On board the rectifier base Mourning Star the Alpha One stood at attention in a briefing room as his comrades behind him did the same. Before him a hologram appeared of a hovering chair with a black canopy over it that kept them from seeing who, if anyone, was sitting in it. "Superior Prime," said the rectifier.

The supreme commander of the Imperium spoke with a distorted mechanical voice. "I understand that not only did you all lose the data capsule to the Freedom Fighters of this time, not only did you all take prisoners outside of their native timeframe, but you used Mode R without authorization Alpha One."

"With all due respect Superior," said Alpha two. "In Alpha one's defense our limbic regulators were offline and we wouldn't have even brought those prisoners to this time due to the malfunctions caused by…"

"I've read the report and that is no excuse for any of you! The regulator is a tool, not a crutch; you're all expected to behave in a manner that is most conducive to mission success at all times!"

"Superior," said Alpha one. "I accept full responsibility; I am ready to be punished."

"It has been a long time since I did this, so long you seem to have forgotten Alpha One…"

Alpha one was brought to his knees as his suit electrified him as he screamed in pain, a scream that was part of a chorus as every rectifier was electrified as well.

"You have individual designations only to mark your default fire team and the order to which you were placed in it. The Rectifiers are a single faceless entity created to 'solve problems' standard forces can't, if one performs well all are rewarded, if one accomplishes a mission all are credited, if one fails or disobeys the Superior Council all are punished, is that understood?!"

The voltage stopped and The Rectifiers got back to their feet. "Acknowledged," all the rectifiers responded.

"Excellent, now that's settled we can move onto business. After a thorough scan of our own systems, we determined what information the Final Freedom Fighters had recovered. If decrypted it will reveal the method used to establish the Imperium, but there was one important detail we deliberately excluded from that database without which altering this event will prove to be nigh impossible. Due to this the council and myself have determined that the best course of action for now is for you to proceed with your primary mission in that time. Once that is complete not only will it prevent alteration of the timeline, but we also be able to fulfill the true purpose of the Imperium."

"True purpose of the Imperium?" said Alpha Three.

"You will be briefed on the matter when it becomes relevant or upon mission completion, for now you need to gather more emeralds."

An alarm sounded out. "Super warp ring detected," said the Mourning Star's computer. "Changing course to enter optimal transmat range."

"Excellent, with the chaos inverter charged by the Master Emerald we can get leaps and bounds closer to our goal. Due to his specialized knowledge, I am assigning this mission and the chaos inverter to the last member of Alpha Team. Use this weapon well Alpha Four."

A two tailed fox rectifier stepped forward and gave a Roman salute with a clenched fist with his thumb to the side of his index finger. "Compliance."

"Good, now if you have nothing further to report…"

"Actually, there is one issue superior," said Alpha one. "Sonic said something about an Imperium agent making an attempt on his life, if there was another operation in this time why weren't we notified of it?"

Superior Prime just floated in front of the camera for a moment. "…that information will be disclosed if it becomes relevant to your current assignment. Until mentioned otherwise try to keep alterations to the timeline outside your assignment to a minimum. Superior Prime out."

The message ended then the rectifiers began filing out of the room.

Sally stirred as she heard music nearby that faded to a male voice. "And that was 'Can You Feel the Sunshine?' by the Forget-Me-Knots. It's now seven o' clock stay tuned for the Morning Parliament right here on 199.2 FM KTBR."

"KTBR, Freedom City!"

"Welcome to the Morning Parliament, I'm Night the Owl."

"And I'm Dawn the Rooster."

"In our top story two Federation air carriers had crashed and a mountain top destroyed after…"

The radio went silent as Sally opened her eyes and saw Sonic looking back at her. "Morning beautiful, I hope I wasn't snoring too loud for you."

"Sonic, I had the strangest dream, we succeeded in our mission and went to check in on the kids, but then two of them called us mom and dad and…" Sally noticed that Sonic wasn't his upbeat usual self. "…it wasn't a dream, was it?"

"Nope, seems like The Rectifiers made a pit stop on the way back to our time and ended up kidnapping the future children of us and a bunch of our friends."

Sally covered her face with a pillow. "I fainted. I stared down some of the worst villains and survived major disasters, but I meet my own kids face to face and I fainted."

Sonic moved the pillow away and stroked the back of Sally's head. "All of that wasn't so personal to you, you have nothing to be ashamed of." He then started blushing. "To be honest your reaction was kind of tame compared to some of the rest of us."

Tails covered his head as he squatted down. "Johnny and Vanilla's gonna kill me, Johnny and Vanilla's gonna kill me…"

"I'm going to be a mom," Fiona muttered. "I've never been a mom; I didn't really grow up with a mom. What if they don't like me? What if I disappoint them? What if I hurt them?!"

Wave seemed to be singing a song to herself, the pupils in her eyes were pinpricks. "Egg hatcher, egg hatcher, I'm going to be, perched in a nest, so feathery."

Jet joined in a daze. "Egg hatcher, egg hatcher, we won't be alone, with a chick to call our own."

"I don't wanna be old," said Honey. "I don't wanna be old, I don't wanna be old!"

Sonic felt his head spinning. "B-but I only just got married, I'm not ready to be a dad yet! E-everything's going too fast, HOW CAN ANYTHING BE TOO FAST FOR ME?!"

Sonic sighed. "Yeah, that was not exactly my best moment."

"I'm so sorry," Sally said sitting up in bed. "We've been waiting to begin our lives together for so long but now that we have gotten married it just seems like one thing after another is butting in. You must be bursting with passion right now and then all of this happened."

"Actually, I feel like I had a cold shower. Not exactly in a hurry to get in after meeting who's eventually going to come out. Uh not that they don't seem to be great it's just a weird case of timing."

"I, I feel just so conflicted," Sally sighed. "You know me, I've always been about free will, both that of my people and my own. The Source of All chose me over my brother, but I rejected it because it meant my destiny would be on a set path. Now I'm faced with another set destiny but if I reject it this time I'm denying two people, people I have no doubt I will love, their own free will and their very existence."

"Well, it seems like all the kids were worried about that, but once it was clear none of them were immediately disappearing, they all calmed down. Everybody else decided to stay so we can all discuss what to do about our little visitors after a good night's sleep."

"Then I guess I better get ready," Sally slipped out of bed. "None of us will be able to handle the Robotnick Ascendancy AND the Mobius Imperium if we're all worried and preoccupied over children we haven't had yet. The sooner they can go home the better."

Suddenly a watch-like device on the nightstand started buzzing. "Sonic, it's your father. Can you hear me?"

Sonic pulled his glove up enough to put the communicator on as he spoke to it. "Yeah Dad, funny I knew you went back to the army, but I didn't expect you call me this way, particularly this early."

"Well General Prower just got some intel he wants you to act on asap, seems like a super warp ring was spotted at Crescent Falls, it shouldn't take you long with your speed to get there. Better that we get to it and an emerald before Robotnick does."

"Dad you don't know how much of a break this is, Silver actually needs a Chaos Emerald. I'll be there and back before lunch," Sonic closed the channel and fit the glove over the communicator before turning back to Sally. "After everybody calmed down Silver said he has a way to send all the kids back to the future where they belong that he and Blaze can do, all they needed was a Chaos Emerald. If we're lucky that's what Feist is in the mood to be handing out to the winner today."

"You better get going then," said Sally. "I'll gather everyone at the Acorn Army HQ to talk about how to handle things afterward."

Sonic gave her a deep kiss before zooming out the door.

In the shelter the kids began calling "The Hideaway" everyone had sat down to breakfast, well almost everyone.

"What you mean site not found!?" Aleena shouted at a computer. "I just want to let my neighbors know I'm ok you lower deck piece of junk!"

"Hey, I'd like to get on Chatterbox to see how the extreme gear junior division is shaping up," said Ace. "So don't hog it!"

"Is that an insult?! You know they both only let kids stay on for an hour and talk with other kids, so you'll get your chance! I just don't want my neighbors to think PrincessPop has abandoned them!"

Gasket sighed. "First off Aleena most of your neighbors haven't even been born yet and Ace the info you'd find would be twenty years out of date. Second, Neighborhood and Chatterbox won't even be made for another sixteen years or so. Third that 'piece of junk' is probably as upper deck as most people these days can get."

Aleena groaned as she got up from the computer while Ace turned away. "Ugh, now time has come to screw with me personally! Because of time travel and aging magic, I have a brother and sister who, while being physically three years younger than my parents are technically two years older! Because of that I got two nieces, two nephews, a brother-in-law and a sister-in-law all before any of us were potty trained! Please tell me we can get home without me becoming my own grandma or something?!"

"Wouldn't know anything about that," said Jackie. "The Freedom Fighters, with our agreement, say we're not leaving this building until they come up with a permanent solution. Frankly I think I speak for the adults in here when I say we don't want to risk messing up our own timelines by being in close proximity to our younger selves."

