CHAPTER XXII – THE BLAME GAME

Broken. Absolutely broken.

She knew this day might come, and she had no one to blame but herself. Eventually, her Rose might get caught up in her business. Well, it happened, but not in a way she ever expected.

Desperation can be like politics: it makes for strange bedfellows. It started with that serpent and his family. Not just Lyric's crime family, but his physical one. She should've saved Sonic the trouble and offed that living fossil herself. Maybe even Mordred too if she knew how insignificant he would end up being. A last, ditch effort to keep the Fox name as lofty and "prestigious" as possible. Well, her Hail Mary attempt didn't work. Hell, it didn't even make it close to the endzone. That was all thanks to Scourge.

Should Fiona have known that he'd double-cross her after she was able to beat him senseless? Probably. She shouldn't have poked the bear that was as vengeful as Scourge. And of course, that brother of his just had to be close to her Rose when this whole thing started. Again, her desperation was her undoing making a pact with him.

No matter what could've happened differently, it didn't change the fact that this was a long time coming. Who was she kidding? What she was about to do was an inevitability. It meant that her family's name would be "mud" after tonight. All her forefathers and ancestors had worked for, the power they had seized, the influence they had… gone. It would merely be a memory. But her family had been on the downswing for some time. Ever since her parents died… and now that a high-octane vigilante with police support was around….

"It's time," Fiona convinced herself as her car's elevator reached the lower levels.

She expected it to be done and over with by the time she strolled in through the door. Her (literal) hawk of an accountant had been privy to this contingency plan for seemingly years, though its probability of happening skyrocketed ever since Sonic showed up. Still, the hawk was in charge of making the arrangements when the order was given. She was about to waltz through that door for the last time, so it had better have been done or at least nearly done.

With one last sigh, she opened the door where the former air force "predator" was starting to turn everything off. The computer screens were out, but there were still a few lights that needed to be powered down. The moment he began to leave his desk was also the moment he noticed his boss.

"Don't worry," the hawk assured, "it's done."

She nodded solemnly nodded as a strange scent caught her nose. It was familiar and in-line with the plan. Looking to her left were a trio of jerrycans with the undeniable odor of gasoline emanating from their nozzles. Beside them was a toaster and a dried-up newspaper, both conveniently beside an electrical outlet.

Turns out he hadn't quite gotten to spreading the gas, but then again, the hawk was up to his eyeballs making sure their affairs were all in order. This was a big operation after all.

"Can you start spreading that around the room?" the hawk asked.

"Can I have them first?" Fiona shot back.

The hawk rolled his eyes (though his boss didn't see that), but he fished out the small devices and handed them to Fiona. There were five of them in total all of which were in a sleek case. They would be important later, but for the time being, she slid them in her pocket and grabbed one of the gas cans.

The hawk had already started spreading one in the opposite room while Fiona took the lobby. Her compatriot took the last one and bridged the rooms with fuel as the lightheadedness started setting in. But before they could leave, Fiona had to set up the ignitor. She folded the newspaper into thirds and slipped into the toaster before plugging it in. She waited for the hawk to clear the door before pushing down on the lever and hightailing it out of the office while the newspaper began to smolder. Closing the door behind them, they hopped in the car while Fiona hit a remote switch to get their car up to ground level.

"It won't take long, Fi," the hawk said casually. "It'll light up shortly. Still, it's hard to say 'goodbye' to this place."

Fiona nodded. "Waxing nostalgia?"

"Well, it wasn't all bad before Sonic. Sure, we weren't 'number 1,' but we still pulled some good scores. The pay wasn't bad either." Fiona didn't respond as she seemed to have her mind on other things. "Boss, can you look at me?" Fiona sighed but acquiesced. "I know this was a big call for you to make, and you know I'll support you on just about anything."

"Especially when you're the only one who's getting a decent cut."

"I mean, yeah, you're right. Fuck the rest of those guys. They can rot in jail for all I care. But what I'm trying to say is that your family has been good to mine, and I'll always value that. Your dad helped mine a long time ago, and I figured I'd do the same in time. I didn't think it would be until a few years after my flying days were over, but I was out earlier than expected. Still, I was ready for anything you or the business asked me to do. I'm trying to say 'thank you' for everything. It wasn't always a pretty job, especially recently, but we had a helluva racket going on. It's just a damn shame it has to end this way."

"But you know why it has to be like this."

"Of course, I do. Amy was always your biggest concern. I figured we'd be doing this sooner or later. But I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to go out fighting either."

Fiona chuckled. "You'll be well off enough where you shouldn't give a shit."

The hawk smirked. "Touché."

The moment they reach the outside, smoke began filling up the garage. The hawk peeled out like a bat-out-of-hell and began to make his way to the nearest interstate on-ramp.

"You're absolutely sure Amy is at the hospital in Amusement Mile?" Fiona asked.

