Chapter 2 - Sacrifice
Two days after the Knothole ceremony, things began to return to a normal routine for the rebuilding. The workers in whole seemed to have a great weight taken off of them as a result of the memorial, and the amount of work done seemed to increase.
Anthony noticed he no longer needed the Emote Barrier power, as the people's thoughts were no longer focused on him anymore. He was relieved...he didn't like being the center of attention, even before he came to Arcadia. Of course, some people could still pick him out of a crowd, as symbolized by the fact that Bass, David, and Sally were walking up to him.
"Hi, Anthony," David said. "Has Wolverine reported to you yet?"
"Yeah," Anthony said. "I said you were Sabertooth and he's looking for you to hunt you down. Now, will you cut the X-Men crap?"
Sally giggled at this exchange. "At least you're almost out of that hoverchair. What is it, two more days?"
"Three. My doctor wanted me to extend my chair stay after my late night activities. I swear...if my legs don't get some real activity soon, they may atrophy to the point where I'll need the chair for good!"
"Well," Bass said, "you could always have your legs roboticized like Bunnie's."
"NO, THANK YOU!" Anthony said. "I didn't fight for Mobius so that...wait a minute...Bunnie still has those robot legs? I thought..."
Sally explained. "Only from the knee down. She also kept her robot arm from the elbow down, all these robotics being Kintobor mode, of course, so she can switch between them looking like flesh and like metal. She decided the benefits of having them were great for non-combat use as well, so she kept them."
"I see..." Anthony said. "I would have thought..."
"So did we," David said. "But she saw how useful my arm was and decided not to give it up. Even got it upgraded so it's close to mine!"
"Cool. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go meditate at Vista Point."
"Then you'll have company, Anthony," Sally said. "I just saw Tails and Amy go up there."
"No problem," Anthony said as he continued on. "I wasn't really going to meditate, just watch the rebuilds from there, and I could use the company."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vista Point was a small cliff that overlooked Mobotropolis, and was the same cliff where Anthony used the Final Power to destroy Packbell's warship. Anthony named it Vista Point because it reminded him of the same Vista Point that overlooked Koopa's castle in Super Mario RPG.
As Anthony floated up to where he was going, he saw Tails and Amy on the edge of the point with their feet dangling over the edge, and they were watching the rebuilding effort as well. He also heard them speaking...
"Quite a view, isn't it Amy?"
"Yeah...you can see all of Mobotropolis from here. I can see why Anthony likes to come up here."
"No kidding!"
Both were silent for a minute, then Amy started talking again. "Tails...at the dedication ceremony...on the wall...did you see your parents' names on it?"
"No..." Tails said sullenly.
Amy looked down before continuing, "Me neither. I knew my dad died before I was born, but...my mother..." Amy then looked at Tails. "Do you think they're alive somewhere?"
"Not sure, Amy," Tails said, "but I'm sure they're out there somewhere."
Both became silent for a moment, then quiet sniffles could be heard from Amy. Tails noticed this and hugged the young hedgehog in an attempt to comfort her as she started to cry. "Oh, Tails, I miss her..."
Tails was also starting to tear up. "I know, Amy, I know..."
Anthony watched as this unfolded and his heart sank. He wished he could help, but wasn't sure what he could say or do to comfort them or console them. He floated away quietly, deep in thought...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"God, I feel so helpless and useless!" Anthony thought to himself as he sat in his room. "Those two are my friends, and I can't think of ANYTHING I can do to help! There's got to be something...I only wish my empathic abilities..."
Suddenly a thought occurred to him. He knew from one of his role-playing games that there was a psionic power that could read objects and learn their past from psychic impressions on it. He wondered if he could do the same. He concentrated as hard as he could on the room he was in, trying focus on psychic impressions from the past...
He then saw the room's past. The room before the coup was once a nursery, and he saw a crib that had two children, a fox and a squirrel, lying in it.
"Sally and Elias no doubt," Anthony thought as he saw the image. He let the image fade, and smiled as he realized what this power meant. He also knew he needed help to carry out what he was going to do...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Here's what you wanted, Anthony," Protoman said, handing him a map as well as a communicator for his hoverchair. "The map contains the locations of where the villages of Bluebrook and Forecrest, Tails's and Amy's former homes, were located. The communicator will link directly to me and me alone. Now...may I ask what secret mission you're going on that you don't want anyone to know about?"
"I'm surprised you haven't figured it out, Proto," Anthony said. "I'm going to look for Tails's and Amy's parents using a power I just discovered called Past Sight. If I'm lucky, I'll find them alive as well as several others who survived the attacks. I don't want anyone to know of this because if Tails and Amy find out, their hopes might get up that they'll be alive, and if I find their parents dead..."
"I understand...but, you're supposed to be relaxing and recuperating. Won't this overexhaust you?"
"No. The power itself isn't that draining and requires minimal energy. Also, I'll be carrying a few bottles of these..." Anthony then produced a sack filled with what looked like bottles of water. "Bookshire developed this substance called 'amino water'. It's water infused with amino acids that help restore mental functions. We tested it a while back and found it can restore psi energy. He originally created these in case I used my powers and felt drained."
"I see... You know, I was going to try and stop you from doing this, but knowing you I have a feeling you'd go and do this crazy stunt anyway. I'll cover for you the best I can, just contact me if you run into trouble or get tired from psi depletion!"
"I will. Thanks Proto." Anthony then floated out of the castle to start his journey.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bluebrook was located close to Minoc Grove, so all Anthony had to do was take a transit gate from the Mobius/Earth portal (located near Mobotropolis) to the Mobius/Neo-Earth portal (located in Minoc) and then go from Minoc to Bluebrook. He had to order the portal guards to keep quiet about his movements, telling them his mission was classified.
Bluebrook was still in ruins. He looked around and shook his head at the level of destruction and shuddered at what visions he might see. Swallowing his fear, he started the Past Sight power to view images from four years in the past, since he knew Tails was eight when he was found.
He saw the attack as it commenced four years ago, with Packbell leading the charge. He looked at one house in particular, where two adult foxes told their child to go and hide. Anthony noticed this child had two tails...
He then watched as the adult foxes ran out to face the attackers, but they noticed the attackers were too strong. They then watched in horror as their house collapsed.
"Oh my god..." Anthony thought as he watched this image. "They thought Tails died!"
