The rain had finally begun to fade as the sun peaked through the clouds above. Slowly the sound of the water hitting the Earth's surface subsided until there was only the sound of busy soldiers. Tails wiped the water from his brow as he approached Private Matthews who lay on the ground in a stretcher.

Tails took a seat next to him placing the rifle in his lap. He examined it while the solider lay there with his eyes shut. After a few moments the resting man opened his eyes to see the kit staring down at him.

"Hey kid, glad you stopped by. I never really got a chance to thank you."

"My pleasure," Tails responded as he held out the rifle for the solider to take back.

Tails was surprised when Matthews refused, waving his hands in disagreement.

"Tails isn't it?" Matthews asked.

Tails nodded in reply still holding the weapon out for him to take.

"I could never take it back," Mathews responded. "When a shot such as that is fired with a weapon, both the wielder and the weapon become bound in the pages of history. I have no right to take the weapon back, you deserve it more than me."

"What is a soldier without his weapon?"

"In this case, he is an injured one."

Tails ran his fingers across the breach on the barrel noting the inscription, which read 'Miles'.

"Miles?" Tails asked looking down at the rifle.

"Yes, it's been my nick name since I was a child. When the weapons are issued to us, our name is inscribed. Why do you ask?"

Tails paused for a moment before answering, "It's my name too, but everybody calls me Tails."

"Then it would seem as if the weapon was made for you and not me," Matthews replied. "Take care of it because it will serve as a reminder of this day for years to come."

"I don't think I will be able to keep it," Tails replied. "We do not allow weapons like these where I live.

"Tails, heroes will always have their weapons and they must not be forgotten. The history of this planet has been largely left behind, but it would seem there is a new beginning on the horizon. One that started today with the shot you fired from that weapon. You and your friends will be legends among our people."

"And if I don't want to be?"

"Few ever want to be, Tails. Most would prefer to live as the humble servants to the people they already are. However, inevitably through no choice of their own they will except the fact that they were born to do greater things than the rest of us."

Tails watched as two other soldiers approached to pick up the stretcher Matthews was lying on. He quickly slung the rifle around his shoulder and stood up as the soldiers picked up the stretcher.

"Perhaps we will meet again, Tails. It would seem as if it is my time to go."

Tails removed a pouch from his belt and walked along with the soldiers as they carried him towards the hanger. "Thank you Mr. Matthews. I know we will see each other again," Tails said

"Please Tails, call me Miles."

"Of course."

As the soldiers approached the ramp to the space shuttle, Matthews said "Until next time."

Tails stood at the base of the ramp looking up as the wounded solider was loaded onto the ship.

"Thanks or everything, Miles!" Tails called out as he tossed him the pouch he had removed from his belt. The private caught it with waiting hands.

"On the contrary it us who should be thanking you for everything." The soldier replied as he was carried out of view.

Sonic sat underneath the overhang of a building out of the rain holding Sally in his lap as she rested. He listened to the methodical sounds of the rained drops as they plopped into the puddles in the street.

Elias had spent the better part of the last half hour attending to Sally. Finally confident that their was nothing immediately life threatening he had moved onto inspecting him. Sonic was not too happy about this and continuously insisted that he was fine.

"I said leave me alone, I am fine," Sonic said as loud as he could in a whispering voice.

"Don't be so uncooperative, you can be anything but fine. I watched you spit out nearly a pint of your own blood. Not to mention I know you have to have at least one cracked rib!"

"What are you my mother? I am fine now…ouch!" Sonic nearly screamed as Elias prodded his side with a finger. "Hey I said leave me alone."

"Just as it appears, the fourth one down. Hold still this will just take a second."

Sonic immediately covered his side and replied, "I told you I am fine."

Elias sighed deeply, "How did my sister fall for someone so thick headed? Its obvious good looks don't account for much either. What exactly does she see in you?"

Sonic shot Elias a glance of disapproval before sighing himself, "She may have fallen for me before but it would seem those days are over."

"Why do you say that?"

"It's a long story," Sonic replied. "One that I am not particularly proud of either."

"I see. So are you going to let me have a look at your injuries?"

"For the last time no. The powering took care of them,"

"The power ring huh? Then how come when I do this," Elias said as he prodded Sonic again, "you scream in pain."

"The power ring boosts my speed, my strength, my reflexes and even my bodies ability to heal itself. So while I am still in a bit of pain, I have a feeling everything is in its correct place."

"Fine," Elias replied, "but don't complain when your shoulder never works right again."

"Ahh, there you are, Sally" the Kings voice called out.

