DISCLAIMER: I do not own Sonic The Hedgehog or any of it's characters. All rights to Sonic go to SEGA. I own the story. Well, one-shot.
So, here they are. Sonic and his friends are prepared for their last moments of high school as they prepare to graduate to college or university. One thing they're all confident in is the fact they're all going together.
Author's P.O.V.
We see a blue hedgehog leaning his head against his locker as he gets ready for his last day of Mobius High. He seriously can't believe he made it this far, and after the rather interesting year he has had, graduation should seem like a cakewalk. He wore a dark red gown, along with a cap of the same colour and a white tassel on it, and underneath he wore a dark grey t-shirt and slacks, and sported a pair of blue sneakers. He let out an exasperated sigh, and kept his trail of thinking until he heard a familiar voice.
"Sonic! Good to see you!" said Antoine, his I.T. teacher. He sported a dark brown suit, a white shirt, a black tie, and black shoes.
"Antoine, you look rather dapper," Sonic said as he shook hands with the brown coyote. He also noticed that Antoine's hair had been slicked back.
"So, I'm guessing you're hoping to get something to do with sports?" Antoine suggested.
"Yeah. Soccer actually. And on the bright side, since Amy is gonna be a nurse, it should help me in the long run," Sonic said, getting a laugh out of his now former teacher.
"I am gonna miss you Sonic. I regret not teaching you and your friends before. You're actually good people," Antoine said, getting a smile from Sonic.
"I'll miss you too. You got any plans now?" Sonic asked Antoine.
"I'm actually in the running to be the new principal of the school. I just wish I knew what happened to the first guy. What was his name... um, Eggman?" Antoine replied, and smiled when Sonic nodded in response, indicating that Antoine got it right.
"Speaking of Amy, you haven't seen her anywhere have you?" Sonic asked.
"Um... no, I can't say that I have. I did see her come here with you, but besides that, I have no idea," Antoine replied. Sonic thanked the brown coyote and started thinking about where his pink hedgehog girlfriend might be. He headed to the office of his former principal, and walked to the trophy case at the back of the room. He pulled the basketball trophy down and the wall behind the trophy case shifted, turned sideways, and revealed an opening to the underground that he hadn't seen in two weeks.
He saw his girlfriend leaning over Eggman's body, and saw that she also wore the cap and gown, and underneath it wore a red button up shirt, a pink skirt, and red sandals. He turned around and closed the door back up, and then he walked over and leaned down next to her.
"I can't believe it's been two weeks since what happened down here," Amy said, smiling as Sonic sat down with her.
"Me neither. I only regret that we never gave him a proper burial," Sonic replied a bit regretfully. He was coming to slightly better terms with the fact that he killed Eggman, but it still ate at him. He didn't want to show it to anyone though. Amy and everyone else believed in him, and he couldn't show them any weakness.
"Do you think we could find somewhere to bury him?" Amy asked.
"Hmm... I have no clue. I guess we could cremate him. We just need our resident pyrokinetic," Sonic replied, referring to their friend purple cat friend Blaze.
"True. And if those episodes of Supernatural have taught me anything, it's that if you cremate someone, they're less likely to come back to haunt you," Amy replied, making her blue boyfriend laugh. Sonic did enjoy the fact that she talked a little more now. It made him feel good that he brought her out of her shell, much like she did for him when he broke up with Sally. He felt like he returned the favour in a way.
"And plus, if we do cremate him, what would we do with the ashes? Spread them somewhere or keep it in a jar?" Sonic asked.
"I think spreading them somewhere is the best option. Just need to find a place where," Amy replied.
"We could ask Shade. She knows the school inside and out," Sonic said.
After a long minute, Sonic asked "Should we head back up there?"
"Yeah. I think it's for the best in case someone catches us. Or in case we graduate and miss it. Either way it's pretty bad," Amy replied, getting another little laugh from Sonic. They walked back to the wall and managed to find the brick that opened the wall back up, walked through, and closed it behind them.
