This is a fanfiction, and as such, most of the characters in the story are not mine. Most characters are © Sega, and are not used with permission.

Chapter 1: A Journey Ends

It was a long journey, several days spent on a long twisting path; but it was a journey that was barely half over, for the traveler would have to go back the way he came.

He stepped out of his vehicle, almost like a tank; it was about as comfortable as it looked, meant more for travel in rugged mountain terrain as opposed to a nice joyride in the country. Before him was a long stretch of open land, most of it was cultivated for agriculture, while some spots were taken up by manufacturing. At the center, back dropped by the sea was a city. It would be impossible to make out the small houses, but there were a few large buildings that could be made out, including a very large structure in the center.

"It has been so long, and the city had changed so much; but at least it's here."

The traveler returned to his vehicle and started up the engine with a troubled whine. Soon it turned over, and the large stubby wheels turned again.

* * *

A few minutes later, the truck had reached the boundary of the city and came to a halt. Although the roads were big enough for vehicles, everyone was walking; and most people stopped to see the strange moving box that came down the street, trying to find a path that lead towards the grand building at the center.

Eventually, it was flagged down by some of the guards.

"Can I help you, sir?"

The driver opened the window.

"I have come looking for help. I am from the Hoines Mountains, and we have a problem. Would you please take me to see King Acorn."

The guard was a little flustered by the request for their king who had been missing since Robotnik came, but he agreed to help. The guard got into the passenger seat, and directed the truck to the palace.

* * *

The new palace was a grand design that stood four stories in front, while the back of the building extended another floor up. The foundation of the building and the base of the steel fence that surrounded it were made from large blocks of stone, taken from the old castle that once stood a few hundred meters behind the new one.

The walls of the new palace were covered in panels of wood that were varnished to a delicious reddish brown; the windows had a golden tint to them, and were lined with a thin line of stone that steeped about an inch away from the wall. The roof was a simple sloping roof with black shingles. The main entrance came a good twenty feet from the front door; a large stairway of marble lined on both sides by columns that supported a roof of their own, led to an immense door of wood that was stained to match the walls. It too was lined by stones, but these were much thicker than the ones that lined the windows.

Upon arrival, the truck was met by another guard who accompanied the head of Internal Security, Geoffrey St. John.

The skunk approached the driver of the truck as he got out. "Welcome to Mobotropolis, I was told you came here on urgent business."

The driver was a large black bear; his size would easily intimidate most people, but Geoffrey was not the type who was easy to intimidate. "My name is Yohan, and I am from the Hoines Mountains. Our villages are under siege and I have come to seek help from King Max."

"I see. However we have recently emerged from a long war ourselves, and sadly our former ruler King Max Acorn hasn't been seen for a decade. Our kingdom is now ruled by his daughter, Queen Sally Alicia Acorn."

"I am very sorry to hear of this bad news, but I am well aware of the invasion of Dr. Robotnik, and that you overthrew him a few years ago. I came looking for help, and hoped that you would have the best chance for our salvation."

"Then I shall arrange a meeting with Queen Sally."

* * *

Inside the large palace on the second floor was Sally's office; it was very large and divided into a few distinct areas. The back of the room had a large, ornate oak desk, which dominated its part of the room. At the front on either side of the immense double doors were two other areas; one had a small bar with several kinds of refreshments when any political visitors would come over, and the other was a seating area with a large glass table and several comfortable chairs and sofas around it.

In the empty corner next to the desk and the seating area was a closet which held a cache of toys and baby supplies; Sally wanted to keep little Comet as close as possible, and usually had Amy play with the wee one while she worked. The corner next to the bar had a matching closet, but was rarely used.

At the desk, Sally sat, going over a stack of reports with one of her advisors, an uptight coyote with a thick French accent and an equally uptight French name to boot. In the prearranged corner, Amy was having a tea party with the young prince. Antoine was always a little unnerved that this place of business was also part nursery, but Sally's rule was very straight forward: live with it or resign.

Sally and Antoine were going over the national budget; for the last year Mobotropolis' development was paid for by the royal treasury, but the reclaimed wealth could only go so far. Some of Antoine's predictions put a 5-7 year limit on the money store, but various development projects like the farms and some small industry were making Mobotropolis more self-reliant. However, there were some large projects on the table that threatened to cut the supply short.

"Zee port project is very important; trade commerce can be very lucrative, and we have a good position on zee Cartuban Sea."

"How are preparations proceeding for receiving Minister Erre?"

"Very well, Madame. Zee Prime Minister should find his accommodations quite, eh… accommodating."

