The ballroom had filled with guests by 8 o'clock that night, and Sonia greeted everyone who came through the large oak doors. She'd always been fond of large events and felt, given the occasion, the people of Greenhill could use one after the the hell Millay and G.U.N had put them through. Everyone wore their best outfit tonight; sharp, pinstriped suits and satin dresses were the norm for most, while others stuck to business casual attire. The ballroom overlooked the downtown core so everyone got a great view while they mingled amongst themselves. Fiona stood next to Marine, Starr and Falke Wulf in the centre of the room, while Cream chatted with Amy Rose, Big the cat, Vector and Espio toward the back end of the luxurious hall. Everyone seemed genuinely happy to be here, grateful to Sonic and Tails for saving them once again.

But neither of them were present inside the ballroom.

"Hey, Tails," Knuckles called out. "How are ya feeling?"

The teenage fox leaned against the metal railing of this rooftop which overlooked the ballroom. He wore a black dress shirt, matching slacks and his red sneakers tonight. He glanced through the luxury hall window at his girlfriend once more before turning around to face his friend.

"The doctors say my broken ribs and tail will take a little while to heal completely, but other than that, I'm good."

"Look at tough guy walkin' tall, now. I coulda done that computer crap, myself."

"Man, you can't even type your name on a computer, how are you gonna hack into one?"

The large echidna chuckled as he playfully punched Tails' shoulder and hugged the fox. His dreadlocks had grown much longer since the last time they'd seen each other, and he was noticeably more muscular. Knuckles opted for a white long sleeve shirt and his dark brown work pants instead of business casual attire. Tails noticed he wrapped his hands with white tape rather than wear his classic spiked gloves, but he didn't say anything about it.

"I heard you and Julie had twin daughters, Knux. How are they?"

"Yeah, they're good. We named them Sybelle and Hazel." He answered while reaching for his wallet. "We got pictures taken a little while back. Here."

Tails took the photos and glanced at them for a moment. "Wow, they look just like you and Julie. I'm happy for you guys."

"Jules has been on Angel Island with them this whole time, you know, away from the shit down here. I told her to wait it out a little while longer before coming back down...I'm just glad it's over. YOU stopped 'em, Kit, and you have my gratitude."

Tails grinned and handed the photo back. "So, have you heard from Sonic at all?"

Knuckles took a drink of his champagne before answering. "Sonia mentioned he'd be here sometime tonight, not sure when. You see that dark blue thing he can do? It's pretty sweet, he don't need the Chaos Emeralds to go Super Sayian, now...guy coulda pulled that one out anytime during the shit, now that I think about it-"

Sonic surprised the duo as he slid across the rooftop and finished Knuckles' drink. "Man, I wish it worked like that, Knux. You look bigger, have you been lifting, lately?"

The echidna exhaled passively. "Apart from carrying this team for all these years, nah, I just been eating my vitamins and saying my prayers every night."

"Oh, you've been carrying us, is it?"

"Everybody knows why I'm the only one who sits at the big boy table, fellas."

The hedgehog and fox laughed. "I'm sure it's got nothing to do with that big head."

Sonic fist bumped Knuckles and the friends stood together for the first time in what seemed like forever. Tails was still the shortest among them and all three looked weathered by their personal battles, but they remained resilient. They'd survived G.U.N's betrayal and year long takeover, brought their friends home and now they were back together. But, each of them had grown up in that time and made commitments to their significant others, so they understood it was time to move on.

"...we had a good run, boys." Sonic said.

Knuckles turned to him. "It ain't like we're going away or anything, blue."

"Yeah, but this - it's done. Don't get me wrong, I love happy endings as much as anybody else. But this should be the last one. We don't need to lose anymore of our friends, guys."

Tails wanted to say something but nothing came out, so Knuckles spoke.

"We gotcha, Sonic. I'm a father now, you're engaged to Amy, and Tails still needs to experience love, himself."

"Dude, I've been with Fiona for 7 months, now."

"Get outta here, really?"

"She literally shook your hand an hour ago at the ballroom."

"THAT'S Fiona? Man, I thought that was someone else."

Tails opened his mouth to speak but Sonic shook his head and waved this off.

"So, you and Amy, how'd that finally come about?"

"Well, it took a vacation to Seaside Island for me to realize what was chasing me around all these years. L-"

"Don't even finish, I can only handle so much cheese."

"Shut up, Knux."

The echidna took a moment to laugh before leaning on the railing and speaking. "Ah, man. Growing up sucks."

Tails joined him. "Got that right."