On their way out of Eggman's office, they headed for the P.E. hall, which was where the graduation was being held. They headed through the double doors and saw that the place had a bunch of seats which were six by six. They also saw a stage at the front, with numerous teachers sat on chairs around a pedestal. The blue and pink hedgehogs looked around among the wide variety of other Mobians and saw the rest of their friends sitting in a group. They also wearing caps and gowns, minus Rouge and Shadow, who weren't there at all.
"Well, I wonder where Rouge and Shadow went off to?" Sonic said sarcastically as he sat down with Amy next to Jet and Silver. Jet wore a white long sleeved shirt, blue jeans and red sneakers under his gown, and Silver wore a yellow and grey striped shirt, grey slacks and black shoes under his.
"They actually went to get their caps and gowns. Although it has been half an hour. Saying that, Rouge does have a tendency to not show up to class," Jet replied. Jet knew that Sonic was being sarcastic, but he wanted to say his piece anyway.
"I didn't expect you to get this far Jet. You actually did pretty well for your first year here," Silver said.
"Thanks. I was expecting to stay behind a little bit longer though, what with me being a new student and all. Still, it would be nice to go to college with you guys. I just hope I get in on what I like; being a vet," Jet said, which made the silver and blue hedgehogs smile at him.
"We did have enough classes in science that were animal related I guess. Maybe there'll be more vet-based stuff at college," Amy said.
"It is kind of easy for us though Amy. I mean, I wanna get in on soccer, and you're gonna be a nurse," Sonic replied.
"So, if you wanna be a vet, what about Wave?" Silver asked the green hawk.
"She wants to try her hand at acting. I just hope it goes well for her," Jet replied. His purple swallow girlfriend came over along with Blaze. Wave wore a light blue sundress under her gown, and white sandals, while Blaze had a dark blue tank top and grey jeans under her gown, along with red shoes.
"What about you two?" Sonic asked, gesturing to Silver as Blaze sat down.
"Well, I've been thinking about going into law. As for Blaze, she's looking for something in architecture," Silver replied.
"Architecture, huh? Nice," Sonic said.
"I got a quick question," said Tails out of nowhere. He wore black shoes along with a green t-shirt and dark blue jeans under his gown. He was sat next to Cream who wore brown shoes and a beige sundress under her gown.
"What is it?" Wave asked.
"What the hell happened to the other teachers on prom night?"
"I actually got to talk to Honey about that. Apparently there was a meeting not long after our last day of learning here and Eggman got them all drinks which caused them all to fall ill when the prom came around," Blaze said.
"Ah. That makes a lot more sense," Tails said simply.
"Hey there guys!" Knuckles said, walking over to the others and hold hands with Shade. Knuckles wore a purple muscle shirt and blue jeans along with black sneakers under his gown, and Shade wore black shoes, a pale green t-shirt and blue skinny jeans under hers.
"Hey there you two! Glad you could make it!" Sonic said.
"Are Shadow and Rouge still..." the red echidna paused, then brought up his hands and air quoted the word "'searching'?"
"Yeah. They have been gone a while now, haven't they?" Shade said.
"Maybe they don't wanna show up. Which would be bad, because let's face it, college would suck without those two," Cream said.
"Let's just wait for them. They'll turn up. Anyway, Tails and Cream, what do you two have planned for college?" Jet asked the yellow fox and the cream rabbit.
"Well, I want something to do with science, or maybe be a teacher, and Cream wants to do cooking. Which she will nail because her cooking is fucking awesome," Tails said, causing Cream to giggle and blush.
"Tails, I wouldn't swear so much in here. I hear the teachers are like spies around this time of year, so be on your guard," Sonic warned his friend. Tails faked a frown, but he knew that Sonic wanted to keep him out of trouble.
"So, what do you two want to do?" Blaze asked, turning to Shade and Knuckles.
