authers's note. This is my first story I hope you enjoy it. Special thanks to asher tye for helping me edit. This is a story inspired by a couple of things and takes place in a world where the events of the satam tv show happened in the games. All properties belong to sega.
Running, it hurt. But in some weird way it was all Sonic knew and enjoyed.
"Sonic!" a distant voice yelled.
"Ahh come on! If they want me to try to endorse more macaroni I'm going to cut him in half!" Sonic stopped and turned to the direction of the voice. It echoed over the hills. Sure enough a tall athletic looking gecko ran over to him.
"OH, huhhh, huhh, sorry let me, huhh, you are a hard man to find!" he exclaimed, stopping and panting on his knees within proper speaking distance. Sonic impatiently crossed his arms.
"Has its perks, what's wrong?"
"I am part of the G.U.N, Acorn Kingdom is under attack. Your friend Tails is already there and we have a special request to summon you for assistance." For the first time in a while Sonic looked shocked.
"ACORN! Whaa, what…?" Sonic frowned and turned around, beginning to walk away. "Tails is there. I'm sure he and the royal guard can handle it."
"WAIT!" the gecko cried out. "Please they just want a little help… Do you have any idea how much money and time we spent to try to contact you in such a short period of time?" Sonic continued walking.
"Tails is a lot stronger than people think, I'm sure by the time I get there he will have the whole thing cleared up." The gecko ran and tried to grab the hedgehog's shoulder. As he reached out, Sonic felt and heard a rip like paper against rock. "You ripped your arm open on my spines, didn't you?" the hedgehog asked. He looked back and saw the poor gecko clutching his forearm, trying desperately to stop the blood from flowing from the huge open gash. The young hero sighed. "Hold the pressure point from your upper arm. Here let me help." Sonic pressed his hand tightly around the reptile's bicep, making him wince in pain. "Try to calm down and relax. It'll lower your heart rate and slow the blood loss. I'll have you at a hospital in a few minutes."
True to his word Sonic picked the gecko up and dashed to the nearest town, taking less than three minutes to make it from the wilderness to the emergency room. When he got there, the hedgehog helped set the agent on a gurney, while doctors began to prepare him for the E.R
"You'll be fine," Sonic told the tearful gecko. "Might scar, but you'll be fine. Sorry about the whole thing." Sonic stepped back to let the hospital men get to work, but with his good arm the gecko reached for him.
"Wait, Sonic," his voice was temporarily muffled as they put an oxygen mask on him. "Please, just go to the Acorn Kingdom, IT WAS MY MISSION!" he yelled as they wheeled him away. Sonic walked out of the E.R and quickly ran up the hospital wall to the roof. He looked at the small city's landscape and thought to himself.
'No, don't let him guilt trip you into this, they don't need you there.' Sonic slowly began to pace on the roof. 'Acorn, dam. …Her.' Sonic made a fist in rage. But the echoes of the pathetic gecko ran in his head. Sonic took a deep breath.
"OK," he finally decided. "But only because I feel bad."
It took Sonic eleven minutes to travel across several zones until he stood at the base of the mountain that formed the border of the Acorn kingdom. He climbed and soon stood looking at the kingdom ahead of him. The hedgehog couldn't help but think back to the last words he had said in this kingdom, to its then ruler.
"Fine! Leave! No, go away! GO!" tears rolled down her face wildly and her lips quivered trying to hold in the pain. Sonic tuned around and shouted.
"Fine! I will! And I'll ever come back!" The last thing he heard from her were incomprehensible cries.
But that was a long time ago and Sonic, never one to keep track of time, couldn't even figure out how many years had passed since then. He shook his head and dashed across the border. Sure enough in the sky was a massive airship, too small and subtle to be one of Robotnik's fleet. Sonic raced forward to get underneath it, enjoying the rush of velocity. At his full speed the whole world blurred around him, and his worries and doubts were left behind.
'Just like old times, focus on the mission.' He reached the airship as just as it was pulling up outside a small town. 'Okay, now to get up there.'
He began to work out a solution to this problem, but suddenly the airship began to rock and tremble in mid-air. Several hundred explosions ignited all throughout the metal behemoth as Sonic's expert trained eyes spotted Tails casually fly out, the final explosion going off behind him. Sonic waved to his brother, attracting his attention as the two tailed genius landed next to the hedgehog.
