Come on guys, I have currently got 20 hits on the last chapter, but no one bothered to review! I'm not a professional you know, I get no other reward for writing then the knowledge that people are enjoying it, and no one gives me a kick up the backside if I'm doing a bad job other than you. So if you like it, please take ten seconds to tell me, and if you don't, please tell me why! I want to improve as a writer, but if no one tells me how, then I can't, can I. So please take a few minutes to either tell me that you enjoyed it, or how I can improve it so you will enjoy it, or both! Thanks.
Oh yes, sorry to my regular reviewers (both of you), the above doesn't apply to you two. Enjoy!
18. Back to Square One
Sonic, Blossom and Edward arrived at the ship's docking bay. As they did, MJ slowly regained consciousness.
"Mum?" she asked. Blossom looked down at her.
"Hia," she smiled, "how are you feeling?"
MJ stretched. "Hungry," she said. Then she came a bit more to her senses. "Did you win?" she asked.
"Sort of," said Blossom. MJ sighed. From a small distance, Edward watched happily.
Sonic less so. "Where the hell is that pickle brained fox and Knucklehead?" he stormed, fully back to his grumpy self. "They should have been here ages…"
The ceiling above the hanger cracked, and then broke. Shadow and Tails tumbled through the hole, followed by Knuckles. The red echidna was looking as if he felt vindicated about something.
"See, I told you I knew the way to the hanger," he said triumphantly, but Shadow at least wasn't listening as he jumped to his feet.
"Sonic!" he crowed. "Don't try anything stupid, just return to our ship quietly and there won't be any trouble!"
"If I was to try anything, it wouldn't be stupid," said Sonic coldly. The two hedgehogs eyed each other suspiciously. Blossom had almost forgotten that Sonic was still supposed to be under arrest for murder. But she had a plan… of sorts.
"Before you do anything like that, you can take me and my children back home," she said to Shadow. The Black hedgehog looked at her for a moment before nodding.
"Very well," he said, "hop in."
Bubbles sat in the waiting room out side the medical wing at the SSR. Buttercup, Boomer and Butch were being treated. She was fine, and she felt bad about it. Had she really caused a problem by taking the emerald? Had see endangered her sisters and her husband? Would they survive? They should do, surely?
She looked down at her hands, feeling weak and pathetic. Sonic had really torn her off a strip. Was he right? Probably. She mentally spat at her self. How could she have been so greedy?
"Don't worry about all that," said a voice. Bubbles looked up.
"Err… hello?" she whispered.
"You didn't think I'd gone did you?" said the voice inside her head. "Now, though, the power is inside you!"
Bubbles felt her leg, just where Arm-OR had hit her. The wound felt smooth, and different. Suddenly, Bubbles felt it; the power was still flowing inside her. But now, it was in her, not coming form an emerald. She smiled warmly to her self, and the voice continued;
"Why don't you show that Sonic that we're not all evil." Bubbles nodded. She raised her hands, and pointed the palms of them to the medical bay. Waves of blue energy gently flowed off them, and through the wall into the bay. She closed her eyes, and felt the energy gently flowing around her targets. Buttercup, Butch… Boomer. She felt a strange, liberating calm spread over her body. Then she lowered her hands, and gently pushed open the door.
Gohan wondered out past her, scratching his head. "I don't understand you Puffs," he said to her. "One moment your all mangled heaps, the next you're totally fine!"
"Really?" said Bubbles, although she knew it.
"Yes," said the confused Gohan. "You can go and see them, there nothing left for me to do." He wondered off. Bubbles pushed the door open.
"BUBBLES," said Boomer delightedly, he rushed over, taking her round the waits. Bubbles smiled, and leaned in for a kiss. Once that was done, Buttercup and Butch had wondered over.
"I see you two are in good health," said Butch. Bubbles blushed.
"How are you two feeling," she asked. Butch stretched, and swung round on the spot.
"I've never felt better!" he said. Buttercup rolled her eyes.
"Never mind all that, how's Blossom?" she asked. Bubbles didn't know, but she closed her eyes, and felt around with the energy. And she felt it.
"Yes," she said. "There're going to land in the centre of Townsville, let's go meat her."
Chaos energy evil, she scoffed quietly to her self as the four of them flew off. What does Sonic know!
"Okay, I've sent the message," Tails said to Blossom. "All the SSR members should be heading for our position. And know, to execute a perfect landing."
