Epilogue
METROPOLIS CITY LIMITS - SEVERAL WEEKS LATER
Tails has taken Cee out for the day, firstly to get away from the immigration system, and for a surprise that he went through a fair bit of trouble to make happen. After a quick helicopter ride over the valley hillside, the duo landed on a private airstrip owned by Sonia.
("Lit" by Polyphia plays through the on-board radio)
"So Tails, what's this surprise you've got for me?" The blonde hedgehog asked as she unbuckled her seatbelt.
"It's inside Sonia's beach house," The fox answered while turning off the engine. "I wanted to keep it low-key. Come on, let's check it out."
They exited the chopper and made their way up a set of stairs that led to the beach house's side door. The music continued playing inside over wall-mounted Bluetooth speakers and Cee was taken aback by the lavish interior design. Her mansion in New Genocide City was eloquent, but not like this.
Tails led her to a common area where he stood by two sliding glass doors and directed attention to them. "Promise me you won't faint."
"Umm-"
"Just a joke." He slid the doors open as he stepped back, revealing a grinning Manic the Hedgehog.
Cee gasped. "MANNY!!"
She was across the waxed floor and in his arms before he could let out a syllable. He held her up and felt an intimate warmness as he leaned against the doors. He winked at Tails, who nodded his head in approval.
"I'll give you two some time to catch up. I know it's been a little while."
"Thanks bro. This means the world to me." Manic said.
The teenage fox stepped out and closed the door behind him. He fixed himself a glass of orange juice in the kitchen and headed out to the patio. Everything was going well, no Warwick or G.U.N on his case, he was entering his final year of high school come September, and everyone was happy.
Except for Amy. Sonic was missed by everyone, but none more than her. Tails wished there was a way to cheer her up about it, but unless she had the blue hedgehog back, nothing would work.
The wind picked up and the blue sky was suddenly grey with clouds. Tails checked the forecast on his phone, there was no mention of rain today.
That's when Silver the Hedgehog walked through a tornado-like vortex. "Miles Prower? Your friend Amy Rose requires your aide."
He stood up straight. "With what, exactly?"
"She's gone to a space station called The Nexus in search for Sonic. Something I now regret telling her."
"What, are you saying he's alive? In space?!"
"There's no time for explanations. You need a war party to join her because she will not survive alone. I promised her I would not get any of you involved, but she's on a suicide mission-"
Tails jumped off the patio and faced the taller telekinetic hedgehog. "Why didn't you tell us this before? Why just now?!"
Silver exhaled sharply. "You petty creatures aren't the only ones in dire straits. I am choosing to help you NOW, I suggest you take it."
"Fine, okay...it's only me and Manic here, though. Everyone else is-well, it's complicated."
"Things will be tragic if you do not act now, Prower."
"Look, the rest of my friends are either in prison or in hiding, thanks to this dickhead government agent! I can't just snap my fingers and bring them all here! And this Nexus, how do we even get there?"
"I can take you there, but you'll need a way back home." Silver explained. "Use Robotnik's teleportation technology. It's how he sent Sonic to The Nexus in the first place."
Tails gritted his teeth at the mere mention of that name. "That bastard called it 'The Sonic Cannon', now I see why...G.U.N seized all of Eggman's tech when they arrested him, how am I supposed to use it while it's under lock and key?"
"You're the genius here, I'm sure you can figure it out."
"Just excellent, chrome-dome sends me on a quest into space but doesn't know how to get me back..." Tails muttered. "Or you just don't want to."
"Time works differently in The Nexus, Amy could be long dead, having searched in vain by the time you make a decision."
"Give me a few hours, a day at most. (sigh)...Warwick isn't gonna like the mess we make today, but to hell with him, these are my friends. They're more than worth it. Look for this helicopter when you come to pick us up."
Silver nodded and stepped back through his vortex, leaving Tails alone on the property. He finished his orange juice and hurried back inside to use the SAGE program to track down which facility the Sonic Cannon was held in, and to find the rest of his incarcerated friends.
PRISON ISLAND-WARDEN'S OFFICE
Mobius' most dangerous criminals called the remote island home, and it's where hundreds of scumbags were sent by The Chaotix' hands personally. With the shocking betrayal and subsequent assassination of Mighty the Armadillo this past year, Agent Warwick needed someone to take the fall for his crimes as a corrupt officer.