"Hey bro, glad to see you here," the fox said, but Sonic shook his hands.
"Dude! You just freaking killed them!" Tails shook his head.
"Naww, they're just a bunch of robotic slug people from Clentunari 739. They're all back home and controlling their attack drones here. I'm pretty sure without that airship they're all done for now."
"The ol' remote controlled kill-bot, huh," Sonic surmised, nodding his head. "So they should all be shut down now?"
"Yeah, they were pretty easy," the cub admitted. "Let's just do a quick sweep in case. You know, make sure they don't have any back up relay out there." Sonic looked sternly out into the distance.
"Yeah, better safe than sorry." Sonic was about to spin dash off, but Tails interrupted.
"Hey, are you all right?" he asked his brother. "I mean being back here and all?"
"Not really," the hedgehog admitted. "It's… kinda weird, actually. We'll talk about it later. I'll get the north half, you get the south half?" Tails nodded, pulling something out of his tails.
"Ok; here." He tossed Sonic a radio watch. "Tell me if you find anything." Then the fox curled up in a ball and blasted off.
Sonic ran to the north half of the zone. It was all so different from when he'd last seen it. Massive factories and prisons had been replaced with suburbs and streets. Old battlefields had been overtaken by nature. It was silent, other than a few police officers and the occasional curious civilian. Sonic didn't care. Memories and pain flowed through his mind. He remembered the first time he'd beaten Robotnik, meeting Tails soon after, Little Planet, and coming here all those years ago. He'd been so excited that he'd finally tracked down the source of Robotnik's seemingly infinite resources.
Sonic stood on the tall hill overlooking the massive zone. There were huge buildings pumping out massive amounts of smog and pollution as far as the eye could see, little robots running in and out like ants. Sonic gave an excited look to his recently adopted little brother.
"Umm Sonic," the brown furred cub began, (Tail's fur was brown but began to lighten to the current yellow gold it is now as he grew) "maybe we shouldn't… oh boy you're going right in there to fight them all, aren't you?" Sonic smiled and eagerly shook his head. He only barely spoke English, but for some reason he and Tails always were able to communicate, most times not even needing words to get their thoughts across to one another. Sonic jumped and raced to the nearest building. "Here we go!" exclaimed the baby kit, following suit as he struggled to keep up.
Sonic was ready to tear the place apart. The first robots saw him too late and he demolished them with his newly learned spindash, heading straight for the rest of the horde. The bots made a formation and tried to focus their firepower, but this only made it easier for the young blue blur. Sonic watched as the barrage of laser and metal came at him. He jumped into the air and landed several feet away. The bots took only a second to react, that second was all Sonic needed to get into position to strike. He bounded forward and ripped right through the first few bots like wet tissue, a smug look on his face. Half the bots ran; the other half tried to fire. But Sonic's new spin dash easily annihilated a group of the attacking robots. The hedgehog rolled as far as he could through the dash and guided himself up a nearby building. At the apex of his ascent, he could feel gravity reasserting its control over his body. Muscles tensing, he turned around and began to roll again, gravity accelerating him even faster as he aimed for the remaining bots. Like a manic pinball the hero bounced from machine to machine, crashing and bashing the robots until finally the last one was reduced to little more than scrap.
Sonic strutted into one of the buildings and ran along one of the assembly lines. A few guard bots came in and tried to fight, but they only saved the factory a few seconds of time before Sonic made his way to the master control panel. He crashed through it, causing a chain reaction of explosions that soon decimated the small building. Sonic walked out of the fireball, cracking his knuckles with a self-satisfied look on his face. Sure enough, Tails was waiting outside for him, the heads of a few bots in his hands.
"SEE Sonic," the fox happily declared. "I beat them all by myself, just like you!" Sonic proudly patted him on the shoulder and Tails took his place behind his older brother.
Sonic quickly began dashing in and out of the factories, each one getting slightly bigger the further they made it into the zone, with more better and more dangerous security to boot. But Sonic and Tails only enjoyed this more, blowing up thirteen more buildings in a row until they were done with the perimeter of the zone. Sonic looked around, inspecting his work with a smile. Sonic signaled for Tails to follow him and they began backtracking, making sure they had reached one hundred percent destruction of the Robotnik factories.