"Very good, and what about President Leo?"

"Everything will be set for your trip to Baltesaria next month."

"Good, hopefully we can arrange the details for the highway to connect our cities, that'll be a big help."

Sally shuffled through the papers at her desk. "This does seem like a bit of a gamble though, a full-size port, that'll cost a lot."

"But it would be of great benefit."

Sally looked over in the corner at Amy and Comet. "Do you realize that one of these days, you'll be making these decisions?"

Antoine was going to attempt to get Sally's attention back, when a knock came at the door. At the doors, Geoffrey opened and walked in.

"Queen Sally, there is someone here from the Hoines Mountains. He says that it is very urgent."

"The Hoines Mountains?"

"Yes, your highness."

"Antoine, we'll get to this later. Send him in, Geoffrey."

"Yes, your highness."

"By your leave, Madame."

Geoffrey went back to the door while Antoine collected the budget in a briefcase. Sally got up, intent on meeting the one who saved her from more concern over the finances, at least for a little bit.

Geoffrey reentered, bringing the bear with him. "This is Yohan Sancot, the chief of Lalberdean."

"Queen Sally, I'm am humbled that you would meet me on such short notice."

"You're welcome, but Geoffrey said that this was an emergency."

"Yes, it is very important. Our people are in dire straits over…"

"Would you like to sit down and tell me about it?"

"Oh yes, I appreciate that, your highness."

Sally led the bear to the seating area and both got comfortable on the big comfy chairs.

"Now, what is this emergency?"

"Up in the mountains, our villages are small mining communities that mine Fyr crystals. But the mountains are also a roost for a colony of dragons. Normally, the miners try to avoid them, and aside from a few unfortunate incidents, things went fairly well. But starting a few months ago, the dragons have been attacking the villages ruthlessly."

"I see."

"Now, we know that you are still rebuilding from your war with Robotnik, but we really need help. Before the attacks, the mountains were a protectorate of Mobotropolis, so I came to seek your aide with this problem. I know you do not have much, but we have heard of a great warrior amongst you who fought against Dr. Robotnik, and we're hoping to get his help; the one you call 'Sonic'."

A chill raced down Sally's spine at hearing the name. Even Amy who was listening in was startled.

Sally got up. "Would you wait a minute."

The queen went over to her desk and pressed a button on the intercom. "Send for Tails, I have an errand for him."

Sally returned to her guest.

"Please continue."

"So we had heard of how he defeated Dr. Robotnik, and well… We don't know how he could help, but we are desperate."

"I understand, but you must know, Sonic is no longer with us. He was killed fighting Robotnik almost two years ago."

The bear's black fur seemed to turn bleach white at hearing this. "What? No…"

It was here that the young fox knocked and entered the room.

"Here I am, miss Sally."

"Tails, get me the Minister of National Special Forces."

"Who? Oh, yes miss Sally."

The queen turned to the bear. "We may have lost Sonic, but don't give up hope; there is another who may be able to help you."

* * *

A few minutes later, Tails arrived at a house and knocked on the door.

Rouge opened. "Hey Tails, what's up?"

"Queen Sally has requested the appearance of the 'Minister of National Special Forces'."

"My aren't you serious all of a sudden. I just made some lemonade, you want some?"

"Yeah."

* * *

Tails was sipping a glass of lemonade when Shadow came down after Rouge called him.

"Hey kid, what's up?"

"It's Sally, she wants you at the palace."

"Is it important?"

"Very, she asked for the 'Minister of National Special Forces'."

"Oh brother. Why did I let her give me that title?"

Rouge smirked. "Because if she didn't, you wouldn't get a nice cushy government salary; after all, 'heroes' don't make a lot of money."

* * *

Shadow raced to the palace. When he got there the guards were waiting, and opened the doors to let him through. At the main doors leading to Sally's office, Shadow was stopped by Geoffrey.

"Hey Geoffrey, what's going on?"

"Queen Sally is meeting a representative from the Hoines Mountains."

"'Hoya-knees' Mountains?"

"'Hoy-niece', it's a mountain chain far to the north, and before Robotnik came it was a protectorate of Mobotropolis. They're having some problems and came looking for help."

"Uh oh, I hear the bells tolling."

Geoffrey ignored the comment. He turned away and opened one of the doors. "Your highness, he's here."

Shadow couldn't make out the response.

"O.K. They're waiting for you."

Geoffrey moved and allowed Shadow to enter. Inside, Shadow looked to his right to see Sally and Yohan sitting on the large chairs; both got up and Sally introduced them.