"I'd risk it," Kneecaps said with a sigh. "If it would mean I can see Mom again."

Lara-Su came up to her uncle. "Oh right, Grandma's still alive back here. I'd like that too; I was just a puggle when…"

"I remember, you might not have gotten to know her, but she really loved you. She held your egg, played peek-a-boo with you, she was the first one to notice how easy you kids were able to form bonds with each other by watching you, Rutan and Ajax play. Mom lasted longer than the doctors gave her but that didn't make it easier for us. If it weren't for Dad, Knux, Julie and everyone I think I'd still be lost."

"I understand Sugarlips," said Alexis. "But the ball's is in the Freedom Fighters' court. Maybe they'll make an exception about you seeing her, but I wouldn't get my hopes up."

"I guess," said Lara. "Still, I heard a lot of cool things about her, I want to get to really know what my namesake was like."

"Ah, need a hug Red?" scoffed Gleam.

Lara groaned. "Gleam, butt out!"

"Hey, cool it sis," said Dusk. "If we still had grandparents around this time, we'd want to see what they'd be like too."

"Still not speaking to you," growled Gleam. "You little diary reading sneak."

"You did what?!" said Salma. "A dairy is where a girl keeps the deepest secrets of her heart!"

"To read something like that without permission is…is just plain wrong!" Taffy said.

"I can't believe you Dusk!" Grace said with the beginnings of tears in her eyes. "I thought you were a nice guy, but you are willing to do something like this than…than maybe I never knew who you were to begin with!"

"N-no," Dusk stammered. "Grace it's, it's…"

Suddenly tears in his own eyes he turned and pointed at Gleam. "It's you who I don't know any more Gleam! The only reason I ever read your diary is that we never talk anymore, not since that year you spent away with Dad! The sister who used to tell me everything, who goofed around with me and liked to laugh with me never came back and instead I got a sister who's always in a bad mood, takes everything too seriously and never tells me anything! Get it yet?! I read your diary because it felt like the only way for me to know what's going on with my own sister and even after reading it cover to cover, I still have no idea why you changed this much!"

"I-I'd like to think if something was wrong, you'd tell me," Juanita said to Salma. "Even if you think I'm annoying."

"I wouldn't do something like Dusk did," said Skye. "But that's because I know if something was bothering you Taff you'd come to me about it."

"Grace, I know we butt heads a lot," said Brawn. "But a least when you're mad at me you let me know why. If I suddenly changed and was being tight lipped about it, wouldn't you do what you could to find out why?"

The young vixen sighed. "Ok, it was still totally not speed Dusk, but I get why you did it."

"I've been wondering that too," said Lara. "After you came back Gleam, we just ended up arguing every time we met. But I remember a shy, sunny girl that was fun to be around, the only girl who convinced me playing dress up might be fun, who made silly faces with me, whatever happened to that girl?"

Gleam took a brief glance to the ring around her wrist before growling. "The same thing as the rest of you, remember? Look things are different for me alright, I tend to do better on my own." Gleam began walking away before muttering under her breath. "And it's safer for all of you."

About a hundred miles away fifteen minutes later Sonic was approached a giant waterfall in a horseshoe shape. "Yeah, so worth it to slow down and take the scenic route. Now my mind's refreshed and ready to take on Feist's game. First step of which is actually finding the way in."

Sonic looked up and saw the giant warp ring flashing in the colors of the emeralds floating over a rock jutting from the very edge of the falls.

"When Feist said these things would show up in hidden or hard to reach places, he wasn't kidding. Try to get to that thing by boat you risk going over the falls. Instead…" Sonic ran in circle. "…I'll just build up speed…" he then began to run over the water of the river at the base of the falls. "…and that should give me enough momentum…" He then leapt from the river to a stone at the base of the falls. "…to make the warp ring a hop…" he leapt again to a rock halfway up the falls. "…skip…" Sonic leapt one more time sailing right to the ring. "…and a jump away!"

In an instant Sonic found himself in the surreal landscape of the Special Zone. "Hey Feist, it's your favorite blue blur! I really need a Chaos Emerald so what do you have for me this time? Race through a half-pipe, smash a bunch of UFOs, or collect some blue spheres?"

Feist floated before him unresponsive, his mouth hung open as strange black smoke seemed to rise from his body.

"Alright Feist what are you up to this…"

Sonic felt something metallic at his feet, he bent over and picked up a familiar looking device.

"Wait a minute, this is that gizmo Knuckles said got juiced up on Master Emerald power. What's this doing here and totally drained?"

"You hold the instrument of Fiest's downfall," Sonic heard in his mind.

"The Chaos Titans?" Sonic asked. "But how?! Fiest is practically a god in the Special Zone!"

"This weapon was able to use the energies of the Master Emerald to turn Fiest's own power against him."

"Fortunately, before he lost consciousness Fiest had scattered all but the three emeralds he had already given out throughout your world before the pawns you call rectifiers could claim them and will recall them when he recovers in time."

"But even now the pawns are searching the planet for the gems and gathering them together."

"Find the second champion, only then can you begin to thwart the mastermind's true intentions."

"But beware, for already a great deception is at foot."

"We cannot say more without alerting the enemy."

"May the light of creation shine upon your path."

Sonic reached out. "But where can I find this…?!"

Bright light later and Sonic found himself on the rock overlooking the waterfall. "…champion?" After a second to run over the river to the shore Sonic turned to head back home. "Looks like we might be in for another period of 'preventing a major crisis', Sal's not going to be happy at all."

After Sonic made it back and gave his explanation to the Freedom Fighters.

"So now we have elite warriors from the future going all over the place looking for emeralds," Knuckles growled. "We have to send those kids back, we can't look after them and deal with this threat."

"Not to mention Robotnick," said Sally. "He's the wildcard in all this, as powerful as The Rectifiers' technology is no doubt Viktor will try to get his hands on it."

"Speaking of tech, how's that data capsule coming along?" asked Shadow. "We all went to a lot of trouble over that thing, whatever's in there better be worth it."

"Slowly," said Nicole. "After…what happened last night, me, Rotor and Tails decided to work on the thing to get our minds off what we learned. It's basic Robotnick tech, but with about two hundred years' worth of advances in hardware and software added. I'd really like to have this Doctor L explain what it is we're trying to fix."

"Now on top of everything else I have to find this other champion the Titans have," said Sonic. "You'd think they'd describe them for me if getting together was so important."

"Actually, that's easy," said Silver. "It's Lara-Su."

Julie-Su looked up with a start. "What?! How would you know that?!"

"The other day, when Lara was explaining how she and the rest of the kids wound up in this time she mentioned a dream she had shortly before hand about 'a champion' of her era being chosen. Sounds a lot like the Titans."

"But she's just a child!" said Knuckles. "I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that I'm going to have a daughter! Why would they place such a burden on someone so young?!"

"Well, they might not have had much choice," said Gold. "While we couldn't find the truth about early Imperium history, we had an approximate timeline based on verifiable military operations. Given the size of the galaxy and the rate Imperium forces have taken it over, whatever happens to Mobius had to have occurred sometime during these kids' lifetimes. There's a good chance that the Titans didn't approach Lara as adult or even a teenager because," Gold closed her eyes trying to hide her tears. "It would have already been too late for our children by then."

"I can guess that's why we couldn't stop it," said Tails. "At that point age would at least be starting to take a toll on our bodies."

"That doesn't mean we should put Lara or any of these other kids in harms' way!" growled Knuckles. "Can't Blaze just use the Master Emerald with me and we can send them all home now?!"

"The power of the gems isn't as important as the balance between their energies," said Silver. "The Master Emerald has just too much to synchronize with any of the others, even with the Sol Emerald we have definite access to there's a chance it might not work for Chronos Control."

"I agree with you Knuckles," said Sally. "They should only be worried about school, allowance, popularity; stuff that will seem trivial years down the line, not the kinds of things we had to at their age either with your guardian work or us trying to fight a rebellion because we wouldn't have had the numbers to win otherwise," Sally however lowered her head. "But we also know better than anyone kids aren't immune to grownup problems, one way or another they'll have to be ready for a fight."

"Are you seriously suggesting we put them through combat training!?" said Rogue. "That's not exactly what G.U.N. sent us here for!"

"I don't know but the first step, for their sakes and ours, is to get to know them and the best people to let them open up are the people who are going to be their parents."

"Is that a good idea?" asked Tails. "I mean we might change their timeline just by knowing about future events."

"I already had that planned out," said Gold. "I can suppress our memories of the children and any knowledge that comes with it until after the date they return. It should keep any changes to a minimum, plus I think we'll all be saner for it."

"And you can do this without scrambling our brains?" asked Sonic.