He watched as the female cried in anguish and saw the male try to help her out of the village as the remaining villagers try to escape. He continued to follow the image as the survivors, including Tails's parents, ran away to find safety. Anthony had to stop mid-travel to drink a bottle of amino water because he was feeling fatigued. Eventually, Anthony followed the psychic images to another village, where the survivors met with this town's villagers and told them what happened. Anthony stopped the image and looked around his area, seeing the ruins of another village.
Anthony began to feel tired again, and noticed the sun was beginning to set. He activated his communicator.
"Protoman, do you read?"
"Right here, Anthony," Proto said. "I thought you were going to check out Bluebrook first?"
"I did. The surviving villagers from Bluebrook came to this village's location, and they included Tails's parents! They thought Tails died when his house collapsed and ran with the rest."
"My god...well, are you aware where you are?"
"Where?"
"Check your map..."
Anthony checked his map, following the path he took, and was shocked when he saw where he was...
"No way...they ran to Forecrest?!?"
"Looks like it, since you're there."
"Never thought it would be this easy... OK, Proto, come and pick me up and we'll pick up tomorrow."
"Alright, I'll be there. You alright?"
"A little tired and hungry, but alright."
"Good, I'll be there shortly."
Anthony looked around, feeling a measure of confidence that he would find Tails's and Amy's parents. But he was still uncertain as to whether they would be found alive...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The next morning, Protoman returned Anthony to Forecrest to continue his investigations, and Anthony was giving final instructions to Protoman.
"When I find out anything, I'll contact you. I hope I don't have to go to far."
"Me too. You slept ten hours last night. I think you did overexhaust yourself from the distance between Bluebrook and Forecrest."
"Don't worry about me. I have plenty of amino water on hand. Get back to Mobotropolis before they miss you."
"Alright. Just so you know, Peach and others were wondering where you were. I told them you were visiting Earth."
"Hopefully they believe that. If not...I'll tell them I made you do this."
"They're not going to believe THAT!"
"Why not? I AM your leader!"
"You're not officially the Gamemaster YET, Anthony!"
Protoman rocketed off on his hoverjet as Anthony looked around at the ruins. He then reactivated his Past Sight power and viewed the events starting at slightly before the time of the attack on Forecrest, which was about two years ago.
He caught a glimpse of Amy and a lavender adult hedgehog, most likely her mother. The adult was giving Amy a kiss as Amy ran off to play. He then saw the attack commence. He watched as Tails's parents were trying to protect some of the villagers and leading several of them out, including Amy's mother. She apparently feared the worst, fearing that Amy may have already been captured and/or killed. He also saw Amy hiding in one of the nearby trees.
Anthony followed the psychic images as the survivors ran away from the burning village. This time the running distance was longer than last time. Anthony had already drained two bottles en route and only had one bottle left. The image was still going strong as Anthony noticed another clearing coming up. He drained his last bottle as he approached it, and noticed the images stopped as he reached it.
He looked around and saw nothing...no place they could have gotten to. He also noticed his powers were waning again...
"No, not NOW!" Anthony thought. "I can't lose my powers NOW!" He then pulled something out of his pocket he put there in case of emergency: The Descendancy Medallion.
But before he could activate the Powers, he felt something hit his arm. Looking towards his arm, he saw what appeared to be a dart. He then blacked out.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It was getting late when Protoman tried to contact Anthony. "Anthony, come in. What's your status? Anthony, please respond!" No answer. Protoman started to worry, and decided to check where Anthony was located. Knowing Anthony might overexhaust himself, Protoman placed a homing device on his hoverchair, just in case. He got a signal on his internal comm unit, and then, suddenly, the signal stopped.
"NO!" Protoman thought to himself. "What happened?"
A voice snapped Protoman from his thoughts. "Protoman, do you know where Anthony is?" Protoman turned towards the source of the voice and found Princess Zelda standing there. Unfortunately, he still had a look of worry on his face, which Zelda noticed. "Protoman, what's wrong?"
"Um...well...I can't tell you right now, your highness."
"Protoman, what's wrong? Ever since you told us Anthony was on Earth, I felt you've been hiding something. Now what is it?"
Protoman had no choice but to tell them, since he would need their help. "Your highness, you'd better get the others. Anthony's...decided to do something rash..."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After nearly two hours had passed, Anthony finally awoke. He found himself on a bed in what appeared to be a room in a private home, and also noticed he was physically restrained to it.
"What the hell?" Anthony thought to himself. "Where am I?" He soon heard voices coming from outside the room and tried using his Clairaudiance to hear them better. His powers were still weak, but he managed to pick up some of what was being said.
"Thaddeus, are you sure that item he was carrying was a Descendancy medallion?"
"Yes, it matches the sketch in the old legends exactly as Magi Reynard wrote it. Whoever he is, he must know something about the Companions."
"But...he's HUMAN! Thaddeus, we can't trust him! What with Robotnik still a threat and all, he may be a spy looking for new targets to roboticize!"
"We don't know that for a fact. We did find a homing device on his hoverchair, but that may have just been an emergency device in case of trouble. We deactivated it outside of the city, so we should still be safe. The least we can do is interrogate him to find out what he's doing here."
Anthony stopped using his powers and laid back in the bed. He noticed a rather aged woodchuck then come in.
"So, you've finally awoken." He said, then sat in a chair next to where Anthony was restrained. "May I ask what you were doing near our encampment?"
"I'll be glad to," Anthony said, trying to make himself comfortable despite the restraints. "But first, I'd better introduce myself. My name is Anthony Bault, descendant of Sir Eric of the Larson Clan."
The woodchuck gasped in shock at what Anthony said. "D-did you say you're Sir Eric's descendant?!?"
"Yes," Anthony said. "In fact, I bring good tidings from up above. The five worlds of Arcadia are reunited and Robotnik has been defeated."
The woodchuck almost fell off his chair from that last part. "Defeated? Is...is this true?"
"Yes," Anthony said. "In fact there's a rebuilding effort going on to rebuild Mobotropolis with all five worlds taking part. The castle is already complete and most of what was once Robotropolis is gone. I can confirm that for you if you will just release me. There's a comm unit built into my hoverchair."
The woodchuck pondered what was said, then released the bonds that held Anthony. "I'll take you to where your hoverchair is, and, by the way, my name is Thaddeus Underwood, elder of this village."
After Protoman had told Zelda and several of the others what had happened with Anthony, he couldn't have been closer to being dismantled...
"How could you let Anthony DO this, Protoman?!?" Sally asked angrily. "You know Anthony wasn't at full strength! For all we know, he could have relapsed and THAT'S why he can't answer!"
