Aftermath
Part 1: Bon Voyage
"We have finally returned home." A tired Sonic the Hedgehog proclaimed. It had been a rough time fighting their Anti's in Moebius, but they had all prevailed. As he stepped away from the portal he saw, that it had dropped them near Vanilla's house. He looked back and saw the others coming through. Tails was nursing a nasty gash on his arm, given to him by his doppelganger, Miles.
"I never want to go back there again." Tails said heading towards the house to get some medical attention.
"And hopefully we never will have to. Zonic said he could handle it." Sonic said with obvious relief. That was the scariest fight of my life. Scourge was brutal, and didn't pull any punches. Metal Sonic might know all my moves, but Scourge knew how I think. Sonic shuddered at the thought.
"Ah, we've been dropped off in the perfect place. These two need help now." Knuckles said carrying Amy out of the portal. His healing factor had reached its limit fighting O'Knux and he had a cut on his chest that he had crudely sewn together. Amy was unconscious from her fight with Rosy.
"I'll take Amy, you need to rest." Sonic said taking Amy. She weighed him down, but he had moved heavier. He heard Knuckles grunt behind him.
"What about you? You had to fight one of the most dangerous criminals in the multiverse. If I need rest you need a vacation." Knuckles reached to take Amy from Sonic but he was already at the door when Vanilla opened it.
"Oh dear! Come in, all of you. We've been worried sick about you!" She took Amy and placed her on a couch in the sitting room. "Knuckles sit down and I'll fix those stiches."
The two of them complied with the concerned woman. Knuckles grunted as Vanilla took out his stiches and redid them. Sonic sat in a chair next to Amy and brushed her hair out of her face. Just then he heard the door open.
"Vanilla, are they back yet? Julie is worried sick about them." Vector called from the doorway.
"Yes they are. Tell Julie that she should come down here right-!"
Vanilla started before Knuckles spoke.
"Vector, bring everyone down here. I need to speak with them all." He looked serious. An affirmative grunt came from Vector and the door closed. Knuckles sat back and closed his eyes.
Sonic wondered for a moment what Knuckles was up to before shrugging and deciding it had nothing to do with him went to help Vanilla get supplies.
Within no time others showed up to check on the Heroes. Maria, Shadow, Omega and Rouge were the first to show up. Rouge had gone to help with Amy, and Shadow congratulated Tails on his first big battle scar. Omega was sitting with Knuckles, as the latter stared at the door, waiting for Vector to come back. Maria sat next to Sonic and gave him a wet towel.
"Here, I heard you had a rough time." She looked at the floor like she knew something he didn't.
Sonic ignored this and sighed. "Well, I don't know if I had it the hardest. Just look at Amy."
Maria looked over at Amy and said, "Well, you haven't had any treatment. And you are the one that fought Scourge." She had a guilty look in her eye.
"What's wrong with you Maria? You look like you have something bad to say." Sonic looked at her but she shook her head.
"You'll find out soon." She stood up and walked away before he could ask anything else.
The door slammed open and Julie-Su ran in followed by the Chaotix. She slapped Knuckles with an angry look in her eyes. "IDIOT! Going into Enemy territory with only three people for backup! What were you thinking?!"
Knuckles moved his jaw as if to make sure it still worked and spoke. "I thought we could handle it. Obviously I was partially wrong." He motioned to a chair. "Sit. We can discuss what happened later. Right now I have an important announcement to make. Is Amy awake?"
"Now she is. She should be fine in a few minutes." Vanilla said looking over at Amy who was rubbing her arm.
"Good. I want everyone who fought Scourge and his cronies to hear this. Vanilla, normally I'd ask you to leave, but you are entitled to hear this as much as anyone else here." Knuckles turned to face the center of the room.
Sonic watched him closely. If he knew anything about Knuckles, this would be about how they weren't strong enough then, and that they should add more training time to their normal lives. "Go on then Knux, let's hear this spiel for the hundredth time."
Knuckles smirked and shook his head. "I hate to disappoint you, but I'm not going to end this the way you want. We got our asses handed to us back there, we scraped that victory. If we have trouble fighting them, what happens if someone stronger comes along? Answer, we die. That is a problem I don't think anyone wants to deal with right now. The solution is simple, but I don't think you'll like it. Intense, and rigorous training. Not the training I always tell you to do in your free time, but hard training. And in order for some of us to find that, we need to leave Mobius."
Sonic stared at him for a second before responding. "What? 'Some of us'? What does that mean?" He looked from face to face and saw the Chaotix looking away from him. It all clicked together. "You mean…"
Knuckles nodded. "We're leaving. For at least 5 years. I'm taking the Master Emerald with us, and we're going off planet to train our bodies in a heavier gravity. When we return, this will be where we all meet up. But before we even found our destination, we made sure that the rest of you had one as well. Amy, we found you a teacher in the mountains south of the Dragon Kingdom. Tails, the Mobian Air Force has agreed to teach you all they can even though you're a minor. Shadow, Maria, you already know where to go. Omega, there is a Data Base in Future City with all the information you need. Rouge, fifteen miles east of Sand Blast is an oasis where your teacher waits. And Sonic, your headmaster will be expecting you, do not disappoint him." He stood and headed towards the door. "Vector, is the stuff outside?"
Vector nodded and along with the other Chaotix stood to follow Knuckles. "Well, this is goodbye for now guys. I'll miss you all, but not as much as you Vanilla." Vector said romantically.
Julie kicked him forward. "Not now you walking purse. We don't want an emotional goodbye, that would make them miss us more." She followed Knuckles out the door and said, "Though five years is a long time to wait."
Sonic stood there, dumbstruck. The door closed behind Espio and there was a bright flash as a portal opened then closed minutes later. "They're gone…" was all he could say. The others looked at him, wondering what he was going to say. At last he had gathered up all the information, gone over it, and regained himself. "Well, you all heard him. If arrangements were made for us, then we should all go out and fulfill them. I shall see you all back here in 5 years time." He stood and walked to the door, the others following behind him. Outside they all lined up facing in different directions. Tails set off first, then Shadow and Maria, then Rouge, and Omega. At last only he and Amy remained.
"Sonic, are you sure about this?" Amy asked, still looking a little fatigued.
He shook his head. "No, but I don't want Knuckles to be right about stronger people. It's my sworn duty to protect Mobius from any threat that comes against it. And if one of you were to die while I was doing that I could never live with myself. Please, keep in touch. I'll be sure to visit if I can, no one can keep my in one place for long." He gave her a hug and walked off towards his destination.
Amy turned towards hers before turning slightly to Sonic. "Bon Voyage Sonic, I will see you soon."
TO BE CONTINUED