"This gives us a chance to settle down, build a future for ourselves. It doesn't sound all that bad to me." Sonic said.

"But you gotta admit, the hero life is way more fun than playing house."

"Can't argue with you on that one, Knux. I'm gonna miss having to stop psychopaths every week, it was like the only thing I've ever known. But - responsibility comes first, and I should lead by example-"

"You don't gotta lead me, bro!"

Sonic, Knuckles and Tails quickly turned around and made eye contact with Manic as he made his way toward them.

"Ah, man..."

"Manic, don't tell me you're drunk, again."

"Hey, Manny, what's up."

Tails was the only one to fist bump the green hedgehog as he joined the group. Sonic smiled at his brother while Knuckles simply turned away. Manic put a heavy box down next to his backpack and approached the echidna.

"Aw, c'mon Knux! Don't be mad!" He said.

"You left me a series of incredibly shitty messages in my voicemail ON TOP of draining my credit card, piss off."

"I take full responsibility of those misdeeds and I'm here to apologize - hey, listen to me, bro!"

"I should just toss you off this building and be done with it..."

Manic put his hands up defensively. "Look, I'm sorry about that business but I was on the run, you know, being number one on the most wanted list and all! Besides, I wouldn't come to you empty handed."

Knuckles turned around and watched Manic pull stacks of money from his backpack. "You're paying me back with drug money?"

"Not all of it is drug money," Manic clarified. "I've been busy overseas, trying to change my life. Get outta the red and back into the green. So, I left the criminal game and went straight. Yes, some of this came from shady deals BUT you know my hearts in the right place, Knuckles, and there's a seat in there. Just for you."

"I think I prefer the cash to whatever the hell you just implied."

Manic handed the money over. "Thanks, brother. So, now that we're all settled up, everything is fine, yeah? We're the A Team again!"

"We were never the A Team, Manic. You kinda burned every bridge on your way out." Sonic reminded his sibling. "You're lucky Tails saved the day-"

"I think we all are, blues brother," Manic said as he grabbed a few glass bottles from the box he brought, handing one to each of the guys. "And this calls for a celebration! We're alive! Knuckles has a family, now. Aside from us, that is. Tails got his girl pardoned for her crimes, and you, Sonic, you're engaged! That's a big commitment. Let's enjoy this night, fellas."

Sonic looked at Tails and Knuckles for an answer but the echidna was too busy counting the money, so the fox shrugged and opened his bottle. The group raised their glasses for a toast and then drank. Tails immediately retched at the taste while Sonic and Knuckles cringed while looking over the label.

"What is this crap? It's in french or something, I can't read it!"

"Yeah, Manic, what've you given us?"

The green hedgehog smirked. "It's a Mystic Zone Manmaker. Strong, half and half."

"This is horse piss, but Imma keep drinking it because blue balls here drank up my other glass."

Tails put the glass down and shook his head. "I don't think I'm ready for that just yet. I'll stick with OJ for now."

As the teenager looked over the railing, he spotted Fiona Fox and Amy Rose walking onto the balcony which faced the building they stood on.

"Sonic! There you are!" Amy called out. "Come down here!"

"Miles, you come here, too! This whole event is for you, after all!" Fiona shouted.

Sonic and Tails looked at Manic and Knuckles. "Well, that's our cue. You guys coming down?"

"That's a negative, brother. You were right, I pissed everyone off so I'd better keep my distance for the time being."

"As much as I like dress-up parties, I'm a little out of place, tonight. You guys go, you two saved the city, not us meat-heads. You know where we'll be."

Sonic nodded and shook their hands, while Tails hugged both of his friends. "Alright, then. We'll see ya's out there."

"See you later, guys."

Manic put his arm around Knuckles and saluted. "You sure will, bro."

As he left the rooftop, Tails looked back and watched Knuckles push Manic before taking a big drink. "Get the hell outta here with that shit, man."

"You can hide behind that lonely tough guy act, but deep down I know you love me, Knux."

"Love is a strong word that I wouldn't use in this context."

"I mean love like a brother or a cousin. Or a son, if you'd like-"

"Can we just drink without you getting weird on me?"

"You know it's only cause I love ya, man-"

"Okay, I see that's not going away anytime soon..."

Tails laughed once more and smiled as he and Sonic entered the the building to use the elevator. He pressed the ground floor button and watched the doors shut, glad he had his friends around to help him get through adulthood.

AFTERMATH

As the event came to an end in the early hours of the morning, Tails and Fiona walked back to the loft, which was gifted to them by Sonia. The pink hedgehog was eager to catch up with her brothers, but she'd promised to have the loft refurnished in time for Christmas. Fiona was just grateful she finally had a place to call home.