"I also know Anthony was going to find a way to do it even if we told him 'no'," Protoman answered. "Besides, he asked me to keep it a secret because he didn't want to get Tails's and Amy's hopes up that he'll find their parents alive. By the way, I'm glad you didn't tell them about this."
"They didn't need to know," Link said. "Alright, so now we need to go looking. You said you got a signal briefly before it went out. Do you know where it came from?"
"No, and..." Suddenly, Protoman put his hand to his head. "Guys! I'm getting a communication from Anthony!" He pressed a few buttons on his arm panel and Anthony's voice came through.
"Protoman, come in! Do you read?"
"Loud and clear, Anthony! What happened? I lost contact with you earlier and had to tell everyone about what you were doing!"
"Oh...GREAT! Well, no matter, since I was going to ask for one of them anyway. Is King Acorn, Princess Sally, or Prince Elias nearby?"
Sally grabbed the arm Protoman was speaking into and started to talk. "Sally here, Anthony. Now, what the HELL were you..."
"Berate me LATER, your highness! I have Thaddeus Underwood here. He's the elder of an underground city that was built to protect the people from Robotnik, and from the looks of it, they have no idea what has happened lately. Can you tell him about recent events?"
Sally was shocked at what was just told her. "Great Destiny...of course. Mr. Underwood, Robotnik has been defeated, and the city is being rebuilt to its former glory. We could still use some help with the rebuilding...and can't wait to welcome you and the people there home."
Sally could then hear what sounded like sobbing in the background, then Anthony spoke again. "He broke down into happy tears, Sal. I'll let you know when the people are within range of Mobotropolis so you can greet them."
"Alright, Anthony. Just...be careful this time!"
"Will do. Gamemaster out."
Sally fell back into a chair after the communication ended, placing a paw on her forehead in disbelief. "I...can't believe he pulled that off!"
Several of the others nodded in agreement, then Sonic spoke up. "Man...when I told him he was something else...that was one HECK of an understatement..."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thaddeus had gathered the people together to tell them of the news. Several of the citizens there were talking amongst themselves, mostly asking why there was a human sitting in a hoverchair next to where Thaddeus was. Thaddeus then began to address the people.
"My friends...I have great news to tell you all. I have just been in contact with Princess Sally of Mobotropolis. The war is over, and Robotnik has been defeated!"
A loud cheer erupted from the crowd, and many of the people were hugging each other in excitement, and many were shedding tears of joy. Eventually the crowd calmed down, and Thaddeus continued.
"This information would not have gotten to us if it wasn't for the efforts of the human sitting next to me. His name is Anthony Bault, and he is a descendant of Sir Eric of the Larson Clan and the new Gamemaster of Arcadia. Anthony?"
As Anthony floated up to address the crowd, he could see several of them were visibly shocked by what Thaddeus just said. He then started to talk. "As Thaddeus has said, I am Sir Eric's descendant, and by my being here, some of you may have realized that the worlds of Arcadia have reunited. The five worlds are currently working together to rebuild Mobotropolis as well as several other areas of Mobius. Thaddeus has asked me to lead you to Mobotropolis, where hopefully many of you will be reunited with family and friends that were separated from you. Speaking of which...that is how I came to your village. I was using my powers to seek out specific individuals that were separated from family during the coup. As the rest of you get ready to leave, I wish to meet with these individuals in private. Is there anyone named Prower or Rose in this group?"
Three paws shot up from the crowd, two coming from a couple of foxes over to one side, another coming from a female hedgehog with lavender quills. "Good. Once you are all ready to leave, we shall start off to Mobotropolis. King Acorn and several others will be awaiting you there to greet you."
The crowd dispersed after giving another cheer and started to walk towards their homes. Anthony floated over to where the two foxes and hedgehog he had seen earlier were waiting for him. He noticed the female fox appeared to be pregnant.
"Thank you for waiting. I know you are curious to know why I was looking for you. First, can I have your names?"
"Yes," the male fox replied, "my name is Elrond Prower, descendant of Magi Reynard, and this is my wife, Sarah."
"My name is Mary," the hedgehog said afterwards.
"Alright...now, Elrond, Sarah, Mary, the reason I was looking for you is regarding your children..."
Mary looked down in sorrow. "I don't have any children. I lost my only daughter to Robotnik's forces..."
"Elrond and I lost our son too," Sarah said, rubbing her enlarged stomach. "We have another child coming...but this one won't ever remember a brother..."
Anthony then spoke again. "Were the children's names Miles Prower and Amy Rose?"
All three of them looked up in surprise, then Elrond spoke. "Y-yes! But, how...?"
Anthony then smiled and continued. "You will be happy to know then that your children are alive! Both of them have been living with Sally's Knothole Freedom Fighters, and now Miles has inherited Reynard's Descendancy Powers. Even helped me out a lot in the final battle!"
The three of them gasped in shock and the two ladies were crying tears of joy. Anthony then said one final thing. "You'd best get ready with the others now. Your children await you..."
Elrond helped his wife over to where they were staying while Mary rushed over to her domicile. Anthony watched as they left and smiled...feeling better than he ever had before.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
King Acorn and several others were waiting in anticipation near the border of Mobotropolis. They had just received Anthony's message and were waiting to welcome the people that Anthony had found in that underground city.
"Why did Anthony want us here?" Tails asked Zelda, who had brought him and Amy to the gathering as well.
"You'll see," Zelda explained. "Anthony has a surprise for the both of you."
"Here they come!" Hershey called out as she saw the group approach, led by Thaddeus. When they were within eyeshot, the Arcadian crowd that had gathered gave a loud cheer, and many of the Mobians went out to embrace the incoming newcomers. King Acorn even embraced Thaddeus, and Anthony found out later that King Acorn and Thaddeus were old friends.
Tails and Amy were scanning the crowd looking for Anthony. "Where is he?" Amy asked. "I thought he was with the rest of the group."
Eventually, they saw Anthony approach in his hoverchair, and the two kids ran up to him. "Anthony, this was awesome!" Tails remarked. "But...where did you find them? And, why...?"
Suddenly two voices called out. "Miles?" "Amy?"
Tails and Amy froze, recognizing the voices that they had just heard. They then turned towards the source and gasped when they saw two adult foxes and an adult hedgehog looking at them with tears in their eyes.
"M-mom?" "Mom? D-dad?" They both stammered, and then ran towards their respective parents. The five of them then embraced each other, with Amy hugging her mother tightly and Tails sandwiched in between the two adult foxes. All five were crying tears of joy and seemed to not want to let go, fearing they may lose each other again.
