  She had barely started on her vest, when there was a knock at 
her door.
	"Sally-Girl?", said Bunnie, "Are ya decent?"
	"Come on in, Bunnie", said Sally, "I'm just ironing my vest."
	Bunnie walked on into Sally's hut, and up next to Sally.
	"Hoo-wee, Sally", said Bunnie, "You sure did a number on that vest."
	"Tell me about it", said Sally, "So, what's up?"
	Bunnie handed Sally a piece of paper that looked like the kind that 
Uncle Chuck used to send his messages back and forth to them from Robo-
Tropolis.
	"Freedom Fighters", read Sally, "I have just learned that one of 
Robotnik's SWATbot hover-units has gone down in the Great Forest.  If you 
hurry, you can salvage any important equipment that survived before 
Robotnik can send a recovery squadron."
	Sally looked up at Bunnie, who had been reading along with her.
	"What a break!", said Sally, excited, "There's no telling how much we 
can get out of that hover-unit!"
	Sally tore the towel off her head, and threw her robe onto the couch. 
She then put her half-ironed vest on, and dragged Bunnie out the door of 
her hut.
	"Where's Sonic?", she asked, still pulling Bunnie behind her.
	"Ah checked his hut before ah came over", said Bunnie, "He's still 
snorin' away."
	"It takes him too long to wake up", said Sally, "We have to go now."
	Sally ran over to a tree where Dulcy was hanging upside down.  She 
was still sleeping, and sucking her thumb.
	"DULCY!!", yelled Sally, "WAKE UP!!!"
	"Ahhhh!", yelled Dulcy, surprised.
	She fell out of the tree, and hit the ground.  After being 
disoriented for only a moment, she shook her head, and looked up at Sally 
and Bunnie.
	"Hi!", she said, "Did you call me?"
	"Yes", said Sally, "We have to get somewhere, and quick."
	Dulcy staggered to her feet, and stretched.  Sally and Bunnie then 
jumped onto her back, and they took off.	
	
	Miles away, Sally pointed down.
	"There it is!", she said, pointing at a huge hole in the canopy of 
trees.
	"You want me to go down there?", said Dulcy, "I don't think I'll fit, 
Sally."
	"Just try your best, Dulcy", said Sally.
	"Okay", she said, "Hold on!"
	Just then, Dulcy went straight into a nose-dive.  Sally and Bunnie 
were forced to put their heads down to keep from getting hit by the tree 
limbs.
	"Ahhhh!", yelled Ducly, hitting a branch.
	"Oh no", said Bunnie, "Time ta land."
	The two girls held on as Dulcy crashed to the ground.  Sally lifted 
her head up, and looked around.  They were on the ground, at least.
	"Are you alright, Dulcy?", she asked the dragon.
	"I'm fine, Maaaaa", Dulcy trailed off.
	"She's fine", said Sally, "C'mon.  That hover-unit is just around 
those bushes."
	They both slid off Dulcy's back, and headed through the bushes.  
Through them, they saw a smashed hover-unit sitting at the end of a long 
trail in the dirt.  There were blast marks all over the back of it.  
Apparently, it had been shot down.
	"Looks like it's all ours", said Sally, walking up to it.  
	Bunnie kicked the door, and it crashed open.  A horrible smell came 
floating out of the hover-unit.  Bunnie wrinkled her nose when she smelled 
it.
	"Ew", she said, putting her hand over her nose, "What is that gosh 
darn awful smell?"
	Sally coughed once from taking a whiff of it.  
	"I have no idea", she said, "Maybe it was an electrical fire or 
something."
	Sally took a deep breath, and stuck her head in the hover-unit. 
Bunnie heard Sally gulp.
	"What is it?", she asked.
	Just then, Sally pulled her head back out, and shoved past Bunnie, 
running for the bushes.  She reached them, and vomitted.  Bunnie ran over 
to Sally to see if she was alright.
	"You okay, Sally-Girl?", she said, patting Sally's back.
	"I'm..fine", gasped Sally, trying to breathe, "In..the..hover-unit.."
	Bunnie looked back at the hover-unit, and headed back over there.  
She gritted her teeth, and peered inside.  Bunnie's heart skipped a beat 
when she saw what Sally had seen.  Three Freedom Fighters were hanging from 
the ceiling of the hover-unit by their feet.  All of them were dead, but 
that wasn't the horrible part.  The horrible was that all three of them had 
been skinned alive.  There was blood, fur, and skin littering the floor of 
the unit.  Bunnie cupped her hand over her mouth, and backed away.
	"What kinda monster would do something like that?", she said.
	Suddenly, two armored arms wrapped around Bunnie's neck.  She turned 
her head, and looked right into Vypryn's eyes.
	"You called?", he hissed.
	Bunnie reacted to this by grabbed Vypryn's arm with her robotic arm 
and flipping him over her and onto his back.  Once he was off of her, she 
tried to twist his arm behind him, but his foot came up, and kicked her in 
the face.
	"Oof!", she grunted, letting go of him, and staggering backwards.
	Vypryn kicked himself to his feet, and glared at Bunnie.
	"That was a good move", he hissed, "Unfortunately, it was the only 
one you're going to land!"
	Vypryn spun around and round-house kicked Bunnie in the chest, 
sending her flying backwards.  She skidded to a halt, several feet away.  
When she tried to get up, a metal foot slammed down on her chest, knocking 
the wind out of her.
	"Stay", said Sectoid.
	Vypryn walked up to Sally, who hadn't been able to run away.  She 
threw a punch at Vypryn, and it slammed against his robotic eye. 
	"Ahhh!", he yelled, grabbing the red eye.
	He reset it, and then glared at Sally.
	"Big mistake", he hissed.
	Vypryn grabbed Sally by her neck, and slammed her against a tree.
His one red eye glew brightly when he looked at her.  She struggled to 
breathe under his powerful grip.  
	"Apparently", he hissed, "You want to be a nuisance.  Well, I can
use you to my benefit, anyway."
	Vypryn looked over at Bunnie, who was being detained by Sectoid.
	"You", he said, pointing at her, "You can go free.  Tell the hedgehog 
that she's in a cave due east of here.  If he doesn't come inside of twenty 
minutes, I'll be sending pieces of her back to him for a month!  And if I 
even smell another Freedom Fighter with him, she dies."
	Sectoid let go of Bunnie, and she started to move towards Vyrpyn.  
Vypryn extended his blade, and put it right up to Sally's chest.
	"Don't even think about it", he said, "You have a job to do, and for 
her sake, I suggest you do it."
	"Bunnie", gasped Sally, "Go!"
	Bunnie stomped her foot, and ran past Sectoid, towards where Dulcy 
was laying on the ground.  Vypryn grabbed Sally's arm and waved it after 
Bunnie.
	"Hurry back, now", he chuckled.
	Bunnie started to run.  She jumped on Dulcy, and Dulcy staggered to 
her feet.
	"Hurry, Dulcy!", yelled Bunnie.
	Dulcy rose to her feet, and flew away.  Vypryn watched until the 
green dragon was gone, and then let Sally fall the several inches to the 
ground.  She began gasping from the lack of air.  Slowly, she tried to 
crawl away.  
	"Stupid mammal", hissed Vypryn.
	He stomped his foot down on Sally's back so hard that her legs went 
numb for a moment.  Sally gritted her teeth, and felt tears of pain running 
down her cheeks.  Vypryn grabbed the back of her vest, and yanked her to 
her feet.
	"Don't try that again, Sweetie", he growled, "Cuz if you do..."
	He aimed his shoulder cannon at the downed hover-unit with the dead 
Mobians in it, and fired.  There was a flash of light, and the hover-unit 
exploded, shooting pieces of metal and wire everywhere.
	"Nice touch, Boss", said Sectoid.
	
CHAPTER III
FIRST TEST

	Dulcy slammed down in the center of Knothole.  Bunnie, so frantic, 
she didn't even bother to see if Dulcy was alright.  She simply jumped off 
of her, and started screaming for Sonic.
	"Sugar-hog!!!", she squealed, over and over again.
	Sonic shot out of his hut, and skidded to a halt right in front of 
the freaked out Bunnie.
	"What's up, Bunnie?", said Sonic, "Where's Sally?"
	Sonic noticed that there were tears running down Bunnie's face.  That 
was strange, since Bunnie never cried.  
	"What happened?", he said, grabbing her shoulders, "Is Sally okay?"
	"We went out ta check on that crashed hover-unit", she sobbed, "And 
there were dead bodies in there."
	"They got killed in the crash?", asked Sonic.
	"No!", said Bunnie, "This snake-thing skinned them alive!"
	Sonic's stomach churned.  He couldn't fathom one Mobian doing that 
sort of thing to another.  He took a deep breath, and looked back at Bunnie,
who was still crying.  Her eye-shadow was running down her cheeks now.
	"What happened to Sally?", he asked.
	"He took her", said Bunnie, "He said that if you didn't go to some 
cave east of there, that he'd kill her."
	Sonic got light-headed all of a sudden.  In the entire eleven years 
that the war against Robotnik had been going on, there were almost no 
hostage situations on either side.  He was disgusted that some creature 
could do something like that.
	"Get me a Power Ring", he said.
	Someone tossed him one, and he shoved it into his backpack.  Sonic 
looked over at Bunnie, who was still sobbing.
	"Don't worry, Bunnie", said Sonic, "I won't let anything happen to 
Sally."
	With that, he revved up, and blasted out of Knothole, trying to think 
of how he could save Sally's life.
	
	It didn't take him long to reach the cave that Bunnie told him about.
It wasn't very big.  It only went in about twenty feet.  Sonic took a deep 
breath, and went in.  
	There, sitting on the floor, and tied up, was Sally.
	"Sal!", he said, running over to her, "Are you okay?"
	She looked up at him, through tear-filled eyes.
	"Sonic", she said, "You have to get out of here!  It's a trap!"
	"I kinda figured that, Sal", said Sonic, trying to untie her, "This 
creep wouldn't tell me right where you are unless he was planning 
something."
	Just as Sonic said that, there was a loud crumbling noise.  Both he 
and Sally looked up, and saw the entrance to the cave get covered over by 
tons of rocks.  
	"Gotcha!", said Sonic, breaking the rope.
	Sally pulled the rope off of her arms, and hugged Sonic.  She then 
looked at the exit to the cave.  	
	"Now what do we do?", she said.
	"Good question", said a voice from the darkness.
	Sonic turned, and saw a small radio sitting on a rock.  He picked it 
up, and glared at it.
	"Who are you!", sneered Sonic.
	"My name is Vypryn", said the voice, "I have been commissioned by the 
good Dr. Robotnik to see to it that you are no longer a problem.  Now that 
I have you right where I want you, you will no longer be one."
	"You think this little rock-slide's gonna hold me?", laughed Sonic, 
"I'll be outta here in no time.  Then, you and I can have a little talk."
	"'No time' is exactly what you have, Rodent", hissed Vypryn, "Do you 
see that little item to your right?"
	Sonic looked, and saw a little white box with what looked like a fan 
on it, sitting on the floor.
	"An ice-cream maker isn't gonna do you any good, Belly-crawler!", 
said Sonic.
	"It is good to see that you can keep such a calm demenor about all 
this, Hedgehog", said Vypryn, "Since the, 'ice-cream maker', is actually a 
device of my own design that will quickly remove all oxygen from the cavern 
you are presently in."
	"You're bluffing", said Sonic.
	"One thing you need to learn about me, Hedgehog", said Vypryn, "I 
never bluff.  Happy trails, ha ha ha!"
	With that, the radio went dead.  Sonic gritted his teeth, and threw 
it against the rocks, smashing it.  Just as he did that, the machine hummed 
to life.  The fan started spinning, and the air began moving.
	"Sonic", said Sally, "This cave isn't that big.  We don't have much 
time before all the air is gone!"
	"Think of something, then!", said Sonic, waving his arms.
	Sally moved over to the box, and studied it for a moment.  She then 
touched the side of it.  There was a massive spark, and Sally flew 
backwards several feet.  
	"Whoa!", she said, lifting her head up, "Don't touch that thing."
	Sonic helped Sally to her feet, and the two just looked at the box.  
	"What now?", asked Sonic.
	Sally pulled Nicole from her boot, and opened her up.
	"Nicole", she said, "If you have any suggestions, now would be a good 
time to share them."
	"From what I can deduce, Sally", said Nicole, "The machine is 
pressure sensative.  Therefore, the more force that is put against it, the 
more it will give back."
	Sally snapped her fingers.
	"We can use this stupid thing to blow the entrance open!", she said.
	"How?", asked Sonic, confused.
	"Simple", she said, "If we throw this thing at the mouth of the cave, 
the blast should blow it open."
	"But how do we throw it?", asked Sonic, "It's gonna barbeque us the 
second we touch it."
	Just as Sonic said that, he got an idea.  He reached into his 
backpack, and pulled out the Power Ring.  It gleamed in the darkness.
	"Stand back, Sal", he said, "It's jam time!"
	Sally ran behind a rock, noticing that the air was getting thin.  She 
looked up, and saw Sonic hold the ring over his head.  It glowed, and 
surrounded him with golden energy.  Once its power was drained, he began 
running in circles around the box.  
	"Time ta crank it!", he yelled, running even faster.
	A huge whirlwind started forming around the box, lifting it into the 
air.  Once it was a sufficient distance off the ground, Sonic bent the 
whirwind right at the mouth of the cave.  The box shot right at it, and 
smashed into it.
	There was a huge explosion that rocked the entire cave.  Sonic didn't 
waste a moment.  He ran back, grabbed Sally, and shot out of the cave as 
fast as his legs could carry him.
	He skidded to a halt just outside of the destroyed cave.  They both 
looked back, and saw the cave collapse.  
	"Whew!", he said, wiping his forhead, "That was close!"
	"Where's Vypryn?", said Sally, looking around.
	"The creep probably knows now that he's outclassed", said Sonic, "He 
probably crawled back under whatever rock it was that he came out from 
under."
	"Let's just get out of here", said Sally, jumping into Sonic's arms.
	"I heard that", he said, revving up.
	He shot off into the Great Forest, leaving a fire-trail behind.  Just 
as they left, Vypryn and Sectoid appeared from above the destroyed cave.  
	"Blast!", said Sectoid, "He got away!"
	"On the contrary", said Vypryn, grinning, "He's playing right into my 
plan."
	"What are talking about?", said Sectoid, "He rescued the little bitch 
and destroyed a perfectly good oxygen vaporizor!  How could any of this be 
good?"
	"The equipment is replacable", said Vypryn, "And the girl is of no 
importance.  You see, Sectoid, this is precisely why I am in charge.  When 
he picked up the radio, a small transmitter attached itself to the palm of 
his glove.  By the time he finds it, if he even finds it, I'll know exactly 
where he and his little friends are hiding.  However, first things first."
	"Huh?", asked Sectoid, still confused.
	"Go back to Robo-Tropolis", said Vypryn, "Tell Dr. Robotnik that I 
need all of his data on the hedgehog.  This includes pictures, medical 
records, profiles, family history, video images, everything."
	Sectoid unfolded his metallic wings, and took to the sky.  He then 
headed for Robo-Tropolis.  Vypryn watched him until he disappeared, and 
then looked at the tracer blip on the screen in his arm.  He grinned, and 
showed a row of razor sharp teeth.
	"Soon, Hedgehog", he hissed, "Very soon."
	
