Chapter 28: A Happy End
Uncle Chuck nodded and started the process. Mecha Sonic closed his optics as he felt the metal on his body turning into flesh. His computer chip turned into a brain, and the wires inside his body became internal organs. When the process was finished, he walked out and looked at Tails, who gasped. Sonic had a robotic eye.
"What happened to your eye?" He asked.
Sonic touched his right eye and widened his eyes. It was still metal. Then again he got roboticized with that eye as it was a replacement eye for the one he lost. Sonic took his hand away from his eye and look at Tails in worry. How would Tails react when he found out about this? Sonic swallowed the lump in his throat that had begun to form. He didn't know how to answer.
"What happened to your eye?" Tails repeated, shouting a little.
Sonic knew that Tails was only worried about him. He could see it in the fox's expression. They were like brother's after all. Sonic swallowed once more and opened his mouth to speak, "It happened while I was escaping Robotnik after you were roboticized. You grabbed me and as I struggled you...clawed my eye. My eye was rendered blind and so I had to get a replacement." Sonic looked down after telling Tails that. He didn't want to look at the fox. He didn't want to see what expression he held, whether it be anger, fear or worry. He was just too ashamed of what he could've stopped in the first place.
Tails whimpered, and then sat down and began to sob. "It's my fault...all my fault..."
Sonic widened his eyes and bent down in front of Tails put his hands on his shoulders. "No, it's not, Tails. If anything it's my fault for not being fast enough. Don't blame yourself for things you can't control." Sonic smiled at him.
The fox sniffed and hugged his brother. Uncle Chuck walked up to them and smiled. "It'll be okay, you two. Now that you and Tails are no longer robots, we can go back to a normal life."
Sonic looked down at this and then looked at Sally and the missing Antoine. "Almost normal." He bent his ears back and sighed.
"Is there anyone else who wants to be deroboticized?" Uncle Chuck asked, looking around.
Bunnie stepped forward once Uncle Chuck said this. "Ah do, but ah don't know if ah'll need these again?" She looked at her robotic limbs, questionably.
Uncle Chuck shrugged. "What do you think?"
Bunnie frowned as she touched her robotic arm that was broken and Tails noticed this. She then, nodded. "Ah wanna be rid of this."
She walked into the machine and started it up. A few minutes later, she walked out and looked at her flesh and bone limbs.
She walked into the machine and started it up. Her robotic arm and legs changed into normal ones, and she winced at the sensation. A few minutes later, she walked out and looked at her flesh and bone limbs. Tails looked around for Antoine, but didn't see him. Also, he noticed that Sally had robotic implants. A question began to form in Tails' head of what else happened while he was roboticized. He was afraid of the answer, but he had to know.
"What happened while I was roboticized?" He asked. "Where's Antoine? Why does Sally have robotic implants?"
Sonic looked at Tails something in his eyes that Tails had never seen before. Regret. Sonic got out of the hug and stood up, sighing. He rubbed the back of his head. He really didn't want to tell Tails that they had caused the death of a fellow Freedom Fighter while they were destroying Knothole. it had caused him to nearly break down. He knew Tails would surely feel break down and feel at fault after he just gotten him calm.
Sally groaned and sat up, clutching her wound. She looked at him.
"Antoine is dead," she said. "He was killed after you destroyed Knothole. As for me having robotic implants...Sonic turned me into a cyborg."
Tails widened his eyes at this and then looked at Sonic and then back at Sally. He could feel little pricks start come into his eyes and then he finally let them out. He was a child after all. He was prone to emotions like these. Sonic saw this and back over to tails hugged him. "It's okay, Tails. We'll get through it. All of us will. I know it," Sonic told him, looking down as the fox cried harder into Sonic's blue fur.
"Why did this happen?" He asked, sobbing. "Why?"
Sonic shook head at Tails' question. "I don't know, bud. These just happen when we don't pay attention to our surroundings I guess,' Sonic replied back, trying to calm him down.
Tails nodded and wiped away his tears, looking at everyone. "Well...it's good to be back."
Sonic looked at Tails he got out of the hug and smiled at Tails. "I'm glad you're back too. You have no idea how much I missed you and how much guilt I felt when you were roboticized."
The fox smiled and hugged his best friend. It looked like everything would be okay.