Anthony watched this exchange and smiled, then began to float his hoverchair towards the castle. He was stopped by Princess Sally.
"Anthony, where are you going?" she asked. "There may be people who want to thank you for this!"
Anthony turned towards the five that he had left and said, "I already got what I wanted, Sal. Besides, I need to turn in...I'm way past due for a recharge! We can talk about this tomorrow morning."
Sally nodded in understanding and watched as Anthony headed towards the castle. "Oh...we will definitely talk about this tomorrow, Anthony..."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The next morning, Anthony got showered and dressed as usual and was about to climb into his hoverchair, when he noticed a note on it...
"If this is another X-Men ref, I'm going to kill Kintobor and T-Bone!" Anthony thought to himself, then read the note.
~Anthony - Please report to the palace's main meeting room once you are ready. Sally~
"Uh...oh..." Anthony thought to himself. "Looks like it's time to pay the piper for my little stunt. Hopefully the positive results will make them go easy on me."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Anthony floated over to the meeting room on his hoverchair, wondering what fate had in store for him. Of course by fate he wasn't sure whether or not he was referring to the male counterpart of the Mobian goddess, Destiny. He would find out soon enough.
When he arrived at the meeting room, to his surprise nearly every Arcadian leader was there: Princess Toadstool, King Nimbus, King Bowser Koopa, Princess Zelda, King Acorn, Princess Sally, Prince Elias, and Queen Aleena. Doctor Light and Bookshire were also present. They all looked like they had a lot on their minds.
"Good, you've arrived," King Acorn started. "Please come to the table."
Anthony found a vacant area near the table where he could maneuver his hoverchair in, and just sat looking in the direction of King Acorn. He then began to speak again.
"Mr. Bault, the reason we asked you to come is in regards to your recent actions. You have acted in quite a reckless manner, risking your health in what could be considered a wild goose chase. This, combined with your actions regarding your statue, makes us wonder about your fitness to be Gamemaster of Arcadia. So, I must ask...why? Why did you risk your health on what might be considered a wild goose chase?"
Anthony looked up towards the entire group and answered. "You want the full story? Fine. I did it because I felt I had an obligation to do it, mostly to those two kids I call friends. When I agreed to become the next Gamemaster, I did so to see what more I could do for Arcadia, not just so Arcadia could have a Gamemaster...I don't like being just a figurehead. When I saw Tails and Amy crying out of grief for missing their parents, I felt I needed to do something, or at least try to do something. That's when I discovered the power to read the past by reading latent psychic images...by the way, Princess Sally, Prince Elias, you two were cute babies!" Sally and Elias gasped and then blushed at this. "At any rate, when I discovered this power, I realized I had to at least try to find out what happened at those villages, perhaps even discover some things that might not have been discovered through normal searches. Well...you've seen the results."
"That still doesn't answer one question, Anthony," Zelda spoke up. "Why did you feel you had an obligation to use this power? All you were doing was risking your health to do something that didn't even guarantee results."
"Because if I didn't...it would have been just as evil as Robotnik was, refusing to help when I had the ability to. A wise man once said 'Evil triumphs when good does nothing', and if I did nothing, Robotnik technically would have won because lives would have still been destroyed, emotionally this time."
"You couldn't even wait until you were better?" Peach asked.
"Not really, I'm impatient that way...and I didn't even pick up that trait from Sonic! I couldn't wait to help out Tails and Amy, especially after seeing them cry like they did on Vista Point. Call it...a character flaw on my part..."
The group nodded in understanding and then King Acorn stood up from his chair. "Well then, Anthony, are you willing to face the punishment for your actions? After all, we cannot have you running off and doing something like this again."
"Of course," Anthony said. "It will be worth it after seeing those two kids happy again."
"Well then..." King Acorn said, then stood up and faced Anthony. "Anthony Bault, your recovery period where you must stay in that chair is hereby extended to a week to ensure your full recovery. Also..." King Acorn gave a dramatic pause before continuing, this time talking in a lower and less official tone of voice. "You have our undying gratitude for your act. Without your help, those people may have never been found, and many family and friends would have never gotten back together. For this, since you won't allow a statue, we here have put this together."
Koopa took out a small package from underneath the table and walked over to Anthony to hand it to him. Anthony opened the package to reveal what appeared to be a medal case divided into five sections. At the top of it was engraved the phrase, "MANY WORLDS - ONE MASTER".
"What you hold in your hands, Anthony, is Arcadia's tribute to you. In each of the sections are the medals of valor you have earned from that particular world. In the Earth section, besides the Congressional Medal of Valor and the Purple Heart you earned at the Battle of Mobius, you will also find one other medal. This is the Order of Sir Eric, given to individuals from Earth for service to Arcadia. You are the first recipient."
Anthony looked at the medal case in awe, amazed at the honors that were heaped on him. "Not bad for a guy who looks like an accountant!" Anthony mused, then turned back towards the group. "Thank you...all of you. I...don't know what to say..."
Sally then spoke up. "You don't need to say anything, Anthony. But there is something else..." She then nodded towards the guards at the door, and one of them went outside. When he came back in, Tails, Amy, Elrond, Sarah, and Mary were following.
"I figured you would all want to see me," Anthony said as they came in. He then noticed Tails and Amy were positioning themselves on either side of Anthony's hoverchair and were looking at him in absolute admiration.
"We did indeed," Sarah said. "We never got a chance to thank you for reuniting us with our children, and arranged for this meeting with you since you were friends with our children."
"They told us some of the things that they had done while in Knothole," Mary said. "Amy...even told me how you had comforted her during a couple of difficult times. I'm...even more grateful for that."
"Look...there's no need to thank me," Anthony said. "As I was telling them, I was happy to do it and felt I needed to it. Tails and Amy had been through enough with this coup...and needed to be with their families again. Speaking of which...Sarah, did you tell Tails...?"
"Yes, she did," Tails spoke up, "and I can't wait! I'm going to be a brother!"
"I'm happy for you...in fact, I'm happy for all of you," Anthony said, then turned back towards the royalty. "Was there anything else?"
"Just one other thing, Anthony..." Sally said, then nodded towards Tails and Amy.
Suddenly, Anthony found himself receiving massive hugs from both Tails and Amy, and sensed great feeling of gratitude coming from them as well as noticing tears of joy running down their faces.
"You're welcome..." Anthony whispered to them.
