While Sonic was following the Constabulary to Acorn International Airport, Espio had already arrived at the terminal. Already, he was alerted to the presence of a bearded, brown-haired human wearing sunglasses and sitting on a bench reading a copy of The Emerald City Herald. Knowing that this must be a plainclothes terrorist, Espio walked to a wall opposite of the bench and camouflaged himself with his surroundings. He then took out a collapsible, non-metallic blowgun, extended it and loaded a dart in. Taking careful aim, he fired the dart at the terrorist, which struck the man in the neck. The dart had been coated with Espio's own specially-formulated variant of frog poison, which left the terrorist with at most six seconds to live. Putting the blowgun away, the Purple Phantom casually walked over to the deceased terrorist, checked to make sure no one was looking and draped the newspaper over the dead man's face.

With that terrorist gone, Espio continued to walk about the terminal. Then, his attention was drawn to two humans having lunch at a KFC in the food court: a blonde woman with mid-length hair and a black-haired man with a buzzcut. They were both conversing in Roseinian, and while not extremely fluent in the language, Espio knew enough to know that these two were in league with the rest of the terrorists. Pretending to look at something on his Samsung Galaxy, he waited for one of them to part ways, and sure enough, the man headed off to the bathroom. Being careful not to be noticed, the Purple Phantom followed him in. Once again, he camouflaged himself to avoid detection, and knowing which stall the terrorist was in, he went into the next stall over, drew a kunai and hopped over the divider into the terrorist's stall.

"Surprise."

With one quick slash, Espio slit the terrorist's throat before hopping back to the stall he'd originally been in. He then returned to the KFC, where by now the woman was anxiously awaiting her partner, as evidenced by her checking her phone. Once again camouflaging himself, Espio drew his blowgun and ended her life with one of his poison darts.

Eventually, the two buses, the Constabulary vehicles and Sonic made it to Acorn International Airport. Helo 5 chimed in again:

"Zone Armor 4-Baker-Charlie and Zone Truck 4-Delta-Tango, this is Helo 5. Park your vehicles and wait for the tangos and the hostages to enter the runway, over."

"Helo 5, this is Zone Armor 4-Baker-Charlie. Parking vehicles now, over."

"Roger, Zone Armor 4-Baker-Charlie. Helo 5 out."

While the terrorists were entering the gate to the runway area with the hostages, Sonic was sneaking around the outer wall, hoping to get a good look at what plane the terrorists might be using. He had a suspicion that they might be using an Airbus A320 in Mobius Air livery, which was parked on one of the runways. After finding a spot near the fence that was not only close to the plane in question, but also out of view of any other terrorists that might be waiting, Sonic knelt down and waited. Fortunately, he didn't have to wait too long…

"Sonic, this is Espio, are you there?"

"I copy loud and clear, Espio. What it is?"

"Sonic, I've spotted the plane that the terrorists are using. It's an Airbus A320 in Mobius Air livery, on Runway 2. Proceed with caution; there are more terrorists stationed at the plane already."

"Got it, man. You get all the terrorists in the terminal?"

"Affirmative. The terrorists on the runway won't have any backup. Espio out."

While Sonic was waiting for the perfect time to strike, Sergeant II Butch Keitel and Constable I Steven Buchanan had infiltrated the north control tower, where two terrorists had taken the personnel there hostage as well. However, Keitel and Buchanan dealt with the terrorists using their Para P14 Black Ops pistols before freeing the hostages.

"Stay down," said Keitel. "We'll get you out of here soon."

The air traffic controllers nodded, while Keitel and Buchanan took their Remington 700s and set up their posts.

"Charlie One Two, this is Charlie One Actual," said Keitel. "Request status check, over."

"Charlie One Actual, this is Charlie One Two," said Corporal I Michael Frago. "Charlie One Four and I have eliminated two tangos in the south control tower, rescued four hostages and have now taken up positions, over."

"Roger, Charlie One Two. Request visual on tangos around the target airplane, over."

"Charlie One Actual, we have a visual on four tangos on the runway directly beneath the airplane and an unknown number inside the plane. Twelve tangos with hostages are proceeding there now, over."