Gold shot back a mean look.

"Sorry, I'm just still uneasy about someone getting into my head. I trust you and I agree, best way to live my own way and do what's best for the kids is to not know they're coming. Come on, let's try to do this and get through the day without any more surprises."

"While only minor to medium injuries were reported the damage to both the local ecosystem and the two battleships is extensive. Cleanup crews are hard at work but the reasons for the apparent joint mission so soon after the wedding between Sonic the Hedgehog and Princess Sally Acorn are unknown. The perpetrators of the attack remain at large."

Viktor turned off the tv broadcast as he turned to a monitor on his hovering chair. "So that's the official version. Phage have you been able to find out the more classified bits?"

"That worm program I assimilated last month allowed me passive access into G.U.N. radio chatter," the program said. "These 'rectifiers' as the Freedom Fighters call them stole a Chaos Emerald from the Federation. Apparently, they are the enforcers of a future regime that expands from Mobius to the rest of the galaxy."

Robotnick looked out the window of the ARK towards Mobius. "So, they're in the way of our objective. Bad enough for an unknown factor to add itself to the equation, but their very existence precludes the success of the Robotnick Ascendancy, one way or another they have to be eliminated."

A green robot with a stern looking face spoke up. "If my troops encounter these rectifiers, it would best if they gathered intel on them to gain a tactical advantage for you Doctor. It would be least I can do in return for salvaging and upgrading me and my fellow combots."

Viktor turned to face the combot. "I felt you were an underutilized asset Commander Brutus, a war machine that developed a most unusual affinity for tactics and had taken the name of one of his creator's ancestors. If my predecessors weren't such control freaks and let you run the military aspects of their empires, I have no doubt at worst the Freedom Fighters would still be a semi-effective nuisance scurrying about in the shadows or at best roboticized laborers. I make use of my assets, even if that use is marginal, in the right place a pawn can more powerful than a queen and you are worth more than that. So, to aid in my overall strategy I would like your opinion as you give me a status report on our current operations."

"Sir the recruitment of previous models of Robotnik and Eggman robots through the promises of Metallix upgrades has not only replenished your forces to pre-elemental war levels weeks ahead of schedule this build up has gone unnoticed for now since the units in question had been deemed obsolete. However, in my opinion this lack of action in the meantime draws the risk of the Freedom Fighters uncovering the ruse, they'll think you're up to something. I recommend launching a feint or a territory grab to divert their attention away from your new project."

"In that case Brutus, take a platoon to Mercia. My satellite sensor net has picked up a Chaos Emerald in the vicinity of Sylvania Castle, I will need at least two emeralds but preferably as many as we can get our hands on for the project. We can kill two birds with one stone."

"At once doctor."

As Brutus left Lilith came into the room. "Viktor I would like to have a word with you, in private."

Viktor looked at the display on his chair. "Phage, leave us." Once the program indicated it was no longer in the system the would-be conqueror looked to his partner. "This is a bit unusual; you normally are fine with letting Phage into whatever you have to discuss with me."

"What I have to talk about is unusual, it's about the information that was uncovered at the Babylon Cup."

Viktor got a serious look on his face before pushing a button on his chair before getting up as the windows began to be covered by a heavy shutter and the door made a locking sound. "The Rectifiers, the ones responsible for yesterday's incident, are from the same time as the grey hedgehog and that blonde tenrec, aren't they?"

"They are, but thanks to the encryptions we placed on White Bishop and Red Knight an opportunity has presented itself that can give us an edge against both The Rectifiers as well as Sonic and his allies."

Viktor and Lilith found themselves sharing a smirk. "How about you tell me about it over lunch, followed by stroll to the main observatory? I like I'd like to share a view of the stars that will be ours."

Antione and Bunnie sat across a table from Jacque and Belle.

"Soooooooo…" Bunnie said. "Ya'll are our youngun's from, the future?"

"Oui Maman," said Jacques. "But I guess you aren't Maman, not yet anyway."

"I don't mind ya callin' me that if it makes you feel more comfortable."

"Same with Ma?" asked Belle.

"Oui," said Antione. "And call me whatever you are most comfortable with."

"Thanks Pa."

Antione's gaze settled on the kid's robotic limbs. "You, you weren't teased about those, were you?"

"Non papa, zhay didn't laugh at for 'avin ze metal arms and legs," Jacques sighed. "Zhey laughed at us for being utter klutzes until we learned to use our new limbs without falling over or knocking down everything in reach."

"But that's over now," said Belle. "It probably would have easier if we got'em when we were younger but y'all thought that wasn't a good idea after…!"

Belle's sudden silence cause Bunnie to raise an eyebrow. "After what?"

"Rein," went Jaques.

"Nuthin," went Belle.

The Decoolettes gave the youngsters a stern look.

"Nuthin," went Jaques.

"Rein," went Belle.

The nervous look they both had brought an awkward silence.

Mina, Ash and Melody sat on a couch while an awkward silence hung in the air.

"I don't suppose you like music?" asked Mina.

Melody suddenly grinned like Cheshire cat. "You kidding?! It's like my whole life! My biggest dream is to be a world-famous idol like you!"

The two musicians breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good to hear," said Ash. "I'd hate to think our kid wouldn't like our music."

"Ah come on, I love the oldies!"

The elder mongooses each had a stunned blank expression as their eyes shrunk to pinpricks. "Oldies?" they both murmured.

Melody jolted up. "I didn't mean like that; it's just how fast the pop music world goes! Stuff you'd release this year would only be considered oldies in another fifteen years, around the time I…" Melody sat back down with a nervous smile. "…but you don't want to hear about that, it's boring! Hey, I wrote a song at camp, why don't you tell me what you think?!"

Charmy and Saffron looked at the young bee in front of them with misty eyes.

"So, your name is Mellow," Charmy said. "I guess this has been a bit much for you, hasn't it?"

"Yeah," the younger bee said. "I was actually eager to leave home before all this started, you know to prove to everyone that I can be tough and cool."

Charmy sighed. "I know how that feels."

"But now all I can think about is how my family, that is my family in my time, must be worried sick about me."

"Don't worry," said Saffron. "You'll be home with your brothers and sisters before you know it."

Mellow got a glum look. "Actually, I'm an only child."

Saffron teared up. "Oh, I'm sorry. It's just I always imagined myself having three each of boys and girls."

"Well, I think heard you both talking about me getting some brothers and sisters when I was really little, but that was before…never mind forget I said anything."

"Alright," said Charmy. "Why don't you tell us about what you like?"

"Well, I don't think I'm very good at it, but I like to draw and work with clay," Mellow said a blush.

"I think there's some pencil and paper around here," said Saffron. "Why don't you show us?"

Mellow smiled as he set to his drawing.

Geoffrey cleared his throat. "So, you kids have any idea what you want to be when you grow up?"

"I narrowed it down to either an acrobat or a daredevil," said Cocoa. "I mean I'm good at gymnastics, but as either of those my life would be much more exciting!"

Hershey forced a laugh. "I hope things are peaceful enough where you come from that The Republic wouldn't need spies, but even with that I can't imagine we'd have gotten THAT boring right?"

"Well, our parents haven't really given us the details on what they do now," said Ian. "But I heard stories about the adventures they had before we were born. I always thought that was so cool," Ian flattened his ears. "It'd be so awesome to be like you, but I just don't have what it takes."

"Hey, you can be a great spy!" said Cocoa. "I mean as good as you are at the task game all you really need is to get enough confidence to conquer your fear and nothing will stop you!"

"Task game?" asked Geoffrey.

"Oh, it's just a game we sometimes play at school. One person writes down one thing each of the players must do and passes them out inside envelopes, first one to finish their task before a deadline wins but if you can't do your task you have to sit out the rest of the game. Thing is the task you're given isn't yours, it belongs to someone else."

"So, whatever it is you have to do first you need to find out who actually has your task while keeping the person whose task you do have in the dark."

"Yeah," said Ian. "I remember once Cocoa once had mine, that time my task was 'go down the slide with Cocoa'. She could have held it over my head to try to win but showed me because she wanted me to."

"That was very sweet of you," asked Hershey.

Cocoa shook her head as she giggled. "Maybe, but it was the wrong move that time."

Ian started giggling himself. "Thing was I just happened to have been given Cocoa's task, 'don't show anyone your paper until six minutes before the deadline'."

"By giving him the proof that I wasn't trying to trick him we both lost."

"I'd have warned her, but she just put the paper right in front my face."

Hershey found herself giggling to as Geoffrey joined in. "It's crazy, you're both so different but you get along so well."

"Well, we weren't always," said Cocoa. "Everyone kept saying we were peas in a pod, I think they stopped doing that around…"

Suddenly Cocoa and Ian seemed much more like twins when they became eerily quiet.