	Back in Knothole, Sally was sitting in the medical hut, being treated 
by Dr. Quack.  After what she went through, Sonic had insisted that the doc 
go over her with a fine-tooth comb.
	"As far as I can tell", said the doc, "She's okay.  Her hair is still 
wanting to stand up, but that's probably just from touching that box you 
guys told me about."	
	After the two left, they were walking down the street.  Sally was 
still very uneasy.
	"I'm still scared, Sonic", she said, hugging herself, "That guy is 
still out there."
	"He may be out there, Sal", said Sonic, "But he won't find us here.  
Hey, what're those?"
	Sonic was referring to the bottle of white pills that Sally had in 
her hand.
	"Oh", she said, "These are muscle relaxers.  My muscles are still 
shaking from touching that box.  I've never been hit that hard by 
electricity before.  I'm suprised that it didn't do more to me."
	"Let's just count ourselves lucky", said Sonic, "I just hope that 
next time, Robotnik doesn't such a screw-up to come after me."
	
CHAPTER IV
BEST IN THE BUSINESS

	In Robo-Tropolis, Sectoid stood before Robotnik's command chair.  It 
was safe to say that the good doctor was not pleased with his and Vypryn's 
first attempt at capturing the hedgehog.
	"You've only been hunting him for a matter of hours", said Robotnik, 
"How can you tell me that you've already failed!!"
	"I have not failed", said the holo of Vypryn that Sectoid was 
projecting, "I merely have not succeeded as of yet.  There is a big 
difference, Doctor."
	"So tell me", said Robotnik, his patients fading, "Why have you sent 
this insect automoton here?"
	"I am still unfamiliar with the hedgehog's techniques", said Vypryn, 
"I want all data you have on him.  Sectoid will tell you everything that I 
require."
	Vypryn bowed to Robotnik, and then the holo image faded away.  
Sectoid lowered his arm, and looked at Robotnik.
	"I am not an automoton", sneered the mosquito.
	Robotnik glared at the robot, and then turned his chair away from 
Sectoid.  He looked over at Snively, who was standing by, as usual.
	"Give him whatever data on the rodent that he needs", said Robotnik, 
"And then get him out of my command center."
	"Yes, Sir", said Snively.
	He walked past Sectoid, who just watched him as he moved.  When he 
reached the door, and saw that the robot was still standing there, he waved 
at him.
	"Excuse me?", he said, "This way, please."
	Sectoid's head turned slightly, and looked at Snively.  After a 
moment or so of staring at each other, the robotic mosquito walked slowly 
after Snively.  
	Standing at a computer terminal, Snively was bringing up all the 
video files of the hedgehog that were in the main computer.  Sectoid's arms 
were also loaded with hard copies of files and reports on the hedgehog's 
activity.
	"This is every video file of the hedgehog that we have", said Snively,
"How would you like to take it back to your master?"
	Sectoid looked over at Snively, and his eyes glew about three shades 
redder than they already were.
	"What did you say?", he sneered.
	"I asked you how you would like to take these files back to your 
master", repeated Snively.
	Sectoid dropped all the papers he was holding, and grabbed Snively by 
the neck, lifting him off the ground.  Sweat started running down the 
human's face as he hung there in the air, gasping for air.
	"Get one thing straight, meat-sack!", growled Sectoid, "Vypryn is not 
now, nor will he ever be my master.  He is merely the one in charge right 
now.  Do you understand that?  Or is your organic brain too primative to 
process the information?"
	"I-ugh-understand", choked Snively.
	Sectoid dropped him on the floor, and bent over to pick up the papers 
he had dropped.  He looked up at Snively, sucking in huge amounts of air.  
He chuckled softly, and stood up after picking up the papers.
	"I will download the information", said Sectoid, "And take it back my 
boss."
	A wire came out of Sectoid's fore-arm, and inserted itself into a 
jack on the console.  He spent only a moment downloading the information 
into his own internal computer.  After he pulled the wire out, he walked 
past Snively, who was still laying on the floor.
	Snively watched as the robot disappeared down the cooridors.  He 
squinted his eyes, and shook his head.
	"Your ego will be your downfall, Insect", he said, "Vypryn may not be 
your master, but if I have my way, you will call me 'master'."
	Fortunately for Snively, Sectoid didn't hear what he had said

	In Knothole, Sally was sitting by the Power Ring Pool, throwing 
stones in.  Sonic came up behind her.
	"What's up, Sal?", he asked, sitting down beside her.
	"I'm scared, Sonic", she said, looking over at him, "What that snake 
did to those three animals was unimaginable.  Nothing that Robotnik has 
ever sent after us has ever gotten to me like Vypryn did.  He's like 
something that comes right out of your most frightening nightmares."
	"He's a wacko, Sal", said Sonic, "He's no different from Robotnik."
	"Yes he is", said Sally, "In all the years Robotnik has been around, 
killing people was never something he did often.  Vypryn, on the other 
hand, he seems to enjoy it."
	"Did you find out who they were?", asked Sonic.
	"I talked to Dirk a few hours ago", said Sally, "They found out about 
the downed hover-unit before we did.  He sent them there to do the same 
thing we did.  Vypryn isn't a rookie at bounty hunting, Sonic.  He knew 
exactly how to find you."
	Just then, Sonic got up, and kissed Sally on the forehead.  
	"Sit tight, Sal", he said, "I've got an errand to run."
	Then, he revved up, and shot off into the forest.  The wind blew 
Sally's hair around as she watched him disappear.
	"Be careful, Sonic", she said.
	
	In a canyon just outside the Great Forest, sat Vypryn's ship, the 
Python.  He was sitting at a computer station on the bridge.  On the screen,
was a playback of Sonic's dramatic rescue of Sally from the cave.  Vypryn 
just kept watching it over and over again.  Finally, he pounded his fist 
against the panel.
	"Grrrr", he growled, "This shows me nothing!  I've seen quick 
creatures in my travels, but nothing I've seen on a thousand worlds 
compares to this hedgehog's speed.  What is his secret?"
	He heard a loud noise behind him, and turned his head.  There, stood 
Sectoid, with his arms full of documents and files on the hedgehog.  
	"You asked for these, Boss?", he said, trying not to drop them.
	"Put them on the counter", said Vypryn, motioning Sectoid with his 
three fingered hand.
	Sectoid staggered towards the counter, and dropped the huge armload 
of documents, files, and computer disks.  Vypryn took one of the folders, 
opened it, and began to thumb through the papers, and pulled out a small 
picture that was attached to one of the documents.
	"Heh heh", he chuckled, "Cute."
	Sectoid saw that it was an infant picture of Sonic.  Why Vypryn 
found it amusing, he didn't quite know.
	"What exactly are you looking for, Boss?", asked Sectoid.
	"What I always look for, Sectoid", said Vypryn, smiling, "A weakness.
It may be hard to find.  This hedgehog creature is unlike any other I have 
ever encountered before."
	"What are you talking about?", said Sectoid, "We've seen super-fast 
creatures before."
	"True", said Vypryn, "But their speed was all technologically spawned.
This hedgehog, however, can naturally run that fast.  It's amazing."
	Sectoid turned, and left.  He didn't care to hear anymore.  Of all 
the things he couldn't stand about Vypryn, he hated listening to him rant 
and rave about their prey.  Prey was not to be admired, it was to be 
destroyed.
	The robotic mosquito walked down the coridoors of the large ship, and 
came to his quarters.  The door slid open, and he activated the lights.  
There were paintings all over the walls of his room.  Each and every one of 
them depicted the way he had killed a victim.  He had quite a collection, 
too.
	"Time to start a new one", he said to himself.
	Sectoid put a new canvas onto a stand, and picked up a brush.  Slowly,
he began to outline the destruction of the hedgehog.  Soon, he thought, 
very soon.   
	
	Several miles from the Python, in the outskirts of Robo-Tropolis, 
stood a little run-down shack.  It was practically ready to fall over, 
except that some supports had been put up on the side of it to prevent 
that.
	Inside, sat three animals.  One was a rather large gorrilla who was 
wearing huge blue over-alls.  Hanging from the pockets, were brass-knuckles,
knives, and several charges for a plasma pistol.  The second, was a short, 
skinny iguana.  He was wearing a black T-shirt with several knife slashes 
in it, and a red cap backwards on his head.  The third, was none other than 
Robotnik's favorite bounty hunter, Nack the Weasle.
	The shack was actually just a front for Nack's private dealings with 
several other respective bounty hunters from around Mobius.  The shack also 
only remained there because Nack gave Robotnik a generous cut of his 
profits.  
	"What have you got for me today, Boys?", said Nack, eyeing the black 
case on the table.
	Tiny the Gorilla, stood up, and punched in the code on the electronic 
lock.  There was a small beep, and the locks clicked open.  Tiny pulled the 
lid up, and revealed eight small, lightweight, hand-held neutron pistols.  
	Nack lifted one out of the box, and examined it, just to make sure 
that Tiny and Snitch weren't trying to cheat him.  You just couldn't trust 
anyone anymore.
	"Beautiful", said Nack, grinning, "Absolutely beautiful.  I'll take 
them all."
	Snitch plucked the pistol right out of Nack's hands.  He waved a 
finger right in Nack's face.
	"No way, Nack", said Snitch, "Blood Mule said not to give you any 
guns until you pay for them, plus what you owe us from last time."
	"What are you talking about?", said Nack, trying to smile innocently, 
"I always pay my debts."
	"Is that so?", said Tiny, pulling a small piece of paper from his 
pocket, "Ah, lessee here.  You owe us for twenty assault plasma rifles and 
two cases of flash grenades."
	"Hey", said Nack, smiling, "You know my credit with the web is 
good."
	"Blood Mule said that your credit is worthless, Nack", said Snitch,  
"He also told us not to leave until you re-emberce us for the artillary.  
So, pay up."
	Before Nack had a chance to try and lie his way out of this, the door 
exploded, and a blue blur shot in and around the room.  
	"What the hell is that?!", yelled Snitch, pulling out a plasma 
pistol.
	The blur finally screeched to a halt, and when the dust cleared, 
there stood Sonic.  Nack uncovered his face, and glared at the hedgehog.  
Tiny and Snitch got behind him, with their weapons drawn.
	"You got some nerve, Hedgehog", sneered Nack, "To what do I owe your 
wonderful visit?"
	"Cut the BS, Nack", said Sonic, "I'm here to find out what you know 
about this new bounty hunter that Robuttnik has after me."
	"What are you talking about?", said Nack, genuinely confused, "I'm 
Robotnik's favorite bounty hunter."
	"Somehow", said Sonic, folding his arms and tapping his foot, "I have 
a hard time believing you."
	"What he says is true, Rodent", said Snitch, stepping forward, "We 
are representatives from the Bounty Hunter's Web.  We know of every bounty 
hunting operation in place on Mobius.  If Robotnik has put someone out 
after you, he has done so without our knowledge."
	Sonic squinted his eyes, and thought about if for a moment.  He then 
looked back up at the three criminals.
	"You're a scuz-bucket, Nack", he said, "But I doubt you'd be mixed up 
with a murderer like this guy."
	Sonic then turned, and sped out of the run-down shack.  The windows 
shuttered when he did.  For a moment, Nack wasn't sure if the structure was 
going to stay up or not.  After Sonic was good and gone, Nack gritted his 
teeth, and went over to his hover-bike, and activated the computer-terminal.
After a moment or two of waiting, Snively's face appeared on the monitor.
	"Oh", he said, "It's you.  What do you want?"
	"I wanna know why that over-grown lard-bucket boss of yours thinks 
he's doing hiring another bounty hunter!!", yelled Nack.
	"And one that isn't even registered with the web", added Tiny, "This 
will not help Robotnik's relationship with it."
	"Dr. Robotnik is not concerned with your insignifigant little bounty 
hunter's club", said Snively, "And the last thing you want to do is cross 
him.  However..."
	"However what?", growled Nack.
	"Dr. Robotnik has no intention of paying this new bounty hunter.  
Once, and if, he succeeds in his mission, I am to eliminate him.  However, 
if you destroy both Vypryn and the Hedgehog, you'll get what was promised 
to Vypryn, plus an added thirty percent.  Does that interest you in the 
least?"
	"What was the payment?", asked Nack, sounding slightly interested.
	"An arsenal of Robotnik's most sophisticated weaponary", said 
Snively, grinning, "If you get rid of him, and finish the job, you can have 
all of it, plus some added extra."
	"Excuse us while we converge", said Nack, turning away from the 
screen, "Well?  What do you guys think?"
	"Robotnik does have quite an attractive armament of weapons", said 
Tiny, rubbing his chin.
	"And Blood Mule would have us take this guy out anyway for working 
outside the web", said Snitch, "Why not waste the hedgehog and make a tiny
profit?"
	"Then you're in?", said Nack, "Good.  I can use the haul from this to 
pay off Blood Mule, plus have a little extra left for myself."
	Nack turned back to Snively, who was waiting on the screen.  Nack was 
all smiles.
	"We're in", he said, "Tell us where this guy is hiding."
	"Our satellites show that his ship is parked somewhere in the Great 
Canyon", said Snively, "You can't miss it."
	Nack turned the monitor off, and looked back at Tiny and Snitch.  
	"This should be easy enough", said Nack, walking past the two, "This 
guy is probably an amature.  The three of us should have no problem taking 
him out of the picture and teaching him who's the best in the bounty 
hunting business."
	Nack picked one of then neutron pistols out of the black case.  Tiny's
eyes got wide when he did.
	"Just a minute, Nack!", he said, "Blood Mule said we weren't allowed 
to let you use those things until you paid for them.  They're very hard to 
come by!"
	"Aw, come on, Tiny", said Nack, holstering the weapon, "We're gonna 
need these things to waste this guy anyway."
	"Alright", said Tiny, "But you are going to pay for them whether we 
get this guy or not."
	Nack pulled the pistol out of his holster, and fired a shot out the 
door.  There was a bright flash of white light, and the shot hit a scrap 
pile several yards away from the shack, sending pieces of metal flying in 
all directions.  Nack looked down, and blew the smoke away from the barrel.
	"I wouldn't worry about either of those possibilities failing to 
happen", he said, smiling, "Now, let's go waste us a pretender."
	
