Sonic the Hedgehog: The Vacation Author Hyper 802 Time Line: three months after "A Ghost From the Past" Cast: Princess Sally Acorn Antoine D' Coolette Diane Forests Sonic the Hedgehog Hershey Dan Michaels Miles "Tails" Prower Doctor Quack Bunnie Rabbot Rotor Sally was working hard at her desk planning the next raid when she becomes frustrated and slams her hands down onto the desk. Dan comes walking in just as Sally's hands hit the desk with a loud resounding slap. "Sally, what's the prob," asks Dan. Sally turns around to look at Dan. Her face conveyed to him that she is under a great deal of stress. "Dan, it's nothing. I'm just tired," answers Sally. "That's a lie and you know it! I can tell that you're under a considerable deal of stress," retorts Dan. Sally frowns and says, "Caught me red handed. So what of it?" "Only one thing, I can make of it, Sally. You need a vacation and not only you; we all need one. We've been waiting so long for Snively to make the next move that we are tense and need to vent our frustration, or we might do something that we all will regret later," states Dan. "But we can't go on a vacation with Snively planning to attack at any moment," reminds Sally. "We don't have to send all of us at once, just ten or so at a time. Oh yeah, Dr. Quack wants you to look at this." Dan hands Sally a sheet of paper with a list of names on it. "What's this?" Sally asks as she scans the paper. "This is a list of freedom fighters that are the most tense and/or stressed out. Please note the doctor's recommendation for treatment." "A vacation!!!" exclaims Sally as she reads the recommendation for treatment, "Okay, you win. We'll go on a vacation. I'll break this list up into groups of twelve." Later that day in the war room, "Okay everyone listen up. According to Dr. Quack, we all need a vacation. Dan had brought this plan of action to my attention. Now we all can't go at once, but in smaller groups at different times of the week. So I made lists that let friends go together and that those who need it the most goes earlier. These vacations will last two days. Also your group can leave at any time on the day given to your group and you can't leave until a group has returned. The lists will be posted in the dining hall," says Sally, "My group will be the first to leave tomorrow." The assembled group didn't complain much because they all knew that she was the most stressed of all because of her role in the freedom fighters. Later at the dining hall, "So, Sal. Who's in your vacation group," asks Sonic. Sally reads the list to Sonic, "You, Dan, Tails, Bunnie, Antoine, Diane, Hershey, Eric, Dr. Quack, and Hamilton." "Cool, but do we have to bring Ant with us," complains Sonic. "Yes, we do, or would you like to be in another group," Sally jokingly replies. Sonic was speechless. Sally just smiles and kisses Sonic who gladly returns it. "Would you two like a room?" asks Dan who is with Diane. "Okay, Dan. As if you should talk. You and Diane are just as bad," remarks Sonic. "No, we're worse," adds Diane with a smile. "Diane, you're not helping any," remarks Dan. Diane just smiles and kisses her boyfriend. "Oh how come I can't stay mad at you?" asks Dan. "Because she knows how to play you like a fiddle," laughs Sally, "Oh! Before I forget. We're leaving tomorrow at nine o' clock in the morning." "Okay," reply Sonic, Dan, and Diane. Dan and Diane skim the lists to see who's in which group. The next day, "It's almost nine o' clock. Where is Dan?" asks Sonic who is eagerly waiting for the vacation to begin. "Right here," calls out Dan from a hover unit that was landing. "So were to Sally?" "Well, we agreed on the beach last night," replies Sally. "Okay. Lets pack the hover unit." The group start to pack the hover unit when Diane finds a box that she didn't recognize, "Dan, who does this belong to?" "Oh, that box has my scuba gear in it." "That's right you were teaching me how to scuba dive earlier this month," remembers Diane. It was nine o' clock by the time they had finished packing the hover unit and got in it. "Is that everything?" asks Sally. "Yup it sure is, Sally-girl," replies an eager Bunnie. "Well, lets get this vacation off the ground," called out Rotor. Dan starts up the hover unit and points it towards the beach with Sally as the navigator. Half an hour later, they arrive at the beach. The group quickly unpack and