"Roger, Charlie One Two. All units, hold your fire until Command gives the go order. Charlie One Actual out."

While Charlie One was providing sniper support, Homewood called in to Keitel:

"Charlie One Actual, this is Command. Request information on all tangos on the runway, over."

"Command, this is Charlie One Actual. Have a visual on four tangos on the runway beneath the target plane and twelve tangos proceeding to the target plane with hostages, over.

"Roger, Charlie One Actual. Hold all fire until all hostages are on the plane. Command out."

Thus, Sonic, Espio and the Constabulary waited for the terrorists and their hostages to board the plane. For Sonic, this was perhaps one of the hardest parts of the operation because he wanted to save his friends so badly, but he didn't want to jump in too soon because he hated to think that he might be too slow to save any of his friends from getting shot dead, and he could never live down the thought of him, The Fastest Thing Alive, failing because he was too slow. To calm himself down, he took a few deep breaths, which was a bit of an ordeal with his M17 gas mask, so he briefly turned away from the airport, took the mask off and temporarily raised his balaclava to improve his breathing.

(Man, how do Constables wear all this crap!? Do they train not to breathe or somethin'?)

Fortunately, luck would shine for Sonic with the following radio transmission:

"Command, this is Charlie One Actual. All tangos and hostages have boarded the plane. Requesting go order, over."

"Roger, Charlie One Actual. All teams, this is Command. You have go order; shoot to kill if you have to! Command out."

And just like that, the Constabulary was ready for action, though Sergeant III Jim Bentley – one of the point men – had a plan of his own:

"Able One and Baker One, this is Able One Actual. Wait for the stair trucks to get close so that we can commandeer them, over."

"Able One Actual, this is Baker One Actual," said Sergeant II Elizabeth West. "My team and I are in position and are awaiting your command. Baker One Actual out."

Soon enough, when the two Ford F-350 stair trucks were close enough…

"GO! GO! GO!" shouted Bentley.

With their weapons drawn, Able One and Baker One took off for the stair trucks like the proverbial bats out of hell. Seeing the eight heavily-armed and armored Constables, the drivers came to a sudden halt.

"Right, we need to borrow these trucks!" said Bentley. "We promise we'll bring them back!"

The driver – a tan ox – nodded. "O-OK, I don't want no trouble! Take it!"

The driver and passenger of both stair trucks scurried out of the cabs, while Bentley and West each took point at the very top of the stairs. Two Constables got in the cab, while the remaining Constables stood atop the bottom of the stairs as the trucks moved towards the plane.

Seeing the trucks turning around, a couple of terrorists set up PKM machine guns and attempted to open fire on Able One and Baker One. However, a couple of well-placed .300 Winchester Magnum rounds from Charlie One put a stop to their efforts.

"Got 'em!" said Buchanan.

Having heard the sniper fire, Tails turned to look out the window, and having Hedgehog Sense, Amy, Shadow and Silver all went to get a look at what was going on.

"NO!" Karl shook his AKS-74U. "DO NOT LEAVE YOUR SEATS! GET BACK IF YOU WANT TO LIVE!"

However, the hostages ignored Karl and instead focused on the approaching Constables.

Tails pumped his fist. "All right! We're saved!"

The rest of the hostages cheered. Seeing that he was in no position to get them to obey without killing them, Karl instead motioned to another terrorist:

"Avksentiy, findayte vas zie so interesirt!"

"Da!"

The terrorist named Avksentiy, who was wielding an AK-74, rudely tossed Amy aside and shoved Tails and Marine out of the way so he could get a closer look, getting a rude shock when he saw the two stair trucks with Constables approaching.

"Šuysa!" Avksentiy pounded on the back of one of the seats before turning to Karl. "Karl, Konstabulariya hat uns' gefunden!"

"Verfikht!" Karl motioned around in Avksentiy's general direction. "Die und vse ander'nyye halten etikh verdamten Konstablen yuf, no bebakhten die za založnik'n! POSHLI! ŠNEL!"

