Across the room, Sparx and Ava Cross were sitting at another table, spying on them from behind their menus.  Sparx snickered.  "I can't believe Cer would dress up like that!"  she whispered to Ava.
    "I figured that Rox would have better taste in men," Ava chuckled.  "But all joking aside, they really are a cute couple..."
    "Don't let Cerebral hear you say that," Sparx warned, "you know how he hates being called cute!!"
    "Are you ready to order??" asked their waiter, who had snuck up on them.
    Surprised, Sparx hurriedly answered, "No.. give us a few more minutes."  She wanted to get rid of that waiter before Cerebral or Roxy saw them.
    As the waiter walked away, Ava shot Sparx a glance.  "Did you hear that??" she questioned.  Suddenly, the ceiling started to fall in!  Roxy took a glance up and screamed, "Cerebral!!!!"
    "Huh?" Cer said as he looked up, too.  "Holy sh**!" he yelled.   Instantly the roof began glowing purple, and Cerebral was wincing under the force of the ceiling he was telekinetically holding up.  "Rox..get...people....out," he mumbled as he fell to the ground under the strain, "can't...hold..out....much..longer!"  Roxy immediately began helping the frantic people get out of the building.  Ava and Sparx began helping too.
    "When did you get here?" Roxy asked.
    "Ummmm, we just came in..." Ava stuttered. Suddenly Psycho W. Hedgehog came bursting in.
    "I thought I heard--HOLY MOTHER OF GOD!!" he yelled as he looked up.  He began helping the people leave by carving a few more exits in the walls with his Psycho Spin.  Soon the building was evacuated.
    "Cerebral!!!  Where are you??" Roxy yelled. "I hope he's all right." she said.
    "I'm sure he's fine," Sparx reassured her.
    Psycho heard a noise over by one of the tables.  "Over here!!" he called to the others.  He ran over and found Cer, nearly unconscious. "Get out of here, now!!!" he cried to the others as he slung Cerebral over his shoulder.  Suddenly, the purple glow around the ceiling faded and it came crashing down on the group. "Oh, man.  This is gonna HURT..." Psy muttered as it fell in on him.

    Cerebral woke up to find a strange echidna standing over him.  "Whoa,"  he said as he stood up, "if feels like I was hit by a Mack truck!  What happened??" Then he took a good look at the person who had revived him. "Who are you??" he questioned.
    "Let's get everyone else up, then we'll make introductions," the Echidna suggested.
    "K." Cerebral agreed, then set to the task of waking his dosing companions.
    "Hey!  Kickin', chickens!  I'm not dead!!' Ava joyfully exclaimed as she shook out the cobwebs.  "Umm, why am I not dead??" she questioned to no one in particular.
    "I guess we're just lucky," Roxy figured as she stood up.  "Ohhh, I've got a headache the size of  Knothole," she complained. Then she glanced at Cer. "Oh, Cerebral, you're all right!!" she exclaimed as she rushed over and planted one on his lips.
    "Just don't ask me to hold up any more restaurant ceilings, and I'll stay that way, O.K.??"  he joked.  Then he kissed her back.
    "Geez, guys, save it, will ya?" Ava said.  "We've still got to find out where we are," she looked at the echidna, "and who he is."
    "Well, I can answer that last question myself.  I'm Morningstar," the echidna informed them, "but I have no idea where we are or why we're here."
    "Well, I guess we should follow the signs," Sparx stated as she pointed to a neon arrow pointing down a passageway.
    "Let's go!" Cerebral said. "The sooner we get out of here the better."

