Chapter 30 - Aftermath

"There," Robotnik, now Julian Kintobor, said as he turned away from computer terminal, "all the
robot units have been deactivated. Now...can someone tell me what's going on here?"

"I'm curious as well," Snively, now Reginald Snout, said. "The last thing I remember was some
type of explosion..."

The descendants looked at each other, wondering what to tell them. Anthony knew they would
find out eventually, and decided to get some emotional help for Julian just in case...

"Just one moment, Julian, and have the answers for you," Anthony said, then turning on his
communicator. "Anthony to Princess Sally."

"Sally here," she said, responding back.

"Princess...I need David, Chuck, and your father up here. Things have gotten...interesting..."

"Interesting?"

"Tails will tell you..."

Tails took the communicator and told Sally of what happened with Robotnik. Anthony then turned
towards the former despot.

"Julian, Reginald...you'd better find a place to sit. What I am going to tell you...you may
not like..."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chuck, David, and King Acorn started walking towards the fortress. They saw several
roboticized Mobians coming towards them, and Chuck motioned them towards where Doctor Light was
waiting with the new deroboticizer.

Chuck knew it would work, as he now itched his now fully deroboticized head, since he was the
first subject. Of course, they would first receive the Kintobor treatment, something that
would create a biogenic body that was still robotic, but looked real. This first step was
necessary to remove robotization toxins...

"What do you suppose Anthony needs with us?" King Acorn asked.

"Not sure, your majesty," Chuck said. "But it must be something major..."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As they entered where the descendants were located, they were shocked by what they saw.
Robotnik was collapsed on the ground, sobbing as if he received news of a great personal
tragedy. Snively was also in a state of shock, but seemed to be more angry than sorrowful...

"Anthony," David said, "what's going on? Are Buttnik and Weenie Boy THAT upset from losing?"

"It's not that, David..." Anthony said. "Because...that's not Snively and Robotnik there.
It's Reginald Snout and...your father, Julian."

The three of them were in shock, and David was enraged. "Bault...if that's a joke, it's NOT
PHRACKING FUNNY!!!!"

"No joke, guys..." Peach said. "Anthony...somehow fixed their minds."

"Actually," Anthony said, interjecting, "both of them were suffering from Dual-Personality
Syndrome, apparently created by the ROCC I read about. When I used my powers to enter their
minds, they each had two personalities in them. I fought the Robotnik and Snively personas
psionically, and destroyed them."

"So..." Chuck said, "the reason for their reaction is...you just told them about the last ten
years..."

Anthony nodded. "Julian and Reginald were naturally shocked when they learned what they had
done. That's why I sent for you guys. They need your help to cope. My attempts to tell them
that it was technically NOT them that did these atrocities were less than successful..."

"I understand," Chuck said, walking over to Julian. He then knelt down to help Julian up.
"Come on, old friend. Talk to me..."

"Charles?" Julian said, looking up at Chuck. "Is that you?"

"Yes, old friend, and it's great to see you whole again..."

"But...I thought...you were roboticized..."

"I've been cured, thanks in part to Dr. Light's research. We're currently deroboticizing the
others."

"Thank God..." Julian said, then started crying again. "But...those who died...because of
me..."

"NO!" Chuck said, grabbing the shoulders of Julian and looking straight in his eye. "That
WASN'T YOU! It was Ivo Robotnik, NOT Julian Kintobor, that did all this! You were not
responsible! If anything, you were also a victim...also a prisoner. Don't blame yourself!"

"Someone must pay, Charles..." Julian said, then turned towards King Acorn. "Your majesty...I
wish to receive the death penalty for the events of the past ten years."

David turned away upon hearing that, not wishing Julian to see the emotion on his face. He
then perked up when he heard the king speak.

"Julian Kintobor..." King Acorn said. "Apparently you weren't listening to Anthony and
Charles...you were not responsible for what happened, and the men who were responsible have
already been destroyed. Besides, there is one person who still needs you..."

"Who, your majesty?"

"Your son, David."

Julian looked up upon hearing that. "My...son? He's alive?"

"Yes, and he was the other person responsible for the derobotization method. In fact," King
Acorn said, pointing toward David, "that fox there is your son. He may have been transformed
by a Power Ring, but that is still David Kintobor."

Julian looked up towards the human turned fox as David, in turn, looked back at him. "David?
Is that...really you?"

David started walking towards Julian and said, "Yeah, Dad, it's me." Julian recognized the
voice, ran up towards David, and embraced his son. Both had tears in their eyes as they
continued to hug.

Anthony saw this and turned towards the rest of the descendants. "We'd better go. This is...a
private moment we don't need to see." The rest of the group nodded and started to walk out.
King Acorn also walked out with them, stating he might need to convince his people not to lynch
Julian. As they walked out, Anthony paused midway, looking back at Julian, Reginald, David,
and Chuck and smiled as he sensed the feelings of gratitude and relief coming from them.

