A/N - Hello everyone. I have the newest chapter here for you today. It's a wrap-up to the current arc so it's not very long. I hope you enjoy it anyway. This chapter references Genesis of the Daleks.
TheWriter946 - No, it probably won't
SuperTailsFan0812 - I'm glad you've enjoyed my story. I will also miss it when it's over.
Guest (12/23/19) - I hope you keep reading because the Weeping Angels do show up in this story.
As always, standard disclaimer: Neither Doctor Who nor Sonic the Hedgehog belong to me. Doctor Who is property of the BBC. Sonic The Hedgehog SatAM is property of Sega and DIC. The only things that are mine are the story itself and any original characters I might come up with. Please read and review; I always appreciate feedback. Constructive criticism is welcome, however no flames please.
98 – MOVING ON
"And so" said Tails, finishing up his story to Sonic and Knuckles, "the next day the Doctor brought me home, leaving me back in my workshop just seconds after we had left. Less than a minute after the Doctor departed the 9th Doctor's TARDIS arrived and dropped off Knuckles before leaving again. I haven't seen the Doctor – any version of him – since then."
"Whoa" said Sonic, "that is a heavy story and it definitely explains why you've seemed depressed at times since that day. You hide it very well from most people but I can see it and so can Sal. We both noticed it pretty fast. You'd been very happy and cheerful when we left you to clean up in the workshop but when you came out to join us in the front gardens a few minutes later both Sal and I noticed a change in your manner. Even though you put on a good face you didn't seem as happy as before when by all rights you should have been through the roof. We both wondered what happened. Now I know." Sonic turned to Knuckles.
"You've known all along" he said.
"Of course I have" said Knuckles, "I was there. It answered a few questions that I'd had about my first meeting with the 9th Doctor. I finally found out what the 'bad thing' was that he had mentioned when we first met."
"You said you didn't know what that was" said Sonic.
"Yeah, I lied" said Knuckles, "it wasn't just my story to tell and until Tails was ready to talk about it I wasn't going to force him to."
"Thank you" said Tails before turning back to Sonic, "the thing is I haven't told you the very worst part of the whole thing. I'm not even sure you know Knuckles."
"What?" asked Knuckles, "you mean the part where the Doctor once had the chance to destroy all the Daleks and didn't do it?"
"He WHAT?!" exclaimed Sonic.
"He told you about that?" asked Tails.
"Yeah" said Knuckles, "but I didn't know you knew."
"The TARDIS told me" said Tails, "during that time after I ran away from you."
"That's when he told me" said Knuckles, "while we were waiting for you to come back. I think he was afraid to tell you about it. He didn't want you to hate him."
"As if I could" scoffed Tails, "he should have known better."
"What happened?" asked Sonic in an urgent voice.
"You remember how the 9th Doctor attacked our Doctor when they first met back on KA3142?"
"Yes" said Sonic.
"Well" said Tails, "it turned out our Doctor once had a chance to completely stop the Daleks back when they were first created. He had the chance to kill them all. But he didn't do. He just couldn't commit genocide."
"So the Daleks survived" said Knuckles, "and, well, you know what ultimately happened because of that."
"Can you imagine what it must have been like for the 9th Doctor to see his earlier self?" asked Tails, "to know that he could have stopped it! But didn't?"
"Whoa" said Sonic, "that is seriously messed up stuff."
"It is" said Tails, "it's why I couldn't be mad at the 9th Doctor for telling me about the Time War. Except for his TARDIS he lost everything! And we thought Robotnik was bad."
"He was!" said Sonic sharply.
"By comparison?" said Knuckles arching an eyebrow at Sonic, "really? Robotnik was nothing compared to what the Doctor had to deal with – or is it will have to deal with? It hasn't happened to our Doctor yet – concerning the Daleks."
"And if we ever see him again we can't tell him" finished up Tails, "and that's what hurts the most."
Sonic nodded as he took all this in. A silence fell between the three friends that stretched out for a few minutes before Sonic finally spoke.
"What was your time with the 9th Doctor like?" Sonic asked Knuckles.
