Yup, Sonic and ARC still below to Sega. Drake and Ruth belong to me

This is it! The final chapter of SA3! This will explain everything and what happens after Proto II is destroyed. Since this is the last chapter, it's a little longer. Oh, and if you enjoyed this story, please read my sort-of sequel (when it gets up). It'll be much different from this one, and star Knuckles and the Chaotix. The title right now is Knuckles Quest.

Thanks so much to everyone who has read up to this point. Kudos for your support!

Chapter 17: Explanations and Farewells

Sonic and Drake flew back up to the opening in the top of the building.

Amy was the first to notice, pointing up into the sky. "Look!" she cried. "It's them!"

Tails, Knuckles, and Rouge all looked to where Amy was pointing and jumped up. Sonic and Drake landed gently back on the floor of the laboratory.

"So, did you do it?" Tails asked, fearfully.

Sonic paused for a moment, for dramatic effect. Then he smiled and gave them a thumbs-up. "You bet! It was a little hard at first, but with Drake's help, that 'ultimate destruction monster' was history!"

Sonic's Super transformation wore off and he returned to his normal Sonic blue color. The Chaos Emeralds fell back out, their power used up once again.

The same happened to Drake as his Ultra transformation was cancelled and the Chaos Medallions fell back to the ground. He quickly scooped them up again.

The six of them stared at each other for a long moment.

"So…" Amy quietly spoke up. "What now?" Her sentence seemed to sum up what everyone was thinking at that moment.

"Yeah," Rouge added. "The city is destroyed, and Proto II is dead. What do we do, just walk away?"

Sonic looked back at the black echidna that for a long time had been his enemy, but now he had a lot of respect for him. "Drake?" he said. "You've been awfully quiet since we defeated that monster."

Drake clutched the Chaos Medallions and slowly floated up, a few feet above the ground. The Great Medallion flew up behind him. He took a deep breath. "…It's time for me to go."

"Back to where you came from?" Sonic asked. "Wherever that is. I wish I knew more about you. I mean, you are one of my friends, now…" He shook his head. "But if you can't tell us, then I guess I understand."

Drake shook his head. "It's okay," he said. "You already know too much as it is. I may as well just tell you the rest."

Everyone perked up and listened.

Drake stared down at them. "I don't come from around here, but that's obvious. I come from another world, not another planet, but a separate dimension. My dimension is connected to this one by a special, magical portal we call the Passage. However, residents from this dimension and from my dimension are never supposed to meet. Long ago, the Passage was sealed off by the Chaos Medallions…"

"The Chaos Medallions…" Sonic interrupted. "Are they the equivalents of the Chaos Emeralds in your dimension?"

"Sort of," Drake answered. "It's a long story; let's start at the beginning…" He took another deep breath. This was all he had been told as a child about how they came to be.

"Long ago, when Angel Island was still joined with this main land, there were many different tribes of echidnas. The great wizards and metal workers of this era forged powerful items known as the Chaos Medallions. The problem was, once they were near the natural Chaos Emeralds, the two powers collided, causing a radiation of evil rays. The ancient ones knew if the Chaos Medallions and Chaos Emeralds were allowed to coexist, destruction, evil, and hatred would fill the world. The most powerful wizards combined their powers to form another world- another dimension. The Sashurai tribe, which chose to stay behind, was consumed by the evil rays of hatred and greed leading to their destruction by way of the Great Water Spirit, Chaos. The Passage between this new world and their old world was sealed off, and a final medallion forged- the Great Medallion, with powers equal to the old world's Master Emerald. To ensure that this seal was never broken, and to keep the peace in these worlds, "keepers" were chosen by the two equal powers. Knuckles was chosen by the Master Emeralds, and I was chosen by the Great Medallion…"

Knuckles stepped forward. "So that's what you meant when you called me a good keeper."

Drake smiled and nodded.

"Why did you think you were a bad keeper?" Knuckles asked. "You protected the Great Medallion all this time."