Two days after the Knothole ceremony, things began to return to a normal routine for the rebuilding. The workers in whole seemed to have a great weight taken off of them as a result of the memorial, and the amount of work done seemed to increase.
Anthony noticed he no longer needed the Emote Barrier power, as the people's thoughts were no longer focused on him anymore. He was relieved...he didn't like being the center of attention, even before he came to Arcadia. Of course, some people could still pick him out of a crowd, as symbolized by the fact that Bass, David, and Sally were walking up to him.
"Hi, Anthony," David said. "Has Wolverine reported to you yet?"
"Yeah," Anthony said. "I said you were Sabertooth and he's looking for you to hunt you down. Now, will you cut the X-Men crap?"
Sally giggled at this exchange. "At least you're almost out of that hoverchair. What is it, two more days?"
"Three. My doctor wanted me to extend my chair stay after my late night activities. I swear...if my legs don't get some real activity soon, they may atrophy to the point where I'll need the chair for good!"
"Well," Bass said, "you could always have your legs roboticized like Bunnie's."
"NO, THANK YOU!" Anthony said. "I didn't fight for Mobius so that...wait a minute...Bunnie still has those robot legs? I thought..."
Sally explained. "Only from the knee down. She also kept her robot arm from the elbow down, all these robotics being Kintobor mode, of course, so she can switch between them looking like flesh and like metal. She decided the benefits of having them were great for non-combat use as well, so she kept them."
"I see..." Anthony said. "I would have thought..."
"So did we," David said. "But she saw how useful my arm was and decided not to give it up. Even got it upgraded so it's close to mine!"
"Cool. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go meditate at Vista Point."
"Then you'll have company, Anthony," Sally said. "I just saw Tails and Amy go up there."
"No problem," Anthony said as he continued on. "I wasn't really going to meditate, just watch the rebuilds from there, and I could use the company."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vista Point was a small cliff that overlooked Mobotropolis, and was the same cliff where Anthony used the Final Power to destroy Packbell's warship. Anthony named it Vista Point because it reminded him of the same Vista Point that overlooked Koopa's castle in Super Mario RPG.
As Anthony floated up to where he was going, he saw Tails and Amy on the edge of the point with their feet dangling over the edge, and they were watching the rebuilding effort as well. He also heard them speaking...
"Quite a view, isn't it Amy?"
"Yeah...you can see all of Mobotropolis from here. I can see why Anthony likes to come up here."
"No kidding!"
Both were silent for a minute, then Amy started talking again. "Tails...at the dedication ceremony...on the wall...did you see your parents' names on it?"
"No..." Tails said sullenly.
Amy looked down before continuing, "Me neither. I knew my dad died before I was born, but...my mother..." Amy then looked at Tails. "Do you think they're alive somewhere?"
"Not sure, Amy," Tails said, "but I'm sure they're out there somewhere."
Both became silent for a moment, then quiet sniffles could be heard from Amy. Tails noticed this and hugged the young hedgehog in an attempt to comfort her as she started to cry. "Oh, Tails, I miss her..."
Tails was also starting to tear up. "I know, Amy, I know..."
Anthony watched as this unfolded and his heart sank. He wished he could help, but wasn't sure what he could say or do to comfort them or console them. He floated away quietly, deep in thought...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"God, I feel so helpless and useless!" Anthony thought to himself as he sat in his room. "Those two are my friends, and I can't think of ANYTHING I can do to help! There's got to be something...I only wish my empathic abilities..."
Suddenly a thought occurred to him. He knew from one of his role-playing games that there was a psionic power that could read objects and learn their past from psychic impressions on it. He wondered if he could do the same. He concentrated as hard as he could on the room he was in, trying focus on psychic impressions from the past...
He then saw the room's past. The room before the coup was once a nursery, and he saw a crib that had two children, a fox and a squirrel, lying in it.
"Sally and Elias no doubt," Anthony thought as he saw the image. He let the image fade, and smiled as he realized what this power meant. He also knew he needed help to carry out what he was going to do...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Here's what you wanted, Anthony," Protoman said, handing him a map as well as a communicator for his hoverchair. "The map contains the locations of where the villages of Bluebrook and Forecrest, Tails's and Amy's former homes, were located. The communicator will link directly to me and me alone. Now...may I ask what secret mission you're going on that you don't want anyone to know about?"
"I'm surprised you haven't figured it out, Proto," Anthony said. "I'm going to look for Tails's and Amy's parents using a power I just discovered called Past Sight. If I'm lucky, I'll find them alive as well as several others who survived the attacks. I don't want anyone to know of this because if Tails and Amy find out, their hopes might get up that they'll be alive, and if I find their parents dead..."
"I understand...but, you're supposed to be relaxing and recuperating. Won't this overexhaust you?"
"No. The power itself isn't that draining and requires minimal energy. Also, I'll be carrying a few bottles of these..." Anthony then produced a sack filled with what looked like bottles of water. "Bookshire developed this substance called 'amino water'. It's water infused with amino acids that help restore mental functions. We tested it a while back and found it can restore psi energy. He originally created these in case I used my powers and felt drained."
"I see... You know, I was going to try and stop you from doing this, but knowing you I have a feeling you'd go and do this crazy stunt anyway. I'll cover for you the best I can, just contact me if you run into trouble or get tired from psi depletion!"
"I will. Thanks Proto." Anthony then floated out of the castle to start his journey.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bluebrook was located close to Minoc Grove, so all Anthony had to do was take a transit gate from the Mobius/Earth portal (located near Mobotropolis) to the Mobius/Neo-Earth portal (located in Minoc) and then go from Minoc to Bluebrook. He had to order the portal guards to keep quiet about his movements, telling them his mission was classified.
Bluebrook was still in ruins. He looked around and shook his head at the level of destruction and shuddered at what visions he might see. Swallowing his fear, he started the Past Sight power to view images from four years in the past, since he knew Tails was eight when he was found.
He saw the attack as it commenced four years ago, with Packbell leading the charge. He looked at one house in particular, where two adult foxes told their child to go and hide. Anthony noticed this child had two tails...
He then watched as the adult foxes ran out to face the attackers, but they noticed the attackers were too strong. They then watched in horror as their house collapsed.
"Oh my god..." Anthony thought as he watched this image. "They thought Tails died!"