With that, a number of terrorists sprang into action. One terrorist with an AKM opened fire on Baker One. However, owing to poor trigger discipline and the fact that he'd learned to fire a gun at the Imperial Marksmanship Academy, he missed, and West put him out of action with her MP5-N.

"Tango down!"

Similarly, towards the cockpit end of the plane, another terrorist with an RPD machine gun attempted to lay down covering fire on Able One. Again, he couldn't hit the proverbial broad side of a barn, and Bentley dropped him with a few shots from his Uzi.

"Threat neutralized!"

Though the RMC was making good progress, there was something that threatened to end it: an oncoming rocket from an RPG-7. The rocket went wide, but it was enough to get the Constabulary's attention.

"RPG!" exclaimed Bentley.

Fortunately, the guy with the RPG wouldn't get another chance, for Constable I Edward Gannon plugged him with his Colt Commando.

"Scratch another one!"

While the Constables were approaching the plane and laying down covering fire, Sonic saw a good opportunity to make his move, so he hopped the fence, and being careful not to be seen, he zoomed over to the plane. With a flying leap of faith, he jumped up to the cargo hatch, knocked it open with a Homing Attack, entered the plane and bowled over two terrorists with a Spin Dash, thereby drawing his fellow athletes' attention. They cheered upon seeing him, and he took a few bows.

"Thank you!" said Sonic. "Thank you! I'm here 'till Thursday! Try the chipped beef!"

Unfortunately, Sonic's arrogant antics caught the attention of the other terrorists, who swung their weapons in his direction. Not wanting to die, he immediately put his hands up.

"Whoa, mellow out!" said Sonic. "I don't want no trouble here!"

"Then show your face!" said Karl. "You lie to us; you are no Constable!"

"Then how do ya explain the BDU?"

"SHUT UP! We will tolerate no more insolence from you! Stepan!"

The terrorist named Stepan – who was wielding an AKMS with a GP-25 grenade launcher – moved in on Sonic and pulled off his gas mask and balaclava.

"YOU…!" said Stepan. "You are the famous Sonic the Hedgehog! What are you doing in Constable's uniform!?"

"What's it matter to ya, jive turkey!?" said Sonic. "Point is, I came here to eat chili dogs and kick ass…and I'm all outta chili dogs!"

Stepan shook his rifle at Sonic. "ENOUGH! You will be shot like your mongrel friend was shot!"

"Then take me, but don't hurt my friends, you mangy mutha!"

"ŠVAIN!"

Stepan grabbed Sonic by the top of the head, dragged him to the front of the passenger cabin while muttering various Roseinian curses and spun him around while his friends watched in abject horror. He then pointed his AKMS at Ol' Blue's head.

"YOU SEE WHAT HAPPENS!?" yelled Stepan. "YOU SEE WHAT YOU GET FOR YOUR INSOLENCE!? WE TOLD YOU WE WERE SERIOUS! NOW YOUR FRIEND DIES!"

"NO!" screamed Amy.

"Not on my watch!"

Not one to stand idly by while a person who mattered to him was murdered by a group of heavily-armed cowards, Shadow hopped out of his seat with his Model 29 drawn and shot Stepan in the head. Karl attempted to blast Shadow with his AKS-74U, but the Black Blur was quicker on the draw. Acting upon his Hedgehog Sense, he spun around and eliminated another terrorist. A fourth terrorist attempted to plug Shadow with his PKM, and indeed succeeded at hitting him in the eye, but the bullets deformed and dropped to the ground without leaving so much as a scratch on the Ultimate Life Form, who sent said terrorist into the next beyond. Meanwhile, Sonic smiled as he watched his new boyfriend blow away the terrorists, even clapping for him. More terrorists attempted to take out Shadow, but the Constables who had finally boarded the plane were quick enough on the trigger to mop them up. Finally coming into view, the Constables readied their weapons at Shadow.

"FREEZE! CONSTABULARY!" shouted Bentley.

"GUYS, DON'T SHOOT!" Sonic waved his hands back and forth. "He's on our side!"

Bentley held up his left fist. "Hold your fire!"

