GOOD-BYE, STATION SQUARE

Never before had Sonic seen so many people happy to see him. There they were, the Freedom Fighters, the Chaotix, and the Ravagers, standing on a wooden stage before the citizens of Station Square. They were going to be awarded for their brave actions against the Dark Legion. The President stepped up to a microphone and began to speak. "People of Station Square! Today, we are here to award and honor those that would have given their very lives for the freedom and survival of our fair city! These young individuals fought to overcome impossible odds, and have delivered us out of harm's way. Please, step forward," the President said to them as he motioned them to step up.

A man in a black suit stepped up next to the President, holding a box. He opened it to reveal several medals. "To our very own, the Ravagers!" the President announced as he gave each of them a medal, the crowd cheering wildly. "Our allies from the Kingdom of Acorn, the Freedom Fighters!" the President yelled as he presented each a metal as the crowds continued to cheer and clap. "Our allies from the Floating Island, the Chaotix!" Each of them, including Rouge, was given a metal as the crowds continued to go wild. "Odd..." the President said as he stared into the box, "There are two medals left." It was then that they all realized that Knuckles wasn't there. Neither was Shadow.

Not too far away, Shadow looked out at the horizon from atop a skyscraper, trying to clear his thoughts. So much had happened. He had been used by Dimitri to do terrible things. How could he have been so foolish? He closed his eyes and sighed. "So...What are you gonna do now, Shadow?" Knuckles asked. "Me? Heh. I have nothing to live for, now. Nowhere to go. I suppose I will wander the world...alone for the rest of my days. I do not belong anywhere now," Shadow said. He was surprised when Knuckles' hand patted his shoulder. "I think you're wrong. You belong with us...on the Floating Island," Knuckles said with a smile. At first, Shadow didn't know how to react. "You...you're offering me a place to stay? Why, might I ask?" Shadow requested. "Because I know what it's like not knowing where to go. Not feeling like you belong. And the Floating Island was a pretty good place for me to find where I belong. It'll be the same for you," Knuckles replied as he extended his hand, "Whadaya say?" Shadow took a moment to stare at his hand, then smiled as he shook Knuckles' hand. "I say, fine by me. Now, I believe we are wanted elsewhere, so...Chaos control," Shadow said as he revealed a glowing chaos emerald in his other hand.

There was a bright flash on the small stage, and when they all looked again, there were Knuckles and Shadow. "Nice of you guys to join us. What took ya?" Vector asked. "Nothin'. Just offering Shadow a place to stay on the Island," Knuckles replied. "Really? That's cool. We'll be able to get to know each other better," Mighty said. "Anyway, I present the two of you with these medals of honor. Shadow the Hedgehog, and Knuckles the Echidna." It happened so fast that it was creepy. The roaring crowd all at once abruptly stopped, leaving an erie silence in the air. Knuckles sighed as he looked around. Apparently, he was still hated by everyone in this, and every other city on Mobius. He looked at the President presenting the medal and said, "I can't accept that. Not after how I've wronged this city. These people. I don't deserve it."

Cap growled as he looked at Knuckles and then at the crowd. "How can you all be so stupid?!?! He made the same gamble we did! Why can't you just move on! Dimitri made him do it! Don't believe what the news tells you! It was all Dimitri!!!" Cap yelled out towards the crowd. He took off his medal and dropped it in the box it came out of. "Forgive me, Mr. President, but I can't wear this. It may be intended as a Medal of Honor, but before this crowd it's a medal of shame." One by one, the Ravagers removed their own medals and dropped them into the box. The Freedom Fighters and the Chaotix looked at each other and all copied Cap's noble gesture. "Please forgive us, Mr. President. I hope that this doesn't create any uneasiness in our alliances," Sally said. The President sighed and said, "Not at all. I had just hoped that things would have gone different." They all glanced at Knuckles, who had begun to walk away. "So do we," Sonic said.

They followed Knuckles to the crater, where he scooped up some of the ashes and sprinkled them from his hand. Grim walked over and stood next to him in silence, and said, "I thought you had gotten over this." Knuckles sighed and said, "No. It's still there. But...you and Nick have helped. A lot. If God can forgive me...maybe one day I'll finally be able to forgive myself." "We are all haunted by something. Nick is haunted by Gramps' death, you are haunted by Dimitri's treachery, and I...I am haunted by my father." Knuckles glanced over at him and removed his sunglasses. "What?" he asked. Grim sighed, then looked up into the sky. "I am from a different plane. The Bible calls this infernal plane Purgatory, but most cultures call it the Netherworld. It's the realm between this world and the Great Beyond. It is a dark and desolate place, unacquainted with beauty. My destiny is to inherit this land from my father, the king of demons. My human mother tried to take me away from it, but she was killed not long after she took me to Station Square." Knuckles looked at Grim with awe and sorrow. Grim's burden must have been heavy, like his own. "So as you can see, we all have our ghosts. So we must band together to overcome them, lest we become consumed by them," Grim said. "Yeah..." Knuckles said with a heavy sigh as he looked back at the ground.

