A/N - This chapter wraps up the second major section of this story, or you might say it concludes episode 2 of the season.

Standard disclaimer: Neither Doctor Who nor Sonic The Hedgehog belong to me. Doctor Who is property of the BBC. Sonic The Hedgehog SatAM is property of Sega and DIC. The only thing that's mine is the story itself. Please read and review; I always appreciate feedback. Constructive criticism is welcome, however no flames please.

12 – A MYSTERY EXPLAINED

The king planned for a small celebration to be held in the palace once the Doctor had confirmed to him that all of the cybermen were dead and their ship was destroyed.

"And hopefully" the Doctor finished, "you won't hear from them again. These were survivors of an earlier encounter I had with them, and as far as I know they were the only ones left. If there are others out there somewhere they should not know about what happened here. I would advise you to keep it as quiet as you can. You never know who might be listening."

"We'll keep that in mind" said the King, "what would you advise us to do with the bodies of these cyber people?"

"That's up to you" said the Doctor in a noncommital manner which caused Tails to look up at him in surprise.

"We could probably learn a lot from these bodies" said Jordan.

"But – " Tails began but the Doctor cut him off.

"You might" he said, "but before you do that you might want to consider how much you really want to be like them."

"Not at all" answered Jordan, "but some of their technology might be useful. Perhaps help strengthen people who are getting old, even help them live longer."

"Perhaps" the Doctor's face was an impenetrable mask as he said this. Tails could hardly believe what he was hearing but he felt the Doctor's eyes on him and something in that manner was making him keep silent almost against his will.

"Thanks for everything Doctor" said the king, "you too, young Tails. Must you really leave? We would reward you well for what you have done."

"Thanks but no," said the Doctor with a grin, "you know us – places to go, things to see, much to do. Besides I was never much for pomp and ceremony."

All of them were gathered in the palace throne room. Jordan Hedgehog had immediately been knighted for his actions against the cybermen and would henceforth be called 'Sir Jordan the Speedy.' The Doctor had refused a reward for himself.

"Very well" said the king who then motioned to Tails, "young master Tails at least allow us to give you something."

"Me?" said Tails, amazed, "but I hardly did anything."

"You did enough helping the Doctor and Sir Jordan" said the king, "if we can't reward him we can at least reward you." He gestured for the fox to approach him. When Tails did he motioned for him to kneel. When Tails had done so he produced a gold medallion and placed it around his neck.

"Tails we name you Friend of the Kingdom of Acorn. Wherever you go your name will be remembered in honor here. Keep this medallion as a remembrance of us." Tails was speechless but the Doctor clapped.

"Very good! Very good indeed!" he said, "Tails when you get home you'll be the envy of all of your friends. Well done!"

"Thanks" said Tails, not sure what else to say.

Sir Jordan accompanied the Doctor and Tails out of the palace and out through the front gates to the central plaza. Unlike the first time they had seen it there were now many citizens walking around and enjoying the day.

"Well, I guess this is good-bye Doctor, Tails" said Sir Jordan, shaking hands with both of them, "do you really have to leave?"

"Yes" said the Doctor, "keep up the good work Sir Jordan, and don't stop running!"

"Never!" said Sir Jordan, "if I couldn't run I'd die."

"You sound a lot like a friend of ours" said the Doctor, "it's a pity he couldn't come with us. You two would have liked each other."

"That's for sure" said Tails, "like you he knows how to cause a sonic boom."

"Sonic boom" mused Sir Jordan, "I like that, at least the 'sonic' part. If I ever have a son who can run like me maybe I'll call him that."

"What a wonderful idea!" said the Doctor enthusiastically, "it's been a pleasure to meet you Sir Jordan Hedgehog. Live long and well. Come along Tails" and he began walking across the plaza. Tails followed with a last backward glance at Jordan. The hedgehog gave a final wave and then ran off.

"Doctor why – " began Tails but the Doctor shushed him abruptly.