Geoffrey took the subtle hint. "Let's change the subject, do you like school?"

Lien-Da and Finitivus just looked at Rutan silently, after a few moments the young boy growled. "I'd say take a picture, but I get the feeling that's not allowed."

"It's still hasn't fully sunk in yet," said. Finitivus. "We're going to be parents."

"Why's that a surprise?"

Lien-Da looked down at her stomach. "I thought my own blind ambition cost us that."

"What you think because you were a villain the universe wouldn't let you have kids?"

"I guess given your age I'm not surprised your parents didn't tell you. When Regina Ferrum and Jun Kun had control of the Dark Egg Legion, I thought I outsmarted their attempts to use mind control implants and launched a rebellion to take control of everything myself. What I didn't realize while Dimitri did finish his countermeasure, I deposed him before he could also counteract Eggman's cherry bombs as well. One push of a button had reduced me to little more than meat and tubes, but Eggman rebuilt me and let me keep my original appearance because he thought if I kept trying to take over, he could always predict me. But what he, and I, didn't predict was Thrash sending me to the Twilight cage or that because of it I would fall in love.

"It was only after when I was minutes from the altar that the idea of motherhood even entered my mind, and it was after we devolved, revolved, married and starting to settle in that I remembered how I was rebuilt. I went to one of the legion doctors to see if Eggman even bothered to 'install the right plumbing'. The doctor told me that it looked like Eggman did salvage what he could of that part of my anatomy, if only to make sure my lack of certain hormones didn't interfere with me scheming against him. However, parts had to be cybernetically augmented to remain intact and most of the organic bit left were scared…"

Lien-Da had an uncharacteristic tear and Finitivus held her. "The doctor told me that the odds of conceiving a child and the fertilized egg being able to successfully implant itself long enough for a yolk and shell to form were…very, very remote. We never told anyone; it wouldn't help tensions if it came out that I had a 'fault' that I inflicted upon myself in my desire for power."

"Miracle boy," Rutan suddenly said. "It was a nickname Mom and Dad kept calling me even though I thought it sounded sappy as I got older. Sometimes I thought they were putting too much pressure on me or were a bit clingy, but now it makes sense. I mean you told me about the birds and the bees and organ cloning tech's been around for a few years, but to get something that complicated working right, no wonder you both went ballistic looking…" Rutan then suddenly went quiet.

"Looking for what?" asked Finitivus.

"I, it's not something we try to talk about, just trust me when I say you're better off not knowing."

Sally looked at the children for the first time since they wished her a happy zeroth university last night. "Sonia and Manik, it was only a couple of days ago when I thought they sounded nice when I remembered Sonic's story of his adventure in another zone with siblings from a different mother. I remember seeing you too in a vision of a potential future the Source of All gave me, but it looked like that one didn't end too well, but you were younger in that."

"I don't know about all that," said Manik. "Things are kind of peaceful back home; we never had any 'fate of the world' sort of trouble since we were little."

"So that means we won," said Sonic. "No Robotnicks, the villains stop coming and everybody gets to live peaceful lives again?"

"Well, if stuff like that does happen, we aren't told about it."

"We probably thought it was for you own good," said Sally. "But if you must do this, we'll get you ready, both for whatever happens here and when you get home. I'm not going to rest until we can get you all back to your own time and that capsule that dragged you into this is decoded so we can find out how to keep the future safe for you."

Sonia looked at Sally with admiration. "You never do give up do you? That's so cool, I wish my mom…"

Sonia quickly shut up but Sally and Sonic's suspicions were already raised. "You wish your mom what?"

Sonia sighed while Manik looked on sadly. "I wish my mom, was more like you Sally."

"But how can she be more like me when she is me!?"

"I don't want to be like my mom, I want to be like you are now. You wouldn't have given up…like she did."

"What are you talking about!?"

"Please," said Manik. "It's a real sore spot for all of us, how about you tell us about this training you had in mind instead?"

Sally raised an eyebrow. "Ok, I haven't had time to come up with anything yet, but why don't tell me what you can do?"

Alexis looked out over the roof to the skyscraper that had the royal estate on its roof. "Incredible, so close but it also feels so far away."

"I feel the same sis," said Eddie. "It's home, but at the same time it isn't."

"Hopefully we'll get back to the real thing soon."

"I just hope the kids are doing ok," said Aurora. "I know they miss their parents but meeting them when they were so much younger is bound to be awkward."

"I'm sure everybody is doing fine," said Enerjak.

Kneecaps fist bumped his fellow echidna. "Yeah, you know how much we looked up to them when we were kids, they must be super excited to see their famous parents in their prime."

"Well, if this is our prime, then you got me worried that it's all downhill from here little brother," Knuckles said as he, Shadow, Sally and Sonic came out to the roof top.

"Ah! I didn't mean it like that Big Bro! You're…dang am I supposed to let him know?!"

"Settle down, I was just ribbing you. Wow, looks like you've come a long way from banging me on the head with your rattle."

"Same for you Alexis," said Sally. "I was just listening to your mother sing you a lullaby days ago and you Eddie? Your father shown us recent ultrasound of you, your fur hasn't even come in yet. But here you two are fully grown and turning out quite handsome and beautiful."

"Please you're embarrassing us," said Alexis. "We're doing ok, the kids need attention more than us."

"Actually it's because of the kids we came up here," said Sonic. "Everybody got a chance to chat, but everyone mentioned the same thing. It seemed like there was something they tried to avoid talking about and not because of future stuff. It was almost like they were afraid or ashamed or something."

Shadow looked off to the distance. "We have reason to believe that Lara-Su, Gleam and the others have something important to do here, or at least something important here they have to learn. Given how strong the Rectifiers are those kids are going to need combat training but whatever this is might be holding them back. Gleam in particular was very defensive; like whatever it was had an even deeper impact on her than anyone else. So, on behalf of all of us and for me personally, what is going to happen to my daughter?"

Rora gazed off sadly. "What you're asking, is a really big deal. It affected the kids most of all, but it also had wide ramifications for the world too."

"Hey, Gold is going to bury anything we learn about the future," said Sonic. "Your timeline's going to be safe."

"You might not think that once you know," said Jackie. "If you're also telling the rest of the Freedom Fighters than Gold might change her mind, at least when it comes to this."

"We wouldn't ask if we didn't think the fate of the world is at stake," said Sally. "It might be worse for Mobius down the line, so as painful as it's going to be for all, even if we end up sacrificing a happy life down the line, we have to know so they can help save not just our future but yours too."

Alexis sighed. "Alright Auntie, we'll tell you about…the Veiled Operation, the mission where the Freedom Fighters succeeded but, while the world at large doesn't know truth of it, had forever colored how the people saw their heroes."

Sonic clenched his fist. "Ok fire away, what was so bad about it?"

"First you're going to need context," said Eddie. "You have to understand why you ended up making choices you'd probably think you never would. While the incident happened five years ago for us the roots went back a few years before that. Around the time we were the same age all those kids are now, you'd been fighting a back-and-forth war with the Robotnick Ascendancy for nearly a decade by that point, that was just how things were for us, but one day everything changed."

Nine years in the future

Sonic was racing down a corridor of the Colossus with Tails hovering right behind him.

"So, you plug your gizmo into his power source for this gravity weapon and the fight's over? Why don't you give me some good news?"

The fox smirked to the hedgehog he now shared a height with. "Ok, once these viruses get into his control systems Viktor's gravitic amplifier will be powered down faster than you can say 'file not found'!"

"Ok let's hurry it up then so we call listen as Mr. Perfect as yells about how he hates a certain blue hedgehog. That dummy signal you and Nicole came up with is working almost too well, they still don't know we're here."

"All the better, he's set to fire on Freedom City at any minute."

The two came into a room with a massive generator that was had an alien looking technology meshing with Robotnick's usual material.

"Ok," said Sonic. "One big gun shutting down."

As Sonic looked for a port Tails looked more closely at the generator. "Strange, it feels like I've seen this before. It almost looks like…" Tails then turned to Sonic. "Wait we have to…!"

Sonic had already inserted the drive, red lights and klaxons went off. "Day saved, now only a few bots stand…"

Tails got out a more advanced version of his old Miles Electric. "All Freedom Fighters get clear of the Colossus! Robotnik somehow made this weapon using parts of the Xordas' quantum dial!"

"You mean the one that almost turned Mobius into a black hole!? Better beat feet now!"

Sonic grabbed Tail's wrist and zoomed to the nearest exit. They both jumped out of the ship as Tails held Gripped Sonic and burst through the air down to a hill where the rest of the Freedom Fighters were holding off a horde of Neoswats. Behind them a large black and purple sphere extended outward from the Colossus only just as suddenly reverse, vanishing from sight along with the battleship. Once it disappeared all the robots suddenly ground to a halt.