Tails went back to the Tiltyard in the morning for an assembly regarding the adjustments staff were making following the G.U.N occupation. Cream sat next to him and they waved to Starr, Marine, Estelle and Falke, all of whom had recently been accepted into the school. Tails couldn't see Kaneko or Charmy in the crowd of students but he figured they were on the other side of the massive auditorium, or skipping school, and thought nothing of it. The Rogues split first, and Drago hadn't even considered going back to school, but it was their choice so Tails didn't object, though he would've been happy to see them succeed at the Tiltyard together.

During the assembly, Cream spoke about how she hadn't seen Charmy since last night. They continued the conversation as they walked back to the dorm. "What if he never made it back after the party, Tails? Can you come with me to look for him?"

The fox entered the dorm. "I mean, yeah but - let's just be sure he's missing before we starting running around. I'm sure he's just skipping school or something."

Cream stopped in front of him. "Charmy wouldn't just disappear like this. We need to go Now."

Things were still a bit awkward between them even after Fiona explained everything to her, and Tails felt bad for letting Cream down the way he did. She'd gotten close with Charmy in his absence, and the attraction was obvious to the fox, so he understood why she was so worried.

"Okay, we'll go now. Let me just put my things away and we'll move."

Tails walked across the common area, reminiscing on Storm and Jet playing video games on the couch when everyone was still around. The Rogues' empty rooms told him they came back for their belongings and ran while Sonic took down G.U.N. He didn't miss them, but it was very quiet without them around.

As Tails opened the door to his room and put his clothes inside the wardrobe, a low buzzing noise outside his window got his attention. He threw everything else on his bed before opening the dark curtains and meeting the glaring blue LED lights of the drone he'd seen earlier in the week, and immediately knew something was wrong.

"...shit."

"What is it?" Cream asked as she made her way over.

He exhaled sharply. "I knew he wasn't done, I knew it!"

"Tails, tell me what is going on!"

She entered his room and they both read the text that scrolled across the small LED screen on the drone.

~CHEMICAL PLANT - NO SONIC~

"This thing wants me to meet Drago." Tails said while reaching into his backpack.

"What? Why?"

"...he's got Charmy."

"Are you serious? How do you know?"

"Because he wants this."

Cream saw the SAGE program in his hands and then she understood. "He kidnapped Charmy so he could use him as bait to get what he wants."

Tails zipped up his backpack. "I'm going to get him back."

"I'm coming with you."

"I don't think you should-"

"What did we just go through? I can handle this!"

"Fine. But don't make any moves until we have Charmy, otherwise Drago will kill him."

"He wouldn't actually do that, would he?"

The fox said nothing and let the glare answer for him, then grabbed his keys and led the way out the door. Tails and Cream said nothing as they raced through the hallways and out the door as quickly as they could move. The afternoon sun disappeared behind the thick smog clouds as they entered the Chemical Plant Zone and followed the pipelines to the control centre. The deeper they traversed, the darker the sky appeared until it was pitch black, with only the Plant's machinery lights illuminating the path for the duo. Tails knew the Chemical Plant had been shut down for years, but he'd always figured someone was still paying the hydro bill to keep the lights on. Cream looked over a thin yellow railing at a deep drop-off point and watched a mysterious purple body of water crash against a retaining wall roughly 90 feet below the surface they stood on. She'd heard the stories Sonic and Tails told of this place, but now she was walking through it, herself.

Tails spotted the drone hovering several yards ahead and it's LED lights blinked. "It wants us to follow."

"Why did this guy have to pick the creepiest place to meet?"

"He needed the advantage over us because he's a coward...we'll be fine, all of us. Come on."

Tails and Cream followed the drone through a passage, slid down a chem-water slide and finally stepped onto an old steel platform which they could feel was struggling to support their weight, due to purposely loosened bolts.

"You didn't listen, Miles," Drago called out from behind the heavy machinery. "I coulda killed him for that."

Tails searched for him around the compound. "You said No Sonic so I didn't bring him. You should've said come alone if that's what you wanted."

"I'da been mad if it were anyone other than her. The girlfriend."

"You let Charmy go RIGHT NOW!" Cream shouted.

As Tails found his hiding spot, a red laser appeared over his heart. "Not another step, either of you."

The fox gestured over to Cream and they complied. "You got me dead to rights, Drago, at least have the guts to face me."

"Right. Guts. I can rip yours out and show 'em to you if that's really how you want this to go down."