After quickly zipping through the smoking buildings a few times, Sonic felt satisfied enough to move on. He led Tails through a small opening in the security wall, heading into the inner sections of the industrial zone, where his eyes beheld a plethora of new buildings to wreck. Tails observed the buildings and began spinning his tails, struggling a bit but slowly lifting off the ground. The fox began to pant as he poured more energy into trying to get up higher, feeling it as he reached his limit before taking a deep breath and looking around the zone. His surveillance done, he slowed down his spinning tails to safely descend back to his brother below.
"The third building has the most activity," he said after catching his breath enough to talk. "We can do the most damage there." Sonic patted the young fox on the back and headed straight for the indicated target.
Sonic ran around the building, unsure how to get in until he lost patience and began building up speed in the form of a spin dash. Tails watched curiously as his brother began to rev up, wondering if the hedgehog planned to go up to the roof for an entry point. With a sudden boom, Sonic slammed into the building's concrete wall, sharp, spinning spines slowly grinding a hole through it.
"AHH!" Tails screamed as dust and concrete flew everywhere as the opening was made. To the surprise of the brothers, when they managed to get though they found not a bunch of badniks, but a squirrel (what they guessed) girl wearing a blue vest huddled in the corner of a room going "gee-gee-gee." Sonic and Tails looked at each other in confusion then back at the girl when suddenly a tiger maybe a little older than the two of them ran around the corner. The cat stopped in his tracks when he noticed the hedgehog and fox, a yell escaping him.
"Who are… I don't remember you two," the confused cat began, then snorted in frustration. "Ugh, fine. Antoine, come on! We gotta get to Rotor!" He then grabbed the girl by the vest and ran back around the corner, calling back as he did so. "Come on you two, were leaving!" Tails began scratching his head and Sonic was just pointed his gloved finger at where he guessed the odd couple was around the concrete wall.
"Sonic, they're probably prisoners… and they need our help," Tails replied. Sonic's eyes squinted and he quickly nodded.
Sonic charged around the corner, Tails trailing behind him. They ran into what looked like a courtyard with a bunch of kids heading into small airship. The pair couldn't help but stop and gawk at this. Sonic especially was just plain confused as he saw a bunch of kids about his age in the middle of Robotnik's warzone.
"Bro, we have to stop the things shooting at their ship!" Tails insisted, breaking the hedgehog from his trance. Whether the teens were escaping prisoners or just people who'd wandered into the wrong place at the wrong time, they needed help. Sonic nodded and headed to the nearby laser canons, making quick work of them as he ricocheted from one to another before attacking the badniks on the ground. Tails grabbed Sonic's attention and he looked up, seeing the airship with the doors open and all the passengers sticking their hands out and yelling to the two.
"COME ON! TAKE MY HAND!" they screamed. Sonic and Tails both looked to each other in hesitation, but the longer the two waited, the more panicked the escapees seemed to get.
Finally Sonic shrugged and grabbed ahold of Tails, jumping up to grab a piece of the airship and climbed in. Upon entering the passenger area, there was a large applause from the assembled Mobians. Sonic wasn't sure what was going on, but seeing and hearing all of these people praising him was a great feeling. One of the best he ever felt.
Sonic smiled, soaking it all in as Tails nervously hid behind him. Suddenly their screams of joy were silenced by a big blue walrus who was piloting the airship.
"We're going to have company!" Sonic looked out the window and saw a few tiny, flying badniks coming at them firing neat little pink laser beams at them. "Everyone hold on!" shouted the walrus as the ship zigzagged in the air. But no matter how he tried, the walrus couldn't maneuver the ship to lose the badniks. Sonic looked at them and tried to guess the distance, grabbing Tails's arm.
"Oh no, we're… No!" the cub called as Sonic jumped out of the ship, landing at the very edge of a wing. "…ok fine, we are." Sonic took a deep breath and watched the badniks shoot, dodging the lasers with a few back flips as he waited for one of the seven badniks came just close enough. Kicking his feet, Sonic jumped as far as he could and smashed into the bot. Sonic couldn't tell how high he was and he didn't have the time. Bouncing off the rapidly breaking up badnik, he moved on to the next bot, barely making it as he destroyed his target then jumping to the next one he saw. Three robots fell from the sky in rapid succession, but a sense of panic filled the hedgehog's mind as he noticed his next opponent was swiftly flying out of his range. With no other options as gravity took hold of him, Sonic made a desperate leap with all his strength, even as he knew it wouldn't be enough.