Two years later, things were going well. Uncle Chuck had been deroboticized, and had modified the machine to where it deroboticized a group of people. All of the Robians had been deroboticized and had no memory of what had happened while they had been that way. Sonic had gone around Robotropolis, Knothole and the Great Forest to take down any last SWATbots he could find and take the metal to the junkyard. The Freedom Fighters were now starting on rebuilding Knothole village. Tails and Sonic had hung out a lot since they were deroboticized to make up for the time they missed when they were roboticized. Though Sonic would always catch Tails glancing at his bionic eye and see a glimpse of guilt worm its way onto the kits face. Sally, Bunnie and Rotor had made a grave for Antoine and all of Knothole had been there for the funeral. Sonic and Tails had been standing at the back as the funeral went on with their heads low, feeling guilty about what they did, but came out of respect for a fellow Freedom Fighter.
Right now, Sonic and Tails were once more hanging out together in the Great Forest. They decided to clean up some of the extra SWATbot parts there and take them to Rotor before Sonic went to see Sally for their date.
"How are you and Sally doing?" Tails asked as he and Sonic walked back to Knothole, taking the robot parts with them.
Sonic smiled at this and nodded. "We're doing great." He looked down when he looked at the robot parts. "Though whenever I look at her it always reminds me what I did to her while I was roboticized and I can never forgive myself for that. She'll never be fully human again and that breaks my heart knowing I did that to her." Tails looks at Sonic and bends his ears back. He knew how Sonic felt. He felt the same way about making his own brother get a bionic eye and can never see normally again.
They reached Knothole and dropped the parts off at Rotor's.
"I'm sorry about your eye," Tails said as they headed to Sonic's house.
Sonic looked at Tails as the fox looked at the ground as they walked. Sonic smiled and put as arm around Tails. "Don't worry about it, buddy. It's the past now." Tails looked up at Sonic with that still guilt-ridden expression on his face. "I actually think this eye makes me look a little cool!" Sonic chuckled at that and Tails rolled his eyes. Sonic always knew when to make light hearted of things.
When they reached the house, Sally looked at him.
"You ready?" She asked.
Sonic held up a finger to her. "One second." He bent down to Tails' level and hugged him. He let go of the fox and held his shoulders. "See ya later, bro." He then, frowned at the fox, mischievously. "Don't think of spying on us." His red robotic eye gave Sonic a sort of scary impression that Tails had gotten used to whenever they talked about the past.
Sonic hadn't changed much, but he had changed a little. Sally had told Tails that after he was roboticized that Sonic retained an angry persona and it seemed his cocky, spirit-free one was gone. That is until now, yet he still shows traces of that other angry side of him at times. He sighed and walked away, hoping their date would go well. Tails thought about what happened and smiled. It was good to be back.
He sighed and walked away, hoping their date would go well. Tails thought about what happened and smiled. It was good to be back. Sonic looked at Sally and rubbed his hand behind his quilled head as he looked away from her. "Sal, you don't know how sorry I am for what happened." He looked at her, slightly. "Especially what happened to you." She giggled a little a Sonic. He had said sorry so many times it was starting to annoy her, but yet it was cute how much he cared.
"I forgive you, Sonic," the cyborg said. "So, where do you want to go?"
He picked her up and ran out of Knothole village and into the Great Forest. The wind blew through Sonic's quills and Sally's red hair as Sonic ran. When he stopped he put her down and Sally looked around. They were at what used to be the Lake of Rings. Trees were black and charred and the water was murky.
Sally looked at him with a sad expression on her face as Sonic kicked the ground. "It was the only place I could think of that was quiet enough just us." He sat down on a log and Sally sat down beside him.
"It's fine," she said.
Sonic smiled and took something from his quills. He took Sally by the hand and got down on one knee which surprised her. Sonic took in a deep shuddering breath and looked up at her with a smile on his face. "Princess Sally Alicia Acorn..." He brought the ring into her line of sight and she gasped. "...will you marry me?"
Sally smiled and nodded. "Yes...yes, I will!"
Uncle Chuck had made the ring by a request from Sonic after he had that Sonic wanted to propose to Sally and he did it gladly for his nephew. He slipped the ring onto her finger and she smiled at him and hugged him before laying a kiss onto his cheek. Sonic looked to her, smirking and robotic eye gleaming mischievously. "Aww, is that all I get?" She rolled her eyes at him and kissed him on the lips. They knew after that moment in their lives that everything would be changed. Not just from what happened in the past four years, but also in the future.