"Yes. Commissioner Rouge herself escorted the ambulance with Max there. And we have confirmation from a few others that Tails is in the same hospital. There's apparently a shitload of press there, so we'll need to be discreet."

"Actually, drop me off by the news crews, but not too close or else you'll be caught too."

The hawk turned his face in disbelief, but Fiona's eyes were stern. "Alright. You got it. Oh, and Fiona?" he asked as he offered his hand. "It's been a pleasure."

Fiona raised an eyebrow but returned the handshake. "And thank you for everything."

Too much of his time recently had been spent at hospitals. The last seven days had resulted in three separate hospital visits with this one having the distinction of temporarily housing Sonic twice in the last 24 hours. In a horrible twist of fate, he'd give anything to be the one recovering in a hospital bed. The fact that it housed both friends and family tore him up inside and out, and you could see that on full display in the waiting room from how lifeless his eyes were. The blank, broken face he came in with was the same one he was fashioning now. He sported a thousand-yard stare that was only reached about fifteen feet in distance thanks to the parallel wall on the other side of a room, a room that has no doubt been the place where many an impatient and stressful Mobian had to sit and wait for any kind of news, miraculous or fatal.

He was lucky just to have the room to himself. Camera crews and other members of the press corps had to be close to breaking down the doors outside. Through the smaller windows behind him, those distinctively obnoxious shutter lights were going off like fireworks as was the usual commotion from the other news channels reporting on the scene.

But how did they know where Sonic was? Where Max was? Where Tails was? It was simple, really. This was the only hospital with this kind of police protection. When Commissioner Rouge walks through the building with Max Acorn in tow, that's pretty good indicator that Sonic wasn't too far behind. He was just lucky that he got here before the press could hound him.

Hell, he had seen the footage of the broadcast from just before Scourge entered courtesy of CREAM (whose new body he still hadn't seen yet). Even Sally was ragging on him, though that was probably due to outside pressure. It wouldn't be that surprising if the AMG had been getting complaints from viewers about how the news group covering the Sonic and Scourge situation.

Sally was the AMG's icon, or at least this generation's icon. The AMG was easily the most pro-Sonic news group in town (even if it was partially because of Sonic's parental and godparental ties). However, he did recall a talking-heads segment or show on the AMG earlier (whatever it was) that morning hotly debating Sonic's poor batting average against Scourge. To be fair, if the AMG wasn't at least a little critical of Sonic during this whole mess, they'd come off as hypocrites with an overly biased agenda.

Sally was no fool. Did she want to say those things? Probably not. Just go back to her intro on her "Opening Statements" segment. She outright stated that she hated speaking ill of him. If her wording wasn't proof enough, Sonic could just reference her face as she said it or even the tone of voice used before she continued with her segment. It was most likely uncomfortable and unnatural for her too, but she had the right to look at it from the peoples' perspective. Not everyone was going to look at it the same way. Just taking one side no matter the situation and not bothering to look at from a different angle would not be good reporting or journalism. It'd come off as being incredibly narrow-sighted and not at all professional.

Besides… it's not like she was wrong either. Sonic hadn't brought down Scourge, and because he hadn't done so earlier, people he cared for deeply were nearly killed. As if this media shitstorm wasn't already bad enough with Scourge coming in and wrecking shop, the media fallout from everywhere and everyone else was probably going to get very, very ugly.

When that thought ran across his mind, Sonic came back to reality. Hunched over, he put his hands across the back of his skull and hung his head even further. It wasn't hard to think back to another time where Sonic had felt this low: the night his life (and the oil rig) went up in flames. What else had been going on the last few days somehow gave him a worse feeling of hopelessness, and it was all because he couldn't help but blame himself for all of this. He needed something, anything good to cling to.

Then… his prayer was answered.

Lost in his own self-contained guilt, Sonic didn't notice someone familiar crouch down in front of him and put her soft, loving hand on his shoulder. When he felt it, his eyes moved up to see a woman with a few scars from the licks she took. Her body may have been knocked around, but she still knew how to give a simple, loving touch when he needed it the most.

"Amy…?" he asked softly. She nodded with an angelic smile and shining eyes as dazzling as her new earrings. "Amy!" he yelped softly before getting up immediately and embracing her in a strong hug which she in turn reciprocated just as fiercely. It was a strong hold that told him she could take all those negative thoughts away. She had that kind of power, and he'd be a damned fool if he didn't jump at the chance to feel even the slightest bit good.

In some ways, she was an inspiration to him. What she could do was something to strive for: to be there when someone needed help. There was no one better suited for that job than Amy Rose, and he let her know how much he appreciated it. Despite that, he wasn't just glad she reached out. He was thankful that she was still alive.

"We're okay, Sonic," she comforted as they both tried holding back their tears. As she broke the hug, her hands quickly and firmly held his face as they met eye-to-eye. Jade green was already a calming color to begin with, and Amy's eyes were no different. However, it wasn't exclusively calm in those irises or hers. There was a layer of sternness and strength to them too. She could've looked death square in the face if she wanted to.