"I know what you want to ask" he replied, "wait until we're back in the TARDIS, then we can talk."

It wasn't long before they had crossed the plaza and reached the alley where they'd left the TARDIS. The Doctor unlocked the ship and motioned for Tails to precede him inside. The TARDIS hummed an audible greeting to the two of them as they entered, obviously glad to see them again.

"There, there old girl" said the Doctor patting the console, "you know we'll always come back to you." He began working the controls. The central column began to rise and fall as the TARDIS took off.

Once they were in flight the Doctor turned to Tails who looked he was bursting with questions.

"So Tails, Friend to the Kingdom of Acorn" he said with a grin, "how did you enjoy your first adventure?"

"Doctor" Tails said, ignoring the question, "why didn't you discourage them more from studying the cybermen?"

"That's their choice" said the Doctor, "they have to make it themselves."

"But the roboticizer – " began Tails but the Doctor cut him off.

"Yes, the roboticizer" said the Doctor, "you noticed just how similar the 'upgrading' process that the cybermen have is to your Dr. Robotnik's roboticizer? I thought you would. Well it's no accident, which is why we couldn't say anything about it to our friends there."

"Do you mean – " asked Tails who was already working it out and hated it the more he thought about it " – that they don't destroy the cyber bodies? That the roboticizer is influenced by cyber technology?"

"Yes" said the Doctor, "the night before we left your time I spoke with Sally and Sonic. Sally allowed the TARDIS to interface with Nicole. I studied a lot of your planet's records then. Among those records were the plans for the roboticizer. I recognized at once that there was cybertechnology involved in its design, which meant that at some point in your past the cybermen had been on Mobius. Now we've seen how true that is."

"Doctor" said Tails suspiciously, "did you know it was now? Did you take me here on purpose?"

"Good gracious no!" exclaimed the Doctor, "I promised Sonic and Sally to look after you. I've had a lot of experience with the cybermen and I would not knowingly bring you to them. If you might remember I was aiming for a slightly different year then the one the TARDIS brought us to. And you were the one who chose the destination in the first place."

"That's true" Tails admitted, "but why couldn't we have warned them somehow?"

"It's a turning point in time" said the Doctor sternly, "if all of the cyber bodies were destroyed and the roboticizer never built your whole planet's history would be different. While you think that might be better – and maybe it would – it might not. Also who knows if you would even exist in the altered timeline? You have to be very careful with history."

"I guess" said Tails, "I really do have a lot to learn."

"Don't worry about it too much" said the Doctor pulling out his bag of jelly babies and offering one to Tails. This time Tails took it.

"Mmm!" said Tails, eating the sweet.

"I'm glad you like it" said the Doctor, "I find that too few people have a true appreciation of jelly babies. Good to finally find someone who does."

"Doctor" said Tails while he munched on the jelly baby, "you said that the cybermen never had a way to reverse the upgrading process."

"Not that anyone ever knew of, no" confirmed the Doctor.

"But theoretically there would have to be a way" persisted Tails.

"I presume there would be."

"When you interfaced with Nicole did you download those records from her?" asked Tails, "could I study them?"

"Yes, and yes" said the Doctor, "what are you thinking?"

"Well if the roboticizer was created from studying the upgrader, maybe the key to reversing the process can be found there" said Tails thoughtfully, "just because the cybermen never bothered to create a machine to reverse the process, doesn't mean it can't be done."

"Very good Tails" said the Doctor, "the TARDIS can give you access to all of that data if you like. And I bid you good luck with the problem. But I'd advise you to take it slowly. Your friends back at Knothole have been trying to solve this same problem for years. You can study their records too, but don't expect too much of yourself too quickly for your own peace of mind."

"Uh, okay" said Tails.

"Good. Now why don't you go to your room and contact your Aunt Sally and your big brother Sonic? I'm sure they'd love to hear from you."