Drake looked at the floor. "One day, the Chaos Medallions were suddenly sucked into this dimension by some unseen force…I still don't know what it was. My Great Medallion began reacting to their disappearance, and I knew I had to recover them, because if they got together with the Chaos Emeralds, something terrible would happen. I removed the seal on the Passage, and went through it, arriving here, which is against all the rules of the universe."

"But you only did it because it was necessary," Sonic argued. "You're only the guardian of the Great Medallion."

Drake shook his head. "My job goes beyond the Great Medallion; I'm also the keeper of all the Chaos Medallions. I should have been watching them, so they never would have been transported here in the first place." He sighed. "But I have them back now, so it's all made up for."

Knuckles spoke again. "Then it's unfair to compare yourself to me. I'm only the guardian of the Master Emerald. If I had to guard the Chaos Emeralds too, I think I would go crazy."

Drake smiled and said, "Thanks."

"Did you know about Proto II beforehand?" Sonic asked.

"Only a little bit," Drake answered. "The professor created that second prototype of his ultimate life form to be extremely destructive and all-powerful, but Chaos Emeralds alone didn't provide enough power. To achieve that purely evil, destructive power, he needed to find the Chaos Medallions, but Knuckles and I prevented him from ever reaching the Passage."

"Huh?" Knuckles said. "You and I? But I didn't know you until just recently."

Drake looked at him. "You don't remember much of your childhood, do you?"

Knuckles' eyes widened. "You know about…?"

"You don't remember because we erased your memories. How did you think you were born if you were the only echidna living here? You were born in my dimension, but brought here to fulfill your duties as keeper of the Master Emerald. We met once, when we were small, but I didn't remember much of that meeting until I saw you again."

Knuckles looked very perplexed and blown away by what he had just heard.

The large, blue, swirling portal that was the Passage appeared behind Drake. He glanced back at it. "Guess I ought to get going," he said.

"Will you come back again sometime?" Tails asked.

"Oh, that's another thing I forgot to tell you," Drake said. "The only reason I told you all this, is that once I step through this portal, all your memories of this encounter will be erased. I'm sorry, Foxaroni, but I can't come back ever again. I have to erase your memories because you're not supposed to know this other dimension exists."

Tears welled up in Tails's eyes. "You mean…I'll never, ever see you again?"

Drake paused for a moment. "Unfortunately, yes."

Tails flew up and hugged him again, crying a little bit.

A lump formed in Drake's throat as he held the little fox. "At least the pain will go away. When your memories are erased, you won't even know who I am, and you won't be sad anymore."

"I don't want to forget you," Tails sniffed. "You're…my friend." Drake looked up at the others as he tried to comfort Tails.

Sonic gave him a smile, even though he looked a little melancholy. "Thanks for your help," he said. "You made a great teammate."

Knuckles stepped a little closer, looking solemn. "Thank you, Drake," he said. "…For saving my life. I'm sorry I was so angry at you before."

"I don't blame you," Drake told him, with a smile. "Hey, you didn't know what the heck I was talking about."

Knuckles smiled back at him. A moment of silence followed.

Finally, Drake lifted Tails from his chest. "Don't worry, Foxaroni," he said. "You may forget me, but I'll never forget you. Thank you for making me welcome in this dimension. And who knows? If we ever meet again, I promise we'll still be friends."

"Yeah," Tails said, wiping his big, blue eyes. "Who can ever truly forget a licorice echidna like you?"

Now Drake was the one holding back tears.

Suddenly, a familiar green head popped out of the swirling blue portal. "Hey, hurry it up. I can't keep this here portal open all day!"

Drake jumped a foot in the air. "Geez, Ruth!" he cried. "Don't sneak up on me like that!"

Amy's face lit up. "Ruth!" she called, waving to her. "Hi!"

