Chapter 12

As the moon came up over the island, Aleena tossed and turned in her sleeping bag. She kept hearing the voice in her head. "You're right about Robotnik. You have to destroy him. You have to make sure he can't hurt you or your children again. You have to protect your people. Your children will understand once that man is gone." She sat up and looked over at the man as he slept in his own sleeping bag. He wore the ruby even as he slept.

She looked around. Everyone else was in a sound sleep. Carefully, she wriggled a finger and it floated up and over his neck. Focusing, she pulled the pendant to her. She caught it and stood up slowly, quietly. She walked over to the edge of the landmass. She looked at the ruby and contemplated what to do. "I have to do this… I have to destroy it and save my children." She pulled her arm back to throw it over. Until it flashed and she heard a scream.

"Bartleby! Bartleby, I'm sorry. I didn't know! I didn't know! Please, please, come back! I'll make it right! Just come back!"

She jumped and the pendant fell from her hand, hitting the ground and rolling down the hill. It rolled towards the edge. All of a sudden, she couldn't do it. She couldn't let it be destroyed. She waved her hand to try and magic the pendant back to her but a gust of wind knocked her off her balance. "Oh! Oh no! Come back here!" She cried as she forced herself to her feet, chasing after the pendant.

Robotnik moaned as he sat up, feeling something wasn't right. He felt fear in his heart for some reason and he searched for the pendant that had become a security blanket. He realized it wasn't there as he heard screams. Looking over, he saw Aleena chasing after his rolling pendant. "No!" He stood up just in time for the pendant to go over the edge. He closed his eyes, bracing himself for his fate. After several moments, he realized he was fine and he ran over to stand with her. "What happened?" He demanded as they peered over the edge. He breathed a sigh of relief when they saw the pendant swinging precariously on a root that was sticking out from the cliffside.

Aleena looked at him. "A… a… wild animal… pulled the necklace off of you. I went after it and the creature dropped it." She lied, putting a hand to her chest as she trembled like a leaf. "I was trying to rescue it. It… it's important to you…"

"What's going on?" Bartleby asked as they came up behind them. "Father, what's wrong?"

Robotnik leaned over the edge. "My pendant. It fell and I have to get it back! That pendant is everything!"

"Look, it's just a pendant, we can get you another one." Sonic pointed out.

"No! I must get this pendant back. It's not just a pendant, it's my very life. It can't be allowed to fall." He looked at them. "If it breaks… I'll… I'll die..."

Knuckles surveyed the spot where the medallion was hanging. "I can get it." He said. "That'll be easy." He leaped up and dove down into the ground, digging deep into the earth.

The group leaned over the edge and watched as the pendant dangled. The wind blew and caught underneath, moving the ribbon closer to the end.

"Sir! What's so important about that pendant? Why would you die if it broke?" Manic asked as they waited.

Robotnik looked at them and Sleet spoke up. "It's time, sire. We have to tell them the truth."

Sonic grabbed his own medallion. "The truth? Robotnik, if this whole thing has been some ploy, I swear I'll never forgive you."

"No… this hasn't been a ploy but there is more to the story. After we get the pendant back, I'll tell you everything." The old man didn't want to tell them. He didn't want to tell anyone what he did. He wanted to pretend his memories of the future were just nightmares now. Nightmares of a fate that he had successfully averted. But he had no choice.

They heard a crashing sound as Knuckles popped out of a burrow beside the branch, successfully retrieving the pendant without further incident. He turned around and burrowed back up to the group. "Here you are, sir. Safe and sound."

Robotnik put the pendant back around his neck, breathing with relief as he clutched the ruby. Aleena glared at him. "Now you need to tell us what that pendant is? Where you got it. What it means."

The scientist looked at her harshly. He doubted her story but a hand touched his. "It's okay, Father. Tell us what's going on? What aren't you telling us? I promise that I won't judge you." Bartleby pleaded.

Robotnik looked down and led them back to the fire. "The truth… the truth is… I'm not the same Robotnik that you know."

Manic gaped. "I knew it! Our Robotnik was abducted by aliens wasn't he and you took his place."

The old man laughed despite himself and gave the drummer a grateful smile. "No, he wasn't abducted by aliens. What I mean is, I am from the future. A year in the future. A future where I won. I had captured all three of you and roboticized you. When Bartleby… when I told him… he didn't react as I expected him to. I expected him to be angry with me at first but then he would eventually see that it was for his own good. I thought the princess to be a cheating slut who had dumped him because why be a countess when you can be a princess." He looked at Sonia.

"What did he do?" Sonia asked, dreading the answer.

Robotnik looked at his son. "I'm sorry, I didn't know. I didn't know. Please believe me, son. I would never try to hurt you. I love you."

Bartleby looked down. "You would have roboticized her… Father, I could not live without her. I need her like I need air."

"I know, son. I know that now. And the only reason we even caught them was that your wife was distracted by something. And I found a letter from her to you. It was sent that same day she was caught." He shuddered with grief. "You took your own life… to join her and… and your child…" He couldn't hold himself up any longer as he wept with guilt. "I was an evil bastard. I'm so sorry…"

Sleet took the story. "Our Oracle gave us these medallions and sent us back to change what happened. He used a forbidden spell and sacrificed his life so we could do this. But our lives are tied to these gems. Perhaps forever."

The others turned to Oracle who nodded. "Yes… a forbidden spell of time… I was surprised that it wasn't Aleena who came back."