"Well, Knuckles wants to try his hand at being a mechanic. He never really got to try that much at school. As for me, I want to go into urban planning," Shade replied.
"Looks like we all have some big ambitions ahead of us," Sonic said, pausing to think.
"Well, almost all of us. We're missing a bat and a hedgehog that kinda need to be here," Cream said as she nodded towards the stage at the front of the room. Everyone looked over and saw the teachers gathering around the pedestal. One of their teachers named Honey, who wore a red blouse, a purple skirt and red shoes, walked up to it and spoke into the microphone.
"Okay, before we give out the diplomas, we would like to announce who will be our next principal after the disappearance of Eggman," Honey said. This made Sonic and friends breathe a sigh of relief, and also reminded Sonic that he had to ask Blaze something.
"Well, as you know, it is never easy deciding who will be our new principal, especially this year. Each teacher has worked very hard and taught so much to every one of you. It saddens me that they'll never get to see most of you students after this year," she said, pausing for a second.
"What did she mean by 'most of us'?" Knuckles asked, whispering so he didn't disturb the teachers.
"Maybe either some of us won't make it or not everyone here is in our year, meaning they can't go to college yet," Tails suggested, also whispering.
"When Eggman got the job, everyone knew he had... issues. But the fact is that he was brilliant, a top mind of the school, and undoubtedly the most intelligent of the teachers. It won't be easy announcing the name of the person who-" she got cut off as a white bat and a black and red hedgehog, both wearing caps and gown, burst through the double doors of the P.E. hall. Shadow wore an auburn coloured t-shirt a long with black skinny jeans and black sneakers underneath his gown, and Rouge wore a pink halter top, blue jean shorts and black shoes underneath hers.
"Sorry we're so late. We got stuck in time. I mean, caught up in traffic," Shadow said, trying to get his words in a straight line. Honey nodded her head to Rouge and Shadow, and they saw Amy raising her hand. They walked over to where Amy was and saw everyone else there too, taking a seat next to Jet and Wave.
"So glad you guys could make it," Tails said with sincerity in his voice.
"Come on, you didn't think that graduation would be complete without us two did you?" Rouge said with a smirk.
"Anyone get their diplomas yet?" Shadow asked.
"Nah. They're deciding which teacher will be the new principal since Eggman mysteriously vanished," Jet said, trying to sound ominous toward the end.
"As I was saying, it won't be easy to announce the name of the person who will take over as principal of this school. But whoever it is, I'm sure you will treat them with the respect and high regard that they deserve. So without further ado, I would like to announce that the principal is... Mighty the armadillo!"
As she said his name, a black armadillo with a red shell walked up to the pedestal. He sported a dark red button up shirt, grey slacks, black shoes, and a multicoloured polka-dot tie.
"Wow, thank you Honey. Now for the sad part before the happy part. The sad part is, I won't see most of you as you may go to college or university and, as a result, won't spend your next year here. But I can assure you that the school is in good hands," Mighty said, getting an applause from the teachers and the students. He then stepped down from the pedestal, allowing Honey to step back up to it. She started calling the names of the students who were going to college.
A little while later, at the Chili Out...
"I can't believe we all got through!" Sonic said, munching a chili dog. He sat with his friends in their usual table at the top right corner as he and everyone else sported their street clothes again, having stuck their caps and gowns in their rucksacks and handbags. They also all had drinks, as there wasn't much available during their graduation.
"I know. Even Jet and Wave made it through!" Tails said.
"It's a shame they can't be here to celebrate with us. I guess because they live so far away they wanted to get a head start on telling their parents and Storm how they did," Amy said, following up Tails' statement.
"As much as I will miss them, the important thing is we'll see them at college," Shadow said, kissing Rouge on the cheek afterwards.
"Oh yeah, I almost forgot to congratulate you two! Rouge is doing art, and Shadow is going into video games... it's a good year for us," Amy said in an ecstatic tone.