	Back in Knothole, Sonic shot through the sliding tree, and smashed 
into the hay pile.  He poked his head up, and shook the excess hay off of 
it.  After sliding out of the pile, he decided to check on Sally and Bunnie.
	"Hey, Sal?", he said, knocking on Sally's door.
	He poked his head into her hut, and saw Sally and Bunnie sitting on 
the couch.  He then continued in.
	"Hey, Ladies", he said, "How're ya doing?"
	"I guess we're okay, Sonic", said Sally, "Where did you go, anyway?"
	"Oh", he said, "I just went and had a talk with somebody about 
Vypryn."
	"And?", said Sally.
	"Zippo", said Sonic, "They don't know where he came from either.  
Don't worry.  As I said earlier, there ain't know way he'll find us here."
	Somehow, Sally just wasn't sure.  Vypryn still scared her like 
nothing else ever could.
	
	"There she is", said Nack, looking down the canyon at the huge ship, 
"Hmmmm.  Maybe after we deal with this joker, we can see what other goodies 
are on that thing."
	"Snively didn't say anything about the ship", said Snitch, "That 
means that once this guy is dead, it's up for grabs."
	"Let's get this over with, then", said Tiny, who was bringing up the 
rear.
	The three bounty hunters began making their way down the canyon wall, 
confident of total victory.
	Vypryn was still sitting in his chair, watching the rest of the 
footage on the hedgehog.  No wonder Robotnik wanted him eliminated so 
badly.  This creature was always interfering in his operations.  And 
nothing Robotnik tried ever seemed to deal with it.  
	Something to left of him caught his eye.  Vypryn looked, and saw 
Nack, Tiny, and Snitch climbing down the canyon wall on the monitor.  He 
took his feet off the panel, and wheeled himself over to the monitor to 
get a better look.
	"Well well", he said, "What have we got here?  Visitors."
	Vypryn zoomed in, and saw that they were all carrying weapons.  Good, 
he thought, some entertainment to take the dullness out of an otherwise 
boring afternoon.  He punched a button on his arm comm.
	"Sectoid", he said, "We have armed intruders closing in on the ship.  
I think it's time to mow the lawn."
	Sectoid put down his paint-brush, and headed out of the ship.  
	"So?", said Tiny, looking at Nack, "How do you suggest we get in, 
knock?"
	"Funny", said Nack, "We should probably think of a way to lure him 
here.  There's too many unknowns in that ship of his."
	"How exactly do intend to lure him out?", asked Snitch.
	All of sudden, a metal hand grabbed Snitch, and threw him into the 
canyon wall.  Nack and Tiny looked, and saw Sectoid standing there, eyes 
glowing red.
	"Gee", he said, walking towards them, "I must have forgotten to put 
the 'No Soliciting' sign up when we parked."
	Tiny snapped into action, and slammed his humungous fist into 
Sectoid's chest, sending him flying backwards.
	"Take that, Smart Mouth!", sneered Tiny.
	Several meters away, Snitch lifted his head up, and shook it.  
	"Man!", he said, "That bot packs a mean wallop!"
	"We came all the way out here to dust a bot?", said Nack, "This sure 
was a waste of time.  Just hit the piece of crap with the neutron pistol 
and let's get out of here."
	Tiny pulled out his neutron pistol, and aimed at Sectoid, who was 
trying to get back up.  
	"Ta-ta", chuckled Tiny.
	Before he could squeeze the trigger, an armored hand appeared out of 
thin air, wrapped around the gun, and crushed it in Tiny's hand.  
Unfortunately, the power core of the pistol was not meant to be crushed, 
and it exploded.
	"AAAHHHHH!!!", screamed Tiny, holding his burnt and bleeding hand.
	Vypryn uncloaked completely, and glared at Nack and Snitch.  He 
grinned, showing his teeth, and looked back at Tiny, who was on his knees, 
still yelling in pain.
	Vypryn wrapped his arm around Tiny's neck, and snapped it like a 
twig.  Tiny went silent and limp.  Vypryn let go of him, and he fell flat 
on his face, unmoving.  Nack and Snitch backed up.  
	There was a quiet 'SPLUNCH!', and Nack looked over at Snitch, who 
was standing there with his jaw hanging open.  Nack lowered his head to see 
Sectoid's stinger protruding right through Snitch's chest.  Snitch grabbed 
ahold of the stinger as Sectoid lifted him off the ground.
	"Oh man!", said Nack, backing up.
	Sectoid whipped his head to one side, and Snitch flew off, and into 
the side of the ship.  He slid down, leaving a trail of blood behind him.  
Sectoid chuckled, and turned his attention back to Nack.
	Vypryn darted forward, and grabbed Nack by the neck, lifting him off 
the ground.
	"D-D-Don't kill me!",  gagged Nack, "P-P-Please!"
	"Hmph", grunted Vypryn, "You're as cowardly as you are stupid."
	Vypryn dropped Nack, and kicked him in the face.  Nack flew 
backwards, and landed flat on his back.  Vypryn then came up, and slammed 
his foot down on Nack's throat.
	"I'll let you live so you can spread the word about what happens to 
those who are foolish enough to interfere in my business.  Your friends 
learned what happens.  Let's just hope you learn from this experience and 
never have to be taught again."
	Vypryn lifted his foot off of Nack's throat, and pulled him right to 
his face.
	"Now", he hissed, "Get out of my sight!"
	He threw Nack backwards, and turned back towards the ship.  Nack 
jumped to his feet, and ran down the canyon, away from the Python.  Vypryn 
watched him scurry away, and grinned.
	"Well", he said, "That was fun."
	Sectoid walked up beside his boss, and wiped the blood off of his 
stinger.
	"What now?", he asked.
	"Back to the task at hand", said Vypryn, "The annihilation of Sonic 
the Hedgehog.  I'm going back in to finish my research.  You can clean up 
this mess out here."
	"What should I do with the bodies?", asked Sectoid.
	"Throw them into the ship's reactor", said Vypryn, "They'll be 
vaporized and we won't have a smell problem that way."
	"Riiiight", said Sectoid.
	After Vypryn went back into the Python to continue his study of the 
hedgehog, Sectoid began lugging the bodies to the fusion reactor.  He had 
thrown Tiny in, and was about to toss Snitch in as well, when he saw 
something hooked onto his belt.  
	"Hello", he said, "What have we here?"
	He unhooked Snitch's neutron pistol from the holster, and examined 
it.  It fit nicely in his manipulator appendage, his hand.  
	"It would be such a waste to throw something of value like this into 
the reactor", he said, looking back down at Snitch, "You, however, are 
fertilizer, little lizard."
	Sectoid kicked Snitch into the reactor, and shut the door.  He 
examined the weapon for a few more moments before inserting it into his leg 
compartment.  This new device held great possibilities.
	"I suppose Vypryn won't mind if I take a little walk", he said.
	With that, Sectoid expanded his wings, and shot up through an exit 
port in the ceiling.  
	Miles away, Nack was racing away on his hover-bike as fast as it 
would carry him.  Never before in his life had he been so terrified.  Blood 
Mule was going to have his head for this.  All of a sudden, the 
communicator on his arm started beeping.
	"What!?", he said loudly.
	Snively's face appeared on the monitor.  He had his stupid grin on 
his face.
	"Well", he said, "Have you taken care of our little problem yet?"
	"Are you nuts!?", yelled Nack, "That bastard and his robot killed 
Tiny and Snitch like they were nothing.  I'm just lucky that he let me go.  
The deal's off, Snively.  That psycho told me to stay out of his way, and 
believe me, that exactly what I plan on doing!"
	"Now just wait a minute...", started Snively.
	Unfortunately, he never got a chance to finish, because Nack cut the 
transmission, and accelerated his hover-bike to go even faster.  He just 
wanted to get as far away from Vypryn as he possibly could.  For the first 
time in his life, Nack the Weasel was scared to death.


CHAPTER V
BURN BABY, BURN


	This was bad.  Sally had absolutely no idea how she had gotten into 
this dark coridoor.  There was light coming from either end, but she 
couldn't seem to reach it, no matter how far she ran.  Sometimes, the light 
would actually move further away from her when she ran towards it.
	Finally, she just toppled over from sheer fatigue.  Behind her, she 
heard foot-steps.  A metal hand shot down, and grabbed her vest.  She was 
pulled straight up into Vypryn's face.  His red and yellow eye seemed to 
burn a hole right through her very soul.
	"Soon, Princess", he hissed, "You will all die!"
	Sally opened her eyes, and shot up in her bed.  She looked around, 
and saw that it was still the middle of the night.  She was panting 
furiously.  
	"A nightmare", she said to herself, "Just a nightmare."
	Sally got out of bed, and walked into the bathroom.  She flipped the 
lightswitch on, and gasped in horror as she saw the three skinned Mobians 
piled up in the blood-filled bathtub.
	"Hop in, Princess", hissed Vypryn, grabbing her shoulder, "The 
water's fine!"
	"NOOOOOOOO!!!!!", screamed Sally, actually leaping out of bed.  
	After a few moments of laying on the floor, Sally realized that she 
had really woken up this time.  Tears were pouring down her face, and her 
fur was matted with sweat.  For the first time as long as she could 
remember, Sally Acorn was actually terrified of someone.
		
	The next morning, Sally strolled out of her hut at about noon.  This 
was very unusual for her, since she was almost always the one to be out at 
seven o'clock waking everybody else up.  Sonic zoomed up beside her.
	"Well", he said, "If Miss Sleepy-head didn't finally roll out of bed 
this morning."
	"I didn't sleep very well last night, Sonic", said Sally, "I kept 
having nightmares about Vypryn."
	"He really scared you that bad, huh?", said Sonic, "To tell you the 
honest truth, he kind of gives me the creeps too."
	"We should do something about him, Sonic", said Sally, "Because 
everyone who's associated with you is in danger."
	"You figure that out, Sal", said Sonic, kissing her hand, "I'll be 
right back."
	With that, Sonic revved up, and shot out of Knothole.  Sally waited 
until the gust of wind that Sonic kicked up died down, and then headed on 
her path to the war-room.
	