Soon after, everyone was packed and ready to leave. There they stood, the Freedom Fighters, the Chaotix, and the Ravagers, all in silence. "So...I guess this is goodbye," Swiper said. "Yeah. I guess so," Espio replied. Cap smiled and said, "Listen, it's been real. I mean, we've done so much in so little time. We've completed a search-and-rescue mission, got to go driving around in the van and the jet, took down the Dark Legion once and for all...and most important, we made some really good friends." "Yeah, so if you ever need us, drop us a line," DJ said, holding his hand up next to his ear as if he were holding a phone. "Right. We got your frequency, and you got ours. So if we need it, we'll call you," Sally said. "You'll...drop us a line," DJ said, wiggling his phone-hand next to his ear. "We'll...drop you a line," Sally said. "Now you got it, Sal," DJ remarked.

Grim and Cap both walked up to Knuckles, who said, "Thanks you two...for everything." "Thank you for believing in us. We have something we want you to have," Cap said as Grim held his hand out before Knuckles. Knuckles stretched out his hand and Grim dropped a small, golden crucifix on a chain. "It's a reminder that He is always with you," Grim said. Knuckles looked down at his hand, then up at them. "Guys...I...I really don't know what to say. You've done so much to help me...and I've done basically nothing for you." Cap and Grim both chuckled and Cap said, "You've given us hope that there are others like us in the world that are willing to do anything to fight the good fight. That gives us the will to go on." Knuckles smiled at he shook both of their hands. "We'll meet again," Grim said. "Yeah. We will," Knuckles replied. After a tearful goodbye to their good friends, the Ravagers, they began their journey home. During the trip, they talked about the things that they did during their stay in Station Square, and wondered what had been happening back home.

King Acorn had been working endlessly during the past few days. He had to provide aid and relief services to Cat Country and Downunda, he had to begin plans to rebuild what was destroyed by Eclipse, and in his spare time, he worried about his daughter and her friends. They had only been gone for a few days, but he was still nervous. Dimitri was treacherous, and who knows what he would do to them if they were captured. He sighed as he pushed the papers on his desk aside and looked out the window. 'Where are you kids?' he thought to himself. He squinted his eyes when he saw something approaching in the distance, and when it came into view, a large smile grew on his face and he hurried out of the room.

A large crowd had gathered to meet them as they exited the ship. They king sighed when he saw that there was nobody missing. In fact, there was a black hedgehog with them. "Sally!" the king yelled as she ran over and threw her arms around her father. "Is everything alright? What happened? How-" "Everything's fine, Daddy," Sally said with a smile. "I'm just so glad you're all safe," the King said as he glanced over at Knuckles and walked over to him. "So, young Guardian, what became of Dimitri?" the King asked. Knuckles reached into his pocket and pulled out a burnt black patch. On it was a red 'DL'. Knuckles held it before the king and dropped it onto the ground. "The Legion is dead...so is Dimitri," Knuckles said. "So all is well?" the King asked. Knuckles sighed and nodded his head, "No. All that doesn't take away what I've done. Dimitri is the last life I'll ever take. No more," Knuckles said as he lowered his head, "Right now, I just wanna go home."

Home had never seemed more comfortable. The Floating Island was still a jewel to behold as you approached it. They had ditched their street clothes from Station Square and were back to their old fashion statements. The city was still suffering from the aftermath of the explosion, but for the most part things had gotten back to normal. However, as Knuckles walked down the street with his friends, he could feel the citizens glaring at him. They were his own people. He was their protector. And now they despised him with every fiber of their being. The Chaotix had to go find work, Rouge needed to talk to her landlord about a possible apartment for Shadow, and Knuckles had to go check in with the Brotherhood, so Julie-Su decided to head back to her apartment and get some much needed rest. It was pretty late when she got to her apartment, so she decided to try turning on the TV and looking for a movie. "Crap. 'click' Saw it. 'click' Infomercials. 'Click' Jeez, there's nothing on. Nothing to do." The door rang, so she shut off the TV and went to answer it.