"Dad?" Elias said in amazement. "What are you doing here?"

"Making sure my princess is alright," the King replied as he joined them under the overhang out of the rain.

The King slowly knelt down to her side and put his hand on her face. Sally stirred in Sonic's lap as she opened her eyes. "Daddy," she said quietly. "I am sorry."

"Its okay my dear. We all make mistakes, I am just glad your did not cost you your life."

The King then turned to Elias and asked, "Is she alright?"

"She will be fine," Elias answered. "She just needs some rest."

"Elias, I know it is almost too late to say this, but I am proud of you. Thanks to you we can be a family again."

"Just like you, I would do anything to protect her," Elias replied.

"Good, because I won't be around for ever."

Standing back up the King surveyed the surrounding area. "Have any of you seen Simmons? I have a gift for him."

Both Sonic and Elias pointed in the direction of the hanger.

"Excellent, I will be back shortly."

Sonic looked down at Sally who was already staring back at him. "Sonic, I am sorry I never listened to you," she said.

"What do you mean?"

"When you told me that you had kissed Amy, I let my emotions get the better of me and I didn't let you explain anything. I know why you kissed her and as unhappy as I am about it, I forgive you."

Sonic looked into her vast brown eyes searching for a meaning, but he only saw the truth.

"You shouldn't be sorry, I messed up and…" but Sally put a finger on his lips to silence him.

She slowly closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep again.

"Seems like you two have some things to work out," Elias chuckled.

Sonic couldn't help but laugh a little himself, "Yeah so it would seem."

Simmons stood at the entrance of the hanger doing his best to direct everyone. He couldn't help but do it with a smile on his face, Something about the day just seemed to make him happy. Although it seemed all too ironic that the opposite feeling seemed to have overwhelmed him not but three hours ago. It had been far too long since he felt such warmth. Since the day his wife died he had never been the same always faking an outward positive attitude. To make matters worse his daughter had stayed behind to help those who were stranded. He was alone and hated himself for it but something deep down told him that things would be better soon.

"General Simmons, nice to see you're alive." a familiar voice called out from his left.

Simmons turned to see King Acorn approaching him slowly, with two royal guard close behind.

"Maximilian, what brings you into the path of harms way?"

"There is no limit to what a father will do to protect his daughter."

Simmons nodded in agreement.

"It would appear if you are making arrangements to leave in the near future." the King said as he looked around.

"We have a lot of people waiting for us. We can not delay any longer."

"Which is in part why I wanted to show up before you leave. May we have a word in private?"

"Of course. Lets step inside."

Simmons and the King entered the hanger while the royal guard remained positioned outside.

"It would seem with your primary concern for not returning to this planet gone, I can only assume you will be will make your way back," The King began.

"Indeed, I have little doubt that we will have trouble reaching the same conclusion."

"I trust that our agreement will remain intact then?"

"Of course! With out you, Sonic or Tails my people would be all but extinct."

"And what of the protégé of Dr. Kintobor? Will he be returning to your fleet with you?"

"Colin? No. He will not be returning with us but as you may already know without him very little of this would have been possible."

"Indeed, but am I to trust he was acting out of good nature or his own self interest?"

"Shall we ask him?" Simmons asked looking over his shoulder to where Colin stood directing people onto the ships.

"I would like to."

"Colin," Simmons shouted across the hanger.

It took him a moment to realize he was being requested but after a few moments he began to make his way over to them. In the process of shouting he had caught Tails attention as well. The young fox had been standing near the entrance of a ship when he shouted. No doubt after catching a glance of his King, the kit wondered in their direction as well.

"Yes? Is there anything I can help with?" Colin asked when he arrived.

"Colin, the King has a few questions for you."

Snively seemed to squirm under his skin before nodding.

"It has been quite some time since we last spoke Colin."

"Yes, quite some time."

"Wait you two no each other? Tails asked as he approached.

"Yes," the King replied eying the weapon strapped to Tails back, "but that was well before you were born, Tails."

"Tails, I could not help but notice you eying our ships," the General said. "Can I interest you in a trip? We could really use someone like you."

Tails smiled, "No, I am afraid not. This is my home. I was just saying my goodbye to Private Matthews."

"Of course, I was unaware that you saved his life until recently. I owe you more than I can ever repay for saving one of my men."

After several moments of silence the King then turned to back to Colin and began, "Colin, I am very thankful for all of your help. However, if you are to remain behind until their return I need to know that we can trust you."

"You mean you need to know if I will stab you in the back?"