set up the portable changing booths. Dan is waiting outside of the one that Diane had entered. Ten minutes later, Diane steps out in a pink bikini that went nicely with her strawberry blonde quills. "What do you think?" "Wow! You look great in that bikini!" stutters Dan as he looks over the top of his shades. Diane blushes and asks, "What will we do first?" "Bunnie, Rotor, and Hershey are going to meet us at the water ski dock," answers Dan. "Okay, lets go," said Diane as she hopped into Dan's arms. He then took off for the water ski dock. Later after they had found the owner of the rental place, "So how much is it to rent the equipment?" "Twenty-five credits. That includes the skis and the boat," replies the owner. "How much without the boat?" asks Dan. "Ten credits. Do you have your own boat?" "No. Who needs a boat when you're one of the two fastest people on all of Mobius," remarks Dan. "Okay, point taken." Dan hands the proprietor the money and then ties a rope around his waist. Later, Sonic and Sally are lying in the sun enjoying the rest and listening to the many soothing sounds of the beach. "Sal, this is just what the doctor ordered," said Sonic. "You don't know the half of it," replies Sally. Then the two hear laughing and a series of mini sonic booms coming from over the ocean, and they see Dan on foot pulling four people on water skis behind him. "Show off!!!!" yells Sonic. "What's the matter, angry about the fact that you didn't think of it first?" asks Sally in a patronizing and loving tone that only she can get away with. "Yeah, I guess that I am. Here's an idea lets go meet them at the dock," suggests Sonic. Meanwhile, "Dan, pickup the pace," requests Rotor. "Yeah. Put the petal to the metal," agrees Bunnie. "Okay, hang on!" answers Dan as he accelerated to his top speed. Half an hour later, they return to the dock and see Sonic and Sally waiting for them to return. "Hi, guys," calls out Dan as he cruised onto the dock. "You and I have to be the biggest show offs ever born," comments Sonic. "Who me?" Dan asks coyly. "Yeah, you," jokes Sally. "Hey, Sonic! Want to go for a swim?" asks Tails as he flew up to the others. "Sure. Little bud. I think we all could use a swim," comments Sonic as the group head back to their spot. Half an hour later, they arrive at their spot and walked into water. They were all having fun swimming and splashing each other. Sonic and Dan had a water race, it looked as if Sonic would win the race, but then Dan surfaced a head's length ahead of Sonic. Then Tails sneaks up behind Dan and motions to Sonic to keep quiet. Then Tails splashes Dan, who turns around and says, "So you want a splash fight? That's fair. Take this." He starts to spin in place and creates a small wave that nailed Tails good. Tails comes up and says, "Now!" Then Sonic copies Dan's move and nails Dan too, but Dan didn't surface where the wave had crashed. He surfaced behind a bewildered Sonic. Dan goes to dunk Sonic, when Tails yells out, "Sonic! Behind you!" Sonic looks back and sees Dan with his hands on top of him pushing him down. They quickly disappear under the water's surface. Sonic surfaces just as Diane and Sally come swimming up to him. "Sonic, where is Dan?" asks Diane. "Right here, darling," says Dan as he comes up and goes back under while dunking Diane. A few seconds later, they come back up, "Dan, why you sneaky hedgehog," starts Diane, but she didn't finish her sentence because Dan had kissed her. After their kiss, Diane has a sly look on her face as she looks at Dan, and splashes him. "That's for dunking me." "Fair enough," replies Dan as he was wiping the water from his face. He swims to the shore with Diane following close behind him. When they get to the shore, Dan picks up his and Diane's towels and hands her towel to her. "So Dan, what are we going to do next?" "How about going scuba diving?" "But I don't have any gear," says Diane. "Not a prob," remarks Dan as he pulls a smaller box from his scuba diving gear box. Diane takes the box that Dan has given her and opens it. She notices that it contains a pink wet suit, a pair of goggles, and a pair of flippers. "But don't I also need an air tank?" she asks as Dan pulls out two air tanks, a yellow one and a red one. He hands her the red air tank with a smile on his face. "You had this all planned out didn't you?!?!" She looks at the wet suit and