Later, Sonic; Tails; Sparx; and Roxy were exploring an uncharted part of the local forest.
    "Wow," Sparx exclaimed, "this landscape is beautiful!"
    "It's awfully peaceful..." commented Roxy.
    "Yea," Tails agreed, "it's one of the spots untouched by Robuttnick's rule." Suddenly, a group of swatbots jumped from the bushes.
    "Maybe you spoke too soon, little bro," Sonic stated as he began to rush one of the swatbots, curling into his Sonic Spin. He expected to slice right through the 'bot, but instead he just bounced off and landed roughly on the ground. "What?!?" Sonic exclaimed, "That bucket of bolts should be swiss cheese by now!!"
    "Let me try," suggested Sparx as she aimed at one of the 'bots and shot her lightning at it. The blast just reflected off the robot and shot back at Sparx, who bounded out of the way just in time. "Boy, that hurts my pride," she muttered to herself.
    Roxy took one look at what was happening and lunged at one of  the 'bots. "Prepare to be scrapped!!" she yelled as she collided into it with breakneck speed.  Roxy fell to the ground, unconscious, while the swatbot simply kicked her out of the way.
    "I'm going for help, guys," called Tails as he revved up his twin tails and began to fly away. Unfortunately for him and the rest of the gang, one of the swatbots nailed him with a stun beam. Even Sonic's super speed could not save him from the same fate. Sparx was still dodging gunfire and launching her lightning bolts, looking for a soft spot, when she was shot down. Her last thought before she fell unconscious was, "Oh God, I'm going to die."
 
    When Sparx began to wake up, she was surprised to be alive. Her vision was still blurry, but she thought she could make out the figure of Tails standing by her. She shook her head and looked again. On closer look, she realized that it wasn't Tails, but another fox. He had red fur and a headband with a gem imbedded on it, glowing bright purple. She stood up, and just then she noticed that everything around her and her companions had a strange purple hue to it.
    "You feelin' O.K.?" the fox asked.
    "Yea, I'm fine," Sparx responded, "but who are you??"
    "No time for that now," he said, and pointed to the swatbots who were still firing their lasers at them. The laser shots reflected away from the group, which was pretty odd, Sparx thought. The fox held something up in his hand. "You might need this," he said and lobbed it to her. As she grabbed it, a surge of energy pulsed through her.

    "A chaos emerald!!!" she exclaimed. Sparx wasted no time, she knew exactly what to do. Her super-powered lightning bolts easily began tearing the 'bots to shreds. She stopped in amazement, though, when she saw some of the robots glow intense purple and suddenly tear in two with incredible force. She continued staring until the last swatbot was destroyed, at which time the purple hue around her disappeared. Turning to the mysterious fox, she noticed that the jewel in his headband had stopped glowing. Together, they roused Sonic, Tails and Roxy..
    "Did anyone get the truck of that number???" asked Tails in a dazed stupor. Everyone, except Tails, burst out laughing. When all had regained control of themselves, the fox began speaking.
    "My name is Cerebral Fox," he began, "and I live near here. I used to live in a nice town near Knothole, but I was exiled about three years ago."
    "Exiled!?!" all listeners exclaimed in unison.
    "You see, I have telekinetic powers...," he started explaining, but Sparx cut him off.
    "So that's what was happening!!" she exclaimed. Seeing the confused looks of the group, she quickly told of what had happened between the swatbots and Cerebral.
    "O.K., so that jewel in your headband relates to your tele-whatever-it-is abilities," Sonic concluded.
    "It's telekinetic, and yes, the jewel helps me control my powers," Cerebral said. "My townspeople knew I was different and hated me for it. I was told never to return," he finished sadly.
    "But how did you know that this," Sparx asked, holding up the chaos emerald, "would help me?"
    "Well, I've kinda been watching you for some time now," Cerebral admitted shyly, "I found the emerald lying on the ground one day, and kept it to give to you some time, and now seemed like the right time. Oh, and if you were wondering, that purple hue that Sparx noticed was actually a force-field I'd put up to protect us," he added.
    "I figured as much," Sonic muttered, thinking to himself. Then he looked up, and asked "Hey, Cer, how would you like to live in Knothole from now on??"
    "I'd love to!!" Cerebral joyfully exclaimed.  Then he looked at Roxy, who was chatting to Sparx.  His eyes glazed over. "Wow," he breathed.  Sonic recognized the look on Cerebral's face and strided up to him. "Who's that?" Cerebral whispered to him still staring.
    "That's Roxy, a local Floating Island resident, " Sonic whispered back.  "You interested?"
    "Me?" Cerebral asked, then recovered his composure. "Naw."  But he was thinking something very different...
 
    Back in Robotnick's lab, Robotnick had decided to check up on his swatbots. Activating his computer screen, he discovered that each and every one had been reduced to a pile of scrap metal. Crying out in rage, he said "There must be a flaw in my plans! This never should have happened. I'll have to scrap production of my new army until I figure out what's wrong." With that, Robotnick sulked out of the room, mumbling to himself.