The Constables stopped and lowered their weapons.

"You in the black and red!" said Bentley. "What are you doing with that weapon!?"

"I used this in the pistol competitions," replied Shadow. "I concealed this on me because I wanted nothing to do with those pathetic terrorists."

"Are you mad!? Your actions could've resulted in the deaths of your fellow athletes!"

Shadow holstered his Model 29 and crossed his arms. "Hmph, see how much I care about not giving others a chance to be happy."

Shadow and Bentley stared at each other, Ironside-style. Nobody else made a sound lest they be known as fools.

"Very well, we'll let this one go," said Bentley. "Don't try it again, though."

"Hmph."

After everything was good at the airport, the members of the Mobian Olympic Team were taken back to the Coliseum, where a large crowd awaited them. Sonic, Shadow and Espio stood on stage as King Max and Queen Alicia gave another speech:

"Citizens of the world, in my lifetime, I have born witness to many an historic moment, and while I have been aware of the valiant actions of Sonic the Hedgehog, it was today that him and his companions Shadow the Hedgehog and Espio the Chameleon truly enshrined themselves in the annals of Mobian History," said King Max.

"In honor of their selfless bravery and their service not just to the Kingdom of Mobius and all of its citizens, but to the citizens of the world, we hereby confer our highest civilian honor upon them: the Royal Medal of Merit!" said Queen Alicia Acorn. "Sally, please do the honors."

As per her mother's instruction, Princess Sally Acorn stepped forward and placed a Royal Medal of Merit around the necks of Espio, then Shadow and finally Sonic, all while the RMSO played a rendition of the "Throne Room and End Title" music from the Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope soundtrack.

"Sonic, congratulations!" said Sally.

"Thanks, Sal!"

Sonic and Sally gave each other a big hug, thereby earning a collective "awww" from the audience. After this, Shadow tapped Sonic on the shoulder, and the Blue Blur turned to face him.

"Sonic the Hedgehog…"

"Yes?"

"Thank you for everything."

Without question, Shadow wrapped his arms around Sonic and gave him a big kiss, which earned a really big "awww" from the audience, especially from women like Rouge, Amy and Peach. Even Espio smiled when he saw this. Overall, Shadow felt that his participation in the Olympics was worth it.

In the end, the Kingdom of Mobius had taken home the most gold medals, with the Mushroom Kingdom at a close second and the Roseinian Empire at a rather distant third. On the evening after the closing ceremony, Sonic and Shadow were on the observation deck of Emerald Tower, looking down at the city below and all its assorted lights.

"Even after all these years, I'll never understand it," said Shadow.

"Understand what?" said Sonic.

"How people can kill innocent people over nebulous concepts such as politics, religion or the like."

"I'm drawin' a blank on that one too, man. My guess is some people are so angry and wanna be famous so bad that they pick up guns or bombs or whatever and go bananas. But ya know what?"

"What?"

"The way I see it, if more people like us get together, give each other all the love we can and show the world how much we mean to each other, then the fires of terrorism will stop burnin'!"

Shadow raised his eyebrows. "You really think so?"

Sonic smiled and gave a thumbs up. "I know so, babe!"

Shadow scratched his head. "Gee, that sounds so true, but hard to believe…"

"Well, let's get started!"

Sonic whipped out a Panasonic RX5150 boombox, put in a tape marked "HAPPY ROCK VOLUME 1" and hit "PLAY". In short order, the boombox began playing "I'm Alive" by Electric Light Orchestra. The Blue Blur placed his hand around Shadow's waist, grabbed Shadow's hand with his other hand and brought it up to head height.

"Shaddy…may I have this dance?"

Shadow smiled. "Oh Sonny…absolutely!"

And so, Sonic and Shadow danced their hearts out on top of Emerald Tower. Even if there were more people out there with the desire to commit acts of terrorism, the fact that these two had the desire to love one another was the most powerful weapon of all.

BUT WAIT! This story's not done yet! Tune in tomorrow for the exciting epilogue!

Criticism is gold. Negativity and nitpicking are pyrite.