	In Green Meadow, Sectoid touched down, and surveyed his surroundings.
He really didn't know why he chose this particular spot.  This was such a 
wide open space, far too dangerous for the hedgehog or any of his friends 
to tread.  There was almost no place to hide until you reached the Great 
Forest.  
	"It was a mistake coming here", said Sectoid, "Still, it would take 
months to search every inch of the Great Forest for the hedgehog.  
Grrrrrr....if only Vypryn didn't keep the tracer read-out with him, I could 
hit the hedgehog where he lives."
	Sectoid looked up when he heard the trees rustling.  Someone was 
coming.  Since he was standing so close to the foliage, he sank back into 
it.  Hopefully, this would be someone he could grill some information out 
of.
	Sonic jumped, and did several flips out of the forest, and landed 
perfectly in the meadow.  Even though there was no-one around, he still 
bowed several times.
	"Thank you, thank you", he said.
	After he got done praising himself, he looked over at the wildflowers 
that Green Meadow had become famous for.  Anytime he goofed up, or if Sally 
was just feeling down, he came out here and brought her a bunch back.  That 
always cheered her up.
	"Lessee", he said, examining the flowers, "I'll take this one, that 
one, and a couple of these."
	From the foliage, Sectoid was chuckling quietly.  What luck!  He 
didn't even have to look for the hedgehog.  The stupid creature had come to 
him!  His leg opened up, and the neutron pistol came out.
	"Vypryn's going to be so jealous when he sees this", said Sectoid.
	He grabbed the pistol, and held it up.  Sectoid's computer targeting 
system attempted to lock onto the hedgehog so he could blow his head off.  
Fortunately, the hedgehog was still completely unaware of Sectoid's 
presence.
	"Bang", said Sectoid, squeezing the trigger.
	The neutron pistol fired, and let off a discharge crack louder than 
even Vypryn's shoulder cannon.  Sectoid fell backwards from the backfire.  
He looked up, and saw the ball of white light charging at the hedgehog.
	The blast was loud enough, and the ball was slow enough, that Sonic 
heard it, and saw it.
	"Whoa, Mama!!", he yelled, dropping the flowers, and jumping 
backwards.
	The blast vaporized the flowers, and sailed right by him.  Sonic 
watched it as it hit a tree, causing it to explode into firey splinters.  
Sonic then looked back to where the blast had come from.
	"Blast!", said Sectoid, getting up, "My cover's blown!"
	He pushed his way out of the foliage, and let the hedgehog have a 
good look at him.
	Sonic gazed back at the robotic mosquito.  Sally had mentioned 
something about a robot bug helping Vypryn.  This was most likely him.
	"Boy", said Sonic, "You are one UGLY bug.  And your aim sucks too."
	"The name is Sectoid, Hedgehog", said the robot, "Prepare to die!"
	Sectoid fired the pistol several more times.  The flashes of light 
got brighter as he continued firing.  When the light died down, he looked, 
and saw Sonic right in the middle of the blasts doing a waltz!
	"Come on", said Sonic, spinning around on one foot, "Can't you do any 
better than that?"
	Sectoid threw the gun to the ground, useless as it had proved itself, 
and fired his foot thrusters, launching himself at Sonic.
	Sonic saw the robot flying at him, unfortunately, he saw it a few 
seconds too late.
	"Uh oh", he said.
	Sectoid slammed into Sonic full-force.  The two flew backwards 
several feet before finally coming to a halt on the ground.  Sectoid was on 
top of Sonic, trying to slash at him with his razor sharp fingers.
	"Hold still, Rodent!", yelled Sectoid, slashing at Sonic.
	"Sorry", said Sonic, dodging the slashes, "Don't know how!"
	Sonic reached out with his hands, and grabbed both of Sectoid's arms. 
Since Sectoid was in an awkward position, his strength wasn't at its 
maximum, and Sonic had no trouble keeping ahold of his arms.
	"Gotcha!", said Sonic, holding Sectoid's arms, "Now whatcha gonna 
do?"
	Two panels under both of Sectoid's arms opened up, and an extra arm 
came out of both of them!  They weren't as big as the upper-arms, but the 
fingers were just as sharp.
	The two arms punched Sonic in his sides, and he was forced to release 
his grip on Sectoid's two primary arms.
	"Ahhh!", he yelled in pain.
	Sectoid got back to his feet, and pulled Sonic right up to his face.  
	"I'm a robotic insect, Rodent!", sneered Sectoid, "And, like all 
other insects, I have six appendages!"
	The two lower arms grabbed ahold of Sonic's arms, while the two 
upper arms began slashing and punching at him.  
	"You may have the arms, Bug-Breath!", said Sonic, "But I've got the 
legs!"
	Sonic put his feet against Sectoid's legs, and began pounding on 
them at super-sonic speed.  Eventually, the knee joints gave, causing 
Sectoid's legs to bend backwards.  Since he wasn't designed to do that, he 
fell over.
	Sonic quickly escaped from Sectoid's grip, and dashed for the safe 
confines of the Great Forest.  Unfortunately, when he ran by the tree that 
Sectoid had hit with the now discarded neutron pistol, the wind created by 
his speed gave life to the cinders of the tree, and it caught fire.  
	Sectoid lifted his head up, and looked at his legs, which were bent 
backwards.  He sat up, and grabbed ahold of them with two arms on either 
side.  With a quick snap, he bent them back correctly.  After he got back 
to his feet, he noticed that they were squeaking a little bit.  
	"You'll pay for this, Hedgehog", he growled.
	Sectoid held his four arms up, and his metallic wings expanded.  His 
foot thrusters fired, and he shot off after Sonic.  The bad thing about 
this was that the gust of wind that he created caused the fire to jump to 
several other trees, igniting them as well.  
	
	Sally was sitting by the Power Ring Pool, throwing stones in, and 
wondering where Sonic had run off to.  He had been gone for quite a while, 
and it wasn't like thim to just disappear for this long without letting 
someone know where he was.  
	She just sighed, and tossed another stone into the pool.  She watched 
the water ripple for a few moments, and then looked down at her reflection.
	"This has just been a strange couple of days, hasn't it, Sally?", she
asked her reflection.
	Something caught her eye.  Behind her reflection, was a pillar of 
something black in the sky.  Sally stood up, and looked behind her, and up 
in the sky.  There was a thick pillar of black smoke rising into the blue 
sky.
	"Oh no", she said to herself.
	This wasn't good.  Something had set a good portion of the Great 
Forest on fire.  The vastness and thickness of the forest was key to the 
Freedom Fighter's ability to stay hidden from Robotnik.  If even a small 
part of the Great Forest was burned, that would attract Robotnik too close 
to home.  Sally jumped over the log she had been sitting on, and ran for 
Knothole as fast as her legs would carry her.
	
	Sonic skidded to a halt, and looked around.  
	"No sign of that stupid bot", he said to himself, "Too bad.  I was 
having fun with him."
	Sonic sniffed a few times, and smelled something strange in the air.  
Funny, it smelled like the ash that rises into the air when they all had a 
huge bon fire or when they had their fire places burning during the winter.
	He turned, and saw the huge pillar of smoke rising into the sky.
	"Uh oh", he said to himself, "I'd better get back to Knothole and 
tell them about this.
	Sonic turned his head, and something hard, cold, and metal slammed 
against his jaw.  The blow sent the poor hedgehog flying several feet 
before slamming against a tree.  He opened his eyes, and shook his head.
	"Ugh", he said, "What was that?"
	He looked, and saw Sectoid walking towards him, with all four of his 
hands balled into fists.
	"I think I'll just pound you until your skull shatters", said 
Sectoid, moving closer, "Vypryn will be impressed with this."
	Sectoid stopped right over Sonic, and started to reach for him.  
Sonic, seeing the giant mosquito grasping for him, pulled both of his feet 
back, and delivered a super-sonic kick to the robot's chest.
	"Ahhhh!!", yelled Sectoid, being thrown back from the force of the 
blow.  
	Sectoid stumbled back several feet, and fell flat on his back.  Sonic 
quickly jumped to his feet, and lunged at Sectoid.  Sectoid saw Sonic 
coming.
	"Not today, Hedgehog!", he said.
	Sectoid grabbed Sonic's arms, and drove his foot into Sonic's stomach.
Using the momentum that Sonic already had, Sectoid flipped the unsuspecting
hedgehog over him, and into a nearby tree.
	"Ooof!", grunted Sonic, after slamming into the tree.  
	The two just layed there, unmoving.  Sonic was trying to catch his 
breath so he could get up, and perhaps make a fast getaway, where Sectoid 
was trying to reset his equilibrium so he could get to his feet without 
falling over.
	
	In Knothole, Sally had rallied every able Freedom Fighter there.  
She pointed towards the black smoke, which had already begun to spread and 
grow wider.  That meant that the fire was spreading.
	"Rotor", she said, "Get the water pump out of the storage shed, and 
hook it up in the Power Ring Pool.  We can siphon water from it."
	"But Sally", said Rotor, "The hose on the pump is only about 600 
feet long.  That's not long enough to reach the fire."
	"I know", said Sally, "But pull it as far as it'll go, and then 
we'll just use buckets from there.  The extra distance will save us the 
trip of running back and forth to the Power Ring Pool."
	Rotor ran for the shed, followed by several other Freedom Fighters.  
Sally then ordered everyone to get as many buckets as they could find and 
head for the fire.  They did as they were told.  Sally started running for 
the fire, and Bunnie was following close behind her.
	"What do ya think started this fire, Sally-girl?", said Bunnie.
	"It could have been anything", said Sally, "I just hope Sonic gets 
back soon.  We may need him."
	
	Sectoid finally reset his systems, and kicked himself to his feet.  
He looked around, and saw that the hedgehog was gone.  
	"Blast!", he yelled, rasing his arms up into the air, "That cowardly 
rodent!"
	A stick fell on the ground right by Sectoid's feet.  He looked up, 
and saw Sonic climbing up into the tree.  Sectoid's eyes narrowed to slits, 
as he watched the hedgehog scamper up the tree.
	"Aren't you just the little monkey now?", he said.
	Sectoid was about to fly up after Sonic, but he saw that the branches 
of several different surrounding trees inter-locked to create a labrynth of 
branches that was inaccessable by air.  The hedgehog's tactics looked dumb, 
but they were far from it.
	"Tricky tricky tricky", repeated Sectoid, trying to find a way after
the hedgehog.  
	He knew that he weighed far too much to climb up after Sonic.  
Instead, he focused on the trunk of the tree.  It didn't look too thick.  
Perhaps with a few slashes from his arms, well, even the hedgehog could 
figure that out.
	Up in the tree, Sonic was climbing as fast as he possibly could.  He 
knew that Sectoid couldn't fly up here because of all the braches.  If was 
extremely lucky, maybe he could lose the robot in all of the branches.
	In the distance, Sonic could see the pillar of smoke getting wider.  
The air was getting a little hard to breathe, too.  The fire was spreading 
and it was spreading fast.
	"I gotta find Sal, and warn her", said Sonic, "If she doesn't already 
know."
	Sonic kept climbing upwards, when he heard a chopping sound.  He 
looked back down, and saw Sectoid slashing at the trunk of the tree with 
his sharp claws.
	"Oh no", he said, grabbing a firm hold on the tree, waiting for what 
was to come next.
	Sectoid slashed with all his robotic might, and knocked the last 
piece of wood out of the trunk that he needed to.  The whole thing was 
starting to lean to the side now.
	"TIMBER!!!", yelled Sectoid.
	The tree fell to the side, taking Sonic with it.
	"AAHHHHHHH!!!!", yelled Sonic, holding on for all her was worth.
	"What was that?", said Bunnie, looking off to the side.
	
	Sally looked as well.  They both saw the top of a huge tree falling 
to the right.  It wasn't very close to the fire, so they knew that it 
wasn't because of that.  Something or someone had just cut it down.  
	"I don't know", said Sally, "But we can't worry about it now.  We 
have to get that fire under control."
	They headed towards the fire.  The air was getting thicker with ash 
and much harder to breathe.  After a few more minutes of running, they 
reached the edge of the inferno.
	"This is horrible", said Sally, looking at the burning forest, "We 
have to get this out."
	"But how?", asked Bunnie, covering her mouth.
	Sally pulled Nicole out of her boot, and flipped her open.
	"Nicole", she said, "Any suggestions?"
	"The wind is blowing the fire due East", said Nicole.
	"Right towards Knothole", said Sally, "Shit!"
	"However", continued Nicole, "If a sufficient area ahead of the fire 
is burned in advance, there will be nothing for the fire to burn when it 
reaches that area, and it will die out."
	"What?", said Sally, looking at Nicole.
	"I believe the term is, 'fighting fire with fire'", said Nicole.
	"Yes!", said Sally, gentally hitting herself on the head, "If we use 
a controlled fire to burn an area ahead of the one that's out of control, 
there won't be anything for it to burn when it gets there!"
	"What about the water and the pump?", asked Bunnie.
	"We'll take a few Freedom Fighters with us", said Sally, "The rest 
can stay and do their best to keep the fire from spreading anywhere else."
	Sally looked back at Nicole.
	"Nicole", she said, "Display best area to set a controlled fire."
	A small holo-image of a part of the Great Forest that was about half 
a mile ahead of them appeared.
	"Good", said Sally, "Come on.  Let's get some people together and 
make this happen."
	Sally closed Nicole, put her back in her boot, and dashed back 
towards Rotor and the others.
	
	Sonic opened his eyes, and saw that he was laying flat on his back.  
Somehow, the tree had not crushed him when it hit the ground.  There were 
braches and leaves still falling from the downed tree.
	"Uhhh", he said, sitting up, "I'm not doing that again real soon."
	All of a sudden, Sectoid's hands appeared, and grabbed Sonic by his 
neck.  The robotic mosquito yanked the weakened hedgehog off the ground, 
and slammed him up against a nearby tree.
	"I'm through playing lumber-jack, Hedgehog", said Sectoid, "So be a 
good little rodent, and DIE!!!"
	"Sorry", said Sonic, "I've still got too many creeps like you to 
trash."
	"I've had enough of this!", yelled Sectoid, pulling his head back.
	Sonic saw that Sectoid was going to try to impale him with that huge 
stinger on his face.
	"Quick decision", said Sonic.
	He quickly pulled himself out of the way just as Sectoid thrust his 
head forward, embedding the stinger right in the tree.
	"Ahhhh!!", he yelled, dropping Sonic, and trying to free himself.
	"Geez", said Sonic, folding his arms, "Did Vypryn make 'em all as 
stupid as you?"
	"Grrrrrrr!!", growled Sectoid, pushing on the tree with all of his 
arms and his legs.
	Sonic laughed, stuck his tongue out at Sectoid, and dashed off into 
the forest.  Sectoid gave one final push, and he flew backwards and onto 
the ground.  He looked up, and saw the trail of dust that the hedgehog had 
kicked up.  The game wasn't over yet.
	
