Sonic grinned, waving farewell to the former rookie as he left to help with the restoration and rescue efforts that were soon to begin. Rookie? Buddy? Gadget? His name didn’t really matter; only the friendship they’d made that had saved the world and sent Eggman packing. The fat megalomaniac had nearly succeeded in conquering the world, not to mention killing the blue hedgehog off once and for all, after months of being painfully held prisoner, bound securely hand and foot by energy shackles that left him weak and vulnerable. But thanks to the orange wolf Sonic’s rescue had succeeded and he’d helped take back the world, restoring peace. In a matter of weeks Sonic knew that the last of the roaming robots would be destroyed, good riddance to bad rubbish, and the rebuilding would begin. It was a freeing feeling, Sonic whooping as he picked up speed, running carefree into the countryside and away from the ruined city. He was free! The jackal known as Infinite was gone. The phantom ruby was destroyed, along with its copies. His friends were safe, and with one final victory all was right in the world. But most of all, he was free; his hellish months of captivity behind him. But all too soon, Sonic’s grin faded as the unexpected happened. What the heck was going on; he was still running, his feet moving so quickly they were a blur. So why were his surroundings slowing down?! Sonic grimaced with a growing worry as he ran faster, his feet picking up speed, worry turning to fear as his surroundings slowed until they stood still, even as he strained to run as fast as he could. “What?! I don’t understand, what’s going on?!” He was running- boosting in fact- but as Sonic’s feet slid uselessly against the ground fear turned to terror, then terror to panic as a familiar sound vibrated through the air; transforming the beautiful scenery to red, shifting energy as the trees and grass dissolved in cubes... And leaving the hedgehog within a cold, metal room. “NO!!” Sonic cried out in despair, not wanting to believe what he saw; surrounded by the cell he was all too familiar with, a familiar blue beam surrounding each limb, and an even more familiar sound behind him. The hero whirled at the fat dictator’s laughter, and the amused chuckling of the masked jackal. “I stopped you! We destroyed the death egg!!” Sonic shouted at Dr. Eggman, anger on his face as he swiped his hand to one side in denial of what was before him. The cruel doctor merely smirked at him condescendingly, pleased with what he’d managed to do. “Did you? Or did I merely let you t