Hi, everyone! Are you prepared for my last chapter? It's not too much, but hopefully it provides enough closure for the sequel! Enjoy, and here is the reply to the one review I got. I seriously expect more from you guys than one review, though...

WybiE'z KidNapPer: I know... He really did get more than just a beating, but I'm glad to know you like the story!

Happy reading, guys, and I really hope you enjoy the last chapter!


Chapter Eight

A year had passed since Sonic's first encounter with Eggman, and that first encounter definitely was not his last. Whenever he showed up on Christmas Island to wreak havoc, Sonic was always right in front of him, ready to foil his plans. Defeating Eggman became his definition of fun, and running became his definition of relaxation. Whenever things would slow down for even a minute, he would start to get antsy and anxious. All of this was part of an effort, one to repress his horrid memories. To push the sadness deep inside his mind and bury it, he had resorted to acting happy almost all the time. He just thought of pleasant things, or even nothing at all besides his surroundings, and found that he was all right.

Milly had come to like this new Sonic. He definitely had a knack for brightening your day, and if he didn't succeed, he would keep trying until you smiled. He couldn't stand to see anyone cry, not after he had cried so much in Frank's care. However, if there was one thing Milly didn't like about the new Sonic, it was that he always pushed himself a bit too far. He loved that Sonic was trying, but the hedgehog even fainted once after battling Eggman and reluctantly spent a few days in bed, and he would, without fail, come home with cuts and bruises from battles with Eggman.

Sonic had, in a way, become the local hero, and as such, he was granted a little leniency when it came to school. Actually, it was more like a lot of leniency, since he had been able to long ago test out of school granted his position as hero. It wasn't something that was normally allowed, but he couldn't very well let his grades slip as he saved the island practically every other day from Eggman. Saving the day had become part of his everyday life, and although he did it so often, it never became tedious…


"Yo, Eggman! What's up? Is that a new robot or something?" Sonic was yet again in the process of defeating Eggman. Eggman smirked while floating next to his machine. "Why yes it is, Sonic. It's called E-001, the first of my E-series robots. And now, prepare to be squashed into a blue jelly!" This machine, however, didn't stand on four legs, or even two. Instead, it flew in the air, and this was something Sonic was definitely going to have trouble with. "E-001, begin fire! Shoot holes into him like he's bleu cheese!" Eggman began to snicker. "Ha… Bleu cheese… I'm punny…"

E-001 began to shoot at Sonic, and of course, the blue hedgehog ran in all directions to avoid the incoming bullets, and when Eggman had finally gotten fed up with this, he commanded, "E-001, knock him down." A long and sturdy leg came from the robot's bottom plate as it tracked Sonic's movements. When its calibrations were complete, it raised its leg and flicked it toward Sonic, knocking him back into a wall. "Ow!" he exclaimed as he hit the wall and fell about two stories back down. He got up and thought, Man… Just how am I gonna hit that thing? Eggman's never used something like this before…

Sonic was truly out of ideas. Even if he climbed the tallest building in town, the robot could still fly higher than he could jump. This was a predicament he hadn't foreseen. For the next fifteen minutes he repeatedly switched between getting pelted with bullets and getting slammed into walls. If this kept up, he was going to be tired as heck soon and maybe even faint. "Dang it!" he yelled as he fell to the ground once more. "Shoot! There's gotta be some way to hit that thing!" Then, Sonic heard an airplane in the distance. He couldn't make out exactly who was piloting it, since it was far away, but as it got closer, he could slightly make out a vermillion-colored person in there.

"Sonic!" yelled the person as he continued to close in. Sonic smiled and shouted back, "Hey, Milly!" When he was close enough, Milly swooped down, and Sonic jumped onto the plane, standing right in the middle of the wings. As Sonic quickly studied the plane, he noticed that it was a propeller biplane, and that it was painted red. It had "Sonic" written on the sides as well. "Cool plane!" he exclaimed. "Where'd you get it?" Milly slightly chuckled and replied, "I didn't really get it anywhere! I built it! Happy eleventh birthday, Sonic!" A wide grin spread across Sonic's face. "And it gets better!" said Milly.

He maneuvered himself to face E-001 and pressed a button on the joystick inside the cockpit, making bullets spray out of the front of the plane, completely in sync with the propeller. As the bullets hit E-001, they pierced even its hard steel shell. "Sonic, jump down and finish the job!" exclaimed Milly. Sonic winked and gave a thumbs-up before jumping off the plane and curling into a ball, shredding right through E-001's shell and inner circuitry, and just as he exited, the robot exploded. As he landed right on his feet, Sonic looked up to Eggman, who was coughing from the smoke of the explosion, and asked, "Had enough, Egghead? Or do you have another new robot that you want me to trash?"