	Sally, Bunnie, Dulcy and a few other Freedom Fighters reached the 
area that they were going to set on fire.  Sally had left Rotor and Antoine 
in charge of throwing water on the area around the fire to keep it from 
spreading outwards.  
	"This is it", said Sally, looking around, "We have to be careful, 
since we're only about a mile from Knothole."
	Bunnie converted her arm into blaster mode, and began firing a small 
beam at the dry grass and trees.  Ducly blew a breath of fire on them as 
well.  The other Freedom Fighters were dousing the area that they didn't 
want burned with a chemical that they had in pressurized packs.
	Sally was watching, and monitoring the movement of the main fire with 
Nicole.  As far as everything was concerned, this was working perfectly.  
The fire was still being pushed due East, and by the time it got here, 
there should be nothing left for it to burn.  
	Victor, one of the Freedom Fighters came up beside Sally.
	"Sally!", he said, "There's something wrong with my pack."
	"What's the matter?", she asked.
	"It keeps plugging up", he said, "I think it's the circutry."
	Sally looked behind Victor, and at the pack.  There was a pop, 
crackle, and some sparks flew out.  Her eyes opened real wide.
	"Victor!!", she yelled, "Get that pack off now!"
	"Wha-", started Victor.
	The pack suddenly burst into flames.  Sally had suspected that some 
of the packs may have bad wiring, but she never had the chance to go over 
all of them.  Now, Victor was standing in front of her with his back on 
fire.
	"Ahhhhh!!!", he screamed, thowing the pack off of his back.
	The pack flew into some dry grass, and ignited it.  Sally didn't 
worry about that, only about poor Victor.  Thinking quickly, she pulled her 
vest off, and pushed Victor to the ground, and began patting his back with 
her vest.  Eventually, she got the flames out.  The stench of burning fur 
and skin hung in the air.  All of the fur on his back had been fried off.  
His skin was badly burned too.
	"Just hold on, Victor", said Sally, wrapping her vest around his 
back, "I'll get you back to Knothole."
	She wrapped his arm around her shoulder, and started to get up, when 
she heard a cracking sound.  Sally looked up, and saw a burning tree 
falling right towards them.
	"Oh no!", she yelled, jumping back.
	The tree slammed down right where they had been standing.  
Unfortunately, she and Victor were now trapped in between the fire the 
other Freedom Fighters had set and the tree.  The air wasn't going to be 
breathable for long.
	"Bunnie!", she yelled, "Help!"
	Bunnie looked, and saw Sally, and the injured buck in the middle of 
the fire.
	"Oh mah stars!", she said, advancing towards them.
	Another tree fell in front of her, pinning Sally and Victor in even 
more.  Bunnie covered her face from the heat of the fire.  The smoke was 
bad even here.  It must be almost unbreathable in there.
	
	Sonic shot through some trees, and skidded to a halt.  He looked up, 
and saw that he was standing right in front of the Power Ring Pool.
	"Oh great!", he said, "Nice move, Hedgehog.  You went and led that 
stupid robot right to your doorstep.  Hmmm, maybe I can double back."
	He turned, and was smacked right in the face by Sectoid.  So great 
was the blow, that Sonic flew all the way back, and splashed down in the 
Power Ring Pool.  
	"Nice day for a swim, eh Hedgehog?", laughed Sectoid, moving the edge 
of the pool.
	Sonic stuck his head above the water, and spit out the water that had 
made it into his mouth.  He took a few breaths of air, but didn't get to 
enjoy them.  Sectoid grabbed Sonic's head, and shoved him back under the 
water.
	"Let's see how long you can hold your breath, Rodent!", cackled 
Sectoid, "Ha ha ha ha!!"
	Under the water, Sonic didn't know how much longer he could hold his 
breath.  Sectoid had such a grip on his head that he couldn't go down any 
further to escape him.  The robot was also pushing down, so Sonic couldn't 
go back up either.  He was trapped.  Sonic reflexively let a little of his 
air escape his lungs.  The bubbles floated to the top.  Sectoid grinned 
when he saw them.
	"Little out of breath, Hedgehog?", he said, laughing even harder. 
	This was beautiful.  There was no way the hedgehog could run his way 
out of this.  Boy, was Vypryn going to be impressed with this kill.
	Sonic felt himself growing weak.  Everything was going black.  He had 
only seconds until he passed out.  After that, he would start breathing 
automatically, and he would drown.  This sucked.
	Behind him, something started glowing.  Sonic looked, and saw that 
the Power Ring Pool was spitting out another Power Ring!!!   Unable to 
believe his good fortune, Sonic stuck his arm out, and grabbed ahold of the 
ring.  This was his only chance, so he'd better make it count.
	Sectoid saw Sonic holding something under the water.  Not wanting to 
take any chances, he pulled Sonic out of the water.
	"What are you doing down there, Hedgehog?", he said.
	Sonic held up the Power Ring, and Sectoid gazed at it.
	"This!", yelled Sonic.
	He activated the ring, sending its energy coursing through his body.
	"What is going on!!!?", yelled Sectoid, barely able to hold onto 
Sonic.
	"JAM TIME!!!!", yelled Sonic, shooting forward infinately faster than 
Sectoid ever dreamed possible.
	Sonic shot forward and hit Sectoid.  The robot's armor was no match 
for Sonic's speed, and the blue hedgehog went right through him, leaving a 
huge gaping hole in Sectoid's chest.  He skidded to a halt behind Sectoid, 
and looked back.
	"This is where you fall down", said Sonic.
	Sectoid looked down at the hole in his chest.  His systems were 
over-loading!  He was never designed to withstand this degree of damage.  
He looked back at Sonic.
	"Hedgeho-!!", he started.
	Sectoid was cut off as his body exploded.  Bits and pieces of him 
flew everywhere.  His head landed right at Sonic's feet.  His red eyes 
seemed to glare at Sonic for a second or so before they went dead.
	Sonic just stood there, catching his breath.  He kicked the head, 
and it flew back into the Power Ring Pool.  Ah well, he'd fish it out 
later.  He smelled the smoke in the air getting thicker. 
	Sonic noticed a hose running from the Power Ring Pool and off into 
the Great Forest.  Looking back up in the evening sky, he noticed that 
there were now two pillars of smoke.  Something was wrong.  Using the 
energy from the ring that he still had, he revved up, and followed the hose 
with a sonic-boom.
	
	Rotor and Antoine were had their hands full keeping the water 
moving.  The end of the hose on the pump stopped about a hundred meters 
from the edge of the fire.  That meant that the other Freedom Fighters had 
to form a bucket brigade to keep the water moving there quickly.  Rotor 
was pumping the water and Antoine was filling the buckets up.
	"Keep eet comings, Rotor!", said Antoine, "I am thinking we are 
gaining the upper foot!"
	Normally, Rotor would have corrected Antoine's speech, but he was 
not worrying about it right now.  Antoine was right, though, the fire was 
getting smaller.  
	Rotor heard a welcomed sonic-boom as Sonic skidded to a halt right 
next to him.
	"Yo, Rote!", said Sonic, "What the heck happened?"
	"I don't know", he said, still pumping, "Something started a fire in 
Green Meadow, and it's been spreading ever since."
	"Green Meadow?", said Sonic, realizing what had started the fire, 
"Oh man, that stupid robot must have started it with that gun of his!"
	"What robot?", said Rotor.
	"Never mind", said Sonic, "Where's Sal?"
	"She took Bunnie and some other Freedom Fighters to burn a section 
of the forest ahead of the main blaze.  That way the fire won't have 
anything left to burn once it reaches there."
	"That's Sal", said Sonic, "Always got a plan.  Are you guys alright 
here?"
	"Yeah", said Rotor, "We've got it under control.  You'd better go 
check on Sally."
	"Check!", said Sonic, running off into the forest.
	
	It was getting too hot!  That's what Sally was thinking as she 
clutched Victor close to her to protect him from the fire.  She couldn't 
even see two inches in front of her face because of the smoke.  
	Bunnie was freaking out.  Sally was trapped in the burning area.  She 
had to get her out before she suffocated.  She looked up, and saw Dulcy 
flying around, blowing fire on the specified area.
	"Dulcy!!", yelled Bunnie, "Get yer hind-end down here!"
	Dulcy heard Bunnie, and went into a nose-dive.  Bunnie's eyes got 
wide when she saw what the dragon was doing.
	"No!", yelled Bunnie, "Not like that!!"
	Dulcy realized her error too late.  She slammed into the ground, and 
knocked herself out.  Bunnie stamped her foot, and looked back at the 
fire.  This was hopeless.
	"Bunnie!!", yelled Sonic, skidding up beside her, "What's going on?!"
	Bunnie grabbed Sonic's shoulders, and pointed at the fire.
	"Sally's trapped in there!", she yelled, "Help her!"
	"Aw geez", said Sonic, "It's always something.  Alright, I'm gonna 
make a tunnel for you to run through and get her out, okay?"
	"Alright", said Bunnie, getting ready to sprint.
	Sonic revved up, and shot towards the blaze.  He began spinning so 
fast that a tube opened up in the blaze that led straight to Sally.  Bunnie 
ran through as fast as her robotic legs would carry her.  
	"Bunnie!", yelled Sally, "Grab Victor!"
	Bunnie hoisted up the injured buck, and grabbed Sally by her hand.  
She then tore back through the tunnel.  Once they were in the clear, Sonic 
stopped, and screeched to a halt next to Bunnie and Sally.
	"Sonic!", gasped Sally, wrapping her arms around Sonic's neck, "Where 
were you?"
	"I had a little bug problem", he said, "Nothing to worry about, 
though.  I squashed him."
	The other Freedom Fighters continued with Sally's plan and they 
burned a sufficient enough area to cause the fire to die down when it 
reached it.  
	Rotor and Antoine did their part by keeping the fire on its projected 
path.  By nightfall, it was completely out.  There was a huge scar in the 
Great Forest about a mile and a half long, but time would heal it.
	That night, everyone was recooperating from the day's extrenuous 
activity.  Victor was going to be fine.  Dr. Quack said that he would have 
a huge scar on his back, but that was the most extreme of it.  His fur 
should cover it over completely.  
	Sally had to wear an oxygen mask for the rest of the night, since she 
had inhaled quite a bit of the smoke.  It would flush all of the soot and 
dirt out of her lungs by morning.  
	Antoine and Rotor were just filthy from being so close to the fire, 
as were the rest of the Freedom Fighters.  Everyone was very pleased with 
their work.
	Sonic only had some cuts and bruises from his battle with Sectoid.  
He was too exhausted to clean up what was left of the robotic mosquito.  
Sally told him just to wait until morning.  Sonic didn't argue.
	
	Out at the Power Ring Pool, Vypryn uncloaked, and surveyed the debris 
that he knew to be Sectoid.  When the foolish robot had gone missing, he 
used the tracer in Sectoid's head to locate him.  
	"Apparently", said Vypryn, "You bit off more than you could chew."
	He saw Sectoid's head floating in the Power Ring Pool.  After wading 
in to retrieve it, he collected as many salvagable parts as he could.  
Perhaps he could reconstruct the mosquito.  
	"You'll pay for this outrage, Hedgehog", hissed Vypryn, "I promise 
you that."
	
CHAPTER VI
DOUBLE-CROSS

	Vypryn sat in his ship, staring at the shattered hulk that was once 
Sectoid.  He had no idea how long he had been sitting there.  An hour, two 
hours, maybe three.  It didn't matter.  Every second he stared at the 
destroyed robot, the more his hatred for the hedgehog boiled.  Sectoid 
hadn't just been Vypryn's servant or his partner, he had been his friend.  
His only friend since his exile.  
	Vypryn finally looked away from Sectoid.  Better not to dwell too 
much on his past.  That part of his life was over, and there was nothing he 
could do have his life that way again, nothing.
	"Now", he said, "Back to business.  Eliminating the hedgehog.  I 
think I know just the way to do it so it will hurt him as much as possible."
	Vypryn began digging through the pile of papers and files that were 
laying on the computer panel.  Finally, he found what he sought.  It was a 
small picture that had been taken by one of Robotnik's spy eyes.  The photo 
was a shot of Sonic playing with a small fox cub.  In the distance, Vypryn 
could see a squadron of buzz-bombers.  
	"Hmph", grunted Vypryn, grinning, "You stole my frind from me, 
Hedgehog, so I will steal yours from you."
	Vypryn crumpled the picture, and hooked his shoulder cannon on his 
armor, and headed out of the ship.  Someone would die tonight, and whether 
it was the hedgehog or not didn't make a bit of difference to Vypryn.  This 
had gone beyond business now.  Now, it was personal.	
	
