This really isn't a dedication. This is more of a story. Right now, I'm 
pushing all my friends away from me. Two of them hate my guts, and one has 
yet to start. I screwed up those friendships because I couldn't control my 
emotions, much like Sally in this tale. To get back to the point, I've decided 
to become a loner. I don't want to associate myself with anyone else for fear 
that I'll hurt them too. I've lost two friends so far. Let's see if I can make 
it three. I probably will, because when I get down, I take everyone else with 
me. I'm obnoxious, annoying, and totally immature for the age of sixteen, but 
I'd just like to say to God and the world.....I'm sorry.

	"The Plan" by Holly-Beth Vixie Kraft

	"Okay guys! Head in!" whispered Sally to the squirrel and meerkat next 
to her.
	Sally's plan was ideal. The Freedom Fighters were entering the Death Egg 
to destroy a load of Tech-bots who were working in a Swat-bot factory, 
therefore slowing down Robotnik's plans for a new Destroyer.
	Sally, Bunnie, and Sonic waited for the two friends to come out. It 
had been way too long.
	"Why haven't they come out yet?" asked Bunnie.
	"Better check the ol' specs!" said Sonic, reaching for his pair of 
infrared binoculars.
	"What do you see?" asked Sally anxiously.
	"The ol' round guy! He's at the plant." exclaimed Sonic.
	"Quick, let me look, Sonic." said Sally.
	Sonic handed the binoculars to Sally, who then proceeded to tell her 
friends what was happening.
	"Robotnik's out of the cruiser....he..he's got Andy and Ryan!"
	"I'll get 'em Sal! Don't you worry!" said Sonic racing off towards the 
factory.
	"Oh my gosh! Robotnik has a portable Roboticizer! He's going to 
Roboticize Andy and Ryan! Oh no....this is all my fault..."
	"It's all right Sally-girl. The plan's just a little shaky. Sonic will 
get 'em!" comforted Bunnie.
	Sally continued to watch through her binoculars. She was so upset. 
She'd lost many of her people to messy planning before. She always blamed 
herself, which wasn't good.
	Suddenly Sally perked up.
	"Sonic's there...he's trying to take the portable out of Robotnik's 
hands--" Sally gasped.
	"Oh my stars! What's happening?"
	"He Roboticized Ryan, and now he has Andy....Sonic's on his way 
back..." Sally began to cry softly.
	Bunnie ran up to Sally and comforted her friend.
	"Don't cry Sally. No one meant for this to happen." said Bunnie, 
holding back her tears for the well-being of her friend.
	"But Bunnie, I needed to make a clearer game plan. I was too 
scratchy!" cried Sally between sobs.
	"Sugar, y'all can't be everywhere at once! You know that!" Bunnie 
reminded her.
	"But I could at least TRY to be everywhere at once!" said Sally 
squarely.
	"Oh Sally..." Bunnie trailed off.
	Soon Sonic was back, holding the same remorseful ceremony.
	"I was too late."
	Bunnie went and gave Sonic a huge, but not crushing, hug.
	"Sugarhog, Robotnik's the one you should blame. He started this out of 
control war...c'mon...let's go home." said the cybunny, and she took Sally 
under her arm.
	Sonic held onto Bunnie, and then raced off to Knothole.