Eggman growled loudly and responded, "You win this time, you nasty little pincushion, but mark my words! Next time, you will pay!" As Eggman flew away, Sonic replied, "Yeah, that's what you always say, but I never pay! Hey, I can make a rhyme anytime!" Milly, who was still flying above, decreased speed and eventually landed next to Sonic. As Milly hopped out of the plane, Sonic immediately ran over to it, inspecting it thoroughly. "This is mine?" he asked after about two minutes.

Milly smiled and answered, "Yup! Like I said, happy birthday, Sonic, but first…" He climbed back into the plane and motioned for Sonic to get in the back seat. "I've gotta teach you how to fly this thing!" Sonic enthusiastically nodded and jumped in the back seat as Milly started to wheel the plane down the street. "The first thing you've gotta do is pick up speed!" As they sped up more and more, Milly started to pull the joystick down. "And then you pull down… and… Takeoff!" They got lifted off the ground and into the air, and as they ascended, Sonic found flight a truly wonderful feeling, almost as much so as running.

After a half-hour tutorial on how to fly the plane, they landed at the orphanage and parked it in the back. "So, do you have a name for it, Milly?" asked Sonic after they landed. Milly raised an eyebrow. "What? I was thinking you'd come up with something." Sonic chuckled. "I haven't really thought about it, though… Something to do with the wind or the air would fit… Or both…" Sonic went through possible names in his head, but there was one that stood out, one that really had a ring to it. Milly had been scrolling through names in his head as well, and he came up with one. "How about we call it…" started Sonic. "The Tornado!" they simultaneously exclaimed.

And they both smiled. "Pick, poke, you owe me a Coke! Jinx, you owe me a soda!" They also exclaimed that at the same time, and they both laughed. "I think Tornado's a great name!" said Sonic as they walked into the orphanage. When they walked in, however, they saw a kind-looking couple of wolves at the table with Mrs. Mutti. This was always a good sign. When two adults were at a table with her, that meant that someone might be adopted. "Vermillion, you're just in time. This nice couple here is looking for someone to adopt, and they're thinking they might want to adopt you, so they'd like to talk with you for a while."

When Sonic looked at him, the raccoon was brewing with happiness. It showed in his eyes, his posture… Everything. He hadn't had anyone want to adopt him in two years. Maybe this couple would be different than all the rest that had tried to adopt him before then. Maybe they would actually want him in their family. Milly nodded his head and walked over to the two wolves as Sonic walked upstairs to their room and waited for the meeting to get over.

As Sonic sat in the room, however, a thought reached him. "What if Milly does get adopted?" he asked himself. "What am I gonna do? I know I can't depend on him forever, but…" He sighed. He knew Milly was still going to be living on Christmas Island, but he didn't want him to leave his side. Milly was one of the reasons he was strong. Without him, he was alone… vulnerable… and afraid… Afraid that something could happen to him again. However, Sonic had to come up with a solution, so he pondered his choices until he came up with one that actually seemed feasible.

When Milly came into the room, he was brimming with happiness, and it took all of his will not to yelp in joy like a little girl. "Sonic," he started. "Guess what?" And with that, a smile spread across Sonic's face as well. "I got adopted!" exclaimed Milly. Sonic ran over to him and happily hugged him. "That's awesome, Milly! I'm so happy for you!" When they released each other, Sonic asked, "So, when are you leaving? And where are you gonna live?" While Milly didn't stop smiling, his grin slightly died down, and he sighed. "Sonic… They live all the way in the suburbs. You'll still be able to visit, though, and I'll be able to visit, too. I'm not leaving for another three days, though."

It was good that he wasn't leaving right away, but Sonic didn't want his best friend to move far away. However, there was something that Sonic had been contemplating even before this point. For a while now, Eggman had been attacking abroad, and Sonic had been thinking it might be better to leave and go wherever the bloated madman caused trouble. With Milly leaving, he was starting to really consider it.

"Milly, I've got something to tell you, and you have to promise to wait before you tell Mrs. Mutti." Milly nodded, and Sonic continued, "I've been thinking and I've decided to leave and live on my own. Y'know, to teach me about being independent. That, and Eggman's been attacking other places… and I know I'm never gonna get adopted…" Milly was getting a bit confused. Why would Sonic want to do something like that?

He asked Sonic the question, and he got the reply of, "It's… because of everything. This island… Everything on it… It reminds me of what happened, and when you leave, if I keep thinking about all that, I'm not sure I'd ever be the same." He sighed before continuing, "I just hope Mrs. Mutti understands my reasons…" Unbeknownst to the two of them, Mrs. Mutti was outside their door at the time. "It's okay, Ogilvie," she said as she walked into the room. "You're a mature boy. I'm sure you can take care of yourself."