Enter: Knuckles, Vector and Espio.
The crocodile lost both his detective agency and his G.U.N badge once he was coerced into confessing to his part in M's crimes. Not wanting to let his best friend face prison alone, Espio gave himself up to the government agents as well. Knuckles, however has an extensive record of working within as well as against the law during his time bringing down bad guys. To some, he's part of The Sonic Heroes. To Warwick, he's an out of control vigilante whose actions resulted in a massacre in Vace Beach, Silver Valley, and that's the only opinion the court needed for their verdict, regardless of the truth coming to light.
10 years for each Chaotix member was the sentence, and Agent Warwick personally saw to it they arrived to Prison Island in one piece.
Vector led the trio in shackles, with Espio behind him and Knuckles being jabbed with a prison guards' nightstick at the tail end. Each were black and blue from fighting off gang attacks, and being physically restrained by Prison Island's finest. They wore orange jumpsuits and custom made boots with magnets in the soles which could keep them stuck to the floor with the flip of a switch, incase they got any ideas. The senior guard, Carnahan, stood at the ready as they entered the Warden's bleak office. His height advantage made it easy to raise the inmates' shackled wrists up and connect them to a metal beam high above the floor, effectively hanging them just enough so their feet were off the ground.
The prison's warden was a woman, Mrs. Helewise, something not common but no less as intimidating as her guards. She was older, late 40's, yet had the features of women half her age, something Carnahan didn't make a secret as they flirted. Her knee-high boots clanged off the metal floor and she interlocked her fingers in the front of her black skirt, leaning on her desk as she looked over the Chaotix.
"That's the 31st attempt on your lives, now." She spoke with a slight European accent.
"Is that all?" Vector asked. "Well, it's awfully kind of you to keep count-"
The nightstick blow from Carnahan caused him to cough, and put an end his sarcasm.
"You know, it doesn't have to be this way, gentlemen."
"And you know we can't snitch. We're done here." Knuckles said.
"What difference would it make? The rest of the inmates already want you dead, why not get them back? It would make my job a whole lot easier."
"We go through this shit every week. The answer is no, now get this gorilla to walk us back to our cell."
Carnahan unloaded a volley of blows on the defenceless echidna, and his body swung like a punching bag as he groaned. Vector and Espio could hear death threats and other obscene phrases directed at them echo throughout the prison halls. This was a losing game, but one they weren't about to just give up on.
Helewise stood up straight. "Together, you three have been holding off the inevitable. Wave after wave of inmates are wheeled into the infirmary by your hands. I wonder if that would still be the case should I split you up into different wings-"
"You do whatever you want, bitch. Your job is to rehabilitate us maniacs but if you do it by allowing murder in your prison, that wouldn't look so good to your bosses. Now, are we done here or what?"
"Well as luck would have it, I've recently come into some rather cutting edge technology. Mr. Carnahan?"
The guard opened a wooden crate and revealed a metal collar, complete with flashing lights. He slapped the first one around Espio's neck, then did the same to Vector and Knuckles.
"Okay? So what is this shit, then?"
The trio are suddenly hit with a strong electrical current and writhe in pain until Helewise takes her finger off the button.
"They come off when you agree to cooperate, boys. And while you think over my very, VERY generous offer, you might want to ponder how you three will continue to fight off your friends while wearing those collars."
She walked close to look each of them in the eyes, stopping at the silent chameleon. "I've always had a soft spot for the quiet ones. Would you like to say anything?"
"As much as I'd like to add to my friends' statements, I was raised to respect my elders."
The smirk quickly left the warden's face and she turned her back to them. "Get them back into general population."
One nightstick blow across the face later, and the trio woke up back inside their cell. Knuckles and Espio shared a metal bunkbed while Vector had to share his with a drug addicted inmate who was going through constant withdrawals. His "friends" outside convinced him to try his luck against the trio, but he was immediately corrected and has been rather harmless since then. While Knuckles never trusted going to sleep with him around, Espio trained himself to sleep one hour and stay awake for days at a time, so he watches over his friends every night.
Tonight though, the echidna could only toss and turn in his bed. Not only was the collar very uncomfortable around his neck, he longed to see Julie-Su, and their unborn twins she was pregnant with. The thought of dying inside and never meeting them terrified Knuckles to the point where tears formed, but he didn't make a sound and simply wiped them away. They were dead men on Prison Island, that was for certain.