"What in tarnation?" asked Bunnie.

"The control system must be out," said Rotor as he poked one with a wrench and it fell over.

"Sonic, Tails," Sally said as they both landed. "What just happened up there?"

Tails took a deep breath. "Robotnick had somehow managed to salvage bits of the quantum dial and he used that to build his gravitic amplifier. When my virus corrupted its OS, it caused the containment field to collapse creating a quantum warp field in the immediate space time of its area."

"Honey," said Cream. "Remember that talk we had about layman's terms?"

Tails sighed. "The same thing that happened to Sonic when he destroyed the quantum dial has just happened to the Colossus."

"So, ve are get a yearlong break from zis war?" said Antione. "Tres Magnifique!"

"Ok, not so exactly the same. The space-time co-ordinates Viktor, Lilith, Phage and the bots they had on board would emerge is going to be random. It's far more likely the Colossus shows up in another place and time all together. Sonic was lucky he popped up in the next galaxy away about a year later, this can only take them forward in time but depending on where and when they were sent the most likely result is that it would take Robotnick decades or even centuries to return, if ever at all."

Nicole put her hands over her mouth. "So, you're saying that it's all over!? We finally won!?"

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," said Sally. "He might appear five minutes from now in the middle of downtown Portal up on Angel Island."

"But this is a golden opportunity!" said Sonic. "Snively and Regina were recaptured a week ago and Mr. Perfect's only other commanders would be AI who're all on the Colossus with him! There's no one leading his forces and his bots are just standing there, if we strike hard and fast now than if he comes back, he won't have an army, any territory and in a severe disadvantage we can use to lock him up once and for all! All we got left right now is clean up!"

"Yeah!" the Freedom Fighters shouted.

Sally nodded. "You're right, let's strike while the iron is hot!"

Sally ignited her ring blades again and cleaved an inactive Neoswat in half.

A week later Sally was standing out on a balcony in the middle of the night while a noisy celebration was going on inside. Sonic then stumbled out his footing slightly uneven.

"Hey beautiful, the party's inside."

Sally gave a wistful sigh. "I can't believe everybody just thinks it's over, we still don't know how long it will take for Viktor to return."

"IF he returns, you gotta loosen up a little."

Sally sniffed Sonic's breath. "Smells to me like you've done a lot of loosening up already."

"Come on, don't be a stick in the mud. I recall that after old Robuttink met the receiving end of his ultimate nullifier you once took a bunch of our allies just to go skydiving."

"And another Robotnick showed up not all that long afterward, we left him to get blown up on his space station only for him to reinvent himself as Eggman. Then we thought Eggman was trapped in Robotropolis when the Federation nuked it only for him to survive, later you beat him to the point he lost his mind then he recovered it enough to become more dangerous than ever, then I set a plan into motion that destroyed Eggman only for Viktor to take his place. So yeah, forgive me for expecting the other shoe to drop."

"Come on Sal, we can't put our lives on hold forever expecting this war to start again," Sonic to looked down to the streets below where the populous were celebrating. "It's not like we have a lot of time left to just have fun anyway."

Sally's expression turned from frustrated to worrying. "What are you talking about?"

"We spent the best years of our lives fighting, it won't be all that long until I'm thirty."

Sally raised an eyebrow. "Whatever happened to the guy who was celebrating a birthday after having come back missing a year and settled the debate with quote 'let's just say I'm a teenager forever'?"

"I did something you probably thought was impossible for me once, I matured. Plus, our families are starting to get on in years, Uncle Chuck wants to reopen his old diner but is afraid he can't handle that and his experiments at the same time anymore. So, we decided that while he's going to reopen the diner, I'll be the one running it."

"Sonic the Hedgehog, small business owner. Two phrases I never even considered going together."

"Well, everybody's got plans now; Twan and Bunnie are thinking of using part of the old Rabbot manor as a fancy restaurant where our knight can be a chef; Amy's applying for quiet office jobs, I've heard Rouge talking about opening a nightclub and Tail's told me he's looking for investors for a research company to make stuff for the public. He's even got a name picked out, Prowertech.

Sonic turned his gaze to the night sky. "Truth is none of us are kids anymore, time's come to finally grow up and if I don't figure what to do with myself now I never will."

Sally sighed. "I guess I was hoping that if Viktor wasn't really gone, I wouldn't need to figure that out myself. But whatever happens from now on, we'll still be together to face it. There was one thing I learned from Julaya just from how she lived, growing up doesn't mean growing old, as long as we keep thinking our best years can still be ahead, we can be grey and wrinkly and still be young. I'll figure out what to do, starting tomorrow."

"Why not tonight?"

Sally smiled back. "Because tonight we're celebrating, so I'm going back in there and getting myself as sloshed as you and everybody else and later we're going to make crazy, clumsy, embarrassing, drunken love."

Sonic laughed. "That doesn't sound like something you think is that all that romantic."

"I don't, but I find it fun, and fun is what we both need right now."

The two then went to rejoin the raucous party.

"Everyone tried to figure out what to do with themselves in a post-Ascendancy world, it was easier for some than others, but it wasn't long before most of the Freedom Fighters came upon a common answer."

"WAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

"Start families."

Sonic sat up in bed groggily, bags under his eyes. "Sonia needs to be changed, don't worry Sal, it's my turn."

"WAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

Sally then got out with bags as large as her husband's. "And Manik is hungry, which means it's OUR turn."

"Don't worry kids," said Sonic. "We're coming and we have a story for you. It's about a handsome knight, a beautiful princess, their wonderful children and how they all SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT!"

"There were bad days sure, but no one delighted in their children more than all of you and in turn the public thought if anyone truly deserved to quietly retreat into family life it was their heroes. Overtime we noticed those kids began playing and empathizing with each other much earlier than you'd expect children so to. You all thought something very, very special would come from it. But that all changed one day…"

Fifteen years in the future

A large inflatable castle just finished blowing up in the corner of a park. "Ok," Sally said as she came into a kitchen. "The bouncy castle is set up along with all the games and the prize bags, the pinata's hung, presents are all stacked up and the party hats are waiting to be worn."

"Grill's ready for the dogs to cook," Sonic said as he watched over a pot on a portable heater while wearing an apron. "Chili's slow cooking, the pizza guy confirmed the time he'd get here, and the cake is in the fridge. All we need are the guests then we'll be set for the best birthday party ever."

"Mama, Daddy!" a pair of tiny kids came running up to their parents at amazing speed wearing party hats. "Is it time?! Is it time?!"

"We just have to wait for your friends to get here," said Sally.

"I hope they come in time for Prism Pals," said Manik.

"It's lots more fun watching it together!" said Sonia.

Sally got out a marker and a chart. "The projector's set up and everything, but first let's see how tall you've both gotten. Manik you're first." The boy stood up straight against the chart. "Ok, let's just pat your quills down so we can be fair." Sally marked Manik's height. "Ok now Sonia."

A number of car horns nearby honked. "There they are now," said Sonic. "I'll just run to…" the twins then blasted out to the hallway. "…greet them."

Sally sighed. "We seriously need to limit how much sugared cereal they eat."

Soon several children were running out into the living room and chatting it up. "Hey Sonic," Tails said as he and Cream tried to maneuver their way past a growing number of small children making their way into the house. "Coming up I thought Cream and I took a wrong turn and came up on a carnival, you two really went all out for this one."

"Five's a big milestone for a kid," said Sally. "And there was a bit of my stipend from the royal family I hadn't really used yet this year, so we figured 'What the heck? Let's splurge a little'."

"Splurge is right," said Lucian and he and Amy approached along with several other parents. "I half expected to see a clown out here."

"EEP!"

Everyone looked to the source of the noise to find a shaking prickly white ball that had a party hat on it at an angle.

"It's ok Gleam," said Rouge as she knelt at the ball. "There are no scary clowns here."

The ball uncurled enough for a pair of blue eyes to peek out. "No clowns?"

"No clowns, you can come out of Roly Town."

"Hey Gleam!" little Lara-Su yelled as she ran up. "You don't want to be like that when Prism Pals comes on!"

The little white hedgehog uncurled. "Yea! Come on Dusk!" She ran off with Lara and her brother as the two girls giggled.

"Ugh," Shadow grumbled. "We come for a party, and they all want to watch TV."

"Hey, it's a very wholesome show," said Julie. "Plus, it's the most popular cartoon with kids their age right now, it's not Sonic's fault Sonia and Manik's birthday is on the same day a new episode is airing."

"I expected to go through life protecting this world for Maria's wish, I didn't think I'd end up intimately knowing who Bluey Bushfemur and Goldie Wingspanner are."

"What I don't get is this clown thing," said Knuckles as he came up. "I don't recall her being afraid of them before when she and her brother stayed with us while you investigated that smuggling ring on the island."

