DONE! I hope you like how it ends, but before that I need to thank everyone who ever review this story because you miracle workers were the only thing that kept it going. You are awesome and I am sorry for not finishing it sooner for all you awesome people. Thanks of amazing magnitude go out to HalfWright, TammyHybrid21 (Formerly Tamara the Hybridian), The Forgery of Cow 71, HealingHearts24, CloakedViper, Echo the fox, Azerite Productions, tails147308, ROAR, Riddles, and Rynn Wolfe, you every one of you is awesome and I thank you for taking the time to review. Now lets begin the end. I don't own Sonic or Sega.
The sound of the heart monitor was the worst thing Sonic had ever heard, everything that was his friend, his brother, everything that had so recently come back to him all hung on a thin green line. Every time the simple rhythmic sounds came to early or to late Sonic would panic and it would take most of the freedom fighters to calm him down. The doctor had looked him over carefully, and when he finished the news was grim, Sonic's worst nightmare had come true, the damage was more extensive than it should have been, it had struck at just the right angle and with just enough pressure to dig through the skull and cause serious damage. He couldn't breathe without aid of the machines wired to him, and if he did recover by some miracle, the brain damage would prevent him from ever again being the person he once was, the person Sonic had thought of as his brother, and he wept at his bedside as those around joined in.
Fang clambered ashore, he shook himself dry, being careful to keep one hand on his hat, and how it had not fallen off from swimming was something he tried not to pay any attention to. The voice hadn't spoken yet, it made him nervous, but also joyous, only one other person had ever made it this far and he was still ready to go farther. He looked at the sky and that bright light, angelic and serene called to something deep inside his soul, he placed one foot in front of the other and headed towards it, salvation only a few steps away. The leaves of the few trees that dotted the island were emerald green and shone with an ethereal glow, and as he pushed his way through the last few branches that separated him from the clearing that housed the light he couldn't help but marvel. The clearing was vast, and on the far side an ornate marble staircase as wide as the entire clearing, its beauty absolute, indescribable, perfection embodied was the closest he could think of. Atop it stood something that the ray of light was focused on, he couldn't make it out from here and he took a step towards it without even telling his body to do so. A sharp crack and then he saw it, his eyes narrowed as he realized the final challenge that stood between him and the light that would lead him home, it was himself, a reflection perfect in all details save one, the look in his eyes was one of utter madness, of unbearable pain and a desire to inflict this pain upon all others. Fang took a stance as his deranged doppelganger copied and amidst the tropical forest clearing, Fangs final battle for his life was beginning.
The first punch was parried, the second knocked aside as a knee flew towards his stomach, a quick roll to the side and Fang thought himself out of the way until a tail cracked like a whip on his back. In that instant, he saw it, a vision, for an instant he was no longer fighting himself he was standing in front of Robotnik. He recalled the image, it was when he had just told him of the bomb he had planted on Mighty, it was the moment he was forced to pledge allegiance, it was the moment he had lost his old life, and the pain of the memory was fiercer than the sting of his doubles tail. His vision cleared and almost in slow motion a punch connected into his jaw, and he was pushed into the moment where he had told the Chaotix he betrayed them for money. The emotions came back, the stabbing pain at his heart was there just as it had been, infinitely worse than any nightmare, it was a rerun marathon of the worst moments of his life. He pulled out of the memory and managed to deflect another blow and swept at his doppelganger in blind terror using his tail, he didn't want to see anymore. His copy was just as fast and just as devious and he quickly rebounded and levelled a kick into Fangs gut, and proceeded to follow it up with a flurry of moves, Fang was barely aware of it, trapped in one horrible moment after another. He couldn't take it, he couldn't watch it, it was an agony of having his worst failures broadcast in his own mind, his brain started to crack, he questioned himself, and as he did the clones attacks only grew more rapid and vicious.