He watched as the female cried in anguish and saw the male try to help her out of the village as the remaining villagers try to escape. He continued to follow the image as the survivors, including Tails's parents, ran away to find safety. Anthony had to stop mid-travel to drink a bottle of amino water because he was feeling fatigued. Eventually, Anthony followed the psychic images to another village, where the survivors met with this town's villagers and told them what happened. Anthony stopped the image and looked around his area, seeing the ruins of another village.
Anthony began to feel tired again, and noticed the sun was beginning to set. He activated his communicator.
"Protoman, do you read?"
"Right here, Anthony," Proto said. "I thought you were going to check out Bluebrook first?"
"I did. The surviving villagers from Bluebrook came to this village's location, and they included Tails's parents! They thought Tails died when his house collapsed and ran with the rest."
"My god...well, are you aware where you are?"
"Where?"
"Check your map..."
Anthony checked his map, following the path he took, and was shocked when he saw where he was...
"No way...they ran to Forecrest?!?"
"Looks like it, since you're there."
"Never thought it would be this easy... OK, Proto, come and pick me up and we'll pick up tomorrow."
"Alright, I'll be there. You alright?"
"A little tired and hungry, but alright."
"Good, I'll be there shortly."
Anthony looked around, feeling a measure of confidence that he would find Tails's and Amy's parents. But he was still uncertain as to whether they would be found alive...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The next morning, Protoman returned Anthony to Forecrest to continue his investigations, and Anthony was giving final instructions to Protoman.
"When I find out anything, I'll contact you. I hope I don't have to go to far."
"Me too. You slept ten hours last night. I think you did overexhaust yourself from the distance between Bluebrook and Forecrest."
"Don't worry about me. I have plenty of amino water on hand. Get back to Mobotropolis before they miss you."
"Alright. Just so you know, Peach and others were wondering where you were. I told them you were visiting Earth."
"Hopefully they believe that. If not...I'll tell them I made you do this."
"They're not going to believe THAT!"
"Why not? I AM your leader!"
"You're not officially the Gamemaster YET, Anthony!"
Protoman rocketed off on his hoverjet as Anthony looked around at the ruins. He then reactivated his Past Sight power and viewed the events starting at slightly before the time of the attack on Forecrest, which was about two years ago.
He caught a glimpse of Amy and a lavender adult hedgehog, most likely her mother. The adult was giving Amy a kiss as Amy ran off to play. He then saw the attack commence. He watched as Tails's parents were trying to protect some of the villagers and leading several of them out, including Amy's mother. She apparently feared the worst, fearing that Amy may have already been captured and/or killed. He also saw Amy hiding in one of the nearby trees.
Anthony followed the psychic images as the survivors ran away from the burning village. This time the running distance was longer than last time. Anthony had already drained two bottles en route and only had one bottle left. The image was still going strong as Anthony noticed another clearing coming up. He drained his last bottle as he approached it, and noticed the images stopped as he reached it.
He looked around and saw nothing...no place they could have gotten to. He also noticed his powers were waning again...
"No, not NOW!" Anthony thought. "I can't lose my powers NOW!" He then pulled something out of his pocket he put there in case of emergency: The Descendancy Medallion.
But before he could activate the Powers, he felt something hit his arm. Looking towards his arm, he saw what appeared to be a dart. He then blacked out.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It was getting late when Protoman tried to contact Anthony. "Anthony, come in. What's your status? Anthony, please respond!" No answer. Protoman started to worry, and decided to check where Anthony was located. Knowing Anthony might overexhaust himself, Protoman placed a homing device on his hoverchair, just in case. He got a signal on his internal comm unit, and then, suddenly, the signal stopped.
"NO!" Protoman thought to himself. "What happened?"
A voice snapped Protoman from his thoughts. "Protoman, do you know where Anthony is?" Protoman turned towards the source of the voice and found Princess Zelda standing there. Unfortunately, he still had a look of worry on his face, which Zelda noticed. "Protoman, what's wrong?"
"Um...well...I can't tell you right now, your highness."
"Protoman, what's wrong? Ever since you told us Anthony was on Earth, I felt you've been hiding something. Now what is it?"
Protoman had no choice but to tell them, since he would need their help. "Your highness, you'd better get the others. Anthony's...decided to do something rash..."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After nearly two hours had passed, Anthony finally awoke. He found himself on a bed in what appeared to be a room in a private home, and also noticed he was physically restrained to it.
"What the hell?" Anthony thought to himself. "Where am I?" He soon heard voices coming from outside the room and tried using his Clairaudiance to hear them better. His powers were still weak, but he managed to pick up some of what was being said.
"Thaddeus, are you sure that item he was carrying was a Descendancy medallion?"
"Yes, it matches the sketch in the old legends exactly as Magi Reynard wrote it. Whoever he is, he must know something about the Companions."
"But...he's HUMAN! Thaddeus, we can't trust him! What with Robotnik still a threat and all, he may be a spy looking for new targets to roboticize!"
"We don't know that for a fact. We did find a homing device on his hoverchair, but that may have just been an emergency device in case of trouble. We deactivated it outside of the city, so we should still be safe. The least we can do is interrogate him to find out what he's doing here."
Anthony stopped using his powers and laid back in the bed. He noticed a rather aged woodchuck then come in.
"So, you've finally awoken." He said, then sat in a chair next to where Anthony was restrained. "May I ask what you were doing near our encampment?"
"I'll be glad to," Anthony said, trying to make himself comfortable despite the restraints. "But first, I'd better introduce myself. My name is Anthony Bault, descendant of Sir Eric of the Larson Clan."
The woodchuck gasped in shock at what Anthony said. "D-did you say you're Sir Eric's descendant?!?"
"Yes," Anthony said. "In fact, I bring good tidings from up above. The five worlds of Arcadia are reunited and Robotnik has been defeated."
The woodchuck almost fell off his chair from that last part. "Defeated? Is...is this true?"
"Yes," Anthony said. "In fact there's a rebuilding effort going on to rebuild Mobotropolis with all five worlds taking part. The castle is already complete and most of what was once Robotropolis is gone. I can confirm that for you if you will just release me. There's a comm unit built into my hoverchair."
The woodchuck pondered what was said, then released the bonds that held Anthony. "I'll take you to where your hoverchair is, and, by the way, my name is Thaddeus Underwood, elder of this village."
After Protoman had told Zelda and several of the others what had happened with Anthony, he couldn't have been closer to being dismantled...
"How could you let Anthony DO this, Protoman?!?" Sally asked angrily. "You know Anthony wasn't at full strength! For all we know, he could have relapsed and THAT'S why he can't answer!"