Shadow growled. "It started when Hope came for a visit, and she brought Roman with her. He thought frightening my children with a fanged clown mask was as funny as hell. I…convinced him it wasn't."

Sonic groaned. "How old is Roman now, thirteen? Hope has the patience of saint adopting Snively and Regina's kid, it's just too bad by the time she was old enough to do it he already had a number on done on him while he was shuffled around in the foster system."

"I feel so bad for Hope," said Sally. "Her brother asked her to do one thing for him that didn't involve his ambitions for world domination, that he and Regina realized their son would be better off not emulating his parents, but it seems despite her best-efforts Roman has all Snively and Regina's spite but none of their brains or ambitions. It's like he doesn't want to be anything other than a common thug."

"Well hopefully that was the kick in the pants Roman needs to straighten up," said Rouge. "With a baby of her own now on the way the last thing Hope needs is another visit from Roman's parole officer."

"Hurry up everyone!" Sonia said as every kid at the party began running. "It's gonna start!"

Soon several children were sitting on the grass as upbeat music played and colorful cartoon characters danced on the screen while the children sang along.

"Clear blue skies and warm sunny days,

We have to find the light within,

For whatever comes our way,

Our great adventure's about to begin…"

"Ok, they'll be occupied for a half-hour," said Sally. "If the rest of you would step aside Sonic and I have something to say to you all."

The parents all came a distance away from the party, Sally cleared her throat. "Our children turn five years old today, the same age Sonic and I were when…when everyone's world turned upside down," Sally looked at Antione, Bunnie and Rotor. "A lot you were that same age," She then looked at Big, Rouge, Knuckles, Geoffrey and Hershey. "Some of you were older," Now she looked at Tails, Fiona and Ray. "Some of you were younger," Now Nicole, Cream, Silver, Blaze and Gold. "Some weren't even born yet," now to Shadow and Julie-Su. "And some were under circumstances where normal time didn't apply."

"Thing is our lives were for the most part defined ever since by what Robotnick did to our homes and families," said Sonic. "But for the last six years every child born knows nothing about what it's like firsthand to suffer under war or tyranny. That I think is the greatest accomplishment all our many years of fighting and rebuilding gave us. Six years of peace, at first I thought the adventures were over, but I don't have to tell you that going to the supermarket a with toddler or two is no less an adventure than looking for a Chaos Emerald in an ancient ruin or spying in an enemy base." The two began passing out plastic cups filled with soda. "So, we like to propose a toast, to the quiet life and all the adventures that brings."

"Hear, hear!" all the adults said.

"Aw! Come on!" whined the children from the party. "Bring it back!"

"Case in point," said Sonic.

As they came back Sonia looked up to Sally. "Mama! Some weird thing took away the Prism Pals! What is it?!"

On the screen there was an emblem of a black gear with metallic dragon wings with a lightning bolt going through the hole in the middle.

Sally growled. "That sweetie, is the other shoe dropping."

Sonic looked around as every display on the nearby buildings shown the same thing. "Whatever it is, it's probably happening everywhere."

The image wavered until the face of Viktor Robotnick appeared sitting back behind a high-tech desk. "Greetings Mobius it's been a while, hasn't it? Almost half a year for me, but from what I gathered quite a bit longer for you. Some of you might have even forgotten me so let me reintroduce myself I am Viktor Robotnick, the soon to be ruler of this planet.

"You thought you were rid of me and thinking that you let yourselves get soft and complacent after mopping up the remnants of my army. I have climbed up to a world power from a similar position before and rest assured, I will do so again. However, if you think you can still stop me, I am extending an open invitation to the Freedom Fighters, Chaotix and other perennial thorns in my side. Meet me at the coordinates now appearing on your screen if you wish to capture or just chat with me. This message will repeat until replied to."

The message began to loop. "Daddy," asked Sonia. "We're all sacred," said Sonia. "What's happening?"

Sally knelt to look her daughter in the eye. "Well, a very bad man your mommies and daddies fought for a very long time has come back."

"We all began to think he'd be gone for a long, long time, maybe even forever," said Sonic. "But now he's come back to try and take over the world again. Unless we go and stop him, a lot of people could get hurt. It could get very scary, and we don't want to leave you at your birthday but if we don't…"

"That's ok Dad!" said Manik. "You're super-fast and super, super cool! You can just beat him and come right back!"

"Yeah!" said Lara. "My daddy's a guardian, that means he can beat up any bad guy!"

"Yeah, you're the bestest!"

"Mommy is a hero!"

"You can stop that meanie!"

"Our moms and dads can do anything!"

Sonic chuckled. "You kids are right; I can beat that pencil neck in no time flat."

"In fact," said Sally. "I bet we can do it so fast we'll be there and back in time for birthday cake!"

"YEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Sally turned to the Babylon Rouges. "Watch over kids while we're gone. We need someone to keep an eye on things here."

"Not a problem," said Jet. "You got this."

"I'll get in touch with Abby too," said Julie. "Our housekeeper is really good with kids, that should keep everyone out of trouble."

"Watch out Mr. Perfect," Sonic said he limbered up. "You're getting your own present for my kids' birthday, but you're not going to like it."

The Colossus had landed in an open field about an hour away from Freedom City. The Chaotix and Freedom Fighters met not even a token resistance as they walked through the battleship that clearly had been augmented with alien technology. Soon the group had stepped onto the bridge were Viktor and Lilith looked down at them from a raised command chair. "My old nemeses, thank you accepting my invitation, especially you Sonic."

Brutus stepped up with several neoswats and upgraded combots. "Ready to fire on your orders sir."

"Not just yet commander, I didn't ask for Sonic to leave his children's fifth birthday just to shoot him."

"Wait a minute," said Sonic. "How do you know about Sonia and Manik?"

"Because I told him," A gruff, cracking voice said. A buff but gangly overlander teenaged boy with a mop of red hair stepped out. "I told him about everything that's happened since he left, including your snot nosed little brats!"

Shadow growled and clenched his fist. "Roman Kintobor, you're in WAY over your head this time!"

"That's Roman Robotnick to you, you fuzzy little edge lord! Ain't that right Uncle Viktor?"

Robotick groaned. "I'm not your uncle, I'm your employer."

Roman pointed at the scientist. "Right, keep it professional."

"Don't do this Roman," said Sally. "This would devastate your aunt Hope, she didn't want you to be like your parents."

"She's got it wrong, she's the one who's like them, CAUSE THEY'RE ALL LOSERS! She could've been a big shot with her inventions but was too worried about being like some dead guys, my old man and lady tried to be big shots but couldn't cut the mustard. Me? I'm going places, by hitching my wagon to a winner."

"Right, becoming a hired goon to a megalomanic," said Sonic. "You 'win'."

"Seems like scaring sense into you didn't work," said Shadow as he cracked his knuckles. "Time for more drastic correction."

Roman began backpedaling. "I-I ain't afraid of you! I got guts!" Roman began giggling as the came to the edge again. "Then again maybe I don't need 'em cause you old dudes have more than enough guts to spare!" Roman was now roaring with laughter.

Sonic poked his stomach, there was more give than he would have wanted.

"And the old ladies you brought are all swinging a lot of junk in the trunk, guess that's why they call it childREARING!"

Roman was now laughing like a hyena while the hands of an incensed Sally unconsciously tried to cover her rear and she noticed the girls with longer tails were using them to cover their butts as well.

"That's the best you got?" said Sonic. "We're old, we're fat? Sure, peace might have left us a tiny bit soft around the edges but I'm still hard core."

"Well… that core's only hard cause…cause…"

"Roman," said Lilith. "Do us all a favor and shut up."

The bully slunk back humiliated.

"Now I get why my predecessors preferred potential traitors than loyal morons," said Viktor. "You always know that a traitor will be treacherous, but you can never predict exactly WHEN a moron will be moronic."

"Just tell us what you want Viktor," said Sally. "By now every military on Mobius is zeroing in on you, whatever plan you have for revenge it will never work. The age of a Robotnick terrorizing the world ended six years ago, give up while you still can."

"Oh, I still have a few tricks up my sleeve," Viktor then hit a button on his chair. "Synaptix, now!" Nothing happened for a few seconds. "Synaptix!"

Then all the monitors in the room changed to display a strange creature that had three eyes, the thing's leftmost one however looked scarred.

"Sorry doctor but I haven't actually gotten around to setting that little trap you wanted. I have waited too long for this, too long in vain for my arrogant species to see the brilliance of my chaos energy research was worth the 'unacceptable risk', too long to accept a life sentence for 'illegal and cruel experiments', too long to not take the opportunity of getting your ship fit for a trans-galactic voyage, and too long to wait for you take over an insignificant blue marble. No, the keys to harnessing the full power of the greatest energy source in the universe are right here and I'm taking them now! So, enjoy coming home only for your sworn enemies to have their way with you, now I must be going with a few of your robots or I'm going to be late for the party! Nehahahahaha!"