"In a matter of speaking yes," the King replied.

"I believe those days of my life are over. My family is returning and I need to set things right. Look at our city," Snively said as he motioned out the door. "Look what that monster did to it, its in ruins. This city used to be one of pride and grandeur, but now it is crumbling beneath my feet. I understand that the animosity between us runs thick and I see your hesitance to trust the henchman of a tyrant, but I will do my best to put those days behind me."

The king smiled, "I always knew you were better person than you lead on."

Tails eyed Snively up and down before asking, "And we are going to trust him just like that?"

"Yes," Replied the King. "Bridges of these nature are not built upon doubt."

Tails reached out his hand towards Snively and said, "Then lets us begin building a bridge."

Colin hesitated for a moment before extending his hand to the fox. "You are considerably more understanding than your blue friend."

"Sonic can be thick and slow to forget, but deep down he is as good a person as any,"
Tails replied. "I must say as one inventor to another I have admired your work for years."

Colin smiled, "As have I yours."

"If you will excuse me," the General interrupted, "It seems that the three of you can play nice with out me and we desperately need someone to direct traffic."

"General," the King shouted out. "Before you leave I have been asked to give you something by Nicole."

"Your AI system? She asked you to give me something?"

"Yes. She is considerably more human and thoughtful than people give her credit for," the King responded as he produced a small wooden box.

The King continued as he handed the box off, "She also instructed me to tell you not to open it until you were on your way home."

The General eyed the box out of curiosity. "Give her my thanks," he replied before returning back to the entrance of the hanger.

"Colin, I trust this will not be the last time we speak on good terms," the King said as looked back over at Snively.

"I should hope not," he replied as he too departed.

"Tails, I see that you are carrying around a most unusual item."

Tails immediately slid the rifle further behind his back as if to hide it.

"You know these are strictly forbidden."

"Yes, Sir," Tails replied, "But…"

"The situation called for it if heard correctly," the King interrupted.

"It did."

"And I can only assume that you wish to hold onto such a memorable item?"

"The truth Sir, I don't want to, but I feel as if it is a requirement."

"Then perhaps it is," the King replied. "Now lets go check up on my daughter."

Tails was taken aback by the Kings response. He hadn't expected him to understand.

"Hey there little cuz," Sonic shouted as Tails and the King approached, "How does it feel to be the hero?"

"Well," Tails said with a smile on his face, "I can't take all of the credit."

"You succeeded where I failed"

"But without you I could never have pulled that off."

"Well, then we can chalk it up to team work." Sonic replied.

Tails looked over at Sally who was on her feet nearly leaning on Sonic, "Sally are you feeling better?"

"As good as I can be considering the situation."

"That's my little girl," the King replied. "Just as tough as her father."

All of them laughed for a moment but their small reunion was cut short by a loud shout, "C'mon everyone aboard!"

The five of them moved back inside towards the ships. They watched as what looked to be last of the soldiers scrambled inside the belly of the shuttle. Vince and the General walked at arms length up the ramp. When they were at the top Tails could hear the general ask, "Is everyone accounted for?"

Vince saluted him and replied, "Yes, Sir."

The General then reached for a button out of their view and the ramp began to fold upwards into the ship.

"Goodbye my friends," the General shouted. "I wish we had more time together, but we will be back soon enough." The ramp then sealed the shuttle shut making further conversation impossible.

The doors at the far end of the hanger slowly opened and one by one the three ships made their way out into the fading light.

Snively soon joined them as they watched from the hanger doors as the first ship jetted down the runway and disappeared into the setting sun. The sound of the engines was unbearable and the six of them put their hands to the their ears. A short time later the next ship was in position and the Earth once again began to shake as the second ship made its way into the sky. It seemed with each disappearing ship a small piece of them left with it, but in its place, hope for a better future seemed to appear.

Only the General ship remained and it was not long before it too was lined up with the runway. All of them looked on as jets of blue flame poured out the back of the ship. The shuttle bolted down the mile long runway and quickly took flight. Just as quickly as all of the other ships had disappeared from sight, so too, did the General's. Tails had followed it as long as he could, but it was inevitable that it would slip out of his vision and into space.

There was a long silence as the six of them stood there watching the orange glow of the sky. Even in the ruins of the black and tattered city, nothing could detract from the beauty of a setting sun and the sight of their new friends departure.

"Well," said the King softly, "now it is us who must return home."

The End...

While this is the formal end of the story I will be posting two epilogue chapters shortly that will tie up all loose ends. One for Overlanders/Snively and another for the Mobians.

Cheers,