	The sun had just set over Knothole.  The only light that was being 
produced in the village was from the windows of the huts.  Most of the 
activities had stopped for the night, so everyone could relax and tend to 
whatever personal matters they had.
	Sonic was sitting with Sally in her hut.  They had spent the last 
hour or so discussing the still-possible threat of Vypryn to them.  Sally 
was sitting in a chair, with her bare feet sitting on a stool in front of 
her.  Sonic was sitting on the floor in front of the stool, rubbing 
Sally's tired feet.  That was how it worked with them.  He rubbed her feet, 
she rubbed his shoulders.
	"Oh, Sonic", sighed Sally, "That feels so good.  Boy, my feet hurt so 
much from that stupid fire."
	"Well", said Sonic, grinning, "Just sit back and let my magic touch 
take care of everything."
	"I feel bad, though", said Sally, looking out the window, "I should 
be reading Tails his bed-time story."
	"Don't worry about it, Sal", said Sonic, "Rosie told you that she 
would take care of it.  She knows you need to chill for a little while."
	"I suppose", said Sally, "I worry about them both."
	"Pish-posh", laughed Sonic, "No one who knows Rosie is stupid enough 
to mess with her."
	Sally smiled, and chuckled a little bit.  Then, she rested her head 
against the chair, and enjoyed her foot rub."
	
	Across Knothole, Rosie was reading Tails a story from his huge story 
book.  It was the same one that Sally always read to him out of.
	"And they all lived happily ever after", finished Rosie, closing the 
book, "Now, you get yourself to sleep, Young Man."
	"Gee, Rosie", said Tails, "That monster in the story was pretty 
mean."
	Rosie took her glasses off, and rested them on her leg.  She looked 
over at Tails, who had his covers up to his neck.
	"Just remember that it's just a story", she said, "Besides, sometimes 
real life can be scarier."
	Tails accepted Rosie's explanation like always.  Still, the story 
she read him did spook him a little bit.  Part of him wanted her to check 
under his bed to make sure there wasn't anything, or anyone under it.  He 
looked back over at Rosie to tell her good-night.
	When Tails did, though, he wished he hadn't.  All of the lights 
behind Rosie were turned off, so there was only a shroud of blackness 
behind her.  Tails squinted his eyes, and he saw a shadow rising up behind 
her.  At first, he was about to dismiss it as a trick of the light, but he 
changed his mind when a red light lit up.
	"ROSIE!!!", screamed Tails, pointing behind her.
	"What is it?", said Rosie, turning around.
	Vypryn stepped out of the shadows, and opened his mouth to reveal 
his rows of razor sharp teeth.  To add to it, two huge fangs dropped from 
the roof of his mouth, and were dripping with saliva.  He let out a roar 
and a hiss at the same time that sounded quite frightening.
	Seeing Vypryn there scared Rosie to death.  The last time she had 
actually seen combat was when she had escaped from Mobo-Tropolis to 
Knothole 11 years ago.  This was just too much for her old heart to take.
	"Ugh!", she groaned, grabbing her chest.
	"Rosie!", yelled Tails, seeing her fall out of her chair and onto 
the floor.
	Rosie was laying flat on her back, clutching her chest.  She was 
breathing, but just barely.  Tails looked up at Vypryn, who was staring at 
her as well.
	"Aw", he said, "You gotta be kidding me!  What kind of reaction was 
that?"
	"You hurt Rosie!", yelled Tails, "You monster!"
	"What are you talking about!?", contradicted Vypryn, "I never touched 
her!  You, on the other hand...."
	A beam of light shot out of Vypryn's bionic eye, and right onto 
Tails' head.  Tails had heard enough about weapons from Sonic and Rotor to 
know that it was an aiming device.
	"You", continued Vypryn, "Are finished!"
	Tails leaped out of the way just as the blast left Vypryn's shoulder 
cannon.  He rolled to the other side of the room, and into the wall.  The 
blast hit the side of the hut, and blew it completely out.  Straw and wood 
were flying everywhere.
	"What was that?", said Sally, jumping to her feet.
	"Sounded like an explosion", said Sonic.
	"I've heard that kind of blast before", said Sally, "Come on!"
	Sally grabbed Sonic's hand, and didn't even bother to put her boots 
back on.  Instead, she ran outside in her vest and bare feet.  She looked 
around, and saw several other residents outside, trying to find out what 
the noise had been.
	"Did anyone see it?", yelled Sally.
	"Over there!", said someone, pointing behind Sally.
	Sally turned her head, and saw the huge, smoking hole in Tails' hut. 
Her jaw dropped open, and her heart skipped a beat.
	"Big Guy!", yelled Sonic, revving up.
	In Tails' hut, he was still trying to recover from the blast.  Vypryn 
was walking towards him.
	"You're making this more difficult than it has to be", he said, 
trying to lock onto Tails again, "If you let me hit you in the head, it 
won't hurt at all."
	Tails felt his hand touch something.  He looked, and saw that it was 
his hockey stick.  Slowly, he wrapped his fingers around it, and got a firm 
grip on it.  He watched Vypryn out of the corner of his eye.  Just a little 
bit closer....
	"I just want you to know", said Vypryn, "This has nothing to do with 
you.  It has to do with that hedgehog friend of yours."
	All of sudden, Tails whipped around, and a green and yellow stick 
came flying at Vypryn.  Too shocked to move, he took the hit right in the 
face, and fell flat on his back.  
	"Take that, Jerk!", yelled Tails, running over Vypyrn.
	However, Tails had not hit Vypryn as hard as he thought he did.  
Vypryn's left hand shot out, and grabbed Tails' leg.  Tails tripped and 
fell onto his chest.  He began struggling to escape, but Vypryn's grip was 
far too strong.
	"Alright", hissed Vypryn, "Since you want to be difficult, I'll try 
a different approach."
	Sonic shot in through the giant hole in Tails' wall.  Sally ran right 
up behind him.  They looked around, and saw evidence of a struggle.  
	"Rosie!", said Sally, seeing her lying on the ground.
	Sally ran over, and dropped down to her knees.  Rosie opened her 
eyes, and smiled when she saw Sally.
	"Princess", she said, "I'm happy to see you."
	"Rosie", said Sally, "What happened?  Where's Tails?"
	"I don't know", said Rosie, "I was reading him his bed-time story, 
and this creature just appeared out of the darkness.  I suppose the shock 
was a little too much for my heart."
	Sonic picked up Tails' hockey stick, which was lying on the floor 
near Rosie.  He saw traces of green blood on the end of it.
	"Looks like Tails put up a bit of a fight", said Sonic, "Rosie, what 
did this thing look like?"
	"He was strange-looking", said Rosie, sitting up and leaning against 
Sally, "If he was a Mobian, I've never seen his species before."
	"What was he?", asked Sally, getting worried.
	"Some kind of snake-thing", said Rosie, "One of his eyes was red."
	"Oh no", said Sally, burying her face in her hands, "Vypryn."
	"What's this?", said Sonic, picking a piece of paper up off Tails' 
bed.
	Sally looked up, and saw Sonic's eyes reading the paper.  The further 
he read on, the more of an angry look formed in his eyes.  
	"That son of a bitch!", yelled Sonic, throwing the paper to the 
floor.
	Sally leaned over, and picked it up.  She uncrumpled it, and read.

	HEDGEHOG

	I HAVE YOUR LITTLE FOX RUNT.  IF YOU WANT HIM BACK, COME TO THE 
NORTH END OF THE GREAT CANYON.  THE SAME RULES APPLY AS BEFORE.  AND IN 
CASE YOU'VE FORGOTTEN, I'LL REFRESH YOUR MEMORY.  BE THERE IN ONE HOUR, 
OR ELSE I'LL BE SENDING PIECES OF HIM BACK TO YOU FOR A MONTH.  IF I EVEN
SMELL ANOTHER FREEDOM FIGHTER WITH YOU, HE'S DEAD.

											VYPRYN

	Sonic turned, and started heading out the door.  Sally jumped to her 
feet, and grabbed his arm.  He looked back at her.
	"Sonic", she said, "You can't.  He'll kill you."
	"And if I don't", said Sonic, "He'll kill Tails.  I can't let that 
happen, Sal.  I'd never be able to forgive myself if I let anything happen 
to him."
	"You know that he'll kill Tails even if he does get you", said Sally.
	"I don't care what happens to me, Sal", said Sonic, "I'm going to get 
Tails back.  After he gets away, I'll handle Vypryn."
	Sonic took Sally's hand off his shoulder, and dashed out of Knothole, 
after grabbing his backpack and a Power Ring, of course.
	Sally walked to the edge of Tails' hut, and watched the trees wave 
back and forth from Sonic's burst of speed.  Silently, she prayed that 
Sonic would bring Tails back safely.  He was the only one who could.
	Miles away, in the north end of the Great Canyon, Vypryn was busying 
himself preparing for Sonic's arrival.  He was now in the process of 
chaining Tails to the side of the canyon wall.  In this position, Vypryn 
could easily shoot Tails without even using his aiming mechanism.  He still 
hadn't decided if he would let Tails live or not.  Perhaps he'd just blow 
an arm or a leg off.  Give the young lad something to remember this by 
forever.
	"Why are you doing this?", said Tails, finally.
	Vypryn looked up at him.  
	"Because Dr. Robotnik is paying me quite well to do it", he said.
	"Why are you helping him?", said Tails, "He'll destroy everything 
without Sonic to fight him!"
	"That's not my concern", said Vypryn, "My pay-off is."
	"What if we offered you more to help us?", said Tails.
	"You're a child", said Vypryn, "What could possibly know about the 
workings of your organization?  Besides, the Freedom Fighters have nothing 
I want."
	"That wasn't what I meant", said Tails.
	"Then what did you mean?"
	"I meant if we had something you wanted, and were willing to give it 
to you if you'd help us, would you do it?", asked Tails.
	Vypryn just stared at the fox for a moment or two, considering what 
he had just been asked.  Finally, he answered.
	"No", he said, "I wouldn't.  I've got a tradition of helping tyrants 
like Robotnik, and I don't see any end to it."
	"Why?", asked Tails.
	"Let's just say that I was very close to someone who was over-thrown 
by rabble like you Freedom Fighters", said Vypryn, "Doing what I do is my 
way of making sure that it never happens to anyone else.  Now, I've 
answered your meaningless questions.  Be silent."
	Tails just shut his mouth.  Vypryn had just finished securing the 
chains, when a beeping started coming from his arm.  He looked up, and 
grinned.
	"Proximity alarm", he said to Tails, "Your friend is here."
	Vypryn activated his cloaking device, and vanished into the rock 
face. Moments later, Sonic dashed into the area.  He looked around for a 
moment, and saw Tails up on the canyon wall.
	"Tails!", said Sonic, "Are you okay?"
	"Sonic!", wailed Tails, "Help me!"
	Sonic looked around, trying to see where Vypryn could possibly be 
hiding.  Seeing no one, he took a few steps forward.
	"Welcome, Hedgehog!", thundered a voice from all around Sonic.
	He spun around, and didn't see anything.  
	"Come on out, Vypryn!", yelled Sonic, "If you aren't scared of me!"
	"Sonic!", squealed Tails.
	Sonic looked back at Tails, and saw Vypryn hanging from the canyon 
wall right behind Tails.  He had a huge double-bladed knife up against 
Tails' neck.  
	"So", said Vypryn, looking at Sonic, "At last we meet, Hedgehog.  For 
the first time and for the last time."
	"Let him go", said Sonic, "This is between you and me.  Leave him out 
of it."
	"Zip it, Rodent!", hissed Vypryn, "I'm the one in the position to be 
giving orders.  Now, lose the backpack!"
	Sonic slowly let the brown backpack slide off his shoulders, and to 
the ground.  
	"Kick it away from you", said Vypryn.
	Sonic kicked the backpack, and it flew about ten or fifteen feet away 
from him.
	"Now what?, said Sonic, holding his hands up.
	"Now", said Vypryn, smiling, "This little runt dies!"
	"NOOOOOOO!!!", screamed Sonic, flying forward with a speed the Power 
Rings may not have compared to.  
	"What the...!?", said Vypryn, seeing Sonic's display of speed.
	Sonic flew forward, and slammed against Vypryn, knocking him away 
from Tails.  The two hit the ground, and began rolling around.  
Unfortunately, Sonic was no match for Vypryn in hand-to-hand combat.  
Vypryn slammed his forehead into Sonic's.
	"Ahhh!", yelled Sonic.
	Vypryn used his robotic strength enhancers to shove Sonic off of him 
with great ease.  Vypryn then kicked himself to his feet, and looked at 
Sonic.
	"Robotnik must have been a fool to be troubled by a pitiful creature 
such as yourself", sneered Vypryn, "Without your speed, you are worthless."
	Vypryn shot a beam of light onto Sonic's head.  His shoulder cannon 
was now locked onto Sonic.
	"I'd say you've been a worthy opponent, Hedgehog", chuckled Vypryn, 
"But I'd be lying!"
	Sonic scooped up a handful of dirt, and threw it right into Vypryn's 
face.  
	"Ahhhh!!", he yelled, getting dirt in his good eye, "My eye!!"
	Sonic jumped to his feet, and slammed his fist into Vypryn's face, 
knocking him backwards.  He fell to the ground, still unable to see.
	Knowing that he had only minutes until Vypryn was after him again, 
Sonic dashed over to where Tails was hanging, and began tugging on the 
chains.  
	"Hurry, Sonic!", said Tails.
	Sonic eventually gave up, knowing that those chains weren't budging, 
unless...
	"Hold real still, Big Guy", said Sonic, "Don't even breathe."
	Tails held his breath, and held as still as he possibly could.  
Sonic started spinning and performed his buzz-saw manuever.  His super-fast 
quills cut through the chains like a hot knife through butter.  After Tails 
fell to the ground, Sonic slowed, and then stopped.
	"Are you alright?", he asked Tails.
	"Sonic!", screamed Tails, "Behind you!!"
	Vypryn's arm wrapped around Sonic's neck, and lifted him off the 
ground.  Sonic started gagging, since he couldn't breathe under Vypryn's 
grip.
	"I wonder what color a blue hedgehog turns when you choke him?", said 
Vypryn, "What say we find out?!"
	Sonic continued to struggle, but to no avail.  He was in such an 
awkward position, he couldn't get any kind of grip enough to move.
	All of a sudden, Tails came up behind Vypryn, grabbed his slithery 
tail, and sunk his teeth into it.  
	"YAAAHHHHH!!!", screamed Vypryn, letting go of Sonic.
	He turned around, and kicked Tails in the chest so hard that it sent 
him flying back several meters.  
	"You little maggot!", hissed Vypryn, seeing the teeth marks on his 
tail.  
	He was about to fire at Tails, when Sonic jumped up on his back, and 
tried to wrap his arms around Vypryn's neck.  Vypryn, however, had other 
plans.  He grabbed Sonic's arms, and flung him over his shoulder, slamming 
him on the ground.  
	"Nice try, Hedgehog", laughed Vypryn, "But you lose!"
	Vypryn lifted Sonic off the ground, and threw him against the side of 
the canyon wall.  He then leaped over, and landed on top of Sonic.
	"Say good-night, Hedgehog!", hissed Vypryn, extending his double-
blade.
	Vypryn was about to strike, when he heard several alarms going off.  
He let this distract him, and turned to find the source of the noise. 
	"What the f-", he started.
	There were about eight hover-bots flying over head, shining lights on 
Sonic and Vypryn.  Three more hover-units were above them in the air.  Two 
of them were a bluish-green, and the other was black with red trim around 
it.
	"What the hell is this!?", yelled Vypryn, recognizing the hover-
units.
	"Good work, Vypryn", said Snively's voice over a loud-speaker, "Dr. 
Robotnik knew that if anyone could defeat the hedgehog, it would be you."
	"We had a deal!", yelled Vypryn, "Now scram and let me finish my part 
of it so I can collect my payment and be gone."
	"You've done more than enough, Bounty Hunter", said Snively, 
"However, Dr. Robotnik feels that you've outlived your usefullness."
	Before Vypryn could say anything, all of the hover-bots and the two 
other hover-units opened fire on him and Sonic.  Most of the blasts were 
deflected by Vypryn's armor.  Since Vypryn was on top of Sonic, he was 
protecting him from the blasts.  
	Snively saw that the blasts were being insufficient.  He looked up 
above Sonic and Vypryn, and grinned.
	"Everyone open fire on the canyon wall above the two targets!", he 
said, "If we can't blast them, we'll just crush them!"
	The bots and hover-units began firing at the wall above Sonic and 
Vypryn.  The blasts sent a huge rock-slide down on Sonic and Vypryn.  
	Just before they hit, Sonic slammed his forehead into Vypryn's, 
knocking him back.  Using the two seconds he had before the rocks covered 
them, Sonic shot out from under them.
	"HEDGEHO-", screamed Vypryn, just as the rocks buried him.  
	"BLAST!!!", screamed Snively, "That blasted hedgehog got out!  
Destroy him!"
	Sonic didn't waste time cheering.  He was too worn out from fighting 
with Vypryn to deal with the hover-bots.  He dashed over to his backpack 
that he had kicked away, and yanked the Power Ring out of it.  After 
activating it, he grabbed Tails, and shot out of the canyon with a 
super-sonic boom.  
	Snively's hover-unit shuddered from the blast.  
	"Oh no", he muttered, "Dr. Robotnik won't like this at all.  Oh well, 
at least I took care of that pest, Vypryn."
	Sally had run out of Rosie's hut when she heard the boom outside the 
village.  She had her fingers crossed as she ran up to the haystack.  Sonic 
and Tails both popped out of it, and slid down.  Sally ran over, and 
wrapped her arms around Tails, feeling tears running down her face.
	"Oh, Tails!", she sobbed, "I was so worried about you!"
	"I'm okay, Aunt Sally", said Tails.
	"Did he hurt you?", said Sally, running her hand across his head.
	"He just scared me", said Tails.
	Sally looked up at Sonic, who had a few bruises on him.  She let go 
of Tails, and ran up to Sonic, giving him a huge kiss on the lips.
	"You are one brave hedgehog", she said, hugging him, "What happened 
to Vypryn?"
	"Snerd-ly showed up just as that belly-crawler was about to air my 
guts out for me", he said, "Apparently, Robuttnik never planned on paying 
Vypryn for wasting me.  He tried to bury us both in a rock-slide, but I 
juiced out of there before he could get to me."
	"Then, Vypryn's gone?", said Sally.
	"Most likely", said Sonic, "I don't think anyone could have survived 
that."
	Sally caught herself smiling.  She was so relieved that Vypryn 
couldn't hurt anyone else now.  This was probably the only good that 
Robotnik had ever done in his life.
	"Come on", said Sally, taking Sonic's and Tails' hands, "Let's go get 
you guys cleaned up."
	Exhausted, they both followed her back to Knothole.