But then he felt tiny hands slide underneath his arms, pulling on his body. Above him, Tails was spinning his twin tails and flying for all he was worth, sky blue eyes blazing with determination. Knowing the kit was not strong enough to support him forever, Sonic instead used the cub as a way point, pushing himself out of Tails's grip to sail clear over to the last badnik. With a sharp kick the hedgehog destroyed the flyer, then used the force of the resulting explosion and the updraft created by his best friend to boost both himself and the cub back to the hover ship and safety.
Sonic set the exhausted and panting Tails down on the floor before noticing that all eyes in the hover ship were staring at him in awe. Aside from Tails, Robotnik, and his small animal friends, Sonic at this point never interacted with anyone, and the feeling of having so many people admiring him was intoxicating. He smiled slightly, blushing, and the group slowly approached him offering to shake hands and cheering him.
This all seemed to end far too soon as the walrus pilot announced the ship was making its descent, landing the craft so that everyone could get out. Wiggling his foot into the ribs of the sleeping Tails to wake the fox up, Sonic collected his little brother and prepared to depart, his new fan club following him out of the ship. The walrus pilot pressed a few buttons and the empty craft flew away, much to the surprise of Tails.
"You're not going to keep your ship?" he asked curiously.
"Can't," the pilot explained. "Robotnik has tracers in them; we can hijack them and drive them but if we leave them here it will only give away position of Knothole." Tails looked at him strangely.
"Umm, what's a knothole?" The pilot kneeled down facing Tails at eye level.
"Well… it's our home. A special, almost mystical place inside the forest invisible on radar and GPS," he explained with a smile on his tusked face. "My name is Rotor by the way." Rotor held his hand out for a shake, but Tails only looked at it in confusion before sniffing it.
"I'm Tails, and this is Sonic," he replied, indicating the blue hedgehog. Rotor looked to Sonic before looking back at Tails.
"Would you both like to come to our home? We owe you a lot for helping us." Tails's two bushy tails began to flick nervously as he rocked on his heels
"Uh… Well… It's up to Sonic." Rotor nodded.
The whole time Sonic was watching the group. They were all disappearing into a hollow tree stump, something that confused the young warrior causing him to stare down into the stump, trying to figure it out.
"It's kind of like a slide," explained Rotor as he approached Sonic. The hedgehog offered a questioning look in response as the walrus smiled. "Rotor Tusker, inventor and Freedom Fighter, at your service. And you're more than welcome to our home." With that he jumped into the hollow and slid down. Sonic and Tails looked at each other. Sonic turned his back to it and headed away but a call from Tails gave him pause.
"WAIT!" the fox insisted. "Sonic they really need our help." The hedgehog looked back at his little brother and smiled, walking back up to the hollow and petting the cub's head gently before jumping into the hollow. It was a short slide but it was fun, ending as he landed in a giant haystack. To his left were large fields and to his right were a few small huts. Everyone who had gone through previously was waiting for him, but he ignored them in favor of turning just in time to catch Tails as the cub sailed out of the slide.
After helping Tails out of the stump slide, Sonic quickly turned his attention back to his admirers, waving weakly at them and causing Tails to let out a chuckle.
"I'm sorry, I don't think he's ever been around this many people," the fox explained. Suddenly the yammering crowd went silent before parting in the middle.
And there she was.
She was beautiful, carrying herself like a queen as she moved through the crowd, each step sure and confident. Sonic's eyes widened as he watched her approach, something about her that he couldn't quite put his finger on. When she stood before the blue hedgehog, Rotor appeared at her side, placing a hand on her shoulder.
"That's them," he told her. "They're the ones who saved us. I've never seen anyone move like them. They're faster and stronger than anything Robotnick can make." Sonic looked at squirrel with an impressed and satisfied look, while Tails simply stood slack jawed. For her part, the squirrel simply looked the two over before she decided to speak.
"My name is Sally Acorn, leader of the Freedom Fighters." There was a murmur as one the members of the crowd quickly interrupted.
"PRINCESS Acorn," the voice insisted. Sally ignored this and continued.
"We appreciate your help in saving our friends," she said with a nod, before her voice became noticeably harder, "but we cannot be so quick to trust you yet. I do hope you understand that, in these dangerous times, we must exercise caution with newcomers." Sonic just starred at her after an awkward pause. The young royal's eyebrow rose at the hedgehog's continued silence. "You're not going to speak?" It was Tails who moved to explain.
