| abstract | - Sonic the Werehog and Moss have another race through the Rocky Jungle Zone. Sonic jeers at Moss, asking if he's ready to lose again, but Moss manages to keep ahead of Sonic. As they approach the finish line, Sonic uses his stretching power to reach his arm ahead of Moss and win the race. Ray can't figure out if it was cheating or not. Moss notes that Sonic has taken his teaching to heart, to which Sonic says he did. Moss tells Sonic he should go back to his friends, even though he may need more training. At that moment, however, something appears behind them. A Super Badnik called the Flying Dynamo comes flying towards them. Mighty thinks Thunderbolt sent it, and he, Sonic and Ray immediately jump into action. At the Sand Hill Zone, Sally is running from Lambda. She calls for Antoine and Bunnie's support, but they are both pre-occupied with Kappa and Iota respectively. Bunnie tries to take out Iota, but gets shot at by Lambda. Sally tries to help bunnie, but gets attacked by Iota. Rotor sees what is going on and takes Tails and Amy down to help while giving Nicole control of Sky Patrol. Neither of them are aware that Tails Doll is sneaking his way into the ship. Bunnie blocks attacks coming for Sally with her shield, allowing Sally to run for the Chaos Emerald. However, when she gets close, the container containing the emerald comes to life. Sally is making quick work of the container when Team Freedom arrives. They are about to initiate a tactical retreat, but the container containing the emerald flies off as two machines shoot out of the ground, creating an energy net around the group. Aboard the Death Egg, Eggman is gleefully celebrating about the plan working. He then gloats at Orobt, who he believed said the E-100 weren't necessary. Orbot corrects him by saying that they were overkill, and points out the risks of using the real Emerald as bait. Eggman brushes this off, saying that the Freedom Fighters have been stockpiling them for him, and when Sonic gets back to Sky Patrol, Eggman will keep track of everything he does with Tails Doll. Back at the Rocky Jungle Zone, Sonic and the others are having a hard time fighting off Flying Dynamo. When Mighty says it's not giving them an opening, Sonic states that they'll make one then, glancing at Moss while saying so. He quickly initiates a plan. While Ray is distracting the Super Badnik, Sonic is using his arms to stretch far back, using two trees to hold onto while Mighty pulls on him, making him a living slingshot. Moss asks if this is wise, to which Sonic replies that since Moss is the Guru, he should tell him. He then is flung right on top of the Super Badnik. Sonic rips off the dish on top it uses to shoot lightning, and Mighty finishes it with an uppercut. Ray wonders how angry Thunderbolt must be as Sonic and Mighty bump fists; back at her base, electricity from her cybernetics crackles around Thunderbolt as she seethes in defeated rage. At the Sand Hill Zone, the Freedom Fighters are trying to figure out how to escape the net. Since no two of them on an airboard can fit through the gaps in the netting, Sally orders Amy to get the spare airboard, but Amy refuses to leave her teammates. Sally then says that Bunnie can carry her, but Bunnie tells her they won't make it past Iota. Rotor suddenly calls out that they have incoming fire from below, but too late: Lambda shoots all six Freedom Fighters down before they can even get out of the way. On the Sky Patrol, Cream, Cheese and Big watch in horror as their friends are pounded by the robots. Cream asks if Nicole can do anything, but Nicole says the enemy's movement is so erratic that she might hit the Freedom Fighters if she attacks. Realizing it's up to her group, Cream tells Nicole to deploy T-Pup and Omochao, and quickly runs out with Big and Cheese. As Kappa and Lambda are about to finish the others off, Big sends his fishing rod down. T-Pup, Cheese and Omochao keep Iota busy while the others are brought up to the Sky Patrol. As they fly away, Sally starts to cry, knowing that she almost led the entire team to their doom. The next morning, Sky Patrol comes to pick Sonic up. Sonic says a quick goodbye to the others and hops onto the Tornado, piloted by Tails. Sonic is excited to rejoin the team, but then notices the glum look on Tails's face. Concerned, he asks if everyone is okay; Tails says they are, but "super-bummed". Sonic enters the Sky Patrol's infirmary and is horrified to see everyone (except Cream, Cheese, and Big) badly injured and in despair. Sally tells him about the ambush, and Sonic regrets not being there to help them. Antoine says that Sonic was sick, but Sonic knows he should've accepted help with his condition in the first place instead of downplaying the severity of it. Sally is still beating herself up, lamenting the fact that, since Eggman now knows she stole his data files, the Eggnet data they gained is now effectively useless, costing them a valuable advantage. So Sonic points out that they never have needed anything more than himself, and that Eggman's one win can't compare to there hundreds of others. He continues by saying that they are a team and that Eggman won't have the emerald for long. He asks Nicole if she's got anything, which she does; the location of the Emerald, however, along with the person whom they assume possesses it, is less than pleasing. In Casino Park Zone, the green Chaos Emerald is shown to be in the possession of a female hedgehog, who is offering it as the prize for winning a fighting tournament she's hosting. Coconuts, a monkey Badnik, approaches her and questions the wisdom of offering the Emerald as the prize; the woman responds that it'll be a "fight to remember".
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