"D-d-do you mean that?" asked Sonic. He had never been called mature before. All he had heard from Frank was "insolent bitch" or "good-for-nothing boy" or "naïve kid". Mrs. Mutti nodded, and Sonic ran over to her, hugging her. "So you understand, then?" She nodded once again. "Yes. A child your age craves independence like he does food. It's no surprise that you want to go off on your own, and even when you do, we'll still be back here rooting for you." Sonic looked up at her with a smile on his face. "Thank you," he said. They released each other, and Mrs. Mutti stated, "You and Vermillion are two of the most mature children I think I've ever seen. I'm going to miss you both."

With that, she left the room to hold back tears. While she loved all of the other orphans dearly, the two of them were the most like sons to her. "They have to grow up sometime…" she whispered to herself. "and it's better that they do it early than late." The two children played around for the rest of the day, and soon enough, they ate dinner, and later went to bed for the night. However, while Milly slept peacefully with dreams about his new family, Sonic laid there, eyes wide open. He wanted to leave, yes, but he knew it was going to be scary… No one to protect him if he needed help… He'd be alone… He wouldn't have his best friend by his side…

But if I do this… he thought. I'll be protecting everyone… Won't I? Eggman wouldn't be able to hurt more innocent people if he stood in his way all the time. Deep down, this is what Sonic wanted. He wanted to save people. He wanted the independence, too… but something on the surface of his personality kept him from attaining internal peace about it: fear. Fear had kept him from doing a lot of things over the years, but he was a hero now. Heroes were fearless. But there was no way he could just let go of his fears. Then, he remembered a famous and much used quote. "Fearlessness is not the absence of fear, but the facing of it." He had to face his fears, just like he did with Frank…


It was the day; the day when both Milly and Sonic would leave the orphanage. It had come faster than they expected it to. Milly was walking down the stairs next to Sonic, suitcase in hand, while the only belonging Sonic was bringing with him was a picture. When they got downstairs, something hit Milly like a train. He had completely forgotten to give something to Sonic. "Wait, Sonic! I've gotta go grab something!" he exclaimed as he ran back upstairs. Sonic wondered what was so important that he had to worry that much about it.

Within thirty seconds, he came back downstairs carrying a pair of white gloves. "You need something to protect your hands, too. Your feet aren't the only things that could get hurt. That and Liz put her heart and soul into making them." Liz… She had to leave for a vacation two days ago, so she couldn't see him off today. While they were just a plain white, he liked the cuff design on them. He put them on and moved his fingers around. They felt great, and really comfortable, too, but they were somehow thick and sturdy at the same time. The air moved through like the gloves weren't even there. "She did a really good job. Next time you see her, tell her thank you and that she did a great job."

Milly smiled and picked up his suitcase. "I will." They walked out to the backyard, where there was a whole group of people waiting. Parked there were two vehicles: the Tornado, and the car owned by Milly's new family. As they walked forward, several people waved good-byes to Sonic, and when they finally made it to the two vehicles, which were parked next to each other, Milly set his suitcase down. "Well, old buddy, I guess this is good-bye," he said. Sonic slightly smiled. "For now. I might come back to visit when I won't be reminded so much of what happened."

Mrs. Mutti then broke through the crowd and walked toward Sonic. When she got to him, she embraced him tightly and kissed him on the forehead. "You stay safe now, Ogilvie. I don't want you coming back with a broken bone or anything, all right?" Sonic could tell she was trying to hold back tears as she released him. He winked and gave her a thumbs-up. "Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. It's Milly you should be worried about!" Milly gave him a confused look and asked, "What's that supposed to mean?" Sonic chuckled and replied, "Just kidding, buddy. I know better than anyone that you can take care of yourself, and now you've got two probably great parents waiting to take you home with them. This is an exciting day for both of us."

The two boys both smiled at each other before hugging each other. "I'll miss you, Sonic," whispered Milly. "I'll miss you, too, Milly." When they released each other, Sonic hopped into the Tornado, putting the keys in the ignition and starting the plane after he did. He turned around in the seat and winked at Milly while giving him a thumbs-up. "Bye, buddy! See ya later!" Milly chuckled and waved at him. "Bye, Sonic! Take care! Stay safe! And stay alive, will ya? I want you to come back and see me sometime!" Sonic chuckled as well before responding, "I will!"

Sonic wheeled the Tornado down the alley, gaining speed as he did so. When he had enough speed, he pulled down on the joystick, achieving liftoff. As he flew off, he cast one more glance at the shrinking orphanage, where the people were still waving good-bye. "I'm gonna miss them," he stated. He was truly going to miss them, but Ogilvie Maurice "Sonic" the Hedgehog knew that he had a whole new life waiting for him.


Well, I hope you liked, and there will be more coming in the sequel! It will be called How to Be a Hero, by Sonic the Hedgehog. It's going to be narrated from Sonic's point of view, and it's going to be a sister story to The Two-Tailed Fox, if any of you have read that before. I hope to see you all looking for How to Be a Hero, and until next time, auf wiedersehen!

-Camobamo1