"He doesn't know how, No one ever taught him." Sally then turned slightly and kneeled down to stare at the fox face to face.
"And what is your name young man?" she asked a she gently placed her hand on the fox's fluffy shoulder. Tails nervously flicked his namesake.
"Umm, I'm Tails… and this is Sonic. We mostly just go around and fight Robontik. We managed to track him here to his base and noticed your friends needed help. But I'm sure Sonic will probably want to be on our way soon."
"Tails," the princess quickly asked, "how old are you?" Tails shrugged.
"I… I don't know." Sally took a deep breath, marshaling her thoughts.
"Tails, why don't you come with me? We have food and I can get you cleaned up." Tails looked to Sonic who smiled at him.
"O-Okay," the fox replied. She took his hand and led him away towards the huts, pausing only for a moment to turn towards the other Freedom Fighters.
"Make sure he doesn't leave yet," she said, pointing to Sonic.
Sonic eyes opened as his memory ended and he quickly found himself compelled to go to Knothole. It only took him a moment to race to the slide, swiftly finding the stump that had hidden the home for so long. The wood was rotten and old in appearance. Sonic carefully jumped down it, making sure his sharp spines didn't destroy the decrepit wood, and came out in his old home. Actually the only home he ever had. Sonic often thought about why he stayed with them.
Maybe it was because they were the first group of friendly people he'd ever met; maybe it was because they were his age. He knew giving Tails a good home had had something to do with it. The young fox would never have become the technological genius he was if it hadn't been for Rotor teaching him. Learning to speak helped a lot. And, even after all that had happened, he couldn't deny that back then he wanted to be with Sally.
Sonic walked amongst the old farms, now overgrown and a little rotten, then to the huts that were now falling apart. He looked inside them, all empty of both occupants and posessions. He went into the one that used to be his. It was dark, even with the big hole in the ceiling, but he found himself walking up to the musty old mattress he'd used as a bed. It was the only bed he'd ever had.
Sonic smirked, remembering what his friends had said when they'd given it to him.
'Sonic, you're not a wild animal. Besides, it gets pretty cold when it snows, we even designed it so you cant cut it with your spines like you did Sally's old one!"'
It was all a little much for him. Suddenly he heard Tails over his radio.
"Hey, we're clear over here. Nothing but scrap."
"Nothing up here but old ghosts," Sonic somberly replied.
"You okay?"
"It's weird… being here."
"I know what you mean." There was a short pause. "I'm going to the palace. If you want I can meet you back at Angel Island with Knuckles?"
"No, I'll meet you there."
"Sonic, in my whole life, this is the only thing that I've ever seen bother you. You don't have to."
"I'm a hero, I can't let things bother me, and this is something I need to deal with. Better now than never." Sonic left his old hut and began to race straight for the palace. The roads were a little different but the general locations were all the same. "I've ignored this for far too long," he said to his oldest friend. "I don't know what I'm going to do, but I know I have to do this."
The royal palace was a huge building, serving as more than just the state house but also as a place for emergency service, civil defense, and scientific laboratories. On the outside there were beautiful fountains and hedge mazes, with a traditional castle gate made of stone the only visible barrier to the garden. The building itself was very modern looking, made out of painted wood and featuring lots of pillars around it. Several guards walked along the wall, waving to Sonic as he approached looking for the entrance. Inside there were a few guards, politicians, and civilians scrambling around, busy now that the attack was over. Sonic quickly made his way through the entry hall and to the throne room, standing outside the double doors as he listened. He wasn't surprised when he heard Tails and Sally talking.
"Yeah, I was busy during those years," the voice of Tails intoned. "Sorry I didn't talk to you much."
"That's alright Tails," Sally said, her voice soothing and calm even through the thick walls of the throne room. "I've been keeping my eye on you, and I'm so very proud of everything you've accomplished."
"Thank you… Aunt Sally." Sonic heard Sally sniffle a little.
"Have you heard that my brother is getting married?"
"Does that mean that you're not going to be queen?" Tails asked curiously. Sally had once more regained her regal composure from before.
"Probably. He's better for the crown anyway."
"Sonic, you can come in now!" Tails shouted. From where he stood, Sonic took a deep breath and opened the door.
"Did you hear me or smell me?"