Ruth looked up and noticed Amy. She smiled back. "Hey, Amy-girl! How's it been goin'? Ya doin' good with them boots?"

"Yeah," Amy called. "These boots are the best things ever! Thanks a billion!"

Ruth waved to her and looked back to Drake. "Are ya ready ta go yet?" Ya got all the medallions?"

"Yes," Drake replied. "Just saying my farewells."

Ruth disappeared back into the Passage.

Drake turned back to Sonic and Co. "Thanks for everything, all of you. You're all great friends." He waved and stepped towards the portal. "Bye, guys."

"Bye, Drake," the others all called, waving back to him. Slowly, he stepped back through the portal. As the bright blue pattern engulfed his black body, it gave off a shining white light.

The buildings in Station Square magically reconstructed themselves. The body of Proto II was gone. The people that had been killed were instantly alive, without a recollection of anything that happened. The Chaos Emeralds were gone, once again scattered. Getaway Island had disappeared, as if it had never been there.

From the bottom of the building, Eggman searched every corner of his jacket. "Hmm, I could've sworn I stole some papers from the space colony. Where did I put them? And what were they about? I can't seem to remember…"

Sonic and his friends slowly woke up in the laboratory. There was no trace of where the Passage had just been a few minutes ago.

Sonic stood up and slowly looked around. "Where am I?" he asked.

"It looks like some sort of laboratory, but it doesn't look like it's been used," Tails said.

"How did we get here?" Amy asked. "I don't remember coming in here."

"Eeeeew!" Rouge shrieked from her corner. "What am I doing in here with you?!" She ran out of the lab and back to her headquarters.

"Yeah," Knuckles said, scratching his head. "Why would I come all the way over here for no reason at all?"

"Maybe we were sleepwalking," Tails suggested. "I just think it's kind of strange that all of us sleepwalked to this same spot."

Knuckles looked down at his hands and screamed. "Why…why is there blood on my hands??!!"

Amy looked down. "Hey, why am I wearing these strange boots?" She looked closer at them. "They're kind of cool. Maybe I went shopping while I was sleepwalking."

Knuckles just stared at his hands, with his eyes widened in terror. "Oh my God…I must've done something terrible while I was sleepwalking…"

Tails shivered. "This is like something out of a horror film."

Knuckles shook his head and ran over to the doorway. "Well, I have to go now! I have to go back to Angel Island. And just a warning…it's not safe to be around me while I'm sleeping!" He ran out of the building.

Sonic, Amy, and Tails all looked at each other. "I guess we should get out of here too," Sonic said. They followed him down the stairs of the building.

"How do we get out of this place?" Tails asked. "Is there someone here to help out?"

Sonic looked around. "Hello? A little help here?"

Amy looked a little puzzled. "Hey, I wonder whatever happened to Omochao? I haven't seen him around lately."

Tails shrugged. "Maybe he got lost."

After a few more minutes of searching, Sonic finally found the exit. The three friends stepped out into Station Square, bright and bustling with people.

Sonic stretched. "What do you say we take a vacation? All this adventuring, fighting monsters, and going into space is very stressful. Maybe that's why we all started sleepwalking."

"Sounds like a good idea to me," Amy said.

"Hey, who said you were invited?" Sonic said.

Amy's mouth hung open. "You wouldn't take a vacation without me…would you?"

Sonic smiled. "When I said I needed a vacation, I also meant I needed a vacation from you." Sonic and Amy started friendly arguing with each other.

While they talked, Tails looked up at the sky. Somehow, he felt that they were missing something, but he couldn't put a finger on what. Oh well, he thought to himself. Why worry about it now? He followed his two hedgehog friends down the street towards the ocean.

Only a rainbow hanging in the sky gave a hint of what had really happened that day. Both dimensions were finally at peace once again.

Sonic may have saved the world again, but the real hero would go unacknowledged. It might not have been right, or have made a lot of sense, but this was the way things were supposed to be. And the way they would remain. Forever.

Fin