When she opened the door, there was Knuckles, wearing his hat, looking a bit nervous. "Knuckles?" she asked. "Uh...Hi, Julie-Su. Um...is this a bad time?" he asked her. "No, no. I...just wasn't expecting you" "Well...it's kind of a special occasion, so..." There was a silence for a moment. "So what?" Julie-Su asked. "Well...happy birthday," Knuckles said as he pulled out a bouquet of flowers from behind him. Julie-Su was in complete shock. She wasn't quite sure how to respond. "How...how did you...???" "Well, when my mind was connected to Dimitri's, I got to see in his head...and he happened to know his great-granddaughter's birthday," Knuckles replied. Julie-Su was almost in tears. This was something she never ever expected, especially from him after what happened between them. "Knuckles...thank you. You...have no idea what this means to me. This is so special," she said. "I only wish I could have made it more special, but I already messed that up," he said as he lowered his head in shame. "Listen...I...I'm not really 'boyfriend material'. There's just too much I keep a secret. This may be hard for you to believe after what's happened, but if you ever need someone to talk to...you can talk to me," he said with a reassuring smile. Once again, she had no idea how to react. "I...I do believe you." Knuckles smiled and said, "Good. Well...I gotta go. The Brotherhood will be mad that I ditched them, and I still gotta see my mom. I kinda told Rouge about your B-day, so she's gonna swing by a bit later on and take you out somewhere to have fun." "Do you...wanna come with us?" Julie-Su asked. Knuckles' eyes widened slightly, but said, "No. I really can't. Thanks for the offer though. Anyway...happy birthday." "Thank you so much," Julie-Su said as she clutched the bouquet tightly.

He closed the door and left, leaving her alone. She sat down on her sofa, setting the bouquet beside her. The flowers were beautiful. She finally noticed a card stuck in the flowers, so she pulled it out and opened it. Inside of it, it read:

Julie-Su,

This is gonna seem really corny, so please don't laugh. I just wanted to let you know just how truly special you are. There was something about you that made you different from everyone else. Perhaps it's your free spirit, or maybe how determined you are. Maybe it's that you're very outgoing, or that you're so friendly. If not any of those, it's because of how beautiful you are. I never said it to your face, but you are the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. I was stupid to ever push you away from me, so it's my loss, and not yours. All you've lost is someone that could never be truthful with you. Someone that could never admit how he felt right to your face. I just hope that one day you can forgive me for being such a jerk. Just remember though, if you ever need me, I will always be there for you. I wasn't there before, but I will be there as a friend. Best wishes and happy birthday.

Your friend,

Knuckles

That was it. The dam broke. Tears began to pour from her eyes as she began to cry uncontrollably. She quickly threw her face into a pillow and continued to cry. He had done so much. The flowers, the card, giving her a birthday, saving her life for crying out loud! She had been so selfish. All he cared about was her, and all she could think about was the one mistake that he made. She felt so ashamed.

Rouge had just walked up to knock on the door when she heard crying from inside the apartment. She found that the door was unlocked and let herself in to see Julie-Su crying into a pillow on her sofa. "Julie-Su, what's wrong?" Rouge asked as she sat next down to her and put her arm around Julie-Su. "Kn-kn..." She couldn't even say his name, because when she tried, she began to cry all over again. "Knuckles? What about Knuckles?" Rouge asked as she noticed the bouquet, "Oh. I guess he brought these. Wow, they're beautiful!" "N-not as-as m-m-much as th-this-s," Julie-Su sobbed as she handed Rouge the card and continued crying. Rouge read the card and was amazed. "Wow. He really spilled his guts. So why are you so upset?" Rouge asked again. "I...I don't even know," Julie-Su said through her sobs. "Well...could it be that...maybe you wanna be with him again?" Rouge suggested. "I...I...yes. Yes I do," Julie-Su said as she still continued to cry. "Well then why don't you tell him?" Rouge asked with a chuckle. "Because I've been so selfish. I've only thought about how my feelings were hurt and not his. He had to juggle the whole Eclipse thing and us at the same time! I can't imagine how much that hurt him!" Julie-Su said. "Well let me tell you something, you won't need to beg and plead him to take you back. He'll do it with open arms. All you have to do is tell him. That's all," Rouge said. "Y-You're right," Julie-Su said as she sniffed and whipped her tears away. "That's it,. It's all gonna be okay," Rouge said as she stood up with Julie-Su and gave her a friendly hug. "Now, let's go out and have some b-day fun! I know a great restaurant that you'll just love! While we eat, we can discuss your attack plan with Knuckles." Julie-Su smiled and returned the hug, and the two friends walked out the door, with new hopes for the future. However, they had no idea that things were about to go wrong. Very...very wrong.