"Easy...easy...easy..come on....just a little further...that's it...NO!!!!" Cerebral was in a local arcade playing a crane game to win a stuffed animal for Roxy. This was his fifth attempt at the same toy. "Stupid rigged scamming crane machine....take this!" He used his telekinesis to make the toy float into the retrieval bin. He handed it to Roxy who gave him a kiss on the cheek in thanks. "Get a room, you two!" joked Ava, who turned around just in time to see Sparx give Psycho a kiss. "Aargh!" cried Ava in vain. In a rare occasion, Snowy spoke up, "Guys, is it just me, or is it getting hot in here or what?" "Yeah, I feel it too." replied Utah, who had already started to sweat.The Island Freedom Fighters let the arcade, and walked to the central plaza of Echidnapolis. They went to the thermometer thingy, and checked the temperature, it was a scorching 37ºC!! Suddenly, Morningstar ran up, "Guys, there's a fire down by the Lava Reef Zone!" "Gasp! Let's go!" cried Sparx as she caught an air current and glided away. The rest of the gang caught up and they were on their way to save the day...or so they think.

As they got closer to the Reef, the heat grew stronger. Cerebral had to put a telekinetic shield around them. They finally arrived at the fire. "How are we gonna put the fire out?" asked Ava. "Throw sand on it!" replied Snowy.Cerebral used his powers, and collected a huge pile of sand which he threw at the fire. The fire was put out, but the heat didn't go away. Sparx looked ready to pass out. She fell to her knees. "Guys...can't...take...it--" mumbled Sparx, her eyelids drooped. Utah rushed over to her. "You O.K. Sparx?" he asked, very concerned. Sparx couldn't answer. She felt numb all over. "... ... ..." "Let's get outta here..NOW!!!" yelled Snowy, actually displaying emotion. "Who died and made you leader??" asked Utah sarcastically. Sparx's body went limp, and she fell unconscious. "Enough guys!" cried Morningstar, "Let's vacate this zone, Now!"Everyone started to leave when Sparx started to float in the air. "Cer, what the heck are ya doin'?" asked Roxy. Sparx disappeared. "That wasn't me?" he mumbled, in shock. "SPARX!!!!!" yelled Snowy. They ran from the reef, Snowy was looking really mad. "If I ever find out who's responsable for this, I'll hit em, and again, and--" started a furious Snowy. "We need cool heads, bro." said Roxy, full of worry for Sparx. They ran to Cer and Utah's hut where they had an emergency IFF meeting. They contacted Hunter Eagle, who came as fast as he could. "While I was flying over the reef, I used my X-Ray vision, and saw an underground lab. I could see Darkstar, and a red hedgehog. Darkstar was draining the red hedgehog, and producing the heat that's terrorizing the Island." he said. "Darkstar!" cried Morningstar, "I'll get him for this!" "Hunter, can you lead us to where you saw the lab?" asked Utah. "Follow me." he said as he flew off. Again the IFF rushed off towards the Lava Reef.

Sparx woke up, she couldn't move. "What the heck.." she mumbled to no one in particular. She looked to her right and saw a red hedgehog, who was tied down, like her. Her vision blurred. She started to get warm, and the feeling in her body returned, and she was able to move...somewhat. Once she could see again, she noticed an echidna standing in front of her. "Darkstar!!!" she yelled, hatred in her voice. "About time you noticed...it won't do you any good. The shakles that are holding you cannot be broken..." he started before Sparx interrupted him. "Oh really, if they're so strong, how can I do this?" she asked as she pulled the shakle off of her right arm, "Or this!" She did the same for her left arm. Darkstar gaped at that. But before Sparx could do anything else, Darkstar started up his machine and Sparx was rendered unconcious. "Take that..." said Darkstar as he resumed his work.

Back at the reef, Cerebral. Utah, Snowy, Roxy, Ava, Morningstar, and Hunter were just arriving. Hunter showed them where he saw the lab. Naturally, the rest of the gang couldn't see. "I can see Sparx down there now. She is also being drained." said Hunter, "Oh, and by the way, Utah, happy face boxers again?"Utah blushed, "Er...um...heh heh." "I wonder where the entrance is?" asked Ava, as she looked around a bit. "Have fun, it's not like Darkstar left it in the open. For instance, he'd be pretty dumb to put it in this rock fissure..." said Cerebral as he leaned on it. Suddenly, an entrance in the rock appeared, revealing a winding stairway, leading downwards. "I'd like to see you do that a second time, hon." said Roxy in amazment. They all headed downwards, singlefile since it was so narrow. It was dark, and they could barely see two feet in front of them. Finally, they reached a doorway. Hunter stepped forward, and used his x-ray vision to check out what was on the other side. He could see two elevated platforms. "I can see where Sparx and the other hedgehog are being held prisoner. I can also see Darkstar pulling a lever and--" he started before he was interrupted by Morningstar who asked "Lever????" before they fell down some sort of chute. They fell into a cavern. Their entrance was soon closed by a titanium door. Other than that, there were no openings. Cerebral tried to rip the doorway apart using his telekinesis, but it didn't work. Beads of sweat started to form on their foreheads. Out of nowhere, ligntning struck nearley hitting them. Cer quickly put a telekinetic shield around them, which kept out the ligntning, but not the heat. "Guess that's what Darkstar is using Sparx for..." commented Utah. "Ya think so?" asked Snowy sarcastically. The heat started to get to them. Snowy walked over to a wall, and started to examine it. Finding nothing, he quickly examined the rest of the walls until he found what he was looking for. He pulled back his fist, and slammed it into the wall. A crack ran up the wall, and onto the ceiling, which created a hole. The falling debris bounced harmlessly off of the shield. Each that could fly carried someone who couldn't and they went through the hole that Snowy had made.

