If you're a SatAM fan like me, you'd probably give anything for just one more episode. It wouldn't even have to be the mysterious third season! Just one more good ol' Sonic-Sally-and-the-gang-having-wacky-adventures-and-fighting-Robuttnik episode.

WELL, a few years ago, I noticed that there's kind of a story in the SatAM opening sequence itself. Look it up on Youtube, sing along to "Fastest Thing Alive," and about 16 seconds in, watch it very closely. Preferably in HD. Watch it again, and again, and you'll see it, too. I have watched the intro hundreds of times while writing this, and there are all sorts of cohesive little details I had missed for years. I couldn't get this "lost episode" idea out of my head, and now, it's finally finished!

I tried very, very hard to make everything - the plot, the tone, the dialogue, the tropes, and even the cartoony non sequiturs - as true to SatAM as possible. It even has commercial breaks! My goal was to end up with a plausible episode, so to help you picture the show, there are a lot of visual cues within the prose.

So, fellow SatAM fans, this is for you! I hope you like it. After setting up the story, things will start getting really familiar at the end of Act 2. :)

© Kahunalilly 2015

ACT 1

The sun glittered on the Great River as Sonic the Hedgehog and Miles "Tails" Prower relaxed on Knothole's bridge. The former shredded a fast-paced solo on a red electric guitar while the latter sat on the edge, clasping a fishing pole and swinging his feet as idly as the red and white bobber undulating on the surface.

Sonic leapt onto the railing, his fingers flashing as he ended with a power chord. "That was awesome, Sonic!" Tails exclaimed.

"Thanks, Big Guy!" the blue hedgehog replied. He peered into the sparkling water. "Any bites?"

"Nothing yet..." The fox squinted at the bobber. As if he had willed a fish to take the bait, it suddenly disappeared. "Hang on! I think I got somethin'!"

"Reel in that ol' fishstick!" Sonic encouraged. Tails gritted his teeth and reeled as fast as he could. With a final grunt, a silvery fish burst out of the water.

"I caught one!" he chimed.

"Past cool fishing, buddy!" Sonic admired, beaming.

As Tails reeled the fish up to the bridge, the babbling of the Great River began to quiet. "Huh?" Sonic's head whirled toward the change. The water level was mysteriously falling, and fast.

"What's happening to the river, Sonic?" The boy's eyes were large with alarm.

The flow slowed to a trickle then stopped altogether. Fish that had previously hidden in the river's depths now flopped on the muddy bottom.

Sonic furrowed his brow. "I don't know, Tails, but I don't like it one bit. Let's juice back to Knothole and tell Sal."

" - And the next second, the river just stopped!" Sonic finished recounting to Sally, Bunnie, Rotor, and Antoine in Sally's hut.

"It's true!" Tails piped up since Antoine looked skeptical. "All the fish besides the one I caught were flopping on the ground!"

"That is strange…" Sally pondered.

"I'd bet a Power Ring that Robotnik has something to do with it," spat Sonic.

"But why would Robotneek be stopping ze water?" Antoine shrugged.

Sally turned to her computer. "Hmm, Nicole intercepted a recent transmission from Robotnik that mentioned hydroelectric power…"

Sonic scratched his head. "Hydro-what?"

"It's electricity created from the power of flowing water," Sally explained patiently, "but she couldn't decrypt the whole message."

"If Robotnik is stealing the Great River to generate power," Rotor ventured, "he could be working on something big."

"Big and nasty," added Bunnie, her voice dark.

"Sounds like we need to go to Robotown for some serious recon," said Sonic, smacking a fist into his other hand.

"Agreed," said Sally. "The sooner the better."

"Never fear, mah prinzess," Antoine interjected. "I shall be going on ze mission to save you!"

"From what?" Sonic demanded. "We don't even know what Robuttnik's up to."

"Why, from a terr-EE-ble thirst!" Antoine seized Sally's hand and kissed it repeatedly.

"Yuck," said a disgusted Tails. Sonic rolled his eyes.

"Fine, Antoine," Sally relented, pulling her hand away. "You can go with Sonic." Sonic's jaw dropped as Antoine's chest puffed. "And Sonic, I'll let you pick a third member of the reconnaissance team. Rotor and I will try to learn more about what Robotnik might be scheming."

"Can I go, Sonic?" Tails begged.

"Sorry, Big Guy. This mission could be mondo dangerous."

"Oh," the boy's face fell then brightened. "How about Red? He's way past cool, and a fox like me!"

"Great idea!" Sonic grinned. "We'll need all the coolness we can get to make up for An-twerp."

From his command tower, Robotnik shrewdly watched monitors showing SWATbots working on a gigantic concrete structure spanning a river. His robotic pet, Cluck, perched on the armrest of his mechanized chair.