"Both." The throne room was empty except for the Princess and the fox. Sonic walked close to them and stood looking at Sally, his gaze met by her own. They both searched for the words to say. Sally had grown quite a bit in the time since Sonic had left, the girl he'd known from before replaced by a full grown woman. Her body looked softer now, perhaps used to a lifestyle that no longer included fighting for her life. And her hair appeared a darker color. But there was something else. She was just tired, a kind of tired that made her seem older than she should have been.
Sonic took a deep breath and swallowed some thick spit forming in his throat. He was just trying to say a simple "hi," but nothing came out. Tails looked nervously between the two. Sally was just staring at Sonic with a pretty good death glare.
"Umm, well, I know things are uncomfortable between you two and all, but this," he waved his fingers between the two, "is something that has been eating away at you both. And while I know you probably hate each other each other…" Sally immediately interrupted.
"I don't hate him," she corrected the fox. This confused both Tails and Sonic, and they stared for a minute at the squirrel. Suddenly the door opened again and the King, Sally's father, entered with his royal guard following.
"Sonic! Tails!" he excitedly shouted. King Max looked like a happy, friendly grandfather. He had shaved his mustache and beard, making him look a little younger but still his formerly nut brown fur was quite gray and he had some visible wrinkles, and his naturally slender frame, which worked well for his daughter but made him look gangly, was a bit stockier now. His crown had been shined recently and he wore a rather exquisite business suit fit for the regal king. Sonic and Tails quickly walked up to the old Mobian and did a jokingly exaggerated bow. "Oh come now, none of that," the Monarch declared as he hugged them both. "Tails, I haven't seen you since you were," he placed his hand at his hip, "this tall. You've grown quite a bit since then it seems."
"It's good to see you, Your Highness," said Tails with a smile. The aged squirrel then turned to the hedgehog.
"And you Sonic, my boy… Wow... I just… wow." Their reunion was cut short when a minor politician came in to speak to the King.
"Sir, do you have time to make a statement?" The King quickly looked at Sonic and Tails, then back to the politician.
"I must have a quick word with Sonic," he stated. Sonic smiled as he and King Max walked across the throne room, entering a small antechamber hidden in the corner. Sonic was the first to speak.
"Max, I'm sorry I didn't keep in touch with you. I mean, I…" he was cut off as King Max put his hands on Sonic's shoulder.
"No, my young warrior, don't be. If anything, it's my fault. I was… selfish." Sonic quirked his eyebrow.
"What?"
"My boy, I love you. I love you like my own son. You will always be an honorary Acorn." At that point both Sonic and Max teared up a little. "I was selfish. I wanted you to marry Sally so badly, to become a part of my family and see my daughter truly happy with you. Not to mention the desire of wanting the royal bloodline to have the your strength and genes… had something to do with it." The old man let his arms fall of Sonic's shoulders and he shamefully put his left hand on his face. Sonic still having a hard time holding in his tears watched as King Max's fingers slowly slid down his face. "I stressed her. Had I not pushed her… had I left you two alone, and let your young love naturally blossom." The hedgehog hugged his monarch comfortingly, then quickly released him
"No, no-" he took a minute to swallow whatever it was making his voice sound high and quivery. "It's-It's not your fault. We both decided that me leaving was for the best. Besides, I would have made a pathetic king. We'd all be eating shoes in a week." The King chuckled at the lame joke.
"Absolutely not, you would be a wonderful leader."
"Well I'm glad you think so," Sonic said with a smile. "Hey, didn't your people just get invaded by aliens? I think they should hear from you." The King nodded and they both returned to the throne room proper. Sally was still standing in her same spot, staring at Sonic and her father. Tails, meanwhile, was explaining something to the politician who'd previously interrupted them.
"…and like I said we should be fine," he finished as the politician waited for Maximillian to approach.
"Your Highness, may this young fellow come with us also?"
"That is entirely up to Tails."
"You handled them all by yourself, Tails. You probably know more about them than anyone else," Sonic added in. The fox looked at Sonic then Sally.
"Okay, let's go get this over with." Max, the politician and Tails walked away, chatting between them as they did so.
"You see? This is why I want an heir so bad," King Max said, causing Tails to chuckle.
"To take care of your paperwork?" Their voices soon trailed off, leaving Sonic and Sally alone. Sally turned her back to Sonic and walked towards a balcony.