Viktor was growling, his eyes black and red. "Synaptix you conniving, miserable little…"

"Guess loyal morons are better after all!" said Roman. "Wait, that came out wrong."

"Last chance Mr. Perfect," said Sonic. "Come quietly or things get ugly."

"You dolts," Viktor smirked. "Didn't you hear what that miserable little cockroach said? He didn't want to 'be late for the party'. Since some of the most powerful adapts able to channel the Chaos Force are in this room and he's not going after them, what sort of party would have potential adapts that are far more vulnerable?"

Nearly everyone gained a horrified look. "No," croaked Sally. "Manik, Sonia, THE KIDS!"

Sonic look at Robotnick with pure hatred. "Viktor if anything happens to my son or daughter because of the alien creep YOU brought here so help me…!"

"What would you rather do?" said Viktor. "Threaten me, or use your speed to get to the children while there is still a chance to save them?"

Knuckles opened a warp ring and soon the team that came to fight Viktor was out of the ship.

"Uh what now Uncle Viktor?" asked Roman.

"Should I send a squad to bring in that traitor Synaptix?" said Brutus.

Viktor made an arch with his fingertips. "No, this was unexpected, but I can already see how we can use it to make an effective 'plan b'. Get ready for takeoff, once the Freedom Fighters have left."

The next moment they were all back at a now ruined party, only the unconscious Babylon Rouges in sight.

"Sonia! Manik!"

"Gleam! Dusk!"

"Astral! Flare!"

"Melody!"

"M-Mr. Knuckles…" came a weak groan by the deflated bounce castle.

The Guardain tossed the inflatable away exposing a brown furred Koala woman with several bruises. "Abby!? Where are the kids?!"

Abby coughed. "I was passing out Buttercorn and Jellystars for the children when this…monster came with robots. Mr. Jet and the others tried to fight him, but he used knockout gas. I grabbed a branch to whack him, he threw me I hit my head. The children, he took them, all of them, I couldn't see where they went. He was calling them 'test subjects'…I'm so sorry."

Shadow let out a shout that felt more like a roar. "SYNAPTIX!"

"After that you all spent every waking moment, and several where you should have been sleeping, trying to find where Synaptix had taken the kids. Because of the secrecy needed to find that twisted fiend they called it the Veiled Operation. But after the first week with no luck everyone began taking more drastic measures."

A heavy-set yak thug was flung into a wall, a before his Iguana cohort could flee a boot came down on his neck.

"I'm falling into old habits but it's going to be worth it," Lien-Da said as Fintivus glared at the Iguana with an intent that was no less potent for now having normal eyes and teeth.

"If you don't want your medical insurance rates going through the roof then tell us where you've been selling stolen lab equipment."

Lein-Da activated her electro whip and dangled it very close to the Yak's face. "Tell us where he has taken our Miracle Boy."

"People began noticing a change in temperament of you all."

"Chief this paper trial is taking us nowhere," an agent said. "Maybe we should call it a day and come back with fresh eyes…"

"I don't want any excuses!" yelled Geoffrey. "Children are being experimented on; MY children are being experimented on! Go over the leads we have, that doesn't pan out check them again and if you still don't find anything CHECK THEM AGAIN! We are not stopping until they're all safe and sound in their parents' arms again!"

"But as bad things were for you, they were even worse for the kids."

The three-year-old Candy looked up into the glaring light as Synaptix's voice came out over a speaker while a pair of robots stood over her. "Subject 22, Candy the Cat. Beginning daily evaluation."

"I'm so hungry," Candy muttered weakly.

"Physical and mental prowess has improved under pressure but remains within the Mobian baseline, no signs of latent adapt powers triggering. Rations remain at minimal for nutritional sufficiency until noticeable result recorded."

"Please Mister, it hurts so much."

"Reinforcement was compromised when subjects performing well enough to get improved rations for making satisfactory progress shared their increased portions with the under performers. All subjects are now isolated when not in active testing. 22 has shown an 150% increase in motivation."

"When can I go home? I want my mommy and daddy."

The robots then grabbed Candy firmly and stretched her arm out.

"22 was treated with test serum beta, beginning extraction of blood sample to monitor changes from the control sample."

Candy's eyes widened in fear. "No! No more needles please! Mommy, Daddy, big brother!"

Back in the present Kneecaps had slumped down to the floor. "Even now they never told us everything that happened in that house of horrors, probably for the best. The public was kept in the dark as much as possible, if was found out the heroes of the whole world had lost their children and couldn't find them it might have started global scale panic. We were just about to finish middle school at the time, if we weren't as close to your families as we were we'd have been just as in the dark. But then after about a month since the abductions, you found the hole Synaptix was hiding in."

The elevator door into the abandoned mine opened as the robots standing guard were knocked several feet away in just as many pieces. "LARA!"

The Echidna rushed forward destroying the robots that showed up to stop him as Shadow, Tails and Sonic followed right behind him. The three had begun opening doors, behind each was child that started crying in relief.

"Daddy!" Sonia and Manik ran up to Sonic and hugged his legs tightly.

"Sonia, Manik!" Sonic gripped them tight tears streaming from his face. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry it took so long to find you!"

"Daddy?" Lara said as she came to him in a daze. "What are we doing here? We're going to be late for Sonia and Manik's birthday."

"Don't worry angel," Knuckles said stroking the hair of clearly traumatized daughter. "We're all getting out of here and you'll never have to come back ever again."

"Papa!" Dusk clung onto Shadow tightly. "There's a scary monster guy, he made us take these tests that hurt, we were so hungry all the time and…"

"Dusk I'm ecstatic you're alive but I have to ask you something very important. Where is your sister?"

Dusk pointed a trembling finger to a door at the far end of the room. "The monster guy took her there not long ago, he said she'd be the first for something called 'the key X-parry-mint' I think."

"Key experiment?!" before handing Dusk off to Knuckles. "Hang on Gleam! Papa's coming!"

Shadow then broke down the door and ran into the darkness.

"The Freedom Fighters were very tight lipped about what went on in that room," said Jackie. "All we ever found out was that while Shadow, Gleam and Synaptix were in there Shadow and Gleam were the only ones who ever came out."

"Before all that Gleam was timid and shy," said Aurora. "But once she knew you were a good person, she was so bright and fun loving. What whatever nightmare happened in that place Shadow took Gleam and they both vanished, Rouge never said where they went but she insisted they'd be back and about a year later they returned. But instead of that sunny little goofball we got… well the Gleam you've all met."

Knuckles looked like he was about to throw up. "I don't know what I'd rather do, forget so I'd be able to meet Lara-Su blissfully ignorant of that nightmare or remember so I'd stay back and kill that THING before he lays finger on any of them!"

Shadow clenched his fist. "I'd change it but I'm not sure we have that right, sometime being the good guy sucks."

"Something you all were made all too aware of that day," said Alexis. "Given what happened right afterwards."

Outside the mine parents and children tightly embraced. "It's alright," Bunnie said. "Mama's gotcha, Mama's gotcha."

"My precious little gems!" Rouge wept.

Suddenly a shadow fell over them, looking up Sonic saw Viktor and Lilith descending in a flying pod backed up by several aviator swats. Viktor had his characteristic smirk. "You don't know how long I waited for this."

Sonic clenched his fists and teeth. "You really want to do this now?! Go in there and ask what's left of Synaptix if we're the mood to be merciful!"

Viktor landed and stepped out of his pod. "Oh, sure attack you when you're hopped up on adrenaline, your protective instincts are at their peak and when you're driven, dedicated, and morally righteous. That's not the best tactical move, after all…" Viktor extended his hand to Sally like he was expecting her to shake it. "…a deal is a deal."

Sally reluctantly stopped hugging her children stood up and to everyone's surprise took Viktor's hand. "As much as I now loathe myself, I have to admit we couldn't have done this without you."

"What are you talking about!?" asked Ray. "I thought it was the Secret Freedom Fighters and the Shinobi clan working together that found this place!"

"Even then they couldn't determine how an alien like Synaptix thinks, we needed someone who was familiar with Synaptix and the only ones who fit that bill were these two."

"Naturally we wanted to make him pay for abandoning us for his own goals," said Lilith. "But this knowledge was better used as leverage."

"Knowing the potential of our kids had I convinced the governments to clandestinely agree to their demands," Sally grumbled. "In exchange for their help we let them have the ruins of Megaopolis and full recognition of the Robotnick Ascendancy as a legitimate government."

"Which in turn gives us diplomatic immunity," said Viktor. "Since haven't officially been at war for six years that means you can't touch us."