"Our Oracle said she was dead too," Dingo explained shortly, earning himself a slap upside the head. "Well, he did."

Robotnik looked at Aleena. "If we understood him correctly, you took your own life out of grief. I mean it, Aleena. I'm sorry. It took losing my son to finally understand what I was doing was no better than what was done to me. I know it's not enough but sorry is all I have. I'm trying to fix my crimes."

Her lip trembled. "Well… you better protect that pendant. And you better come through. I can't lose my children."

He nodded, his lip trembled dangerously. It was the first time he'd cried for his loss. "I lost my son… I know how you feel."

Sonia held Bartleby as he fought his own pain. "Why didn't you tell us before?" She asked. "We would have believed you."

The old man sighed. "Because it still hurt. It still hurts to this day. But I've circumvented Fate. My son lives and that is all I care about."

Oracle nodded. "That's right. You've made amends, Robotnik. You've done what you were meant to do. You don't have to keep punishing yourself."

Running fingers through his own blue locks, Sonic sighed. "So that's why everything just suddenly changed. For you, this isn't sudden."

"We each came back to find redemption." Sleet explained. "We wanted a second chance." He looked at Manic. "We were such cowards. When we arrived back here, I got to see myself just groveling like an idiot." He punched his fist into his opposite palm.

Robotnik looked at the lad. "This pendant is my reminder. The reminder of what I could lose. What I lost." He looked over at the fire.

"But how did it fall off the island is what I want to know," Sonia asked. "It was around your neck."

The old man looked at Aleena. "Your mother was chasing it when I woke up." Everyone turned to look at her.

Aleena sat up nervously. "I… I told you. I couldn't sleep and I heard a rustling and I saw an animal, a wild animal pulling it off and making off with it."

"Really? What kind of animal?" Sleet asked. This woman was very skittish all of a sudden.

She looked at him then down at the ground. "It was a wild squirrel. I went after it and it dropped the pendant."

Sonia shook her head. "Mother stop lying. I can see it in your eyes. You had the pendant. Why?"

"I… I still don't trust Robotnik. Oracle said that the pendant was proof he told the truth. I was trying to see what it meant. To see if I could divulge its secrets…" She said smoothly. "I see that once again, I was mistaken. I'm sorry. I was going to give it right back but I heard a scream emanate from it and it startled me into dropping it and gravity did the rest."

Mother and daughter regarded each other for several moments before Sonia asked. "And does this satisfy you? Can you accept that maybe he really does mean what he says? Can you try and let the past go? Can we move on with our lives already?"

Aleena nodded slowly. "Yes… I think that we can. After we change back that is…" She said. "And I think the sun is coming up."

Dingo stood off to the side, studying the queen. He wasn't as smart as Sleet was, not in the traditional meaning of the word, but he was a decent judge of character. He had a feeling she wasn't telling them everything. Looking at his boss, he could see he thought so too. For some reason, he was determined to protect her now.

He looked to his brother who shook his head gently. "We should start to break camp. We have a bit of a hike to the Chaos Emerald."

As everyone worked to break camp and get all of their trash picked up, the sun continued to bring light to the skies. Dingo worked beside the queen. "You should be proud of Sonia, you know. She's a great girl. Very smart and brave." Aleena sighed but didn't respond as she rolled up her sleeping bag. "I know you don't like us or trust us. You have no reason to. But I promise, Aleena, that I will never let anything happen to her again." His voice went to a whisper. "I love her."

She sighed as she looked up at the orange jackal. She knew he wasn't the brightest of the duo. He couldn't carry a lie in a bucket. "I love her too. It's just so hard. I don't know them. I didn't get to know them as their adopted parents did. I think, until recently, I've spent a combined total of an hour with them. When you have kids of your own… um… Dingo, right? When you have children, you'll understand. There isn't even one moment when they are out of your thoughts." She sighed again. "Why did you stay with him? If what he said is true, why didn't you just leave him when you got here. You could have come to our side."

"No, we have more honor than that at least. He made the choice to come back first. So, we wanted to help. We finish what we start. Bartleby was kind to us." Dingo explained. "He even paid our rent but shh, don't tell him we know it was him." He rolled up his pack. "He's an asshole but… no matter how bad things got, no matter how many times he was beaten, he always came back with another plan. For what it's worth, you could at least count on him being there. For good or bad. He did bad things but those are still good qualities to have. Perseverance."

She giggled despite herself. "You're right about that. Perseverance is an admirable quality. And… it does say a lot that you speak up for him. You are a good person, Mr. Dingo. I hope to get to know you better during this excursion."

Dingo smiled brightly. "No one's ever said that before. And please, just Dingo. My last name Lobos but please, just Dingo," he shouldered his pack. "You know I could carry yours as well. I'm pretty strong."

She nodded. "Thank you, Mr. Dingo. You're very kind." She let him take the pack. He was kinder than she gave him credit for. It must have taken a lot of strength to talk to her and make the admissions that he did. Perhaps he was someone she could trust.

AN: Experimenting with a new pairing here. I know Aleena has some age on Dingo but maybe that would be good for Dingo to have someone older and wiser. Will we hear any more from the temptress? Will Aleena be able to find some way to forgive Robotnik and move past the last twenty years? Will she be able to make amends with her daughter? Will the Chaos Emerald be able to return them to their proper forms? Will they want to change back? Will Knuckles take Robotnik's offer to get off the island? Please review and tell me what else you want to know.