then adds, "I'll go put on the wet suit." "Okay and I'll get into mine," says Dan as they head to the changing booths. Meanwhile, "So Sonic, having fun yet," asks Sally as she watched Dan and Diane walk off towards the changing booths. "Yup," says Sonic as he dunks his love. When they surface, Sonic starts to swim off when Sally playfully calls out, "I'm going to get you, Sonic Hedgehog." She swims after Sonic while laughing. The two get into a splash fight which ended by them kissing each other. Meanwhile back at the booths, Dan comes out of his changing booth at the same time as Diane. "I think that this wet suit is a little too small," says Diane. "Let me see," says Dan. He looks at his girlfriend and notices that she fills out the wet suit nicely. Dan then whistles and says, "I think that you look way past great in that!" Diane looks at Dan, blushes, walks up to him, and gives him a long deeply heart felt kiss. "Come on, I know of a nice spot for scuba diving," informs Dan after reluctantly breaking up the kiss. "Well lead the way, dear," says Diane as they walk off for the site. Later that day, "Sonic, go get every one for lunch," requests Sally. "Okay, will do, Sal," replies Sonic as he took off to find the others. "Yo, Tails, Rote, Ant, and Bunnie lunch time," calls Sonic as he passes the four. "Okay, Sonic," reply the group as they left for their designated camp site. Sonic returns five minutes after Hershey arrives. "Hey. Sonic, where's Dan and Diane?" asks Hershey. "I don't know. I looked every where," says Sonic. "Well, they'll show up sooner or later," comments Tails. Every one agreed with Tails because they all know, when Dan doesn't want to be found he can't be found especially when he's with Diane. Meanwhile under the ocean, "This coral reef is beautiful," signals Diane as they swam by. "Yes, it is but not half as beautiful as you," Dan signals back. "You are the sweetest and sneakiest hedgehog around," signs Diane. Dan smiles and looks at his wrist mounted air gauge. "We better surface and soon," motions Dan. A few minutes later, they surface together. "That was fun. I wish that we could of stayed under longer," says Diane. "Yeah, me too. We better get back before the others come looking." They quickly swim to shore. When they get out of the water, Dan spots a blue and gold object. He quickly goes over and pulls it out. It's a power ring! "Sonic has to see this," calls out Dan. Diane nods in agreement and jumps into Dan's arms. Dan takes off with the equivalent speed of mach five. One minute later, Sally and the others hear a very loud sonic boom. "What was that!?!?" asks a startled Sonic. "That was me," answers Dan with his feet in a bucket of ice. "Dan, let me look at your feet," says Dr. Quack as he quickly grabs his medical bag. "Okay, but first. Sonic, I think that you should see this," says Dan as he tosses the ring to Sonic. "It's a power ring! But it looks weird. Instead of being solid gold, it's blue and gold," notes Sonic. "Let me look at it," says Sally. Sonic hands her the ring. "Oh my! Sonic ,this is a Super power ring!" exclaims Sally. "A super power ring? What's that?" "It's a power ring with the power to enhance your speed by one thousand times," answers Sally, "but only three of them exist. They also were hidden all over Mobius. They don't disappear with one use, and they also never fade away." "That's way past cool, Sal. I won't have to carry power rings any more," says an excited Sonic. "Sonic, we don't know if this ring will work for you or someone else." "There's only one way I can think of to find out," says Sonic as he holds the ring over his head. The super power ring forms twin rings of blue lightening around Sonic. The lightening rings spin around him faster and faster until only a blue sphere can be seen and finally there is a bright flash of light. There stands Sonic still holding the super power ring, but he is now a bright metallic gold in color. "Sonic! How do you feel?" asks a concerned Sally. "I feel fine, in fact I feel super," replies the golden hedgehog. As he spoke it sounded as if his voice was coming from every where at once. "I wonder how fast am I, now," wonders Sonic as he takes off while leaving behind a mile long golden blur. A second has past when he comes back. "Wow!!!" exclaims Tails, "How far did you go?" "I went all the way to a light house and back," says