As he turned back towards the exit, he pumped his fist in the air in a moment of self-
celebration and said, "YEAH! Captain N, eat your heart out!" He then continued towards the
exit.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As Anthony exited the fortress, he was met by several cheering armies from the five worlds,
several of whom were chanting "Gamemaster". Anthony shook his head and thought to himself,
"Geez...it's starting already..." Luigi, Sonic, Knuckles, Megaman, Bass, Ryan, Chris, FX, and
Sir Kain all ran up to him, congratulating him for his accomplishments.

"Way to go, Anth!" Sonic said. "Sal told us what happened in there before you guys came out.
That was AWESOME!"

"Thanks Sonic," Anthony said. "By the way, where are my fellow descendants, and King Acorn for
that matter?"

"The king's a talking to his people," Luigi said. "He wants to make sure no one holds ill will
against a Julian."

"Man, that's going to be weird..." Sonic said. "Calling Buttnik 'Julian' after all this
time..."

"Get used to it, Sonic," Anthony said. "After all, calling him 'Buttnik' may just cause him to
get even MORE depressed than he is now. Luckily, David and Chuck are in there trying to
convince him he's NOT Robotnik. Now...what about my fellow descendants?"

Bass pointed towards a certain area. "Take a look for yourself..."

Anthony looked where Bass was pointing. Mario and Peach were engaged in a massive kiss, Link
and Zelda were liplocked as well, Tails was being hugged by Sally, and Protoman was receiving a
sisterly hug from Roll.

"Dang..." Anthony said. "Whatever happened to the hero getting the girl?"

"Um...Anthony?" Knuckles said, pointing behind him. Anthony turned around just in time to
receive a bear hug from a pink hedgehog that knocked him to the ground.

"Ack, Amy!" Anthony said. "I appreciate the gesture but...I need those ribs!"

Amy let go of the hug so Anthony could get up. "I heard what happened from Knothole! You
saved us all! We're free now!"

"Hey, Ames..." Anthony said, looking down at the young hedgehog. "You guys were going to be
free anyway because you all didn't give up. All I did was speed up the process by bringing in
some extra players to this game."

"Mr. Bault!" Major Sharpe's voice called out as he and T-Bone walked up to him. When they
arrived, they both saluted Anthony, an act which caused him to roll his eyes.

"Sharpe, T-Bone...I'm not your CO."

"I realize that, but your actions deserve saluting anyway," Sharpe said. "I figured you would
enjoy this information. T-Bone, report."

"Just got the final tally after the battle, Anth," T-Bone reported. "Though there were lots
of injuries reported, I'm happy to announce there were zero casualties."

"AWESOME!" Anthony said.

"I couldn't have put it better, Mr. Bault," Sharpe said. "You will definitely receive a medal
for this."

"I already got my reward, thanks Major, " Anthony said, looking down at Amy who, at the moment,
was looking back up at him in admiration. "This world is free now...and Arcadia is back
together. That's all that matters to me. Besides, I've seen those medal ceremonies...long
winded, boring, sleep inducing..."

Sonic shook his head in disbelief. "Man...you are definitely something else...uh oh..." Sonic
looked towards the fortress, where Julian, Reginald, Chuck, and David were coming out. "Brace
yourselves guys, we may need to save Julian...I can't believe I said that!"

But to everyone's surprise, no one booed or gave angry looks towards the former despot. Julian
had a look of absolute sorrow on his face, and Anthony could sense a feeling in the Mobians.
It wasn't anger or resentment, however, but sadness. Apparently, King Acorn's words held...

Anthony breathed a sigh of relief. "Well...that's one less thing to worry about. Looks like
we'd better head back to Knothole to make plans for...the HELL?!?"

Anthony looked in shock as a large warship flew towards Robottropolis. No one seemed to know
what was going on, but Anthony figured it out...

"Dammit, I KNEW someone was missing...Packbell!"

Almost on cue, a loud voice emanated from the warship.

"Ah...I see you've defeated Robotnik at last, Arcadians. Too bad it was for nothing...for now
I can FINALLY take over this pitiful planet, and perhaps the other worlds of Arcadia as well."
A door below the ship opened and a large cannon appeared. "But first, there's a small
infestation problem to be dealt with. Namely, all this organic life that exists on this
planet. What you see on my ship is a bio-cannon, a weapon of my design which eradicates all
types of organic life. You have a chance to escape though...the cannon requires fifteen
minutes to charge. I suggest you run towards the nearest portal and escape this planet if you
wish to live. You fifteen minutes begins...now!"