"I also know Anthony was going to find a way to do it even if we told him 'no'," Protoman answered. "Besides, he asked me to keep it a secret because he didn't want to get Tails's and Amy's hopes up that he'll find their parents alive. By the way, I'm glad you didn't tell them about this."
"They didn't need to know," Link said. "Alright, so now we need to go looking. You said you got a signal briefly before it went out. Do you know where it came from?"
"No, and..." Suddenly, Protoman put his hand to his head. "Guys! I'm getting a communication from Anthony!" He pressed a few buttons on his arm panel and Anthony's voice came through.
"Protoman, come in! Do you read?"
"Loud and clear, Anthony! What happened? I lost contact with you earlier and had to tell everyone about what you were doing!"
"Oh...GREAT! Well, no matter, since I was going to ask for one of them anyway. Is King Acorn, Princess Sally, or Prince Elias nearby?"
Sally grabbed the arm Protoman was speaking into and started to talk. "Sally here, Anthony. Now, what the HELL were you..."
"Berate me LATER, your highness! I have Thaddeus Underwood here. He's the elder of an underground city that was built to protect the people from Robotnik, and from the looks of it, they have no idea what has happened lately. Can you tell him about recent events?"
Sally was shocked at what was just told her. "Great Destiny...of course. Mr. Underwood, Robotnik has been defeated, and the city is being rebuilt to its former glory. We could still use some help with the rebuilding...and can't wait to welcome you and the people there home."
Sally could then hear what sounded like sobbing in the background, then Anthony spoke again. "He broke down into happy tears, Sal. I'll let you know when the people are within range of Mobotropolis so you can greet them."
"Alright, Anthony. Just...be careful this time!"
"Will do. Gamemaster out."
Sally fell back into a chair after the communication ended, placing a paw on her forehead in disbelief. "I...can't believe he pulled that off!"
Several of the others nodded in agreement, then Sonic spoke up. "Man...when I told him he was something else...that was one HECK of an understatement..."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thaddeus had gathered the people together to tell them of the news. Several of the citizens there were talking amongst themselves, mostly asking why there was a human sitting in a hoverchair next to where Thaddeus was. Thaddeus then began to address the people.
"My friends...I have great news to tell you all. I have just been in contact with Princess Sally of Mobotropolis. The war is over, and Robotnik has been defeated!"
A loud cheer erupted from the crowd, and many of the people were hugging each other in excitement, and many were shedding tears of joy. Eventually the crowd calmed down, and Thaddeus continued.
"This information would not have gotten to us if it wasn't for the efforts of the human sitting next to me. His name is Anthony Bault, and he is a descendant of Sir Eric of the Larson Clan and the new Gamemaster of Arcadia. Anthony?"
As Anthony floated up to address the crowd, he could see several of them were visibly shocked by what Thaddeus just said. He then started to talk. "As Thaddeus has said, I am Sir Eric's descendant, and by my being here, some of you may have realized that the worlds of Arcadia have reunited. The five worlds are currently working together to rebuild Mobotropolis as well as several other areas of Mobius. Thaddeus has asked me to lead you to Mobotropolis, where hopefully many of you will be reunited with family and friends that were separated from you. Speaking of which...that is how I came to your village. I was using my powers to seek out specific individuals that were separated from family during the coup. As the rest of you get ready to leave, I wish to meet with these individuals in private. Is there anyone named Prower or Rose in this group?"
Three paws shot up from the crowd, two coming from a couple of foxes over to one side, another coming from a female hedgehog with lavender quills. "Good. Once you are all ready to leave, we shall start off to Mobotropolis. King Acorn and several others will be awaiting you there to greet you."
The crowd dispersed after giving another cheer and started to walk towards their homes. Anthony floated over to where the two foxes and hedgehog he had seen earlier were waiting for him. He noticed the female fox appeared to be pregnant.
"Thank you for waiting. I know you are curious to know why I was looking for you. First, can I have your names?"
"Yes," the male fox replied, "my name is Elrond Prower, descendant of Magi Reynard, and this is my wife, Sarah."
"My name is Mary," the hedgehog said afterwards.
"Alright...now, Elrond, Sarah, Mary, the reason I was looking for you is regarding your children..."
Mary looked down in sorrow. "I don't have any children. I lost my only daughter to Robotnik's forces..."
"Elrond and I lost our son too," Sarah said, rubbing her enlarged stomach. "We have another child coming...but this one won't ever remember a brother..."
Anthony then spoke again. "Were the children's names Miles Prower and Amy Rose?"
All three of them looked up in surprise, then Elrond spoke. "Y-yes! But, how...?"
Anthony then smiled and continued. "You will be happy to know then that your children are alive! Both of them have been living with Sally's Knothole Freedom Fighters, and now Miles has inherited Reynard's Descendancy Powers. Even helped me out a lot in the final battle!"
The three of them gasped in shock and the two ladies were crying tears of joy. Anthony then said one final thing. "You'd best get ready with the others now. Your children await you..."
Elrond helped his wife over to where they were staying while Mary rushed over to her domicile. Anthony watched as they left and smiled...feeling better than he ever had before.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
King Acorn and several others were waiting in anticipation near the border of Mobotropolis. They had just received Anthony's message and were waiting to welcome the people that Anthony had found in that underground city.
"Why did Anthony want us here?" Tails asked Zelda, who had brought him and Amy to the gathering as well.
"You'll see," Zelda explained. "Anthony has a surprise for the both of you."
"Here they come!" Hershey called out as she saw the group approach, led by Thaddeus. When they were within eyeshot, the Arcadian crowd that had gathered gave a loud cheer, and many of the Mobians went out to embrace the incoming newcomers. King Acorn even embraced Thaddeus, and Anthony found out later that King Acorn and Thaddeus were old friends.
Tails and Amy were scanning the crowd looking for Anthony. "Where is he?" Amy asked. "I thought he was with the rest of the group."
Eventually, they saw Anthony approach in his hoverchair, and the two kids ran up to him. "Anthony, this was awesome!" Tails remarked. "But...where did you find them? And, why...?"
Suddenly two voices called out. "Miles?" "Amy?"
Tails and Amy froze, recognizing the voices that they had just heard. They then turned towards the source and gasped when they saw two adult foxes and an adult hedgehog looking at them with tears in their eyes.
"M-mom?" "Mom? D-dad?" They both stammered, and then ran towards their respective parents. The five of them then embraced each other, with Amy hugging her mother tightly and Tails sandwiched in between the two adult foxes. All five were crying tears of joy and seemed to not want to let go, fearing they may lose each other again.
