(A/N: The finale! The conclusion! The…epilogue. You people are so pessimistic…lighten up, will ya? Enjoy!)

Chapter 7: Wrap-up

00:03:00…

Espio lowered his finger, but the spirits seemed to have abandoned him this time. The timer continued to count down, and the chameleon had no choice but to try to escape. He reached down and grabbed something, holding it tight to his chest, then looked up to ensure the door was still open.

00:01:15

He started running as fast as he could, watching the red lights flash quickly and ominously. I hope they got everybody, Espio thought, and by the time he finished this thought the timer read 00:00:05. With no time to turn around and check, Espio reached the door just as explosions started in the back of the lab. Startled by the loudness of the detonation, Espio shifted to invisibility instinctively.

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"I don't believe it," Vector said angrily. "There's no way he got caught in that."

"How could he have escaped?" Rouge wondered, trying not to sound too condescending. "This is the only way out-"

"I have to side with Vector on this one," Knuckles admitted. "That wouldn't be nearly enough to kill Espio."

"Well, it was nearly enough," a voice came from in front of them.

"Espio?" came the more or less simultaneous gasp.

Returning to visibility, Espio grinned at the heroes' shocked expressions. "You guys look surprised to see me."

"But-you-the bomb-" Rouge stuttered.

"When you're a ninja, five seconds is an eternity," Espio commented sagely. "It also helped that the explosions started way in the back."

The heroes chuckled, glad to finally be finished with this adventure. "What do you have there, Espio?" Tails asked, having been revived easily, like the others, with a bit of CPR.

"Oh, right!" Espio said. "I picked up one of the MCPE caps and one of Eggman's devices for you to take a look at in your lab."

"Wow, thanks!" Tails said, surprised at the chameleon's quick thinking. "I'll get right on it."

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"So how did Eggman get you guys?" Knuckles asked Sonic and Tails as they walked back to Tails's.

"I bet it wasn't tough for him to get you, Knuckles," Sonic teased. Before the echidna could comment, Sonic continued, "I happened to be running around in the forest that was on top of his base, so it wasn't very difficult for him to get me. Then my clone led Tails to Eggman too."

"For your information," Knuckles growled, "Eggman sent a robot after the Master Emerald, and when I attacked it, he had it teleport back to the base with me on board."

"I can't believe he's still out there," Sonic said dejectedly. "We're going to have to be extra careful from now on."

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"So, Rouge, Sonic's clone did beat you the first time?" Shadow wondered, not feeling comfortable walking with Sonic and the others. He started walking alone when Rouge joined him. The Chaotix and Amy and her friends were all chatting amiably.

"Yeah, Eggman cloned me quickly and sent the clone back to pretend to 'help' you and Espio. I found out right away about the mind control trick from his old computer, so Eggman had to be sure to get me."

"And how did you get Chocola to deliver for you?"

"Oh," Rouge chuckled. "I didn't even know the thing was related to Cheese. I just saw it flying around one day and figured it would be useful to have a messenger. I happened to have an electronic whistle on me, so-"

Shadow stared at her suspiciously. "You carry around instruments often?"

"Well, it was intended to be a weapon…white noise and all. But I guess chao hear on a different wavelength than we do."

Shadow nodded. "Hey, if that device will make robots stronger, maybe Omega should wear it."

"Good idea. Where is he, anyway?"

"He must be still where we fought the Chaotix!" Shadow realized, turning around. "Espio, did you leave Omega back there?"

"Oh, I completely forgot about him," the chameleon admitted. "We'd better go get him."

Espio and Shadow sped off together, not inconspicuously racing.

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"Yep," Tails confirmed back at the lab, "the MCPE caps are 100% useless. He probably just came up with some random acronym involving mind control protection."

"Eyebrow," Big suggested for the final letter.

"That must be it," Sonic said with a smirk. "And the other devices?"

Shrugging, Tails looked apologetic. "Nothing special. I can't figure out how they made Espio appear visible, but the boost in power and speed is not very noticeable."

"I saw him break a rock," Espio disagreed, arriving with Shadow and Omega.

"Who won, guys?" Sonic grinned. Espio scowled.

"I do not understand," Omega admitted.

"Don't worry about it," Shadow smiled. "Just some friendly competition."

"The rock had already fallen all the way down the cliff, Espio," Tails replied, after Espio had explained the situation. "So Shadow, you figured out how to turn him on? I would have offered to help if I had-"

"No, he was-wait a minute. He was turned on when we got there."

"I believe my systems are configured to reboot after a while," Omega offered, not looking especially sure.

"Don't worry about it," Vector advised, shaking his head at Shadow's worried expression. "I think it's time for a celebration."

"Chao chao!"

"Cheese agrees with you, Vector," Cream commented.

The heroes laughed and began planning a party.

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At a faraway base, Eggman smiled as he watched the friends from a hidden camera. "Don't plan your celebration just yet, Sonic. This is only the beginning!"

(A/N: Oooh, a foreboding ending. Could that mean I plan to write another fic? Well, more than likely. Sorry this chapter is shorter than the others, but I didn't have all that much to say here…Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this fic despite all the frustrating cliffhangers and plot twists (if I had known Espio himself was going to review this, I might have ended the last chapter differently), and remember to review!

By the way, I notice this fic completely spanned the month of February. I uploaded it on the 1st and finished it on the 29th. Kinda cool.)