Knuckles then raised his cup and said "I propose a toast to our future, and the first of many great days ahead." Everyone said "hear hear" and tapped their cups against one another. After a while, a thought had popped back into Sonic's head.
"Hey Blaze, I need to ask a favour of you," Sonic said to the purple cat.
"Yeah, sure. What do you need?" she replied.
"I need you to burn Eggman's body. I realized how cruel that sounds, but me and Amy wanted to spread his ashes, which is where Shade comes in," Sonic said, turning to the orange echidna.
"What do you need me for?" Shade asked.
"I need you to find a good enough spot to spread Eggman's ashes. Do you know any place that we could?" Sonic asked.
"Well, we could try the whole school. It's big enough for all of his ashes, and he practically lived here, so I think that would be for the best," Shade replied.
"We just need a time to do it. And a plan to get his body without getting caught," Silver said.
"It would be best to do it earlier. That way there's less chance of a teacher finding it out for themselves. Besides, it is still school hours, so now might be our last chance," Tails said.
"You have a point. Plus, the doors are pretty much always open during school hours, and I'm pretty sure the teachers wouldn't mind seeing us one last time before college. Our only problem now is where they're gonna be during it," Blaze said, pausing for a second.
"Especially with Mighty as the new principal. We all know he's a bit of a workaholic. As good a teacher as he is, he's one of the more strict ones too," Cream said.
"I know. We need someone to keep him distracted for long enough..." Tails said, trailing off. He noticed everyone looking at him, and asked "What are you looking at?"
"Sorry Tails, but you're gonna have to talk to Mighty," Sonic said regretfully. Tails kept trying to come up with words but wound up stammering.
"Don't worry man! Mighty liked you more than most of us. You only have to keep him talking for long enough," Knuckles said to the yellow fox, calming him down.
"So, how do we do this? And what about Jet and Wave?" Shadow asked.
"I'll call them when we get Eggman out. Okay, all in, cause this is where it gets... complicated," Sonic said, and they all huddled in, awaiting Sonic's plan...
Back at the school...
Sonic, Knuckles, Shadow and Tails all walked through the double doors of the school. They noticed how the halls were pretty much empty and decided to not waste any time. They headed straight to the principal's office, and Tails lead the way.
"Remind me again how we got into this bullshit in the first place?" Shadow said with a bit of exasperation in his voice.
"Because Eggman is dead and cremating him was Sonic's idea?" Knuckles said.
"Ah. Right," Shadow said simply.
"Alright, let's do this. Tails, you knock the door. Us three will find somewhere to hide until we see you walk out of the office with Mighty," Sonic said. Sonic, Shadow and Knuckles headed off to one of the rounded corners, hoping they wouldn't get caught. They knew they wouldn't due to the teachers being in lesson, but the year they had they thought it best to err on the side of caution.
They waited for a good few minutes before seeing Tails walk out of the principal's office with Mighty. Sonic peered around the corner and saw Tails and Mighty head off into a separate hallway. The blue hedgehog then took a step forward, and started walking at a fast yet sneaky pace to Mighty's office, and he was closely followed by Knuckles and Shadow.
As they entered the office, Knuckles said "Let's not waste any time here," and got nods from Shadow and Sonic in agreement. Sonic pulled the basketball trophy that led to Eggman's secret lair, and headed straight to where his body was.
"Alright. First thing to do is clean up the blood. Good thing there's not much of it on the floor," Sonic said. He then pulled a green cloth from one of his slack pockets. He headed back up to the office, stepped outside, and spotted a water fountain. He walked over to it, turned the cold tap, and dampened the cloth. He then rushed back to his friends.
"How are we gonna get Eggman out of here AND clean this blood up?" Knuckles asked.
"Well, I have been practicing something recently," Shadow said.
"Oh yeah? What's that?" Sonic asked as he knelt down and wiped the cloth over the blood.