	"I can't believe how incredibly stupid I am!" shouted Sally.
	"Pleeze ma preencess, do not cry. You are not stupeed! Robotneek ees 
much too sinistear, and he holds all zee clubs!" said Antoine.
	"You mean aces, Tony." Dulcy corrected.
	"Sally, you know it wasn't your fault," said Rotor, "don't blame 
yourself!"
	"But this has happened too many times! We've lost nine villagers to my 
idiotic plans!" said Sally angrily.
	"Sally, those losses couldn't have been helped. Look, we know that we 
need to perfect our planning. We need to send in more spies..maybe even get 
our information from the horses mouth!" said Rotor.
	"Huh? What'd you mean by that?" Sally said, confusion written all over 
her face.
	"The perfect plan! We send in one of you guys, disguised as robots! 
Then, when they make it inside, they just go about their business. Totally 
undetected." explained the walrus.
	"One problem, Rotor. They will be detected! They have to go through 
security!" Sally countered.
	Rotor opened a flap in his work belt.
	"Not now, they won't." he said, holding up a small microchip.
	"What's that?" asked Sally.
	"It's what I call 'The Security Scrambler'. It performs a scramble 
channel that automatically goes through all frequencies. This way, when you 
are asked for your ID card, the chip will find the one frequency that works. 
It has to!" smiled Rotor.
	"Okay...but where am I going to find a costume?" Sally asked.
	"What? Sally you can't go!" exclaimed Rotor.
	"And why not?" Sally demanded.
	"You're not mentally stable right now. You've been under a lot of 
stress, and this will only add to it!" Rotor explained.
	"Rotor, I've been under stress since the day of the coos! I want to do 
this!"
	"All right, Sally. If it really means that much to you. I'll get 
Sonic." said Rotor turning to leave.
	"Whoa! Hold it! I'm doing this mission solo!" said Sally defiantly.
	"Sally!"
	"No, Rotor. Just help me get the costume ready."
	"Be careful ma preencess! Zees ees very dangeroose!" said Antoine.
	"I will Antoine. Come on Dulcy. I need you to take me to Robo-town." 
replied Sally.
	"All right. I'll be outside waiting for ya." said Dulcy.
	"Okay Sally. Let's do it to it!" said Rotor.

	"She's what?!"
	"She's going on a solo mission to Robotropolis, Sonic. You heard me." 
said Rotor.
	"She can't go there! She'll be fried alive!" shouted the hedgehog.
	"She wanted to, Sonic. I wasn't about to stop her." replied Rotor, 
calmly.
	"How could you let her go?! I hafta go after her!" said Sonic.
	"No, Sonic! Just let her be. This mission will mean a lot to her." 
said Rotor.
	Sonic calmed down a bit.
	"All right...If it really means a lot to Sal, I'm on her side."
	Rotor and Sonic quietly walked to Rotor's computer room.

