Following Doctor Ivo Robotnik's ultimate defeat in The Final Victory, the people of the Green Hill Zone built the Statue of Freedom to mark their newfound freedom. A year and a half after its construction, the statue was the centrepiece of a Bonfire Night fireworks display, culminating in the launch of a rocket even bigger than the statue. Unfortunately, the firework was sabtoaged by Mad Ferret, putting the Zone in danger. Tails safely evacuated the villagers, but it soon became clear that the actual target was the Statue of Freedom. Sure enough, the rocket hit the statue dead centre and completely obliterated it. Ferret's plan was a success, with the shell-shocked residents believing the destruction of "freedom" to be a bad omen and that Robotnik would turn them all into Badniks within si