Sonic. "Sonic, the nearest light house is about twenty thousand kilometers distance, one way," says Sally, "and you ran there and back in one second." "Wow!!!!" every one says. "I guess we should now call you Super Sonic," says Dan while Dr. Quack was bandaging Dan's burned feet. "Dan, this is no time to joke around," says Diane who is holding Dan's destroyed sneaks. "I don't think that he is joking, and I like the sound of Super Sonic," says Super Sonic, "But only when I look like this." Every one look at Dan and see that he is serious about calling golden Sonic, Super Sonic. "So Dan, how are your feet?" asks Sally. "Better, but Dr. Quack says that I can't run for a few weeks," says Dan. "That bites," says Super Sonic. "Yeah, well it also looks like I'll need new sneaks," says Dan as he examines his old pair. Super Sonic puts down the super power ring, and he then turns back to his normal blue color. "I'll see if Uncle Chuck can make a pair of sneaks like mine for you," says Sonic. "That's cool. See if he can make them look like my old pair." "Sure thing, pal." "Hey Sonic and Dan, want to help me make a sand castle?" asks Tails. "Sure, sounds like fun." Dan and Sonic get up and follow Tails to the spot where they will build the sand castle. When they arrived, Dan formed a tightly packed tower of sand with his telekinesis. "Good thing you came along, Dan. It would of taken us hours to get this far," says Sonic with a grin. "Well, I have my moments," says Dan. "What few that you have," jokes Diane with a smile on her face as she walks up to them. "Hahaha, very funny, very funny," retorts Dan. "Well I thought it was," says Diane playfully. "Well, lets see you laugh your way out of this," says Dan as he creates a wall of sand around Diane. "Hey! No fair!" cries Diane. She then thinks of a plan to get out of her sand prison. She pulls out a chili dog and starts to fan it towards Sonic's position. Sonic sniff the air, and his mouth starts to water. "I smell a chili dog," says Sonic while he lets his nose lead him to the chili dog. Without thinking he bores through the sand wall. He then comes back happily munching on the chili dog with a smug looking Diane walking behind him. "The way Sonic reacts to the smell of chili dogs, I'm surprised that Snively or Robotnik hasn't tried to use chili dogs against him. If they did, they could of led him any where they wanted to," jokes Dan. "Uh?" asks Sonic, "What are you talking about?" "He was talking about the fact that chili dogs is your Achilles' heel and if Robotnik or Snively found a way to exploit it. You would of been roboticized a long time ago," says Sally as she walks up to them. "Hey!!! That's a low blow, Dan," complains Sonic. "Okay. Okay. Just chill, Sonic. I was just joking around," says Dan with both hands up in the air. The two girls present laugh at poor Dan's situation. Then Dan and Sonic look at them and then grin. Two streams of water hit Sally and Diane. "Hey!!!" they yell out. "Hehehe," laugh both Dan and Sonic who are now holding water guns. Then two more streams nail both Sonic and Dan. They look around and spot Bunnie and Hershey with water guns of their own. Hershey tosses a water gun to both Sally and Diane. "Eep," says Sonic. "Yipes!!!" exclaims Dan. "Time to get even," say both Diane and Sally playfully. Bunnie and Hershey aim for Sonic and Dan when they are nailed by twin streams of water. "Gotcha," calls out Rotor who is holding two water guns of his own. He tosses one to Tails and an all out water fight breaks out with the girls on one side and the boys on the other. Dan quickly constructs a fort made out of sand. "We should be safe in here," says Sonic. "Now how are we going to get them?" asks Sally. "Ah can extend my robotic legs, so that ah can see over the walls," says Bunnie. "Okay that's the plan for now." Meanwhile, "Okay, Sonic and I will tunnel out and surprise them from behind. Tails, you will fly up and attack them from the air. Rotor, you will draw their fire and attack them while you're at it too," plans Dan. They quickly follow their instruction. Bunnie extends her legs and notices that no one was in the fort. "Sally-girl, no one is home," calls out Bunnie then she was hit by two water streams, one from the air and the other came from the ground. "Tails!" exclaims Bunnie as she aims at the air borne two tail fox. Sally and Diane take aim