Knuckles growled as he looked Julie soothe a still shaken Lara. "The thing that sickens me most, is that I agree with you. This is a betrayal of everything we ever fought for but as a father if I were in your position, I'd do it in a heartbeat, and I know everyone with a child here would have done the same."

"So, we have a city to call our own and you have your progeny returned to you, everybody wins."

"Shut it Mr. Perfect," growled Sonic. "We know this isn't over, you're going to try the same thing again sooner or later. Probably more quietly for as long as you can but this is still the same game with only one major change. Everything you do from now on, everyone who gets hurt because of it, that's on our heads now so when you cross the line it's going to be personal. I was told that the dimensional zones have been revolving around some form of our conflict, but I don't want to keep fighting you forever and I sure don't want you to win. Someday, somehow we'll both be free."

"If that's what you have to tell yourself," Viktor turned and went back into the pod. "For today however, take your children home."

Robotnick and his forces then left. Sonic gave a heavy sigh. "Come on Freedom Fighters, let's go home."

As everyone began to leave Sally suddenly stopped as she hugged Sonia and Manik. "No, no I can't do this again!"

Sonic turned surprised. "Sal what are you…?"

"I was free, I was happy, I had two wonderful children, I didn't need anything else! They all had their innocence stripped away from them just like ours was! Are they going to grow up fighting our old battles?! I saw too much death, too many people lose their way with little choice, and I just can't do it all again!"

Sonia looked up worried. "What do ya mean Mama?"

"I can't be on the frontlines anymore; we have peaceful lives, and I don't want us to lose them. I will always be for freedom…" Sally let the ring blades fall from her wrists and clatter on the ground. "But I'm done with fighting."

"Mama…"

Cream took Skye and Taffy and stood next to Sally. Right after that Antoine and Bunnie took their children and did the same followed by Nicole and Shard, Mina and Ash, Big and Gold and more until only the stronger adepts were not in the mix.

Sonic sighed. "I want to just say screw it too, but I with my gifts, I can't just standby."

"And I don't blame you for it," said Sally. "We're just are going to do our parts in other ways. Maybe just having the strongest among us ready to act when something does happen is the best thing now. It may be a false peace, but it's better than dragging these little ones through another war, especially after all they suffered now."

Back in the present Eddie looked over to a sunset. "And we pretty much had been in a cold war ever since. Viktor would hatch a plan in the shadows and the Freedom Fighters who were left would stop it and try to connect it to him but haven't been successful on that front."

Sally looked down dejected. "No wonder Sonia said her mother, that I, gave up. I still can't imagine working with the AI that manipulated me, that was based on the worst dictator of our time. Everything that happened to those children, if we know and don't do anything to change it wouldn't we be just as responsible as that monster?"

Sonic looked at her resolutely. "Once we can get them home, we'll let them decide. They'd be ones most effected, seems only right they'd make the final call."

"It's that simple to you?" said Alexis. "Just 'go with what the kids want'? Do you really think they are mature enough to make such a decision?"

"We've had to make similar decisions since we were even younger than them. I get they might think that what they went through made them who they are, but they might also not want to have dealt with something that bad. Silver and the others might not like it but it's the kids' future might as well make it their choice, but not one they have to make alone, we'll help them through it."

"Looks like we're going to have a lot to discuss with the others," said Shadow. "We should have some sort of plan by tomorrow."

"In any case we'll be working to get you home too," said Sally.

"Thanks," said Kneecaps. "But I think the kids shouldn't know that you know what we told you, for now at least. They've already been through a lot lately and digging up old wounds at this point will hurt more than it will help."

"Sure," said Knuckles. "When they're ready they'll let us know."

The Freedom Fighters had gathered all the future parents outside The Hideaway. "So now that we've all had a chance to get used to this let's get to brass tacks about how to handle these kids," said Silver.

"I can block all memories you're going to have of them and anything else about the future until it's already past, but with that…" She looked away sadly. "…very disturbing part, we have to be very careful on whether or not to interfere."

"That comes later," said Sally. "For now, we have to get to an arrangement on how to get them ready for whatever the titans have planned for them. I'm afraid you're all going to have to stay here for a while."

No one noticed Grace had just come out a side entrance and hid herself in the nearby bushes.

"Not necessarily," said Knuckles. "Those who need to be on Angel Island, or the Sol Kingdom can use warp rings as needed, the only problem is until Finitivus can make more we're down to two and as a guardian I need a fast means of travel on me at all times."

Fiona then gave a nervous laugh. "Funny you should mention that, could this help?"

Fiona then reached into her pocket and pulled out a small green gem with a yellow starburst pattern inside.

Knuckles gave a grumpy growl. "My old Guiding Star Gem, I thought I lost that. Where did you get it?"

"Remember when I was on Angel Island during all the… unpleasantness?" Knuckles shot an angry glare. "Stupid question of course you do. Anyway, while Finitivus held you prisoner I thought it'd be a pretty souvenir, so I 'borrowed' it while you were occupied with all that. It wasn't until during the Phantom Ruby War I figured out what it did, saved my neck a couple of times. I was going to give it back to you a few months ago then things started getting crazy and it just slipped my mind until…"

Knuckles snatched the gemstone from Fiona. "This was a gift from someone important to my people who's gone now, this had better be the last 'souvenir' like this you got from my home, liaison."

"Hey I'm sorry! No need to bite my head off!"

Grace still hidden then began thinking to herself. "Mom, my goody two-shoes mom, actually STOLE something and she's always getting on me for 'acting like a criminal'!? I don't know what surprises me more, that she actually broke a rule or that from the looks of things she was just as much of an adventurer as Dad." The little vixen quietly slipped back into the hideaway.

"Well at least we settled that," said Blaze. "Now fulfilling our duties while keeping the kids together should be easier. Knowing what we do now about them we can start figuring out how to get them ready."

"And once L's recovered enough to help us decode the capsule, we'll know exactly to make sure they don't have to see the Imperium tear apart everything we sacrificed so much to build," said Tails.

The sun was beginning to go down as Sonic and Sally came into their apartment. "Whew," Sonic said as he closed the door behind him. "For a day where not much happened it sure feels exhausting. Having your future laid out like that, really takes a number huh?"

"Sonic," Sally said grasping his hand. "Thank you."

The hedgehog raised an eyebrow. "For what exactly?"

"Taking such a hard a heavy choice and giving it to the ones it would affect those most even if though they might be ready yet. It reminded me that I can't take charge of my destiny while being afraid of the future. How can we expect them to do that if I'm afraid if I don't do things the right way they'll vanish?

Sally took Sonic's hand and led him to their bedroom. "So, I'm not going to doubt myself, we'll move forward starting now."

After Sonic was brought in Sally closed the door, turned out the lights then moved to draw the curtains. "Wait, you want to do this now?"

After Sally drew the curtains, she began got a few candles and began placing them around the room lighting them as she went. "Well, if they're going to be born we'll have to do this eventually, might as well get some practice in the meantime. So we're going to undress and 'untuck' and finally have our wedding night."

Sonic put his finger on her lips. "No words for now, we take this slow. Let me know if I please you or hurt you and I will do the same."

They kissed each other deeply. "You're right, no words. Whatever else is happening in the world, in the universe it can wait."

In the dim light they knew each other more intimately than they ever had before. The universe could wait.

On the distant world of Argentum, a door opened to the bunker Ceneca-9009 had been hiding in for over a year now, a shelter that kept her safe when the Black Arms and Xorda brought their world to her world. The four-armed green reptilian creature looked up the databook she was reading to see an identical looking creature, natural since her species had for ages reproduced by cloning.

"Ceneca-10050, what brings you out here?"

"The same thing that has preoccupied the rest of our sisters for some time," the identical Bem said. "The devastation of Argentum and the precarious state of the Galaxy."

Ceneca-9009 sighed as she closed the book. "I guess I can't hide any longer, it is time for my execution."

"On the contrary," said 10050. "Circumstances have presented themselves that altered the High Council's decision on you, I am here to pronounce their new decision. Instead of death you are to hereby be exiled from Argentum. You have been given an assignment of the utmost importance. It is vital to the stability of the Milky Way; you have been deemed the most suited to complete it and only upon its successful conclusion will you be permitted to return. Do this and the High Council will pardon you for your previous behavior."

9009 dropped her book. "I…thank you, I will not let my sisters down when they need me the most. When am I to depart?"

"As soon as you can, gather what possessions you can for an interstellar voyage and meet me outside.

9009 took what little she felt she had and packed them in a bag. On leaving the bunker for the damaged surface of Argentum she found 10050 waiting. "I'm ready, what is my assignment?"

10050 handed took out a PDA and swiped it. "I have transferred the needed records to your own device, read it when you have a moment. For now, however you are to follow their instructions."

10050 stood aside and an alien unlike any 9009 had seen before. "You are to board our ship and guide to the planet you call Mobius.