Every army opened fire on the ship, hoping to destroy the ship, but none of the shots could
penetrate the shielding on the ship.

"Blast it, nothing works!" Sharpe said, then talked into his communicator. "Everyone,
evacuate towards the nearest portal! We need to get out of here before that cannon fires!"

The various armies started running towards where their portals were located. Sonic, however,
wasn't about to give up. He reached towards his backpack to take out the Power Ring that was
stashed in it, unfortunately...

"What the...? My pack is open, and the ring is gone! Hey, Anth, did you see...?"

Anthony was nowhere to be found. The heroes looked around for their friend and couldn't find
him in any direction.

Amy was worried. "Anthony! Where are you?!?"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anthony deactivated his Fade power as he arrived at a hill which overlooked Robototropolis and
had a clear view of the ship. He looked down at the Power Ring in his hands...realizing what
he had to do.

Tears fell from his face. He was going to miss his friends, his family, and any future
adventures he would have had. As he wiped them away, a new found determination welled up
within him...and his fear left for good.

"Anthony!" Sharpe's voice blared on his communicator. "Where are you? We need to evacuate!"

Anthony picked up the communicator. "Guys...I'm sorry. Tell my family...I will love them
always..." After closing the link, he activated the Power Ring and the world went nova around
him...

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The heroes were confused by his communication, and then saw the bright flash on the hill.

"HEY! What's he using my Power Ring for?" Sonic asked loudly.

"I not sure. What would he need that much power for..." Amy said, then suddenly showing a
look of panic on her face. "NO!! Sonic stop him, he's going to use the Final Power!!!"

Sonic was already gone when she said that, hoping he wasn't too late. Amy and the rest of the
heroes were also running towards the hill.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anthony entire body was glowing with the energy of the Power Ring, and he was trying to build
up enough of the power into psionic energy to focus into a single blast. All he would be able
to manage would be a single shot, but he hoped it would be enough.

Packbell saw the flash and laughed, reactivating the loudspeaker. "Really, Gamemaster! You
saw how useless your weapons were to the construction of this ship, do you really think you
alone can stop me in ten minutes?" Suddenly he read the energy output of Anthony's body when
the scanner hit him, and was frightened when he saw the level go off the scale. "What the..."
Packbell said, not realizing he broadcasted those words.

Anthony smiled one final smile upon hearing those words, and added a few of his own as he
finished building power. "GAME...OVER...PACKY!" He then let loose a blast of psionics three
meters in diameter towards the ship, the shockwave of which knocked Sonic off his feet as he
ran up and which blasted Anthony back from the recoil.

Packbell saw the blast, and realized the shields wouldn't hold. Just before transferring his
cybernetic consciousness to his base, he yelled, "I HATE THAT GAMEMASTER!!!" The ship was then
engulfed in the blast, utterly destroyed.

The various armies saw the destruction of the ship and started cheering, but several others,
including the other descendants, realized what the blast was and started running towards where
it originated, fearing the worst...

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sonic got up from being knocked backwards and shook the cobwebs out of his system. He then ran
towards where Anthony was standing. He then fell to his knees when he saw a terrible sight...

Anthony was prone on his back, the armor reverted to the red plate, his sword off to the side.
He laid perfectly still, eyes closed and not making even the slightest movement.

"No..." Sonic said, half whispering and half praying. "Not again. We can't have lost the
Gamemaster again..." Tears started to form in his eyes, but he was snapped to attention when
he heard Amy's voice say, "Sonic, is Anthony alright?"

"NO AMY, DON'T LOOK!!!" Sonic said, but it was too late. Amy looked in horror at Anthony's
prone body and started crying out loud. Sonic hugged the young hedgehog as she cried for her
fallen friend, and feared no amount of comforting would help this time.

The other heroes and the descendants eventually reached the hill and saw the same thing Amy
did, some beginning to cry themselves. Sally, teary eyed, walked over to Anthony's body, bent
her head down over it, and laid a hand on his chest. "Dear Bright Lady above...great Destiny,
see our friend to his final rest, and make sure he receives a place of honor in the heavens."
She then bent down further and kissed Anthony on the forehead...and gasped when she heard
slight breathing.

"Great Destiny...MEGAMAN, BASS, PROTOMAN! Do any of you have bioscanners?!?" Protoman,
currently still drawing from the Descendancy Powers, said yes. He then scanned Anthony as per
Sally's instruction.

"Heartbeat slow...breathing shallow...vital signs...stable? Mental activity...NORMAL?!?"
Protoman was shocked. "HOLY SHIT, HE'S NOT DYING!!!"

Amy heard what was said, and looked in hope at Anthony's body. She then saw Sharpe call for a
stretcher and followed as Anthony was carried towards the Earth portal in it. She was praying
the entire time as she and the rest of the group were following him...