"It was relaxing" said Knuckles, "he took me to several different planets and times. We had the occasional adventure, and then he brought me back to Mobius. Maybe someday I'll tell you about them."
"Now you know" said Tails to Sonic, "what should I do?"
"I'm not sure I know what you mean" said Sonic.
"He means" said Knuckles "what should he do about the Time War, the destruction of Gallifrey and the loss of all his friends there."
"I don't know little bro" said Sonic, "that's a real tough one. Have you thought about going back to Gallifrey? Maybe returning to the Academy and earning a full degree?"
"Yes" said Tails, "I even thought about staying on Gallifrey when I was last there."
"Why didn't you?" asked Knuckles.
"I couldn't" said Tails, "that was just after the deroboticizer had been tested. I had to come back. There was too much work to do and I was the only one who knew how the machine worked."
"That's true" said Sonic, "or rather it used to be true but now it's not such a big deal. You did teach several others how to work the thing. Besides, there aren't many people left who still need to be deroboticized, are there?"
"No" said Tails, "almost everyone has been changed back."
"Then I don't see a problem big guy" said Sonic, "you know you want to go. You'd probably ace an advanced program in engineering. Think of all the cool stuff you could learn – and bring back to use here."
"You'd be able to see your friends for as much as you wanted" said Knuckles, "the way I see it there's two things you could do. You can either wallow in misery over something that you have no control over and won't even happen until long after we're all dead and gone, or you can spend the time you have with your friends and make the best of things while you can."
"Knuckles is right" said Sonic, "look at it this way: if you'd never heard about the Time War it wouldn't change anything. It would still happen. You just wouldn't know about it. Who's to say that something just as bad won't happen to Mobius someday after the future that you've seen? Should you let that possibility rule how you live your life?"
"And maybe something will happen to change things" added Knuckles, "didn't Destiny say that the Doctor didn't know everything? Who knows what that means?"
Tails sat there in silence as he thought about what his friends said.
"Maybe" he finally said, "I guess I'll have figure it out somehow."
"Of course you will" said Sonic, "and you know we're always here for you if you need us."
"Thanks" said Tails, "really, thank you both."
"Feeling better now little bro?" asked Sonic.
"Yes" said Tails, "much better."
In the days that followed Tails' mood showed a very visible upswing. At the same time he started to spend less time in his workshop. When Sonic went into to the workshop a few weeks later he noticed that a lot of Tails' equipment was being packed up as if to be put away. The fox was finishing up his current projects but he wasn't starting any new ones. He was also spending extra time with both the King and Sally. Sonic nodded to himself at these things as if they all confirmed his suspicions.
He was right, as everyone found out at the same time a few days later when the Freedom Fighters gathered in the King's private parlor.
"I'm going back to Gallifrey" Tails announced. Everyone turned and looked at him. Sonic saw that the only people in the room who weren't taken by surprise (besides himself – and Knuckles if he had been there that evening, but he wasn't) were Sally and the King.
"You are?" asked Rotor, "what for?"
"I'm going back to the Time Lord Academy" said Tails, "I'm going to take the full engineering program."
"Good for you little bro" said Sonic, "it's about time."
"Sonic" said Sally, "did you know about this?"
"Yeah, I had a pretty good idea" was Sonic's response as he shared a knowing look with Tails.
"You never said anything" said Sally.
"Neither did you" said Sonic, "we probably both figured we'd keep it to ourselves until Tails decided to share it with everyone. Am I right?"
"For someone who thinks with his feet you do sometimes have a good head on your shoulders" said Sally with a chuckle, "you should use it more often."
"Hey!" said Sonic while everyone laughed.
"What brought this about?" asked Bunnie.
"I've been wanting to go back for a while" said Tails, "Chancellor Borusa did say I could go back to the Academy if I ever wanted to. Well I want to and with almost everyone having been deroboticized it seems like now is a good time to go."
"That makes sense" said Uncle Chuck, "when will you be leaving?"
"As soon as I finish packing up the workshop and putting everything into storage" said Tails, "it'll be a few more weeks."