"Shadow, this is Yohan Sancot, the chief of Lalberdean in the Hoines Mountains."

"Mr. Sancot, this is Shadow the Hedgehog, Sonic's brother."

Shadow was flustered that Sally would call him Sonic's brother, but the queen was mouthing the phrase "just go along with it" while the bear's attention was turned to the black hedgehog.

"Mr. Shadow, I am so pleased to meet you."

The bear had grabbed Shadow's hand and was shaking very violently.

"Uh, thanks. Now would someone tell me what's going on."

The three sat down and Shadow was filled in on the scenario in the mountains.

* * *

After the bear had made his plea, Shadow wasn't convinced. Sally set up a room for Yohan to stay while she sat down with Shadow. Amy had been told to take Comet for his nap so that they could be alone.

"I could order you to go."

"Sally, you won't do that. I know that I defeated Robotnik, but we both know that I no longer have the power that I once had. What can I do for these people?"

"In other words you don't want to."

Shadow smirked. "You know me so well, and I thought that I was getting better at subtlety." Shadow's playful tone was replaced with annoyance again as he brought up another point. "And that's another thing, why did you tell him that I was Sonic's brother?"

"Mr. Sancot was quite down when I told him that Sonic had died, I did it to boost his morale. Besides, we had one super speedy hedgehog and now we have another, that's quite the coincidence unless you were brothers."

"And what does that make us, sister-in-law?"

"First of all, you and Sonic were not really brothers." Sally let out a sigh as the current conversation was bringing back some bad memories. "And Sonic and I were never married; so no, we are not related."

"Oh shoot, And I was hoping for some official royal title like 'duke' or 'earl'."

Sally was getting miffed at Shadow's focus on the family relation topic, not only because it distracted from the real topic at hand, but it was also dragging the issue of her deceased lover back in her face. "Can we get back to the issue at hand here, they've asked for our help, and I've decided we're going to give it to them."

"Why? Are you saying that they are still under our protection?"

"They need help, and I can't stand the thought of turning any needy person away. It would be a real show of faith for us to help; and frankly, we could use their help."

Shadow looked at the queen, waiting for her to continue.

"We've spent a lot of money to repair the damage that Robotnik inflicted; there's still a lot left, but we have to look at our future. We need to open ourselves for business or Mobotropolis will start to decay. The villages on the Hoines were also dependant on us; they traded very heavily with us and with almost no one else, there were few places that they could reach. When Robotnik destroyed our land, they lost their connection to the rest of the world; it became very hard for them to get the products they needed. The Fyr crystals that are mined there are quite valuable and could be a boon for us, and can help both of us get back on our feet."

Shadow chuckled. "So, the kind, compassionate queen is in it for the money."

"Do it or I'm cutting off your salary."

"Look, this goes beyond money; this is a serious issue, there are principles, not to mention my neck on the line. You can't just go ordering… Oh what the Hell, I'll go solve their little dragon problem."

"Excellent. Now remember, you're going to be there representing Mobotropolis, so be sure to act diplomatic, as opposed to however it is you usually act."

"Yes, your highness."

* * *

"You're going where?"

Shadow was back home, explaining to Rouge and Bunnie where he was going.

"There's trouble in the Hoines Mountains, and they need help."

"Ah can't believe that you're going there, it certainly doesn't sound like yah."

"You were never able to turn Sally down, were you?"

"And your point is?"

Rouge smiled. "Oh nothing."

"How long are yah going to be gone for?"

"I don't know. If the problem is too big, Sally said I could just come home, but she is still rather adamant about helping these people. If you need to get a hold of me, you can talk to Tikal."

Bunnie wondered what was special about the echidna. "Why? What's with yah and Tikal."

"You know Tikal has this weird sense of hers; she got it from the Master Emerald, which I now have. She can use it to contact me, she's saved my butt a couple of times."

Rouge smirked. "That had better be all she's done to your butt."

"Oh, that's amusing."

Bunnie was worried about how many other girls Shadow had odd relationships with, but avoided outright asking if there was someone else. "Does Knuckles know about this?"

Shadow crossed his arms defiantly. "Gentlemen don't talk."

"Since when have you been a gentleman?"

"So, when do yah leave?"

"Sally is resupplying Yohan's truck, then we head out the morning after tomorrow."

"Well then, that gives us tomorrow to throw you a going away party, and two nights to give you reminders to remember us by."

"And one more thing; if yah happen to get lonely over there and yah meet some sweet little thing, we'll understand. Then we'll break every bone in your body when yah get back."

To be continued