CHAPTER VII
SWEET REVENGE

	Snively stood before Robotnik's command chair, sweating horribly.  
After Robotnik had read the report on the attack on Sonic and Vypryn, he 
was not happy, to say the least.
	"Tell me again", said Robotnik, "What exactly happened, Snively?"
	"Well, Sir", choked Snively, "We arrived right as Vypryn was fighting 
with the hedgehog.  I did what you said and tried to eliminate them both at 
once, but..."
	"But, what?!", growled Robotnik.	
	Snively felt the sweat pouring down him face.
	"But, the hedgehog got out of the way of the falling rocks before 
they buried Vypryn, Sir", said Snivley.
	Robotnik gritted his teeth, and slammed his fists agains the arms of 
his chair.  
	"Let me explain this to you, Snively", said Robotnik, "I only agreed 
to 'hire' that pathetic snake because it was a chance at ridding myself of 
that blasted hedgehog.  Your job was to eliminate him AFTER he finished the 
job!!!  You were, under no circumstances, supposed to destroy him and let 
the hedgehog escape!!  Now I'm right back where I started!!  All I have to 
show for all of this is...."
	Robotnik stopped, and looked at the damage report laying at his side. 
He looked at it, reading the number of SWATbots that Vypryn had destroyed.
	"Eleven perfectly good SWATbots are now no more than scrap metal!", 
he yelled, "That infernal Bounty Hunter's Web is complaining about their 
two hunters that you sent to their deaths, and that blasted hedgehog is 
still alive!!"
	Robotnik found himself standing in his chair, and waving his fists 
around.  He reached over, and grabbed Snivley by his shirt collar, and 
pulled him up to his face.
	"Do you know what you're going to do now, Snively?", asked Robotnik, 
still gritting his teeth.
	"Agh", choked Snively, "No, Sir."
	"You are going to go back to the canyon, and dig Vypryn's carcass out 
from under those rocks", growled Robotnik, "Then, bring me all of his 
weaponary.  I'm not going to walk away from this, empty-handed."
	Robotnik then threw Snively to the floor, and sat back down.  His 
eyes glew red as he glared at his nephew.
	"Now", he said, "Get your pointed little head out there and start 
digging!!"
	Snively got up, and ran out of the room.  Oh, how he loathed 
Robotnik.  However, if he had his way, he would be giving the orders soon 
enough.
	"This is deplorable!", yelled Snively, watching the SWATbots blast 
the rocks and boulders, "I'm getting dust all over me!!"
	They had been at this for hours now.  The problem was that every time 
they got close, several more rocks slid down and buried the hole.  
Hopefully, they had cleared enough of the upper rocks away so that no more 
could slide down.
	"Well?", said Snivley, brushing the dust off of himself, "Where is 
that snake's carcass?"
	A SWATbot lowered its head into the hole they had dug, and peered 
around.  All of a sudden, there was a loud crack, and the entire SWATbot 
exploded, and the pieces flew backwards.
	"What in the...?", said Snively, stepping back.
	Vypryn exploded from the rubble, and the dust just fell off of him.  
He looked around at the squad of SWATbots.  His artificial eye glew bright 
red, and he unloaded several shots at once, destroying all of the bots.
	"Thus is the fate to all who betray me!", hissed Vypryn, turning his 
attention on Snively.
	He lunged at the frightened human, and lifted him off the ground.  
	"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't disembowl you right here 
and right now!", growled Vypryn.
	"I was just following Dr. Robotnik's orders!", whimpered Snively, 
trying to breathe, "He told me to get rid of you right after you and he 
made the deal!"
	Vypryn narrowed his normal eye into a slit, and then dropped Snively 
on the ground.  He then slammed his foot down onto Snively's chest and held 
it there.
	"Tell your boss that once I deliver the hedgehog's rotting corpse to 
him", said Vypryn, "I'll expect triple my original payment for this outrage.
You got that?"
	Snively could only nod his head slightly.  
	"Good", said Vypryn, lifting his foot off Snively's chest, "Now, get 
going!"
	Snively jumped to his feet, and ran for his hover-unit.  Vypryn 
watched as he flew off towards Robo-Tropolis.  After he was gone, Vypryn 
looked at the blip on the computer screen on his arm.  That foolish 
hedgehog still hadn't realized he was wearing a tracer.  Oh well.  Vypryn 
had no intention on fighting Sonic in Knothole Village.
	"That should do nicely", he said, looking off in the distance towards 
Mt. Mobius, the tallest point on Mobius.
	He activated his cloaker, and headed off to the Great Forest for the 
final confrontation.
	Most of the activities for the Freedom Fighters had returned to 
normal when Sonic told everyone that Vypryn was gone.  For some reason, 
there was a calmer mood in the atmosphere now that Sonic's most deadly foe 
had been defeated.  Sally had had several animals planting new trees where 
the fire had burnt a huge scar in the Great Forest.  
	Right now, a deer and a bird were out, planting the last of the young 
saplings that they had brought with them.
	"How's that, Julie?", asked the bird.
	"Good, Jason", she said, "That's the last of them.  With any luck, 
in a few years, we won't even know this huge scar is here."
	"That's a good thing", said Jason, "Come on.  Let's get our stuff and
get back to Knothole.  I'm ready for lunch."
	They slowly began picking up their tools.  They were about ready to 
leave, when Julie saw a shovel leaning up against a burnt tree.  
	"Oops", she said, setting her backpack down, "We missed one.  You 
know how Sally is about our equipment."
	"Don't I?", laughed Jason.
	Julie walked over, and grabbed ahold of the shovel.  For some reason, 
it wouldn't come out of the ground.
	"What's up with this?", she said, grabbing it with both hands and 
tugging hard.
	She looked down, and saw what looked like a clear, gooey liquid 
wrapped around the handle right below her hands.
	"What's that?", she said to herself.
	Before she could say anything else, the liquid turned color, to 
reveal Vypryn's three-fingered hand holding onto the shovel.  Julie 
realized that she wasn't standing more than six inches from his face.  Hot 
air came out of his nostrils as he hissed.
	"Oh my gosh!", she said, backing up.
	It was too late, though.  Julie saw a flash of white light, and then 
felt an excrutiating pain in her stomach.  She looked down, and saw 
Vypryn's double-bladed knife rammed right through her.  Warm blood was 
running all over the ground and down Vypryn's arm.  
	"JULIE!!!", screamed Jason, seeing what happened.
	Vypryn lifted her off the ground, and then tossed her to the ground. 
 She sputtered once or twice, then died.  Vypryn looked at her body for a 
moment, and then looked over at Jason, who suddenly stiffened up.
	Jason tried to run, but Vypryn pounced on him, knocking him to the 
ground.  He then grabbed his scarf, and slammed him against a tree.
	"Sonic said that you were dead!", said Jason, not believing what was 
happening.
	"He apparently miscalculated", hissed Vypryn, "I'm going to let you 
live long enough to deliver a message to that wretched hedgehog.  Tell him 
if he doesn't meet me on top of Mt. Mobius in two hours, that everyone in 
your pathetic village will suffer the same fate as your little friend did."
	Vypryn then dropped Jason, and stepped back.  Jason started to run 
away, when Vypryn looked back at him.
	"Oh, one thing", he said, "I just want to make sure you get there as 
fast as you can."
	Having said that, he pulled a regular knife out of his boot, and 
threw it, hitting Jason right in the chest.  
	"You'd better hurry", said Vypryn, "That's a nasty little wound 
you've got there."
	Jason then staggered off towards Knothole. Vypryn chuckled, and then 
disappeared into the forest.
	