    After a while, the group came to a wall. "Oh, this is just GREAT. Now we have to turn back. What a waste of time," moaned Roxy.
    "Wait," said Morningstar, "and look closer at the wall..."  On the wall hung 3 keys.  They were labeled A, B, and C. A keyhole was imbedded into the stone.  "I'm guessing that one of those keys will open a door or something, and the others probably lead to a trap.  Who wants the honours??"
    "I'll try," offered Psycho.  He stepped up to the keys. "Hmmm, which one should I take??  Aha!  I've got it!!" he exclaimed. "Eenie, meenie, mienie, moe..." he began.
    "Psycho!!!" Sparx cried.  But she was too late, Psy had already taken a key from the wall and stuck it into the keyhole.  He turned it, but nothing happened.
    "Huh??  What a rip-off!  This does nothing!!  Ohh, when I get my hands on the creep that set up this little prank..." he slammed his fist into the wall.  A creaking was heard, and a door opened in the wall. "Well, I'll be.." Psycho said.  "Heh, just a little rusty, I guess"
    Psycho carefully led the way, with the others following.  They soon came to a room.  "What?!?!  Another empty room?  This is getting annoying, "  Cerebral mumbled.  Suddenly, the image of a cloaked furry appeared out of nowhere.
    "You have gotten past the first obstacle, but now you face the cats!!" the figure said, before disappearing.
    "That voice..." Morningstar said reflectively.  "It sounds familiar..."
    "Now you face the cats," Ava said in a mocking tone. "Geez, I never thought that you average house cat would be that dangerous."
    "Ummmm, Ava, those aren't your average house cats." Roxy said, trembling, as she pointed behind Ava.
    "Huh, what??" Ava  muttered to herself.  She turned around to face three of the biggest lions she had ever saw. "Ohhhh, those cats..." she said, then ran to the other side of the room, where everyone else had already gathered.
    "Uh, Cer, now would be a good time..." Roxy prompted.
    "Just a minute," Cerebral responded, and just as one of the lions pounced, the jewel on Cer's headband began glowing. The lion bounced harmlessly off the purple shield that Cer had just put up.  "O.K., we're safe, but now what?" he questioned.
    "Maybe if we wait, they'll go away," Sparx suggested.
    "I doubt it, considering that the door they came in just closed,"  Psy stated.
    "Well, then, I'll have to handle it," Sparx said.  She raised her hands and pointed them at two of the lions.  Suddenly, lightning shot from her hands and nailed the lions, who fell to the ground.  The other lion was dropped the same way.
    "Fancy shootin', pardnah," Cerebral said with a western accent..
    The shield was dropped and everyone began looking for a way out.  Psycho banged  his fist on the wall again, thinking that maybe this door was 'rusty' too.
    "Owww!  Hey, that wall is allot harder than last time!" he yelped.
    "Ha!!  I think I've found it!" Ava proudly exclaimed.  She pulled a loose stone from the wall and let it fall to the floor. "This part of the wall is nothing but loose bricks," she said.  No one moved.  "Are you all stupid or something??  Help me make an opening big enough for us to pass through!"  Soon the wall was broken down, and with Ava leading the way,  the friends continued their trek.  Soon they emerged into a chamber completely made of some shiny metal. There was a tinted glass window high up on one wall.
    "This shine is giving me a headache," Cerebral moaned.  Suddenly the door to the chamber slammed shut and five spotlights shined down and the confused group. The metal reflected the light so that everyone had to cover their eyes to keep from blinding themselves.

    From behind the glass, a white echidna looked on.  "I don't know how they made it here, but now I have them right where I want them,"  he thought to himself.  He grabbed a microphone off of the control panel in front of him and began to talk.
    "Hello, freedom fighters," he sneered. "Not fighting very well this time, are you??  Seems to me you're losing.  What a shame, too, that six lives must end today.  I was counting on more!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
    "This guy's psycho!" Roxy said.
    "No, I'm Psycho," stated Psy.
    "THIS IS NO TIME TO BE JOKING AROUND, PSY!!"  she yelled back.
    "Sorry," Psycho quieted down.
    " I did recognize that voice..." Morningstar stood up and took his hands off of his eyes, "it's Darkstar!!"
    "What!?!?  Morningstar!!  How did you get in with this group???  Wait, the light...." the voice over the speaker began.
    "That's right!!  You're giving me a super-jolt of energy, bro, and it's coming right back at ya!!" Morningstar exclaimed as he raised his hands and fired off  a super-powered laser right at the glass, which shattered into a million pieces.
    "Uh, this is my cue to leave," Darkstar said as he headed for an exit.  Morningstar wasn't able to make it into the room until Darkstar was well away.
    "Shoot!!  He got away.  Oh well, I guess I'd better turn off these lights before no one can see anymore," Morningstar said as he flicked a few switches on the control panel.  The lights quickly died down, and everyone opened their eyes and blinked a few times until their vision returned to normal.
    "Aaah, I'm blind!!" Psy said, with a strange accent, as he staggered around the room with his hand over his eyes.  Sparx, with a bored look, reached over and removed Psycho's hand from his face.  "I can see!!  It's a miracle!!!"  Psycho couldn't help joking around.  He then looked at Roxy, and asked "Is it all right to make jokes now, Rox??"
    "Yeah, I guess it's fine," she said with some hesitation, as if considering what to say.  Then she laughed.
    "O.K.,  so now I want explanations.  Who was that maniac behind the glass, how did Morningstar do whatever he did to get him out of here, and when do we eat?  I'm hungry!"  Cerebral asked.
    Sparx smirked "The way to that man's heart,"
    "Is always through his stomach!" Roxy finished, chuckling.
    "Well," Morningstar began, "that 'maniac' was my brother.  He has always been rooting for Robotnik, and Robo-butt had enlisted him as a special services agent.  See, as a non-robotisized furry, he could easily get places that any robot would have been scrapped trying to get into.  I was the only one who knew about his alliance with Robotnik, and frequently stopped him from spying in on resistance activities. When Robotnik died, Darkstar disappeared.  As for me, I can turn any light source into a laser, the intensity of the light determines how powerful I can make the laser.  Also, light doesn't bother me, so I don't have to worry about going blind when looking into bright lights."
    "And as for that last question, hows abouts we all go over to my place and have a barbecue!! After, of course, we make Morningstar an official freedom fighter!" Ava exclaimed.
    "Sounds great!!" Psycho agreed.
    "I can smell the burgers now!!"  Cerebral licked his lips.
    "Sorry, guys," Morningstar said, "but I'm going to fight for the cause alone, on my own terms.  Don't worry, though, I'll keep in touch." With that he disappeared in a blinding flash of light.
     "Oh, well, I guess he's on his own..." Roxy commented.
     "Yeah, but can we get to the barbecue??? I'm starved!!" Cer complained.
     "Sure, let's go!" Sparx said. They all had a great time.