"When will the hydroelectric plant be at full output, Snively?" the evil doctor demanded.

Donning headphones and typing at a control panel, Snively drawled his reply. "With the new dam harnessing the Great River, the plant will reach 20,000 megawatts in less than two hours, sir."

"Excellent! The river is the perfect source of both power and coolant for my new Megaboticizer." He gave a sinister chuckle. "Isn't killing two birds with one stone poetic?" Cluck uttered a mechanical cluck. "No offense," Robotnik crooned, reaching out to stroke the chicken's head. "With my wondrous machine, I will soon command an army of colossal, mindless robots to crush the miserable Freedom Fighters!"

Snively joined the wicked mirth. "Perhaps we'll have the chance to test it on a dratted beast soon."

"Oh, I very much hope so, Snively." Robotnik heaved a grotesquely anticipatory sigh and squeezed a black-gloved fist. "I very much hope so, indeed."

Sonic, Red, and Antoine made their way up the waterless river along its bank. Mile after mile, they passed multitudes of stranded fish. "Why am I getting ze bad feeling about zis?" whimpered Antoine.

"'Cause it stinks like Buttnik," Sonic groaned. He sniffed, then wrinkled his nose. "Smells like we're getting close to Robotown."

Red, a tall, stalwart-looking fox, perked up his ears. "Sounds like it, too. Do you hear that?"

Sure enough, along with the strengthening stench of Robotnik's capital, the sound grew louder as the three continued upstream. It wasn't long before they reached the outskirts of the city. They rounded a bend and spied a giant, sinister structure that completely blocked the river. Dozens of SWATbots prowled around it.

"That's definitely where that noise is coming from," Red confirmed.

"It's gotta be the hydro-thing Sal was talking about," said Sonic. "Too bad Buttnik's taste for ugly design hasn't changed…"

Antoine shuddered. "Perhaps it is meaning zat Robotneek does have ze big plans…"

Red's face was set. "There's only one way to be sure."

"You are wanting to go in z-zat horrible p-place?!" stammered Antoine. "With all z-z-zose SWATbots?"

"Cram it, Ant!" Sonic snapped. "You volunteered for this mission to save Sally, remember?" Antoine gulped, and Sonic eyed the building. "C'mon, maybe there's an entrance on the other side. Juice time!"

After the coyote and the fox both took ahold of his arm, the hedgehog tore off across the drying river bottom.

"Sir, the piping to route river water from the plant to the Megaboticizer is complete," Snively reported from the control panel, "as well as the water storage and lock system."

"Very good, Snively." Robotnik steepled his fingers. On the monitors, he gazed at a view of an ominous contraption with a glass tube so enormous that it dwarfed the nearby SWATbots. "And what is the status of the plant's output?"

"Almost 100 percent, sir!" the sycophant intoned. "In fact, the Megaboticizer is fully operational as of right… now!"

"Marvelous!" Robotnik hissed. "The time is so close, I can taste it…"

The screen changed to a wide-angle, exterior view of the hydroelectric plant, and in the corner he caught some movement. "Well, well, well. What have we here?" From his armrest, Cluck clucked.

Snively tapped some keys on the control panel to zoom in, and before Robotnik's eyes appeared the one he loved to hate. "It seems some trouble makers have arrived right on cue, sir," Snively sneered, "including Sonic Hedgehog,"

A nefarious smile spread across the villain's face. "How kind of the rodent to grace this occasion with his presence," he chuckled. "I believe we should treat our guest of honor to the very first tour, followed by his dear friends, don't you agree?"

"Absolutely, sir," Snively assented, smirking. He commanded into his headset, "All Sector 20 SWATbot units, seize the hedgehog and Freedom Fighters!"

Sonic, Antoine, and Red crouched behind a scrap heap. On this side of the hydroelectric plant, there were only two SWATbots guarding a single door.

"Now this is too easy," Sonic complained. He dashed in between them. "Pardon me, do you have any Grey Poupon?" he inquired loftily. The SWATbots turned their laser guns toward him. Sonic leapt up high right before they blasted one another, somersaulted in the air, and landed nimbly. "I prefer chili on my dogs, anyway," he quipped, exultant as the robots sizzled. "Coast is clear, guys!"

Antoine and Red ran to join him, and the three entered the building. They found themselves in a room of soaring height with a long row of huge, rumbling generators. Beyond a guardrail, an incredible volume of white water churned below.

"Sacrebleu!" Antoine cried.

"There's the Great River!" Red barked over the din.

"And those must be the generators," Sonic scowled. "Rotor was right; Buttnik is making power by stealing our river!"

A bewildered Antoine wondered, "But 'ow are we to be getting it back?"

All of a sudden, metallic voices rang out, "HEDGEHOG, PRIORITY ONE." The trio spun and gasped when they saw a swarm of SWATbots clanking toward them.