at Rotor who is aiming at Hershey. When another pair of streams nail them. They look around for Sonic and Dan. Hershey and Rotor are firing their guns at each other. Sonic and Dan pop up to fire off another round when Sally and Diane spot them. "There they are," they call out, but the two boys don't duck back down behind the sand dune. Meanwhile, Tails was dodging Bunnie's shots and hitting her with his return shots. Sally and Diane sneak up to the dune where their boyfriends had popped up from and didn't duck behind after their discovery. "Odd, why are they just lying there," thinks Sally. Then two more streams nail them again but this time from behind. "It's a trap!" calls out Sally. Diane and Sally try to dive for cover, but there isn't any available. "Great we're sitting ducks," thinks Sally as she and Diane are getting pelted with the water streams. "Man! Sonic, they fell for it," laughs Dan. "Yeah, but we're almost out," replies Sonic. "Too late, I'm all ready out," says a worried Dan. "They're down to one gun," calls out a soaked Sally "Yeah, lets nail them good," Diane calls out cheerfully. They go to make their move, but two new blasts caught them. It was Tails and Rotor. "I guess Bunnie and Hershey ran out," says Diane while dodging the attacks. "Yup," says Sally. "You who, eetz diner time," calls out Antoine who was soaked by five streams of water. "Yo, Ant. You know, I always said that you were all wet but this is ridicules," chuckles Sonic. Then Sonic was nailed by Sally and Diane. "But eet eez vou who are always zee drip, hedgehog," comments Antoine. "He got you there, Sonic," laughs Dan. Sonic grins and pulls the trigger one his water gun which currently was aimed at Dan, but it missed him. "Miss me?" jokes Dan as he appears in front of Sally. "I won't a second time," chuckles Sonic, but he did miss Dan. Unfortunately, he hit Sally instead, who then nailed Sonic. "You're right, Sonic. You didn't miss a second time," laughs Dan, "You hit Sally!" "Come on, lets go get some dinner," interrupts Diane as she climbed into Dan's arms who then took off by freezing time so that he can walk away faster than Sonic could run. Later that night, "Yeah, that water fight was the most fun that I had all day," says Sally. "Yeah, it was funny when we nailed Ant at once," adds Sonic. They talked about what they will do tomorrow to finish off their vacation. The next morning after breakfast, they set up a volley ball net and marked out the court. "Tails, you'll be the score keeper. Is that okay, little bro.?" asks Sonic. "No prob, Sonic." Tails sits by Dan, who can't participate because of his burned feet. The teams were evenly split five against five. The game was fast and furious; they played all morning. At first they were playing for fun, then it got heated when Sonic started to "power" spike the ball by running up to it at full speed. Sally whispered to Bunnie a play that will confuse Sonic good. Sally fakes a bump to the left. Sonic runs to where it will come down ready to send it back, but Sally quickly changed to a set. Bunnie spikes the ball with her robotic arm and sends it flying to the far right corner. Sonic makes a mad dash for it but came up short. Later during lunch, "That was a nice play Sally," says Dan as he grabs three apples. "Yeah, it sure was. Dan, toss me an apple," requests Sonic. Dan tosses one to his best friend and starts to juggle the other three in his hands. "Ah thought ya were going to eat all three of those apples, sugar," says Bunnie. "Nope, I was bored. So I picked them up and started to juggle them to alleviate the boredom," says Dan. He slowly adds another until he has twenty or so going. "Wow! You're good," says Tails in awe. "It took me years of practice, Tails. Just like every thing else." "Can you teach me to juggle?" asks Tails. "Sure, when we get back to Knothole," replies Dan. He skillfully tosses them back into the basket when he was nailed by a stream of water. They all looked in the direction that it had came from, and they see Diane holding a water gun with a playful smile on her face. "Okay, two can play that game," says Dan as he filled his water gun. He was about to aim when Diane fired again. He ducked and quickly fired at Diane. She didn't have time to duck or to run out of the way. She was nailed good; they resumed the water fight from yesterday. But this time it was a free