Anthony watched this exchange and smiled, then began to float his hoverchair towards the castle. He was stopped by Princess Sally.
"Anthony, where are you going?" she asked. "There may be people who want to thank you for this!"
Anthony turned towards the five that he had left and said, "I already got what I wanted, Sal. Besides, I need to turn in...I'm way past due for a recharge! We can talk about this tomorrow morning."
Sally nodded in understanding and watched as Anthony headed towards the castle. "Oh...we will definitely talk about this tomorrow, Anthony..."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The next morning, Anthony got showered and dressed as usual and was about to climb into his hoverchair, when he noticed a note on it...
"If this is another X-Men ref, I'm going to kill Kintobor and T-Bone!" Anthony thought to himself, then read the note.
~Anthony - Please report to the palace's main meeting room once you are ready. Sally~
"Uh...oh..." Anthony thought to himself. "Looks like it's time to pay the piper for my little stunt. Hopefully the positive results will make them go easy on me."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Anthony floated over to the meeting room on his hoverchair, wondering what fate had in store for him. Of course by fate he wasn't sure whether or not he was referring to the male counterpart of the Mobian goddess, Destiny. He would find out soon enough.
When he arrived at the meeting room, to his surprise nearly every Arcadian leader was there: Princess Toadstool, King Nimbus, King Bowser Koopa, Princess Zelda, King Acorn, Princess Sally, Prince Elias, and Queen Aleena. Doctor Light and Bookshire were also present. They all looked like they had a lot on their minds.
"Good, you've arrived," King Acorn started. "Please come to the table."
Anthony found a vacant area near the table where he could maneuver his hoverchair in, and just sat looking in the direction of King Acorn. He then began to speak again.
"Mr. Bault, the reason we asked you to come is in regards to your recent actions. You have acted in quite a reckless manner, risking your health in what could be considered a wild goose chase. This, combined with your actions regarding your statue, makes us wonder about your fitness to be Gamemaster of Arcadia. So, I must ask...why? Why did you risk your health on what might be considered a wild goose chase?"
Anthony looked up towards the entire group and answered. "You want the full story? Fine. I did it because I felt I had an obligation to do it, mostly to those two kids I call friends. When I agreed to become the next Gamemaster, I did so to see what more I could do for Arcadia, not just so Arcadia could have a Gamemaster...I don't like being just a figurehead. When I saw Tails and Amy crying out of grief for missing their parents, I felt I needed to do something, or at least try to do something. That's when I discovered the power to read the past by reading latent psychic images...by the way, Princess Sally, Prince Elias, you two were cute babies!" Sally and Elias gasped and then blushed at this. "At any rate, when I discovered this power, I realized I had to at least try to find out what happened at those villages, perhaps even discover some things that might not have been discovered through normal searches. Well...you've seen the results."
"That still doesn't answer one question, Anthony," Zelda spoke up. "Why did you feel you had an obligation to use this power? All you were doing was risking your health to do something that didn't even guarantee results."
"Because if I didn't...it would have been just as evil as Robotnik was, refusing to help when I had the ability to. A wise man once said 'Evil triumphs when good does nothing', and if I did nothing, Robotnik technically would have won because lives would have still been destroyed, emotionally this time."
"You couldn't even wait until you were better?" Peach asked.
"Not really, I'm impatient that way...and I didn't even pick up that trait from Sonic! I couldn't wait to help out Tails and Amy, especially after seeing them cry like they did on Vista Point. Call it...a character flaw on my part..."
The group nodded in understanding and then King Acorn stood up from his chair. "Well then, Anthony, are you willing to face the punishment for your actions? After all, we cannot have you running off and doing something like this again."
"Of course," Anthony said. "It will be worth it after seeing those two kids happy again."
"Well then..." King Acorn said, then stood up and faced Anthony. "Anthony Bault, your recovery period where you must stay in that chair is hereby extended to a week to ensure your full recovery. Also..." King Acorn gave a dramatic pause before continuing, this time talking in a lower and less official tone of voice. "You have our undying gratitude for your act. Without your help, those people may have never been found, and many family and friends would have never gotten back together. For this, since you won't allow a statue, we here have put this together."
Koopa took out a small package from underneath the table and walked over to Anthony to hand it to him. Anthony opened the package to reveal what appeared to be a medal case divided into five sections. At the top of it was engraved the phrase, "MANY WORLDS - ONE MASTER".
"What you hold in your hands, Anthony, is Arcadia's tribute to you. In each of the sections are the medals of valor you have earned from that particular world. In the Earth section, besides the Congressional Medal of Valor and the Purple Heart you earned at the Battle of Mobius, you will also find one other medal. This is the Order of Sir Eric, given to individuals from Earth for service to Arcadia. You are the first recipient."
Anthony looked at the medal case in awe, amazed at the honors that were heaped on him. "Not bad for a guy who looks like an accountant!" Anthony mused, then turned back towards the group. "Thank you...all of you. I...don't know what to say..."
Sally then spoke up. "You don't need to say anything, Anthony. But there is something else..." She then nodded towards the guards at the door, and one of them went outside. When he came back in, Tails, Amy, Elrond, Sarah, and Mary were following.
"I figured you would all want to see me," Anthony said as they came in. He then noticed Tails and Amy were positioning themselves on either side of Anthony's hoverchair and were looking at him in absolute admiration.
"We did indeed," Sarah said. "We never got a chance to thank you for reuniting us with our children, and arranged for this meeting with you since you were friends with our children."
"They told us some of the things that they had done while in Knothole," Mary said. "Amy...even told me how you had comforted her during a couple of difficult times. I'm...even more grateful for that."
"Look...there's no need to thank me," Anthony said. "As I was telling them, I was happy to do it and felt I needed to it. Tails and Amy had been through enough with this coup...and needed to be with their families again. Speaking of which...Sarah, did you tell Tails...?"
"Yes, she did," Tails spoke up, "and I can't wait! I'm going to be a brother!"
"I'm happy for you...in fact, I'm happy for all of you," Anthony said, then turned back towards the royalty. "Was there anything else?"
"Just one other thing, Anthony..." Sally said, then nodded towards Tails and Amy.
Suddenly, Anthony found himself receiving massive hugs from both Tails and Amy, and sensed great feeling of gratitude coming from them as well as noticing tears of joy running down their faces.
"You're welcome..." Anthony whispered to them.