"Sometimes I wish I never met you," she said calmly. "But when I try to imagine a world without you, I realize that you are probably the best thing that ever happened to me." By now Sally had made it to the balcony and was leaning on the guardrails.
"Hi," Sonic said, finally finding his voice for her.
"Hi," she awkwardly replied.
"I don't ever wish I never met you," Sonic continued. "Whenever it hurts me on the inside, I just try to get over it. Doesn't work, but what else can I do? I've done way more than the Freedom Fighters. I tried to not define myself by… by us. I don't let the pain define me." Sally raised her head by the balcony.
"So you just put it behind you like our love never happened?" she asked softly. Sonic lost that thin layer of emotional discipline that kept everything inside.
"Didn't you just hear what I said!?" he yelled, holding back the tears as best he could. "Y-you know what? Screw it! I loved you! You and the FF were the first family I ever had. I never cared about anyone besides Tails before you. And in the end…" Sonic held back tears as best he could, "…in the end it was ME who didn't matter to YOU!" Sally turned around, her face beet red and fur stained with tears . "How can you say that?! I would have given up my crown for you, the one thing I strove my entire life to be worthy of! But you couldn't make the same sacrifice for me, could you?" Sally huffed and puffed, struggling to keep her breath as she lowered her voice. "You couldn't make the same sacrifice for me. That's what this is about. You were my whole damn world, but I was something you could give up in the blink of an eye. You could never give up being a warrior, not for me not for anything!" Sonic took a moment trying plan out what he was going to say.
"Sally, don't you see? I wanted to be with you! But when the freedom fighters finally retook the kingdom, when it all ended, we broke up because you wanted me to do what was wrong. You knew Eggman was still out there, that he still had to be stopped," Sonic said, his chest tightening unpleasantly as he let this out. "Why wouldn't you just let me go get him?! I would have come back. But you turned it into some huge debate when all I wanted was to make sure he didn't come back to hurt you, your father, or your kingdom. It wouldn't have been easy to stop him, but we couldn't just let him get away that easily."
Then Princess Sally did something Sonic never thought she would do. Her knees buckled and she completely broke down crying. She was about to fall, but Sonic moved quickly and grabbed her. Gently the hedgehog lowered her limp body to the ground and sat her on her legs. But seeing the woman he once loved, and at one point was willing to dedicate his life to, was the last he could take. He rested his cheek against hers, heart aching as she sobbed, his own sadness for what had been lost threatening to explode from him.
Sonic wasn't able to tell how long they sat there; crying on each other because of each other.
"Why? Why do you make me feel like this?" he asked her.
"I was about to ask you that," the young royal murmured back. He let go, sitting down next to her. Sally looked into her former fiancée's emerald eyes. "Sonic, do you still love me?" Sonic was exhausted, hungry, and beaten, so he just let the words flow from his mind to his lips.
"I… I don't know." Sally looked at him wide-eyed, back straightening as she started to regain her composure. "I asked myself that a lot since I last saw you. You're one of my first friends. One of the first people I ever met." He gulped, trying to marshal his mental forces. "You're the closest thing my brother has had to a parent." Sonic laid his head back on the wall and closed his eyes. "And I did love you, with all my heart." He gently laughed and stood up walking to the balcony. There he saw the Acorn Kingdom, and beyond it the Great Forest, complete with the remains of the large starship Tails had destroyed. "It's kinda funny. I can destroy robot after robot, take down the worst monsters in the universe, but I can't sort out my own emotions. Sal… I really can't tell if I still do love you." Sonic wanted to cry but instead he just felt pathetic and low. "Maybe if I was raised properly… Maybe … maybe if I wasn't such an asshole I could..." Sonic couldn't even finish his sentence, not that he wanted to. He put his head in his hands and felt Sally move behind him.
"You're not an asshole," she said, "no matter what I may have thought back then." Sonic looked at her, a warm smile on her face, even if her eyes were red from crying. "You… you're a warrior. Your heart was meant to fight, not to deal with messed up princesses."
"Sal-"
"Sonic…" The hedgehog turned and they both faced each other. She put her hands on his biceps. "I don't… I won't claim I know what it's like… But I do want you to know; I have always, and to this moment still, love you." She pulled him into a hug, careful of his sharp quills.
Confusion and hurt filled Sonic. He felt bad about hurting her, and he felt bad that he couldn't be better and sort out his own problems for her.