	"Sally, this IS dangerous...are you still sure you wanna go through 
with this?"
	"Of course, Dulcy. It's the least I can do for our lost friends. I owe 
it to them." Sally said.
	"All right, but I want you to know that I'll be waiting at the edge of 
the Robotropolis boundary line. If you need my help, just whistle. 
Literally!"
	Dulcy then proceeded to make a negative ten-point landing.
	After Dulcy saw Sally into her Tech-bot costume, the dragon wished the 
princess a safe path, then she flew off.
	Sally was alone.
	Sally started up towards the Swat-bot work force. She was asked for 
identification, and was not surprised to notice that Rotor's microchip had 
actually worked, thus granting her confirmation.
	Once inside, Sally went through another process of identification. 
Passing the test, Sally then headed towards the Roboticizer. There she would 
wait for fat ol' ChromeDome, intent on Roboticizing him and, hopefully, 
Snively too.
	Sally set to work at a control panel. She began to call up files, and 
had Nicole, who was attached to a rotating panel of the costume, copy them. 
Sally found access to Robotnik's list of what he was planning on next. 
	Sally read it to herself.
	'Hmmm...Darkwind Swat-bot Patrol on mission to destroy city of 
Northbreeze...Roboticization list...What have we here?...'
	Sally found a file of the names of Freedom Fighter settlements. 
Knothole was the first on the list, mostly since it hadn't been found yet, 
but besides Sally's home, she saw many other names of towns. She made Nicole 
copy the whole file.
	'Better stop now,' thought Sally, 'Don't want any unnecessary 
attention.'
	The princess couldn't have picked a better time to stop because just 
then, Robotnik entered the room. Behind him, along with two Swat-bots, were 
eleven Freedom Fighters. Sally had a new plan.
	When Sally had gone to the past, she was able to shut down the 
Roboticizer with Nicole. This time, she'd do the same thing, but only she'd 
have Nicole hooked up to a power source to cause even more damage than she 
would have on battery power. It was going to be risky.
	"Prepare the Roboticizer!" shouted Robotnik.
	Sally rolled over to the control panel for the evil machine, and 
waited for Robotnik to turn around. He finally did, to give a dramatic 
speech to his captives. He loved it.
	With the Roboticizer off-line, she'd be able to warn Knothole and have 
them send help so they could free the captured Freedom Fighters. This was 
great! Sally actually made a flawless plan!
	While Robotnik continued to gloat, Sally hooked up Nicole.
	"Activate..." she whispered.
	Suddenly the Roboticizer began to spray little sparks all over the 
Roboticizing room.
	Sally then began to talk in a robotic voice, enhanced by a voice 
changing microphone.
	"Roboticizer malfunction...Roboticizer malfunction... Roboticizer 
malfunction...Roboticizer malfunction..." she droned.
	"I KNOW THAT YOU STUPID TIN CAN! DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!" screamed 
Robotnik.
	"Shut down sequence not initiating. Severe damage has occurred. Cannot 
shut down..." continued the princess.
	"Get the prisoners back to their cells! On the double!...SNIVELY!" 
shouted Robotnik to his Swat-bot squad.
	Sally wanted to pat herself on the back. She unhooked Nicole when 
Robotnik wasn't looking and put her in the slot on the rotating door. The 
door proved quite handy. It just flipped around when she needed Nicole, and 
flipped out of sight when she didn't.
	Robotnik didn't seem to detect Sally's absence. She was home free!
	She exited the Death Egg and ditched the costume, putting Nicole in 
the little slot that was provided in her boot. Then Sally proceeded to 
whistle as loud as she could, and before long, Dulcy came into sight.
	"Great to see ya Sal!" exclaimed the dragon as she lowered a rope down 
to Sally to climb on.
	"You too! C'mon, let's get back to Knothole." said Sally.
	Making sure Sally was holding on tight, Dulcy lifted higher off the 
ground, the princess swaying in the air.

	"Sal! You're back!" exclaimed an ecstatic hedgehog.
	"Of course!" she said, receiving a big hug from Sonic.
	"We were worried about you, sugar! Rotor told us all about it." said 
Bunnie.
	"Yeah!" piped in Tails.
	"What'd you manage to do to Robuttnik?" asked Sonic.
	"Well, I think I shut down the Roboticizer for a few days, plus, 
Robotnik captured eleven Freedom Fighters. They're back in the holding 
cells! Now we can go save them!" smiled Sally.
	"Yeah! ...Way cool, Aunt Sally ...Yessss! ...All right! ...hooray!" 
came her reply.
	"C'mon you guys, let's get ready to save those Freedom Fighters!" 
shouted Rotor, motioning for everyone to gather in his workshop to work on 
the newest scheme.