Tails was as good as his word, for once. As they touched down, Blossom grabbed Sonic from his seat, and yanked him over to the ships door. She needed to get him onto American soil. Once there, she could think of something, and Shadow couldn't run off with him. She hoped.
A surprisingly large crowd was waiting. Blossom didn't quite know what to expect, but cheers wasn't it. Edward and MJ flittered out after them, and the two kids where quite overwhelmed. Edward tried to hide and MJ just stood there, but Blossom's old showmanship instincts from when she was a child took over, and she scoped the two of them up – much to the crowds delight. Sonic, of course, lapped it up.
Blossom briefly wondered about the reason for the fantastic reception. She supposed that it was because of the live television coverage, which had exposed her entire battle to the world. Except from the private moment with Brick, she thought.
Still, she didn't worry much about all that. The mood of the spontaneous occasion took over her. People where storming around her, pushing through the throng to shake her hand or pat her on the back. This was quickly followed by an emotional reunion with her sisters; Bubbles desperately apologising for ignoring her when she'd been in prison, Buttercup also apologised, but she was a lot more subdued about it. Elsewhere, Sonic had found Sonia. Other victorious heroes arrived form their victory in the Grand Canyon, and although they didn't approach, they seemed to be saluting her and Sonic from a distance. Blossom acknowledged them with a salute of her own. She felt great.
The mood was broken however when Shadow tapped her on the shoulder. "As much as this is good for your ego," he said calmly, "I really ort to be setting off with Sonic, so If you don't mind…"
"Actually, I do mind," said Blossom. "He's not going anywhere."
"On what grounds," asked Shadow.
"On the grounds that I'm innocent!" said Sonic, who'd now made his way over. "And I won't get a fair trial back on Mobius!" Blossom nodded. Shadow sighed.
"This is pointless," he said. "There are no new arguments; nothing has changed since the last time we took him away. So let's stop this irrational argument, and just get Sonic onto the ship and in jail, where he belongs!"
Blossom didn't have any rational arguments, she knew that. But it wasn't going to stop her from trying. Before she could think of something, someone tapped her on the shoulder.
"Hi honey," said Eddy. Blossom turned round.
"EDDY!" she said, throwing her hands around him. The kids had already found him; MJ was hanging onto his leg, while Edward just loitered. Eddy hugged Blossom briefly before releasing her.
"There will be plenty of time for that latter dear," he said gently, "just like there will be plenty of time to punish the kids for running off without telling me! But for now, you need to look at this." He handed her a piece of paper.
"Is this important?" asked Shadow irritable, "we are kind of busy here."
"It's very important," said Blossom, who was almost laughing. "Look at this Sonic!" She handed him the sheet. He looked at it, extremely unimpressed.
"It's my tax return from last year so what?"
"Don't you see," said Eddy delightedly, "if you've paid tax, you're a citizen!"
"So since we have no extradition treaty with Mobius," said Blossom smugly, "he's staying here." Shadow did not look impressed either, but Sonic and Sonia were almost ecstatic. Knuckles and Tails looked pretty chuffed too.
"Fine," said Shadow eventually, "We'll be off then. Come on Sonia." He wondered back to the ship, but Sonic's daughter didn't move.
"I'd like to stay here," she said calmly, "with my dad." Shadow froze, almost boiling with anger. Sonic blinked. As much as he liked annoying Shadow, he couldn't let this go entirely.
"Are you sure," he asked nervously. "All your people are on Mobius; it's not easy living on a planet with none of your kind."
"I'm sure," she said. Sonic still looked concerned. Blossom decided to let it go; this really wasn't any of her business anymore.
"Come on," she said to Eddy as she fuzzed up MJ and Edward's hair, "It's latter, let's go…"
"Ahem." Someone coughed behind her. Blossom turned round. Batman was standing behind her.
"Yes?" she asked, suddenly worried. Batman did not look happy; in fact he looked quite embarrassed.
"I'm sorry Blossom," he said, "but I'm required to put you under arrest again, for Superman's murder."
Blossom's heart plummeted through to her feet again, but he was right. He good feeling was all gone, but that was the truth. So, despite her families, and the crowds' protestations, she stuck out her hands, and let the handcuffs click around her wrists, before she was dragged off.
Okay, please review. Thanks.
