Author's Note: Most fanfic authors that I've seen have rewritten the scene between Tails and Sonic that occurs in the final episode. Even 4Kids tried to rewrite it :P. I decided to leave it in and expand upon the moral and emotional implications of Sonic's inaction, rather than just put something in that would have been more comforting. Don't worry, this isn't one of those fics where Sonic turns out to be a heartless monster or a villain, I'm just trying to give him a few chinks in his armor. We'll get back to that issue later on.
The Japanese version of episodes 77 and 78 will be seen as what actually happened in this story. The English version of 77 and 78 will be Sonic's interpretation/imagining of the events (since he wasn't there for most of it). When Sonic tells Amy what Tails said to him after handing him the seed, I'm loosely alluding to the English dub of that scene (although it was the Japanese version that actually happened in my story, as I've already said).

He had a piercing headache, his vision was blurred and he could smell something burning. The last thing that he remembered was hearing a noise in the middle of the night and checking to see what the commotion was.

He couldn't move his arms. He felt himself being rocked to and fro. He was lying on something that was definitely not intended as a sleeping surface. He realized that he was being carried somewhere. He wasn't even so much concerned with escaping as he was with getting a chance to get the kinks out of his back.

"He's waking up," a monotone voice declared.

"Then our target is probably awake by now, as well. We'll rest here and wait for him to come."

Omega gently laid Chris on the ground and unbound his wrists. He looked around and saw Blaze and Silver deep in contemplation. Off to his side he saw Cream and Cheese, fearful, but relieved to see that he was ok.

"I'm sorry it had to come to this, Chris," Blaze began. "You're not going to like what we're going to do today, but I hope in the long run you'll understand that it's for the best. We were hoping that you wouldn't have to see this, but when you stumbled upon us taking the girl we couldn't let you warn the others."

"I don't know what's going on, but if you think you're going to get away with whatever this is, you're sadly mistaken. They'll find us."

"Indeed."

Blaze pointed in Chris's direction, but she wasn't pointing at him. He turned around and saw a narrow black line seared into the ground behind him.

"A trail?"

"We wanted your friends to find us, but we had to make sure to cover some distance beforehand."

"That way he'll make it here before the rest of them can catch up," Silver added.

"You mean Sonic?"

"I know that you're good friends," Silver said in a dismissing fashion, "I'm sure that if he knew the whole situation he'd gladly sacrifice his life anyway, but since that's not the case we're going to have to take matters into our own hands."

"What? But how could you? Sonic's saved the world more times than anyone can count, and you're just going to get rid of him? Just yesterday you said he was supposed to help you!"

"I'm afraid we had a few crossed wires," Silver remarked without sympathy. "We know now that his actions will cause great devastation, so we have to stop him."

"But Sonic would never do that! There has to be another way."

Blaze stepped in, trying to assuage the boy's concerns. "No one here doubts his intentions. In all likelihood he never wanted to release Iblis, but we know that he will."

"Can't you stop him some other way? Can't you talk him out of it?"

"Maybe that would work…," Silver mused, "and maybe it wouldn't."

"We're not going to leave peoples' lives up to chance. This is the only way to be sure."

"If he was in your place he'd never resort to this."

Blaze sighed. "I admire his ideals, but they don't have a place in a situation like this. We've had to do everything that we could just to get this far and we can't let our personal feelings get in the way now that we're so close." She frowned as she looked away from the boy. "After the disaster, my family took it upon themselves to avenge the destruction of our world, hoping to save others from our fate. My parents didn't raise me; they trained me for this day and this day alone. They hated themselves for depriving me of my childhood, but they didn't let their feelings get in the way of what needed to be done."

Cream, moved by this tale, sniffled as she tried not to get teary-eyed.

"I'm the only one left now, and if I'm to honor that sacrifice I must show the same dedication that they did." She turned to look back at Chris. "I'm not doing this because I have something against him. I'm doing this for him."

"Sorry to interrupt," Silver said blatantly, "but our stalker is back." He motioned towards the nearby hilltops where a dark, jagged silhouette could be seen lying prone in the grass.

Blaze quickly regained her composure. "Which must mean that he'll be here soon. Omega, get them out of here, Silver and I can handle this. We'll contact you when we're through with him."

Chris tried to run, but found himself held in place by some unseen force. He looked over to see Silver staring back at him with his hand making a clenching motion. Omega tied them up again and took over.

The robot carried them both through a small clearing and they found themselves in a new environment entirely. Earlier they had been in a dirty valley, but now they found themselves on the coastline. Up ahead, in the great bay, a handful of towers could be seen rising out of the water. This didn't deter Omega as he continued marching towards them, Chris and Cream in tow.

Silver and Blaze began their warm up routine.

"Remember, his fighting style is a natural counter to mine, so don't expect me to pickup your slack," Blaze cautioned. "Use everything you've learned."

Suddenly the wind picked up and a muffled roar could be heard. It immediately died down, and where there was once settled gravel now stood a blue hedgehog with a tower of dust kicked up behind him.

"Well, it's been nice knowing you," Silver said nervously.