"Will the Doctor be coming to pick you up?" asked Bunnie.
"I doubt it" said Tails, "I contacted the Academy Registrar and they'll send someone to pick me up when I'm ready to leave. I'll send the Doctor a message about this but I'll be surprised if he comes here for this. You know how he is. If I do see him again it will probably be on Gallifrey but who can say when that might be?"
"That's true big guy" said Sonic, "that's very true."
"You're really going back to Gallifrey?" Knuckles asked Tails a few days later when the fox came up to the Floating Island to tell him the news, "good. I think that's the right thing for you to do."
"You and Sonic really helped me with that" said Tails, "I might have stayed depressed for who knows how long if it hadn't been for you guys."
"That's what friends and fellow TARDIS comrades are for" said Knuckles.
"Do you want to come with me?" asked Tails, "for a little bit at least?"
"What?" said Knuckles in surprise, "why would you ask me that? I'm not the studious type."
"You spent a lot of time on the TARDIS with us" said Tails, "and you went with the 9th Doctor when I didn't."
"You know why you couldn't come with us that time" said Knuckles.
"Oh sure" said Tails, "so you didn't get to see Gallifrey. Having been one of the Doctor's companions wouldn't you like to see where he came from?"
"When you put it that way I would" said Knuckles, "you could say that about Shadow too, although he probably wouldn't like it. But what about Sonic? Wouldn't you rather invite him?"
"Sonic is family" said Tails, "he along with Aunt Sally and the King count as my official guardians and family for the Academy records. That gives them the right to visit me at the Academy whenever they want without needing invitations. The Doctor served in that role for me when I was at the Academy the first time. Either Sonic or Sally will probably go with me to Gallifrey to help me get settled there since the Doctor won't be picking me up this time."
"Right" said Knuckles, "I should have thought of that."
The time went by very quickly and before anyone knew it the day had come for Tails to leave for Gallifrey. Both Sally and Sonic were going with him. Sonic would be helping Tails settle in while Sally, in her role as crown princess of Mobius, would use the trip to try to begin forging ties of some kind with Gallifrey.
Tails' workshop had been closed up. This was a matter of safety as no one besides Tails knew what most of the projects he was working on were or understood how his machines worked. It was better to close it up completely instead of risking that some curious person might get hurt.
Now, finally, it was time to go. At noon that day Tails and his friends waited in the same place where they had held the picnic that day when the Gallifreyans came to visit. Even Knuckles had come down from the Floating Island to see the fox off although Shadow did not. They didn't have long to wait. Only a few minutes went by before the familiar VWORP sound of a TARDIS arriving could be heard followed by said TARDIS materializing in front of them. It was not the Doctor's TARDIS. This one had been sent by the Academy Registrar and a member of the Academy staff was its pilot.
There were a lot of hugs as goodbyes were said. Everyone wanted to hug Tails goodbye or at least shake his hand to send him off even though Tails kept reminding everyone that he wasn't leaving forever.
"I'll be back during all the vacations between terms" said Tails, "it'll only be a few months until the first one comes. You won't even have time to miss me!"
"You're fighting a losing battle little bro" said Sonic, "let everyone have their moment. It's only fair."
"Do well" said the King coming forward and placing a hand on Tails' shoulder, "remember while you're there Mobius is there with you."
"No pressure" snickered Knuckles.
"Well we'd better get going" said Sally, "Sonic and I will be back in a few days."
"Goodbye everyone" said Tails. He took one last look at everyone for a moment and then resolutely turned around and went in to the Academy TARDIS. Sonic and Sally followed. The TARDIS door closed behind them. A moment went by and then the TARDIS dematerialized and was gone.
(To Be Concluded)
A/N - Yes, I really did just write "To Be Concluded." The 14th and last arc of this story is over now and the only thing left to bring you next time is the story's epilogue. It's hard to believe that after 7 years this story is really almost finished!
BTW for anyone who thinks that it's unusual for the Time Lords to allow outsiders to come to Gallifrey yes it is. But they know, like, and respect Tails so they're willing to allow it.
Until next time...