for all. They continued like this until they ran out. Then they would refill the water guns and go at it again. It was dark by the time that they stopped. "My, the time does fly when you're having fun," says Diane and Hershey when they notice that it is now dark. After they had eaten, they had made a small camp fire. "So how about a ghost story," suggests Dan. "Yeah, sounds like a good idea," exclaims every one except Sally. "Sonic, don't you remember the last time that you told a ghost story? You, Tails, and Antoine freaked out big time," says Sally. "Yeah, I do, but we're still telling them," Sonic stubbornly says. "Fine," Sally says while rolling back her eyes. "I have a good one," says Dan. "Okay, tell it," says Tails excitedly. "It all starts out over a thousand years ago, when pirates roamed the seas looking for ships to plunder. A pirate captain and his crew had just plundered a very wealthy vessel. In the unfortunate ship's hold were rare spices, gold, silver, and various precious jewels. They had found a deserted beach to bury it in. They had promised that they will return to that beach to claim their treasure even if they had to do it from beyond the grave. After they had made that promise their vessel was hit by a terrible storm which ended up sinking the pirate ship. It is still said that on foggy nights that the vessel can be seen sailing by with its ghostly captain and crew. They also say if you see this vessel to turn the other way for you and your crew will be cursed to spend all eternity sailing the seas as their prisoners," finished Dan. Sonic picks up on Dan's prompting and continues, "I also heard that a treasure hunter had found this lost treasure that Dan had spoke of, for it was worth several king's ransoms. One night, the treasure hunter was sleeping when he heard a ghostly howling coming from inside and outside of his extravagant home. The howling sounded like a demand for the return of the treasure that he had found. At first he paid no attention to it, he just ignored the howling. This had happened for a week now, and he getting nervous. But he was also very stubborn. That night instead of howling there was the ghost of the pirate captain with his sword ready to kill the treasure hunter. The treasure hunter ran from his home. The next day, he and his friends went back to his house and had found it ransacked and a pirate's sword sticking out of his bed. He decided to sleep at a friend's house in hope of not being found by the ghost, but the ghost did find him at his friends house. The next morning, the treasure hunter had never been seen or heard from again. Some say the ghost got him. Others say that he is still running from the ghost." Sonic and Dan look at the faces of every one present. The only one who seems nervous is Antoine. "Hey, Dan how about another story," asks Tails. "Okay, I remember when I was very young my dad had told me a story about a unique stone with healing and protective powers and of the first guardians. It's called the Legend of the Turquoise Chaos Emerald," starts Dan. "A turquoise chaos emerald? I thought that only seven of them exist," says Sonic. "If you would let me finish, Sonic, As I was saying. This emerald was used so far only once. Two friends were walking in a forest when one of them was fatally wounded. How, I don't know. The other friend quickly went to get help. That friend had found someone to help. That someone was a white hedgehog who was a skilled doctor and a mage. When the mage saw the condition of the boy's friend, he went about saving a life. The mage used every skill that he learned, but that wasn't enough to save the boy's friend. Then he used the turquoise chaos emerald on the wounded friend. The boy was quickly healed and was glad to be alive. The boys had asked the mage if they could study the healing arts under him. The mage trained them both the ways of a doctor, how to and when to use magic and the chaos emeralds. One day an evil wizard came looking for the chaos emeralds to increase his own dark powers. When the mage and his pupils learned of the evil wizard's intentions, they quickly hid the chaos emeralds in eight locations all over Mobius and cast spells to keep the emeralds safe from the evil wizard's magic. The evil wizard quickly learned what the trio had done and sought them out. When the wizard had found them a battle was fought