And then, their way out dropped in.
As Vector got up to use the the metal toilet in the corner of the cell, the entire ceiling came crashing onto his bunk, instantly crushing everything underneath.
"What the fuck!" Knuckles jumped up.
"Oh, Jesus - Jimmy..." Vector uttered.
As the dust settled and light from the hall peered through, Manic shook off the concrete debris and shined his Jade Medallion to get a look into the cell. "Okay, great. I was hoping this would be the right cell, would'a sucked if I went to the wrong one."
"Are you kidding me?! Manic!"
The echidna wrapped his arms around the green hedgehog, which was a surprise to everyone.
"It's good to see you too, knucklehead. But we gotta move if we wanna get outta here." Manic said. "Come on fellas, you too. We're all going home."
Espio chuckled quietly and jumped off the top bunk. "Definitely not how I imagined tonight would go."
Manic ran up to the back wall and threw a punch that easily broke through the concrete, then he made a big enough hole for everyone to fit through. Vector took one last look at his now dead bunkmate before he followed his friends into the tunnel-like interior.
Up in Helewise's office, Carnahan was on duty while she was out for the night. His radio blared with distress calls from multiple guards making their rounds, each dashing to figure out where the sound came from.
"What the hell was that?!" The senior guard demanded.
"It's in E Wing, there's a breakout in progress!"
He furiously slammed his palm against a red button on the desktop. "Not on my watch, there ain't. Get up there and tell me which cell it is! Whichever of these stupid pricks it is are going in the hot box for a whole god damn MONTH!"
A small army of guards quickly ran up the final 3 levels on the top floor of E Wing, and already Carnahan had a guess as to who was making a run for it. A tornado warning siren woke up the entire island, and metal bars started to close off all the exits around the prison. While he waited for confirmation, he scanned each security camera for any movement, and as the lenses swept passed the Chaotix' cell, he saw the rubble left by Manic behind the bars, and Jimmy's body sticking out.
"It's Knuckles' cell! Simmons and Gaspar are hauling ass with him!" He said as he ripped open a drawer and grabbed the remote to their electric collars. "I knew you idiots couldn't take it."
He pressed the button, but nothing happened to Knuckles, Vector or Espio as they ran down the final hall before the rooftop. Manic had blasted their collars off before they continued, but then Knuckles suddenly remembered the other failsafe: the magnets in their boots. He screamed for the Elemental to blast their footwear next, but Manic had a problem damaging the first pair.
"What is it?!" Knuckles shouted. "Just shoot them!"
"I'm trying but these magnets are tough to cut through!"
Espio looked back at the guards pounding on the jammed doors. "Company's here."
Finally, Manic cut through Knuckles' boots and he slipped out, but Vector and Espio's magnets activated a second later and they were stuck dead in their tracks.
"No fuckin' way, we ain't leaving you!" Knuckles cried desperately. "Hold still I'll rip that shit off, Manic get Espio!"
The guards were almost completely through the barred doors when Vector pushed his friend off. "Just go."
"Now's not the time for this sappy shit Vector, just hang on!"
"I said get the hell outta here! Manic, take him! GO! Go be with your family, for fuck sakes!...I say we've got a better chance in the hot box, anyway." Vector said with a slight grin.
"Guys-"
Manic grabbed his forearm. "They're doing this for you, now come on."
Knuckles fist bumped them both. "You're my brothers, and I will be back for you."
Espio gave a two finger salute. "We'll be waiting for ya."
The guards busted through the doors and surrounded the inmates, beating the croc and chameleon to the floor. Carnahan's right hand man pushed open the rooftop doors and reported back. "Simmons and Gaspar are in custody."
"What about Knuckles?!"
"...he's gone."
Prison Island was swarming with search parties, armed guards in watch towers and patrol boats in the waters that surround. As search lights came on, the guards looked all over the island for Knuckles but couldn't find a thing.
Deep below the ocean surface, Manic held the echidna by his jumpsuit and they used the Medallion's energy to dive lower underwater. Knuckles held his breath for as long as he could, but after almost 3 minutes, he blacked out.
