"Well?" he asked again.

I stood still, unsure what to say or do. Why was it so hard, I asked myself. It should be a straight answer and a quick action...whatever that would be. I shrugged.

"It doesn't matter now. Nothing you can do".

Eggman reached inside the metal cup and pulled out a blaster. He pointed it at me briefly before he threw it so it landed near my feet. I looked at it, then kicked it aside and approached him. His shoulders slumped and he leaned against the metal cup. After a moment, I did the same.

"Okay," Eggman said eventually, "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why can't you kill me after all this?"

I sighed. "I have my reasons for that, like you had yours for starting this. The main reason is I want some questions answered".

"Such as?"

I collected my thoughts for a moment, checking everything.

"Who helped you? I know someone did, they must have. The evidence is fairly obvious".

Eggman looked at me. "How did you guess?"

"Several things. One: someone must have covered up the reason why the subways were closed. You couldn't just do that and get away with it. Two: The weapons we made came from your robots, but it's likely that the metal you used are unknown to Earthlings yet it was no problem so you must have used other metals. Must I go on?"

Eggman shook his head. "You're right so far. There's an abundance of metal here, but mining would have taken too long". He breathed deeply. "The idea was a good one, you have to admit. I have...had contacts on Earth".

"What kind?"

"I don't know, but I met them all once. There were some men from the criminal underworld, some high-ranking businessmen and politicians. That's all I know".

I turned my head to Eggman. "When was this?"

"A year or two ago. It was simple. The criminals stole scrap metal, sold it to the businessmen and they gave it to me. The politicians covered my back on the subways thing. Everything was perfect...until you three arrived".

I smiled and Eggman went on,

"I built other large robots and used them against Sonic. They were all defeated, but it stopped Sonic going any further into the base and finding out my real plans. No one suspected a thing. But that's all gone now".

He stood back up and faced me. "You don't have to spare me. End my life now, show some mercy".

I looked at him. His voice was sincere and his eyes made me stop and pity him. Pity? I thought. Why should I show pity to such a pitiless foe? And yet...

"No," I said finally, "I can't do it. I can't bring myself to do it or do anything against you now". I stopped. "Go".

Eggman raised his eyebrows in genuine surprise. "Go? But what about..."

"I'll think of something". I interrupted, "Now, go".

He inched towards the metal cup before scrambling to get in. As he prepared himself to leave, he turned to me.

"If you're going after those men, you're in a hard fight. It's a challenge".

I smiled. "Good. No point in living otherwise".

He smiled back, and then turned away from me. The metal cup slowly drifted away from me and I watched as Eggman made his way to freedom.

When I came out of the forest, Daniel approached me and put his hand on my shoulder and nodded. I nodded back.

"Well done, Malcolm. I was wondering..."

"Yeah, well, I had some questions. Besides, there's been enough death today and I don't think I could face my family, knowing I had killed someone".

"I know". Daniel walked away and I followed.

"You did well, Malcolm," He went on, "Years from now, they'll make a statue of us or write books about us".

A idea came to me then. "I could always write them. I know this site where you can write stories on the Internet".

"You do that, Malcolm. But, first, we should have a party to celebrate this victory and mourn those we lost. It's sounds like we've got more work to do".

"Can I help?" I asked, even though I knew the answer. Daniel shook his head.

"Sorry, Malcolm, but you've got a family and a life to sort out. That and the story. But, for now, let's party. Apparently, our wounded were cured instantly while you were in chaos form. Thanks to you, no one got killed here". He shook his head in amazement. "Damn miracle".

I nodded slowly. "Do you think we'll see Eggman again?"

"Frankly, Malcolm, I would be very surprised if we didn't!".

"How do we explain...?"

"We'll said he escaped or something. Don't worry about it.

"Just..." I said and then stopped.

"What?"

"Why couldn't we have...?"

"Used magic? We could have, Malcolm, but it still wouldn't have been enough. We have our limits, just like humans. We're not gods, boy". H sighed and shrugged his shoulders. "Still, we'd better see about this party".

I can't really describe the scene when I finally got home. It still hurts when I think about it. How my mum and my dad and my sister rushed to me, hugging me tight and crying, unable to speak through the shock and the tears. I was the same, not just because I was back home, but because of the pain I had caused, the anguish. It was plain to me now how my disappearance had affected them. That was when I swore silently that I would never do that ever again.

And that is where, usually, the story ends. That is the end of this story anyway. I thought that was the end of it and so did everyone else. After all that, there were some good parts: Amy spending her hard-earned money to buy stuff for me, training the City Battalion (which spilt up after the battle), going to the party and dancing the night away...

And then they are the bad parts: Dimitri dying in my arms, coming close to death through the Egg-Nemesis, watching our comrades falling about us, letting Knuckles stay behind while we escaped...

All that had happened so quickly. True we won, but at a high price. So much had gone by. So much had happened.

We had no idea that it was only the beginning.

End.

And that's this story finished, at long last. I'm hoping to get a sequel up, maybe several. Hope you enjoyed this story and hope to hear from you soon.

Yours,

Malcolm.