His heart was broken; Sonic couldn't understand it, why anything that had control over the universe would try to take him, would do something so unimaginably cruel to someone so kind. The tears were streaming and the Freedom Fighters held one another for whatever small comfort they could. The tubes ran into Tails mouth and arms, the whirl of machinery the only thing keeping him alive filled the air. The doctor had tried so many things, had attempted to save him, but he to felt broken, there was nothing that could be done, the air hung heavy as a pitch black cloud, choking all positive emotion out. The heart monitor beeped wildly, the pulse elevating, the blood pressure sky rocketing, the doc rushed to his side and administered drugs to try and stop it, but it only continued to rise. When it started to fall the doctor quickly grabbed the defibrillator and by the time he had turned around again a horrible noise hit the air, and a straight line hung on the screen. He shocked him once, twice and still no response, but on the third Sonic choked out a sad laugh, the kind one reserves for one grasping for only a faint bit of hope and the small beeping's of his heart monitor returned.
Fang counted the failures, he couldn't even move anymore when he saw a punch aimed straight at his head, didn't want to move, he deserved it, he was a failure. The memories seemed to have sped up and one after another flashed by as the pain started to exceed anything he had ever felt before, he could feel blood coming down his face, felt it matted in his fur, he didn't even question it, all he could see was what he had done wrong. It wasn't just the mistakes, it was the pains he felt, every time he broke a bone, he relived the anguish, and every time he had been shot he felt a wound long since healed start to bleed. His clone delivered a roundhouse quick straight into his jaw, Fang waited to see what horror assailed him, waited to see what atrocity he had committed.
He made the same sharp turn and time seemed to slow down, the bot faced him, his blaster pointed directly at him, Fangs own gun still sat on his hip, and to his credit he drew the gun into his hand in less than a heartbeat, but in that time the bot had fired and Fang felt a searing pain rip into him. He couldn't believe it, he'd finally lost, the bot turned to leave and flee farther but Fang still had his gun and would be damned if his perfect record would be ruined, he let out three shots in quick succession and the bot collapsed in a pool of oil, he smiled with the one large fang glinting in the sky, he had done it, every contract completed, but the pain was quick to pull him from any congratulations. It burned like a heated steel rod had been stuck into his gut, blood was slowly coming out of his wound and he coughed more onto the ground, he looked back at his life, wondered about all the things he had done, where was his money now?
He sat on his knees as he watched the doppelganger slowly walk towards him, an insane delight swimming in his eyes. He thought about that memory, when he had been at his worst, when he had truly become what he was forced to be, when….when someone stood up and gave him a second chance. Tails, he thought there was still something worth saving in him, and he had, he saved Tails life and then Mobotropolis, he had died a good guy. The copy had smug sadistic grin on as he pulled back his fist, it would be the end, one final blow and his mind would shatter, he would die in agony as his mind and soul were crushed to dust, he through it forward with all his wicked might. The doppelganger couldn't process it, his fist was held in the open hand of Fang, and as he slowly pushed himself to his feet he screamed out in a voice that bespoke the tears of joy that had formed in his eyes. "I am Nack. T. Weasel and I lived a pretty damn good life! I had friends, and maybe I did a lot of things wrong, but even if I did I still had people who were willing to stick their necks out to help me so you can GO TO HELL!" Fang let loose a punch fiercer than any before it and as it connected the darkest parts of his heart seemed to vanish as the doppelganger shattered into black glass and Fang was left alone at the bottom of the steps that led back to life.
One step, that echo was glorious, like a chorus, two and the sky seemed to brighten, by the last step it felt as if the embodiment of joy itself was upon his shoulders. With one last push of a body worn down to its most extreme limits, he stepped onto the top platform and looked at the source of the light. A stone archway simple and yet it was the most magnificent thing he had ever seen, because in its frame stood a bluish white light and the air buzzed with the chorus of paradise itself. He walked towards it when he noticed a second doorway; this one wrought in gold, but the light coming from it, though still ethereal held a far sadder tone. He approached it, he just had to have a look and when he did his breath caught in his throat as he looked on the form of Tails, fur orange and twin tails floating in some invisible breeze. He stood suspended almost, eyes closed, Fang reached out a hand and stroked the white fur on his chest, and when he did the bright blue eyes were suddenly staring directly into his own. "Fang, is that you? Where am I?" Fang was in shock he couldn't speak he couldn't process it, Tails couldn't be here, he wasn't really but looking down a piece of his foot was sticking just out of the doorway, Tails couldn't be dead. A voice suddenly arose, familiar to Fang but unknown to Tails, one that spoke of power unfathomable.