to keep the emeralds' locations a secret. In the end the wizard was destroyed, but the mage was fatally wounded and will be dead before they would of gathered all of the emeralds together. So what the mage did was give them each half of his destiny. The friend who was an echidna was given the destiny to guard and protect the emeralds, and the other friend who was a pale yellow hedgehog was given the destiny of protecting the peace of the entire planet. As a result they were given a mark that they and their descendants will have for all of time." "Okay, everyone it's late. We should go to bed," whispers Sally after she sees Tails fast asleep. Later that night, Sonic and Sally discover Dan still awake. "Hey, Dan. You're still awake?!?!" asks Sonic as he and Sally sit by Dan. "So why are you still up?" asks Sally. "I'm just doing something that Sonic rarely does," says Dan. "What are you talking about?" asks a confused Sonic. Sally picks up on Dan's hint and says, "He's thinking about something, the one thing that you rarely ever do." "Hey! That's a very cheap shot," exclaims Sonic. "Sorry, but I just couldn't help it," says Dan as a tear builds up in the corner ofhis eye. Sally notices his change in demeanor. "Dan, what's the matter?" asks Sally in a concerned tone. "You know the story that I told, the Legend of the Turquoise Chaos Emerald," says a sadden Dan. "Yeah, what about it?" "I always wondered why my dad told me that story until now. I now realize that the story was about one of my ancestors, and telling the story brought up some memories of me and my dad," says Dan as a tear rolls down his cheek. "I'm sorry, Dan. I didn't realize that you and your dad were close," says Sally. "We were just as close as Sonic and Uncle Chuck are," says Dan. "Dan, you're lucky that you got the chance to get to know your parents; I never got that chance with mine," says Sonic. "Although at times it feels more like a curse," says Dan. "Don't worry, Dan. We'll find out what happened to your folks, and if they have been roboticized we'll free them just like we did Uncle Chuck," says Sonic. "Thanks. I really needed this talk," says Dan as they headed to the tents. The next morning, "I'm going to wake up Dan," says Diane. "Let him sleep in. He had a rough night, last night," informs Sonic and Sally. "Oh?" asks Diane. They quickly fill her in on what had happened last night. "I had no idea that he was up late," says Diane who is now truely concerned for her love. "I never seen him like that before," says Sonic, "He was always acting cool and upbeat." "It looks like he buried the pain of losing his parents so deep that he didn't feel it any more. Until that story he told had brought back the memories of his folks. Then he just broke down from the pressure of all that pain that he had buried," says Sally. "Hey, Sally. The hover unit is all packed," calls Rotor. "Okay. Diane, now it's time to wake up Dan," says Sally. Diane walks into Dan's tent. A few minutes later, they hear a rustling in the tent and then Dan who is a wreck and Diane walk out of the tent while carrying his stuff. They quickly break down the tent after they had set down Dan's stuff. Later after they have got into the hover unit, "Rote, how about you fly us home. I'm in no shape to," says Dan. "Sure thing," says Rotor as he sat behind the controls. Dan sits in the far back; Diane walks up to Dan and sits next to him. "Hey, lets talk," says Diane in her most soothing voice. Sonic and Sally look back at Dan and Diane and notice that they are talking. "I understand how he feels," says Sonic, "I felt the same way when uncle Chuck was roboticized." "Yeah, but we were able to free his mind from Robotnik's control, and we knew what had happened to Uncle Chuck. We don't even know what had happened to Dan's parents," says Sally. "I hope that we find his parents or a clue as to what happened to them," finishes Sonic. Sally nods in agreement. They look back again and see that Dan has fallen asleep with Diane holding him, keeping him safe, and reassuring him. The end Author's note: I wrote this story for fun not profit. If you want to print it out feel free to do so. I can't stop you. If you want to use Dan Michaels or Diane Forests; please ask me for permission. All other characters belong to Sega, Archie comics, and DIC. If you have comments or suggestions e-mail e at mdpii@hotmail.com