1996 UPTOWN STREET APARTMENT A, METROPOLIS - 3 HOURS LATER
Breaking Knuckles out of prison wasn't the only thing Manic accomplished during the day. Tails found the location of the G.U.N storage facility where Eggman's 'Sonic Cannon' was stored. After obtaining the Jade Medallion from Sonia, the duo stealthily entered the facility with the aid of both Manic's gem and Tails' SAGE program. Once they had possession of the the parts, the green hedgehog made his way to Prison Island and Tails hurried back to the only place in Metropolis he could work without alerting Warwick; Charmy's apartment.
While Vector and Espio did their time, Charmy was left in Cream's mother Vanilla's care, to which he moved into the empty basement apartment in the building she lived in. Tails tried waving to Cream as she looked out at him but she was still mad about the business he pulled at a house party Amy hosted earlier that year. Nevertheless, he went down to the bee's apartment and went to work putting the machine back together. Charmy played online games on the PC he had setup while Tails continued to grind away at the advanced technology. He had to read through his physics textbooks and look online multiple times, but finally he had the 'teleporter' functional once more.
"You get that thing working?" Charmy asked while still looking at his gaming monitor.
"Oh yeah. It works."
"Cool. So, what'd you need me to do for you?"
The fox handed him a thick remote. "All you have to do is press this combination of buttons when you see the console flashing, that means we're on our way back through. Please tell me you understand."
Charmy spun around in his office chair and opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out.
"Come on, Charmy!"
"I know what to do, you've explained it to me 20 times!"
"Show me."
"This button opens the gateway, this button activates the field and this button brings everyone home. I got this!"
Tails shouldered his backpack and walked up the stairs. "I'll be in contact with you the whole time, so stay here and wait as long as it takes, alright? We'll be back before you know it."
"I still can't believe you guys are going off to space, bro. That's pretty epic."
"Well, I have a feeling the journey won't be so epic once we get there. Talk to you soon."
The fox shut the door behind him, then crossed town as quickly as he could move. He was meeting Manic and Knuckles at the helipad downtown, and SAGE tells him they are both on Warwick's APB after the prison break, so their meeting spot won't be so safe if they're seen.
Tails climbed up the stairs and was greeted by Cee on the helipad. Manic had promised he'd come right back after Silver's mission, but she wanted to see him just before they left.
"Tails?" She asked. "Can you be honest with me about this? Are you guys coming back?"
He smiled. "This is like our 9-5. Yeah, I've never been to space, but I trust these guys with my life. We're all coming home."
She smiled back, then they waited 5 more minutes before a jade green blur finally joined them. Manic put Knuckles down to rest after their run at top speed, and he embraced Cee.
"Sorry we're late, we had to stop by my place for a change of clothes. The prison jumpsuit wouldn't be all that practical for this occasion." Manic said.
Knuckles exhaled. "It's almost like I don't have a choice in the matter..."
"Hey Knux, I promise you we'll take you right to Julie after this is all over and done with." Tails said.
"Yeah, I made a promise of my own that I intend on keeping. Let's just hope we don't die out there. Now where is this guy?"
Tails looked up to the night sky. "I told him to look for my helicopter when he came to pick us up, so hopefully-there he is!"
The vortex appeared and Silver levitated down to the helipad. "Is it just you four?"
"Three. Me, Manic and Knuckles. I told you about everyone else's situation."
"Very well. I hope you gentlemen are ready for The Nexus."
Manic turned to Cee and pulled her in for a kiss, then handed a piece of paper to her. "When I come back, we're gonna leave this Zone and go across the world. Someplace Warwick can't get to us. Okay?"
"Okay Manic. I, um..."
Silver grabbed Knuckles and Tails' forearms, then they linked hands with Manic as they were taken through the vortex.
"I'll see you soon."
They went through and were gone in a flash. Police cars pulled up to the helipad and officers called out for Knuckles and Manic, but they were too late.
"Where'd they go?!" The leading officer demanded. "I know they were just here!"
"I haven't seen a thing, officer."
"Get back to your home before we take you in for trespassing."
Cee complied with the officer and walked down the metal staircase. She heard the officers argue over the incident, then she left the area. She read the note Manic gave her multiple times, noting his barely legible handwriting first. She knew they'd have all the time in the world to work on it once they escaped Metropolis together.
But after everything she'd gone through this year, she thought this was too good to be true, and as the months went by with no word, she was right.
CONCLUDED IN "TIME AND SPACE"