"Hello young one, I am sorry to have you see this place, I was not meant to be seen. All souls that go to Fiddlers Green pass through it, but only for an instant, they hover in the gate until they are ready to arrive. You however Fang, have done what no one before you has ever accomplished, you made it here. You would be free to depart back to the world of the living if you had arrived here just a little quicker. I am sorry but if you walk through that gate you will be a spirit without a body." Fang looked around for the voices source, but not finding any just shouted into the air instead. "WHAT!" The crushing terror hit like a wave, it had been useless, then his thoughts went back to Tails. "What about Tails what is he doing here!" The voice was silent until like a crack of thunder it bellowed out. "He is near death, it will occur very soon and he will then arrive in Fiddlers Green. If you want I will open a portal for you so that you may meet him there." Fang just stood there eyes wide, then a small voice that was Tails spoke up from the archway, he couldn't move but Fang could tell he was being pushed out of it more by the second. "I'm Dead! How..what happened. Is everyone else ok?" Fang couldn't think straight and could only offer a hand on the shoulder and a smile to try and console him. Tails tried to think, thinking after all was what he was good at, when a thought came to him he tried to crane his head despite not being able to really move and asked the sky itself a question. "If I left could Fang take my body and would my body be healed?" Fangs head shot up faster than it had ever before he was already trying to say how stupid and insane a thought like that was when the voice came down again. "Yes, I would allow it, Fang would be allowed to return to the world of the living within your body." Fang just looked stunned, he could live again, he could take back his life, see Mighty, see the Chaotix, actually have a chance to live, but at what cost. "Tails I don't know…" Tails cut him off with a glare, it was really all he could do while not being able to move. Then the voice rang out one final time, and left Fang with one last choice. "I can also return Tails to the world of the living; consider it a reward for being the first to ever reach this place. If I had posted the time limit perhaps you would have left earlier hmmm. Only one of you can go back though, and only you Fang can make that decision, so tell me. Which is it?"
Sonic had fallen asleep at Tails bedside, a soft ruffling of sheets and he opened his eyes and his heart exploded with joy within his chest, Tails was looking right at him. "Tails? Tails!" Sonic was giving a hug before another heartbeat had even occurred and next thing he knew the doctor rushed in. He heard him murmur to himself, heard him say miracle, but the look in Tails eyes was far off, and deep in thought. With a small voice he spoke and Sonic's heart leapt at every syllable. "Sonic, I think we need to have a talk." Sonic eyed him suspiciously and Tails pulled something from beneath his sheets and laid on the night table next to his bed. Sonic felt his jaw nearly hit the floor, because on the table was the same hat Fang had worn when the building had exploded, Tails burst into a big grin and jumped into a hug with Sonic, and tears fell like raindrops.
It was pouring in Fiddlers Green, and the rain was the happiest sight Fang had ever seen, he held his arms outstretched and danced in the rain. He had made the right decision, he realized it and finally knew that he had found redemption, and now that Tails had his hat, the rest would hopefully sling a canteen at their sides and one day arrive. It was all Fang needed and or wanted as he danced about the rain laughing in at the drops that weighted his fur and lightened his heart. It truly was paradise, and always would be, so long as he knew that friends would be at his side, he supposed he could wait, after all what was time amongst friends. Thinking back to the day when he woke up in Tails hut he couldn't help but wonder how it had all turned out like this, and with less than a seconds thought he made the grandest conclusion that had ever been made to him, that in the end it had all been worth it. One by one his friends eventually arrived, though not immediately, and he and they spent eternity in the comfort of one another presence, and a paradise it truly was, for no grander paradise can be found, then in the company of friends.
Well, Love the ending, loathe the ending. (Hopefully not) I hope you very much enjoyed the story and have a fantastic time doing whatever it is you enjoy. Have a super day and goodbye for now.