"Right!" said Tails, "and maybe they can contact Uncle Chuck. He's the one who invented the roboticizer so he can confirm if you're right about the cybermen."

"Oh I am" said the Doctor nonchalantly as he watched Tails scamper out of the console room.

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The fire was again burning low in King Maximilian's parlor as Tails paused again in his narrative. This time it was Uncle Chuck who spoke first.

"It's quite true" said Uncle Chuck, "the roboticizer was created after studying the cybertechnology. I'd hoped, though, that since the purpose of the roboticizer was different from that of the upgrading machine that it wouldn't have the same effect of rendering people emotionless and cold. Instead it stole their free will, which is even worse. At the time we didn't know how to reverse the process because the cybermen never meant for upgrading to be reversed so I scrapped the whole project – or I thought I did. We all know how that went. I'm still sorry about it."

"Best not to dwell on it Sir Charles" said the king, "you couldn't have known what Sir Julian would do, none of us did. Besides, it's done now."

"How come we didn't know about the connection between the cybermen and the roboticizer?" asked Sonic.

"The technology was kept secret by royal decree" said Uncle Chuck, "the cybermen had scared everyone. Until it could be safely used the government felt it best to put out that all of them had been destroyed."

"Do any cyber bodies still exist?" asked Tails.

"No" answered Uncle Chuck, "the bodies and the upgrader were disposed of long ago, once they'd been fully analyzed."

"I still can't believe you met Jordan Hedgehog" said Sonic, "he was my great-great grandfather."

"And my great grandfather" said Uncle Chuck, "but none of his children could run like him. In fact Sonic is the first descendent of his to be fast like that. I guess it's a special gene."

"Is that why he's named 'Sonic'?" asked Dulcy from her corner.

"Yes" said Uncle Chuck, "Sir Jordan left a letter that if he ever had a descendent who was fast like him that he should be named Sonic. It took four generations but it finally happened."

"I wish I could've been there" said Sonic, "we could've raced. That would have been so way past cool!"

"You would have won" said Tails, "fast as he was, you're faster. The Doctor said that might be the case. I guess he was right."

"Thank you! Thank you!" said Sonic, getting up and taking a bow. Sally rolled her eyes and stood up.

"Bed time" she said to Tails who was yawning.

"Oh Tails" said the king, motioning for him to wait, "do you still have the medallion my ancestor gave you?"

"Oh yes" said Tails. He picked up a case that he had been holding in his lap and handed it to the king. Inside was the gold medallion and chain Tails had mentioned. King Maximilian held it up and looked at it. It was a beautiful thing and it shone in the firelight.

"Mon Dieu" said Antoine who had never seen it before. Truth was only Sonic and Sally had seen it since Tails had usually kept it in its case.

"The royal seal" said the king examining it, "it's authentic all right. And I will confirm it: you remain a Friend of the Kingdom of Acorn."

"Thank you your majesty" said Tails formally, receiving the medallion back from the king before leaving to go to bed.

Sally stayed with the others after Tails left and her father looked at her.

"Did you know the full story of the cyberman incident?" he asked his daughter.

"No" said Sally, "there were too many other things to think about during our time at Knothole. It wasn't until Tails contacted us after that adventure was over that I thought to examine Nicole and see if there was anything about it in her files. You can imagine my shock when I found the full story recorded there, including Tails' part in it."

"If you had known in advance" asked the King, "would you still have let him go with the Doctor?"

Sally thought this over for a long moment. She finally shrugged.

"I really don't know" she said, before leaving with Sonic to go say good night to Tails

(To Be Continued)

A/N - And that is that. Part 2 is done. In the next chapter we will begin a new story arc, and this time we will get away from Mobius completely and get Tails out further out into the universe.

That being said I'm going away tomorrow for about a week and a half and probably won't be able to post the next installment until I get back. In the meantime I would really love to get some feedback. If you're enjoying this story please let me know it. If you have some criticisms I'm open to hearing them. Just want to know what you all think.

See you next time!