	"Now remember Tails, you go into the command center and stall 
Robotnik, we'll be going into the holding area. When we free everyone, we'll 
send you a tap on this communi-pulse bracelet. Once you feel the tap, get 
out as fast as you can! Got it?" said Sonic.
	"Gotcha Sonic! No problem!" smiled Tails.
	"All right. Let's go." Sonic said to the others.
	Tails set off for the command center, where Robotnik and Snively spent 
most of their time. He was gonna show them! Robuttnik and Snerdly won't know 
what hit 'em!
	As soon as Tails got to the door, he took out Rotor's ID card. In two 
seconds, the door opened and Tails nonchalantly strolled in.
	"What in the-? Snively! Get him!" shouted Robotnik as he noticed the 
little Freedom Fighter.
	"Whoops! I guess I got the wrong room! I was looking for people with 
an I.Q. higher than a turnip's!!" mocked the little fox.
	"Security!" Snively shouted.
	Tails then set himself to flying high above the two villains, way out 
of reach from the ground Swat-bot team, but with the sneaky Stealth-bots, 
Tails had to escape.
	Tails zipped and spun around the command center, managing to get the 
bots to crash into each other in mid-air. Tails had been practicing his 
flying a lot back at Knothole, and it finally paid off. 'Too bad Sonic isn't 
here!' he thought.
	"Nice try Moon-head, but I don't think your factory-second bots are 
gonna stop me! I'm Tails! The best flying fox in the universe!" shouted 
Tails, gleefully.
	"Not for long, young one," growled Robotnik, "Fire lasers!"
	Tails gasped as the Swat-bots aimed for him. Now he knew why Sonic had 
such a huge ego! He could always outrun it!
	Laser fire shot past the two-tailed fox as he swooped and dipped, 
landing on the rafters high above to rest.
	'Being a Freedom Fighter is a LOT of work,' he thought to himself.
	Suddenly, Tails felt a tap on his wrist. They were done! Turning 
around one last time in the air to hover over Robotnik.
	"Gotta go, you big round dork!" he smiled, and then exited the closed 
doors with his card.
	Behind him, Tails could hear Robotnik's wild screams of anger.
	"Boy, is Snively gonna get it this time!" he said to himself.

	"Tails! You're all right!" shouted Sonic as he noticed his little 
buddy.
	"Sonic!" laughed Tails as he ran up to receive a huge hug from his 
mentor.
	"We did it T2! Rotor, Bunnie, Sally, and all the others are waiting 
outside! C'mon!" said Sonic, putting Tails on his back and zooming out the 
main entrance.
	Outside, Tails noticed the eleven new individuals standing before him.
	"These are the Freedom Fighters of Red Pond, Tails. We saved them!" 
explained Sonic.
	"Way past cool, Sonic," Tails waved to the others, "Hi!"
	"There'll be plenty of tahm to get ta know each other when we get back 
to Knothole! Right now, let's occupy ourselves with the task of gettin' 
home!" exclaimed Bunnie.
	After all the rescued Freedom Fighters were on Dulcy, Sonic, Sally, 
Bunnie, Rotor, Antoine and Tails headed off.

	Back at Knothole, there was a great celebration. All of it in Sally's 
honor.
	Tails also was praised for his brave actions in the face of peril. 
Sonic was very proud of him.
	"See Sally," said Bunnie, "I told you that you have good plans!"
	"Yeah," added Rotor, "we saved two more people than we lost! Think of 
the families you've saved. You're a hero!"
	"Not really..." said Sally.
	"Pfft..yeah right!" sputtered Sonic.
	"You saved a whole lot of people, and I'm sure theyÕll beg to differ." 
said Dulcy.
	"Three cheers for Sally and Tails!"
	"Hip-hip-hooray! Hip-hip-hooray! Hip-hip-hooray!"


	Three days later, Knothole Village had settled down. Sally's mentality 
looked much better. She had her sweet disposition as always, and now, she 
led a less uninteresting life. She was so much better off now.
	Sonic was in the shade of a pine tree, sitting in a lawn chair, 
wearing his swimming shorts and shades, listening to his portable CD player, 
while sipping a glass of lemonade. He tipped his glasses and saw Sally 
approaching.
	Putting away his CD player, he greeted the princess and invited her to 
sit on his lap. Doing so, she gave Sonic a kiss on his cheek.
	"Thanks for being there, Sonic Hedgehog." she said delicately.
	"I'll always be here Sal. For you, and for everyone. Don't forget it." 
smiled Sonic, "C'mon, get your suit and let's go swimming in the pond!"
	"Sure! That'll be great! I'll be right back." said Sally and ran to 
her hut.
	Sonic noticed her run. Usually, Sally walked. All the time. She only 
ran when she had to. But now Sonic saw a different Sally. She was carefree 
and alert, all at the same time. Past cool, he thought to himself.
	Sally arrived a minute later wearing her suit.
	"Let's go!" she said.
	Sonic folded up his chair and walked Sally to the pond.
	Sally was finally happy.

THE END