They entered a brightly lit room. Inside were weapons of different sorts. "Jackpot!" exclaimed Utah as he picked up a sword, "Just a sec, this looks like Sparx's sword." "It is our fearless leader's sword, Utah." replied Roxy. They then proceeded to enter the next room. Finally, they had entered the place where Sparx was held. Darkstar was nowhere to be seen. They walked up to a machine. Ava looked at it, and pressed a button. The machine shut down. They then heard moaning come from a few feet behind them. The IFF turned and saw Sparx sitting up. "Maaaan! Do I ever have a headache." moaned Sparx. "I feel like I've got a hangover." said a new voice.Everyone looked at the hedgehog with fiery fur. "Who in blazes are you?" asked Roxy. "My name is Blaze," replied Blaze, "and--" He was cut off by a screeching voice, "HALT!!!!" Darkstar appeared brandishing a scimitar(real cool sword). Utah threw something at Sparx. "My sword!" she said as she caught it, "Engard, mon ami!"

Darkstar was excellent with the sword, but he was no match for Sparx, who had learnt at an early age. Her skills were unparalleled on the Floating Island. Even though Darkstar's scimitar was bigger, he was easily defeated. "It seams that I've underestimated you, Sparx." sneered the echidna. He lunged at her throat, but in a sweeping move, Sparx knocked the scimitar from his hand. She tripped him, and pointed her sword at his throat. "Surrender, and I can assure you of a nice jail cell in Echidnapolis." said Sparx. "Shut up you bi---" snarled Darkstar before Sparx punched him in the face. "Don't call me that!" she said as she punched him again. "You'll pay for this insolence." threatened Darkstar. "No one kidnaps me and gets away with it." she said cooly. "I did." cackled Darkstar as he disappeared in a flash of light. "Is it just me or do the greater part of our ennemies disappear in a flash of light?" asked Roxy. Every one nodded. Suddenly, the lab went black, and an electronic voice was heard, "Auto destruct sequence initialized." Blaze made a fire consume his body to create light. Ava thought that was cool. They ran to where the staircase was, but it was blocked by debris. They had to find another way out, or they would die.

They backtracked their way to the weapons room. Hunter scoured the room with his X-Ray vision, and found a secret tunnel."I can see a tunnel leading upwards. It must've been Darkstar's escape tunnel!" said the eagle. Utah cleared the weapons out of the way, and opened the hatch. **KABOOM** The lab was starting to explode. They all crawled into the tunnel. They didn't get too far when they came to a larger space that they could walk upright in. They ran. The heat was increasing. Blaze slowed so that everyone could pass him, and he took up the rear. Sparx looked at him quizzically. They were all knocked to their feet by a small quake. In the distance behind them, they could see bright light coming towards them."Uh oh!" said Cerebral. They booted farther down the tunnel, and they could finally see an exit. Ava looked behind her, and saw a huge fireball heading their way. Blaze stopped, unknown to the others, who exited the tunnel into the starry night. Sparx looked back just as the remnants of a fire spewed out of the cave. She took a head count, and noticed that someone was missing. "BLAZE!!!" she yelled. Everyone joined in to call for him. *hack, cough* "What?" came his voice. He came out, unhurt. "Phew, we thought that you were a goner!" said Roxy. They all had a good laugh when Sparx spoke up, "Guys, where's Psycho?"

It was near closing hours, but the Arcade was still bustling with activity. Psy was standing up right, hunched over, eyes bulging out of his skull, sweat running from his forehead and just kept rambling to himself, "Your mine!! HA HA!!," His voice was very disturbing, and started to make little kids cry at the arcade "YOU CAn'T escape me!! THE ALL MIGHTY!!!" the crane dropped the mario doll as it was half way to the little deposit hole. "NOOOO!!!!" He cried out in agony. Psycho, very desprate now, just started pressing the button like a mad man, raving about that mario doll, swearing and cussing like a salior.