	In Robo-Tropolis, Snively had just broken the news about Vypryn to 
Robotnik.
	"Hmmm", hummed Robotnik, "Perhaps I should have just paid him off."
	"Sir", said Snively, "If Vypryn destroys the hedgehog, wouldn't that 
prove that he is a greater threat to you?"
	"Yes, Snively", said Robotnik, "That's why I ordered you to destroy 
him in the first place!"
	"But, if he comes back here", said Snively, "He's going to be very 
angry with you."
	"I'm well aware of the threat he poses, Snively", said Robotnik, "I'm 
also prepared for them, too.  Hopefully, the hedgehog and he will kill each 
other."
	Snively just cowered at the computer terminal.  Hopefully, Robotnik 
was right. 
	In Knothole, Jason came staggering in, bleeding profusely.  Someone 
saw him, and screamed.
	"What happened!?", yelled Sally, coming to Jason's side.  
	Dr. Quack came up as well, carrying his medical case.  
	"This is bad", he said, "This knife caused massive internal bleeding. 
I'm not sure I can stop it."
	"S-S-Sally", whispered Jason, barely able to speak.
	"I'm right here, Jason", said Sally, holding his hand, "Where's 
Julie?  Who did this to you?"
	"She's dead", said Jason, "That thing, Vypryn, killed her."
	"That's not possible", said Sally, "Vypryn's dead."
	"He's alive", said Jason, "He said that if Sonic didn't meet him on 
Mt. Mobius in two hours, he'd kill everyone in Knothole."
	"Yo!", said Sonic running up, "What happened?"
	"Vypryn's alive, Sonic", said Sally, "He killed Julie and said if you 
don't meet him on Mt. Mobius, that he'd kill all of Knothole."
	Just then, Jason started spitting up blood, and then he exhaled his 
last breath.  Dr. Quack felt for a pulse, and then just closed his eyes.
	"He's gone", he said, "The internal bleeding was just too much for 
him to take.  He must have used the last of his strength to make it back 
here."
	Sonic looked at poor Jason.  His hands balled into fists, and he got 
up, and started walking away.  Sally got up, and followed him.	
	"You're not thinking about fighting him, are you?", said Sally.
	"I've got to, Sal", said Sonic, "That creep is just going to keep 
killing innocent people until I do."
	Sonic grabbed his packpack, and shoved a fresh Power Ring into it.  
He then looked at Sally with seriousness he had never shown.  Without 
saying a word, he sped out of Knothole.
	"You come back to me, Sonic Hedgehog", she said, with a tear running 
down her face, "Please."
	
CHAPTER VIII
GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN

	It took Sonic a while to scale Mt. Mobius, as he was not accustomed 
to climbing the massive mountain.  As a child, he was actually afraid of 
the mountain, because everyone said that it was haunted.  He used to be 
afraid to even look in its general direction.
	Once he made it to the top, he looked around.  There was a small 
plateu at the top of it.  It was about one-third the size of Knothole.  
There weren't any trees up here, just rock formations sticking out of the 
ground.  
	"VYPRYN!!!", he yelled at the top of his lungs, "I'M HERE!!"
	Sonic's voice echoed in the afternoon sky.  After it finally died, 
there was only the sound of the wind.
	"You don't have to shout, Hedgehog", said a voice, "I'm right here."
	Vypryn uncloaked, and stepped into the light.  He folded his arms, 
and grinned.
	"You know", said Vypryn, "I was beginning to think you were too 
cowardly to show yourself."
	"Why did you kill them, Vypryn?", snarled Sonic, "They were just 
kids."
	"What difference does it make what age they were?", laughed Vypryn, 
"I've killed ones even younger than your little fox friend.  Besides, an 
example had to be made.  I suppose those two were just in the wrong place 
at the right time.  However, killing you will be much much more enjoyable."
	Vypryn aimed his shoulder cannon right at Sonic.  The red beam of 
light shot out, and a dot appeared Sonic's chest. 
	"Good-bye, Hedgehog", said Vypryn.
	"Is that what you want, Vypryn?", asked Sonic, pointing at the dot on 
his chest, "To just fire a shot, and have it be over?"
	"What?", said Vypryn, "What are you talking about?"
	Sonic pulled his backpack off, and showed Vypryn the Power Ring that 
was in it.  After doing that, he tossed it over the side of the cliff.
	"I'm not going to use my speed, Vypryn", said Sonic, "What say we do 
this the fun way, with our bare hands."
	"This is a trick", said Vypryn, still aiming at Sonic.
	"Hey", said Sonic, "I'm not smart enough to pull a trick."
	"That, I'll believe", said Vypryn, "After all, you were the one who 
lead me to Knothole.  Take a look at your right palm."
	Sonic did as Vypryn said.  There, in the center of his palm, was a 
white device.  It was no bigger than a breadcrumb, but it was there."
	"What's this?", said Sonic, plucking it off of his glove.
	"It's a micro-tracer", said Vypryn, "It attached itself to your glove 
when you picked up the radio in that cave during our first encounter.  
You've been walking around with it on you ever since."
	"Well?", said Sonic, ignoring Vypryn, "What do you say?  If you 
really want to enjoy killing me, you'll have to do it my way.  I won't use 
my speed, and you don't use your weapons or armor."
	Vypryn just stared at Sonic for a few moments, as if considering it.
Then, there was a small clicking sound.  Vypryn reached up, and unhooked 
his shoulder cannon from his right shoulder.  Then, another clicking sound, 
and his double-bladed knife mechanism fell of of his left arm.  
	"Your armor, too", said Sonic.
	There was a slight hum, and all of Vypryn's armor fell of of him, 
with the exception of his boots.  Underneathe, he was wearing a skin tight 
black jumpsuit.  Since there were no sleeves, Sonic could see his bulging 
muscles.
	"Man, I hope you were right, talking him into this", said Sonic to 
himself.
	"Now, Hedgehog", hissed Vypryn, "Prepare to die!"
	Vypryn did a flip, and kicked Sonic right in the chest, knocking him 
over.  Sonic rolled to the side as Vypryn's foot slammed down right where 
his head had been a second ago.  Thinking quickly, he spun around, and 
knocked Vypryn's feet out from under him.
	"AAhhh!", he yelled, falling on his side.
	Sonic kicked himself back to his feet, and lunged at Vypryn with a 
volley of kicks and punches.  To Sonic's amazement, Vypryn managed to block 
every one of them.  In the end, the snake grabbed ahold of both of Sonic's 
arms.
	"Please!", laughed Vypryn, "While you were fighting with Sectoid, I 
was in my ship, studying.  I've studied all your moves!"
	"Oh yeah?", said Sonic, "Study this!"
	He brought his foot up, and kicked Vypryn right in the stomach.
	"OOF!", groaned Vypryn, bending over.
	Sonic grabbed Vypryn's head, and shoved it downwards.  While doing 
that, he brought his knee up, and Vypryn's face slammed right against it.  
Vypryn snapped his head back, and Sonic could see his nose spewing out 
green blood.  
	"First blood is yours, Hedgehog", hissed Vypryn, "Now, MY TURN!!!!"
	Vypryn's fist snapped forward, and slammed agaist Sonic's nose, 
causing an equal amount of red blood to come flowing out of it.  Then, 
Vypryn got Sonic in a head-lock, and looked at him.
	"How's it feel to know that you're going to die, Hedgehog?"
	"I don't know", said Sonic, ramming his quills into Vypryn's 
shoulder, "You tell me!"
	Vypryn let go of Sonic, and wailed in pain.  One of Sonic's quills 
had gotten lodged in Vypryn's shoulder, and wouldn't come out.  Sonic 
decided to end this now by throwing a kick at Vypryn.
	"I don't think so", said Vypryn.
	Vypryn blocked the kick, and held Sonic's leg in the air.  He then 
rammed downward on it with his other elbow.  Sonic howled in pain, and fell 
backwards, holding his knee.  
	Sonic then got a good kick in the face from Vypryn, who had managed 
to yank the quill out of his shoulder, sending a ton of blood pouring out 
of the wound.
	Vypryn threw the quill at Sonic, who caught it, and managed to throw 
it right back at Vypryn, hitting him in his good eye.
	"AAAAHHHHHH!!!", screamed Vypryn, holding his bloody eye.
	He pulled the quill out, and dropped it on the ground.  Unable to see 
out of the eye, he was now relying totally on his artificial one.
	"You'll pay for this", said Vypryn, kicking Sonic in the stomach, 
"This fight, is OVER!!!"
	From somewhere, Vypryn produced a knife, and rose it over his head.  
Sonic saw it coming, and caught Vypryn's arm just as he dropped it.  Sonic 
then slammed his fist against Vypryn's artificial eye, bloodying his 
knuckles.
	Sonic batted the knife out of Vypryn's hand, and back-handed him in 
the face.  
	"That's for Sally!", he yelled.
	Sonic then sucker-punched Vypryn in the chest, knocking the wind out 
of him.
	"That's for Tails!", he screamed again.
	Sonic grabbed Vypryn's head, and slammed his own forehead against it, 
knocking Vypryn backwards a few feet.
	"That's for Jason and Julie!", growled Sonic, "And this, if for ME!!"
	He spun around, and kicked Vypryn right in the jaw.  The blow sent 
him flying backwards.  Sonic looked, and saw that the knife had gotten 
wedged between two rocks, and the blade was sticking straight upward.  
Before he could react, Vypryn landed right on top of it.
	The snake gagged and shook violently.  He coughed up a few splurts of 
blood, and then went limp.  Vypryn was dead.
	Sonic didn't say anything, he didn't cheer, make a snappy comment, 
or anything.  He just turned around, and limped home.  
	Moments after he was gone, Vypryn's head lifted off the ground, and 
more blood washed out of his mouth.  
	His artificial eye was severely damaged.  From what he could tell, 
the motion sensor was the only mode that still worked.  That was good 
enough.  He pulled himself off the bloody knife, and staggered to his 
feet.  Coughing up even more blood, he attached his shoulder cannon, and 
walked very slowly after the hedgehog.  This fight still had one more 
round.

CHAPTER IX
THE FINAL CONFRONTATION

	It was late in the evening when Sonic finally reached Knothole.  
Since his knee was badly sprained, he was forced to limp all the way back.  
There were only a few people on the street when he walked in.  He didn't 
say any kind of greeting phrase.  Instead, he fell to his knees, then to 
his side.
	Rotor was the first to see Sonic, and ran up to him.
	"Sonic!", he said, "What happened?"
	"Sally", he whispered, barely able to speak.
	Sally came running out of her hut, and over to Sonic.  She slid a few 
feet on her knees, and stopped right beside him.  She wrapped her arms 
around his head, and cradled him in her arms.
	"Shhhh", she said, tears running down her face, "It's going to be 
okay, Sonic."
	"I got him, Sal", he coughed, "I got him."
	"Don't talk", said Sally, still crying, "Dr. Quack's on his way."
	Dr. Quack came up again with his medical case.  
	"He must have taken quite a beating", he said, "I'm surprised he made 
it all the way back here.  Bunnie, go get a needle out of my hut.  I need 
to give him something to stabilize his heart-beat."
	"Check!", said Bunnie, heading towards Dr. Quack's hut."
	She took three steps, and the ground exploded underneath her feet.  
	"Whoa!", she yelped, flying back.
	Everyone looked, and saw Vypryn staggering towards them.  He was 
covered in his own blood, and his left eye was cut to ribbons.  Both of his 
arms just hung at his sides.
	"Hedgehog", he muttered, coughing up a waterfall of blood.
	His shoulder cannon just kept going off, hitting huts, trees, and the 
occasional Freedom Fighter.  
	"What's he doing!?", yelled Dr. Quack.
	"He's blind!", yelled Rotor, "He can't see anything!  He's just 
firing at the noise!"
	Someone started to run away from the crowd, and Vypryn shot them in 
the back.  It was then that Rotor realized how Vypryn was seeing.
	"His artificial eye is only sensing motion", he said, "He can't see 
us if we don't move!"
	Vypryn fired about ten more shots into the crowd.  Sally knew that 
even if they didn't move, Vypryn knew where the crowd was, and would keep 
firing at it until he killed everyone.  
	Vypryn fired again, hitting a beaver in the chest, and blowing him 
back against a hut.  His lifeless body slid down it.  Sally gritted her 
teeth, and laid Sonic's head gentley on the ground.  She had had just about 
enough of this monster.
	"Sally!", yelled Bunnie,"What're ya doin'!?"
	Sally didn't answer.  She just broke into a run, and dashed right 
towards Vypryn.  She was going to put a stop to this one way or another.
	Vypryn saw a figure running at him, and figured it must be the 
hedgehog.  He fired several shots at it, and the figure dodged every one of 
them.
	Sally was having a hard time avoiding the shots.  She was about five 
feet from Vypryn when he fired again.  
	"Oh, shoot!", she said.
	Since she didn't have any time to jump to the side, she went the only 
way she could, over it.  
	She did a flip in the air, and landed right on Vypryn's back.  He 
began shaking back and forth, trying to throw her off of him.
	"Get-ack-off of me!", he coughed.
	Sally held on for dear life.  Vypryn's cannon was going off 
reflexively, since he was trying to shake her off his head.  
	"No chance, Vypryn!", yelled Sally, "Your ramapage ends here and 
now!"
	Vypryn realized that it wasn't the hedgehog that was on him, but that 
girl he had captured when he first started chasing the hedgehog!
	Sally looked down at the shoulder cannon, and saw a blue button.  
Above it, was a label marked "AUXILLARY FIRE BUTTON".  
	"Forgive me", she said, reaching for the cannon.
	Using all her strength, she twisted the cannon to the left, right at 
Vypryn's head.  He felt the thing move, and stopped firing it.  Then, he 
grabbed ahold of Sally's right arm.
	"Now, I've got you!", he hissed.
	"No you don't!!", screamed Sally, slamming her left hand against the 
blue button.
	There was a crack, and flash of light as the cannon fired.  The 
entire left side of Vypryn's head exploded, spraying the area with organic 
material.  
	Vypryn's grasp on Sally's arm went weak, and his hand let go, falling 
to the side.  He then fell to his knees, and onto his side.  Sally fell to 
the ground as well.
	She only looked straight up in the air.  Her head fell to the side, 
and she saw Vypryn's lifeless face staring right at her.  A cold chill 
filled her entire body, and she looked over away.  
	Sally managed to look over at Sonic, who gave her a thumbs up.  She 
let out a sigh of relief, and looked up at the evening sky.  At last, after 
so many lost lives, it was over.
	Or was it????

TO BE CONTINUED...