"I've been learning how to teleport. I think I'm getting the hand of it," Shadow answered.
"Well, look at that! We have our very own Nightcrawler," Sonic said, which earned him a middle finger from the black and red hedgehog.
"How about this; Shadow and me will carry Eggman's body and teleport out of here, and Sonic cleans the blood?" Knuckles suggested.
"I like that. I may have to run around to get the blood cleaned quicker though. And the faster we move, the better," Sonic said.
They proceeded with their plan. Knuckles grabbed the doctor's arms, and Shadow grabbed his legs. Eggman was easier to lift as, when he died, he was still in his more muscular state, so carrying him out was a bit easier.
As soon as Knuckles and Shadow got Eggman back through the principal's office, they shut the door behind them so that if anyone walked by, Sonic wouldn't be caught cleaning the blood. The blue hedgehog wasted no time at all, using his speed to help him. It was a good thing that the blood was dried up enough to wash up without leaving a trace.
As soon as he finished, he took one look at the cloth, which was now wet and bloodied. He headed to the wall, found the right brick to push, and walked back through. He debated putting the cloth in a trashcan, but he hid it in his pocket and thought it best that the cloth be burned too. The last thing he wanted was some innocent person coming across the cloth by accident.
He made sure he shut the passage behind him, and headed straight back out of the office. He dashed straight to the double doors, where he saw Shadow, Knuckles, and everyone else. Jet and Wave had just rejoined them five minutes ago. After waiting a few more minutes, Tails came back out the double doors and smiled upon seeing the rest of his friends.
"That," Tails said, breathing out a huge sigh, "was way too close."
"So, where should we go to burn him?" Shade asked.
"I think somewhere near the basketball courts. Not too close though. We don't want anyone to get a whiff of anything that's happening, no pun intended," Rouge said. Despite the fact she hadn't intended the pun, it still made everyone else laugh a bit. They all took off to the basketball courts with Eggman in tow. They saw that there weren't any students there, but decided to keep away from the courts just in case. They managed to find a spot that was secluded enough, and Shadow and Knuckles set Eggman's body down onto the floor.
"So, are we ready to do this?" Sonic asked, which earned him nods and thumbs-ups from everyone. "Okay. Blaze, do your magic."
The purple cat then stood over the mad doctor's body, and she slapped her hands together, rubbing them slightly. She then hovered them over Eggman's body and scorching hot flame spilled from her hands, coating the mad doctor's limp body. Soon, Eggman was completely covered in flames. After a few long minutes, the flames died down, allowing everyone to see that Eggman had now turned to ashes, and they all stood over them.
"Okay. Who wants to spread his ashes over the school?" Sonic asked.
"I'll do it," said both Tails and Rouge at the same time.
"Why not both of you?" Jet suggested. Rouge and Tails nodded at the same time, both scooping some up. Rouge spread her wings and floated in the air, and was later joined by Tails, who had both of his Tails spinning in a helicopter like fashion. The fox and the bat took off in different directions. Then, they swooped around in the air above the school, dropping ashes carefully that they didn't pile up in one places, but doing it fast and precise. They flew in unorthodox patterns as they dropped the ashes, and soon enough, the deed was done. Rouge and Tails rejoined their friends on the ground.
"So, what now?" Wave asked.
"Simple; we try to forget this ever happened, we go home, and we get ready for college. This year was tough on all of us, but if we could make it through this, we can definitely make it through the next couple of years" Sonic said. Everyone smiled hearing his words. They all headed their separate ways, knowing that they would see each other again soon, but they just regretted that it could take a while for it to happen.
And that is that. I hoped you liked this one-shot, and I hope it bridges the gap between this and a possible sequel. That's the good news. The slightly bad news is that, along with the sequel, I'll be doing another story, so updates might take longer for one then they do the other and so on. But I will do my best to work on it. Anyway, have a merry Christmas and a happy new year, and I'll see you soon. Bye!