"Tough talk when you're hiding behind machines."

"Is that not what you've been doing for the last three years?"

Tails scoffed. "I used SAGE to stop the real bad guys, then I buried it. It's not my fault douchebags like you keep trying to steal it."

Drago finally came out from his hiding spot and stood over the platform. "Oh, I'm not here TRYING to steal it. Say, how are your ribs feeling?"

A rubber bullet suddenly struck Tails in the body and he immediately dropped to one knee. Cream ran over to him and the wolf revealed a remote from his jacket pocket.

"To answer your question from earlier, Cream, I set the meet here because I knew Prower was still busted up and it'd be less likely he'd pursue me if I agitated those injuries."

The fox growled in pain when the second rubber bullet struck his broken tail.

"STOP! Please!" Cream begged.

"The SAGE program. Hand it over."

A drone flew down to them and a small arm holding a tray lowered. Tails' shaking hand reached into his pocket and pulled the hacking device out, then he dropped it on the tray. The drone flew to Drago and as he inspected SAGE, Cream helped the fox back up to his feet.

"...you're such a backstabbing asshole," Tails said. "Right after we get rid of G.U.N..."

"This thing better not be rigged, or else bee boy is goin' for a swim."

"I disabled it, you bastard, now LET HIM GO!"

Satisfied, Drago put the SAGE program in his jacket pocket and pressed a red button on the remote in his left hand. The whirling of the machines made Tails and Cream look around the compound for their friend, then he appeared 20 feet above them. He was trapped inside one of the pods used to transport loads through the pipeline. Charmy banged on the plexiglass for help while his friends made their way over.

"One last thing before we part ways, Prower."

"What?!"

"I meant it when I said you've got ability, but I can't risk either of you following me outta here." Drago warned as he maneuvered the path of Charmy's pod remotely. "I'm sure you don't want him to drown, either."

Charmy screamed out as the pod shot through the pipeline and straight down into the purple water below. Cream vaulted over the railing and nosedived after the pod, and Tails limped across the platform after her.

"You just started something big with me, Drago."

The wolf turned his back to the fox on his way toward the exit. "My friend Nero sends his regards."

Tails remembered that name then hopped over the railing and slid down a metal pole all the way down to the dock below. His white gloves tore apart by the time he landed, and the pod was at least thirty feet underwater by the time it stopped, but Cream couldn't swim after it.

"I can't hold my breath for that long, Tails!" She exclaimed.

He took off his black long sleeve shirt and tied it to his wrist. "I'll get him outta there and bring him up as far as I can, but you're going to have to dive in and grab this once we start to ascend, okay?"

"Okay, I can do that."

"You've got this. Let's go save him."

Tails took a deep breath and hit the water, diving as fast as he could. It took years before the nightmares of drowning in this very facility went away, but his friends' life was a stake here so he ignored the fear and pushed forward. The pod was ejected from the pipeline and continued to descend into the depths, but it was a slow process which worked in Tails' favor. Before the water filled the inside, Charmy was able to kick the plexiglass enough to crack it, then Tails smashed it with a double foot stomp. He pulled Charmy out and they both watched the pod disappear into the blackness, then they began to swim to the surface. Tails' vision was starting to fade and he slowed down, but Charmy wasn't giving up. He held the fox's forearm and kicked up toward Cream, who was already diving toward them. She grabbed Tails' long sleeve and all three rushed back to the surface.

The teenagers gasped while breathing in fresh air, then climbed back onto the dock. Cream got up first, pulled Charmy up and then Tails. She sat against the railing, the bee stayed on all fours and the fox laid on his back.

"Son of a BITCH! God damn that Drago dickhead! Bastard tried to KILL ME!" Charmy shouted while banging his fists on the steel grates.

Cream came over and held him close. "It's alright, you're okay, Charmy! We've got you!"

His voice broke as he kicked once more. "I thought I was gonna DIE down there!..."

"It's over, now, everything is okay..."

Charmy wrapped his arms around her and Tails finally sat up. He made eye contact with Cream and slightly nodded, grasping his friend's shoulder to comfort him.

"You guys saved my life, man!...for real, I owe you guys-"

"No. You don't. This is on me. I allowed that snake to strike and you almost paid for it."

"Tails-"

"It's the truth. This won't ever be done until SAGE is destroyed. (sigh) I've been putting that off and thinking everything would just be fine. But I have to do this..."

Tails stood up on his own while Cream helped Charmy up. "...we should get back to Greenhill. You should see a doctor, Tails."

He found an old elevator lift and opened the cage. "I have to drop into the Tech Study, first."