"I don't know what it will take for you, whether it be more time or talking, but I know someday you will have the answer. Until then, it's… it's like you have chains on my heart," she whispered into his ear. "Take them off my heart. Just for a moment leave me be." Sonic gently pulled away from her, looking at her again. She sniffled before continuing, "I'm sorry, I know you can't help it."
"Sal, I don't know if I love you the way I did. But you will always be special to me. And I don't want our relationship, or lack thereof, to mess with you and Tails." Sally closed her eyes.
"Tails… he really is great isn't he."
"And so are you. I'm the one who's not. I can't do anything but fight, can't even get my feelings straight." Sally's face grew concerned and she put her hand on his cheek.
"Don't say that. Don't say that even to joke." Sonic reached up and took her hand in his.
"So where does this leave us?" he asked.
"I-I don't know."
"After all this, do you really think we can be together again Sal?" She pulled him to his feet and guided him towards the throne room's exit.
"Sonic, with you anything is possible." They exited into the Grand Hall to see the press conference with Tails and King Acorn in full swing. At the podium, Tails was holding a piece of scrap paper.
"…and like I said earlier, even if they do come back they're not that tough. So don't worry about it." At that the crowd began to excite, snapping pictures and asking questions in a chaotic fashion that had everyone trying to talk over each other.
"Enough!" King Max commanded as he raised his hands, causing the reporters to fall to silence. "That will be all for now, I believe. We shall issue further details as they become available, I promise. For now I command that you all go out and assist those in need of medical attention and shelter. Getting the Kingdom back on track must now be our nation's priority." The crowd dispersed, Sonic and Sally watching from the entrance of the castle.
"Sal?"
"Yes?"
"Remember when we would sabotage SWATbot control systems, and they would all scatter?" Sonic asked, pointing to the retreating crowd. Sally watched and, sure enough, they did move similarly to a bunch of confused robots. She quietly chortled and nodded her head.
Once the area was empty, they walked to Tails and Max.
"…and if you are comfortable with it, I would like to have a feast in your honor," the King stated. Tails's eyes brightened at the prospect of free food.
"Yeah, Your Highness, that would be great," the fox said. "But it really wasn't a big deal, you don't have to feel obligated to make one out of it." Where the broadcasting equipment was set up, a bunch of technicians were busy making edits to the news conference, preparing it for broadcast by removing the shine from King Acorn's crown and cutting down wait times between questions. Suddenly, the screens went to static before a familiar face with a blood red moustache appeared on them.
"Hello Mobius, it is I, your future Emperor; THE EGGMAN!" the demented doctor across every television and radio in the vicinity, backed by a distinctive theme music for the occasion. Everyone save Sonic and Tails began to visibly look panicked, with the hedgehog looking more annoyed than anything else while his little brother looked slightly impressed.
"Hmm, total wavelength broadcasting… very clever eggboy," he mumbled. Sonic looked to Sally. The old fear on her face soon gave way to confusion as she stared at the hated man on the screen, then to Sonic.
"Eggman?" she asked. Tails was quick with an explanation.
"Yeah, he insists everyone call him that nowadays." Sally shook her head.
"He's nothing like I remember."
"People change… but he's still crazy, so what can you expect," Sonic injected. The whole time, King Acorn was busy ordering emergency protocols and having the technicians trace the rogue signal.
"Sir, we found where he's broadcasting," one of the technicians finally declared, offering their findings to Tails via a small, handheld computer.
"Well," the fox said as he marked the location in his mind, chest puffing up bravely, "just leave this to Sonic and me. You're not gonna be able to get a plane or high speed vehicle in there."
Maximillian approached the duo.
"I'm sorry our time was cut short, but please go and stop that maniac before he hurts someone." Tails nodded and gave the King and Sally a hug before dashing off. Sonic shook Max's hand.
"It really was nice seeing you again." King Acorn smiled and gently slapped his shoulder
"This isn't goodbye. You're welcome here any time. Now go, go and stop him. We're all counting on you." Sonic nodded and headed out, casting a look back at King Acorn and then to Sally. The squirrel princess spoke not a work, but her lips quietly mouthed the word "go" to him.
It was a pain they both shared, a chain holding down their hearts. Sonic felt it. And she did too.
Sonic turned away and blasted forward like a rocket, quickly catching up to Tails.
It hurts everyone to run, even Sonic. But the pain was all he knew.