"What do we do now?" Tails asked his big brother. It had been a week since the grand explosion, the Super Sonic Nova, the defeating of Dr. Robotnik. The Freedom Fighters had spent that week helping the Restistance clean up after the doctor.

They had ridded the cities of all the swatbots they could find, torn down any roboticizers left working, and moved all the debris from the nova to the scrapyards. Because of Mina's suggestion, Robotnik's goggles and a small piece of his red jacket were in the Emerald Hill Museum, labeled as 'pieces of a fallen dictator'.

Since all that though, things had been quiet. "I don't know." Sonic answered, moving closer to the fox in on the hill they were sitting on. Amy pointed at the horizon. "Sunset is coming soon. We should enjoy. Our first real sunset since we got our freedom back."

Shadow closed his eyes and looked away. "Yes, you all can enjoy it. You got what you desired. I did not." Amy gave him a quick kiss on the cheeck and said, "She lives on in you. As Tails told Sonic, 'Don't look at the past. Look ahead and see the future.' All right?"

Shadow blushed. "All right, but only because you're here with me." Sonic looked skeptical. "I don't think this is the end. It just doesn't feel like it." Tails playfully shoved him. "Well it is. How about we enjoy the sunset?"

Sonic agreed and they all watched as the colors of the horizon turned vibrant shades of orange and pink. All of them broken in their own way, yet all repaired somehow too.

One half roboticized, but still with his friends. One lost as a child, but found hope in his new family. One isolated from all that she knew, but found new things instead. One who lost everything a long time ago, but regained it all in different people.

Perhaps, just maybe, happy endings do exist.

XXX

The Resistance had cleared out all of Robotnik's bases, but they had missed the hidden basement beneath one. In there was a lab, full of all sorts of random, non-functioning machines. Sparks of electricity caused by the explosion moved from wire to waire before dissipating.

In the back of the lab was a tube, standing upright and closed. Encased within was a blue robot shaped like a hedgehog. One of those electricity sparks jumped from a nearby wire to a wire atached to the tube.

It traveled down the wire until it reached the robot. Red eyes blinked to life and it spoke a single sentence. "All living things kneel before your master."


Author's Note:

Thank you for reading! I hope you all have enjoyed the journey so far. There will be a sequel, so rest assured the cliffhanger will not remain a cliffhanger for long.