"The Acorns sent me to get you," she stated.

"Is Max—?!"

"Easy, Big Blue. Take a deep breath, okay?"

In. Out.

In. Out.

Innn. Outttt.

Innnnnnnn, Outtttttttt.

Innnnnnnnnnnnnnn. Outtttttttttttttttttt.

"Better?" she asked. Sonic nodded with reluctance. "The Acorns are with Rouge and CREAM. They're in Tails's room."

"But what about Max?" he asked impatiently.

"Easy, easy," Amy replied. "Max and Tails are both in critical condition." Hearing that made his head droop a bit. "Butthe doctors are saying that they'll both be stable by midnight if everything goes right, so we're still clear to be with them. However, Max's back… it's not good. A man at his age can't afford to take abuse like he did."

"Scourge's hit was that bad?" Sonic asked with a guilty heart.

"Sadly… yes."

The hero clenched his eyes tightly and nodded. It was his way of showing that he accepted the news. "He's never going to walk again, is he?" Sonic asked in a deflated tone.

Her head shake was damning. "It's unlikely. But they will need to keep him longer because of his heart attack. Because of that, he'll under strict observation for the next few hours."

He had expected to hear that news. It didn't mean that he took it much better as evidenced by Sonic shutting his eyes and covering them with his fists. A loud STOMP rang throughout the waiting room as the hero gritted his teeth and screamed to himself silently.

"What about his heart?" he forced out.

"The doctors think that with all the action and stress he dealt with in such a short amount of time, not to mention his age, is what triggered it. No matter how you look at it, Max is going to recovering for some time."

"And… Tails?"

"He took some blows to the midsection that caused some internal bleeding, but the doctors were able to catch it in time before it got worse. I wish it were just that, but his nose was broken, his collarbone fractured, ribs cracked, he took some sort of blow to his windpipe, and then CREAM said he took a hard hit to the head, so you can add 'probable concussion' to that list."

Sonic's dead eyes were on full display, the same thought running through his head like an earworm. "How in the hell is he not dead?"

"I don't know," she said before bringing her hand up to Sonic's cheek knowing damn well he needed her comfort, "but hey… at least he's still with us. Just like Max." Her smile helped, but Sonic's demoralized face didn't change at all. She knew that hopeless look and knew she had to say more. "This was not your fault, Sonic. We played right into their hands. Right now, we have to pick up the pieces and move on. I don't like any more than you do, but that's the cold, hard truth of the matter. The question is how to do we respond?"

Clinging to her words, Sonic stepped away to collect his thoughts. Two close friends beaten within an inch of their lives. Two close friends fighting for their lives. A group of friends all trying their hardest to stay positive. And in the middle, there was Sonic. He was the only one who had a chance to right this wrong.

Wrong.

This whole scenario was wrong. Scourge betrays Fiona. Scourge's brain starts… doing that after Amy's shock. Scourge seems to flip between personalities without rhyme or reason. But why did Amy's attack on Scourge suddenly trigger this? The "how" of his return from the dead still didn't make sense. There were plenty of pieces, but why weren't any of them falling into place? This whole scenario just… it just didn't fit.

Until a moment where the puzzle could be completed, Sonic had to sit on it. There were other things that needed his attention at that moment, like his friends.

Sonic sighed and turned back to his concerned friend. "Please take me to them." Amy nodded as the two embarked, past the receptionist's desk and into the hall.

DING!

The elevator opened, but someone rushed out while on the phone before the hedgehogs could enter. The lady in question was screaming into the line as she charged out. Wait, what that Rouge? Sonic and Amy turned their heads at the fuming commissioner who marched toward the entrance. The sight of the bat streaking toward the entryway sent the press corps outside into a frenzy. The cameras all went up and began flashing indiscriminately.

"That cannot be good," Amy stated.

"Oh, what now?!" Sonic asked in an exasperated voice.

DING!

Their ride up was about to close, so Amy snuck her hand in at the last moment so the doors wouldn't close. That was their cue to get in with Sonic being the one closest to the buttons.

"Top floor," Amy said as Sonic pressed it for the 9th floor.

As the door closed and Sonic saw Rouge enter the media fray, he sighed when it was just him and Amy making their way up. For the first two floors, the setting was quiet if not completely awkward for him. What else was there to talk about besides their injured friends? Well… Sonic despite feeling awkward was also somewhat relieved to be exclusively in Amy's company. This was going to be the last chance he would be alone with Amy before they met up with the others. So… Sonic took another look at those earrings and smiled slightly. The Rose noticed his wandering eyes and followed his gaze upward, smiling kindly when she figured it out. Sonic had been caught, and like a child caught with their hand in the cookie jar, quickly turned his face away shamefully. However, Amy smiled back and got a little closer to the nervous hero.

"They're beautiful," she said.

He turned back to her. "What?"

"The earrings. That was very thoughtful of you. Thank you," she said with a slight blush.

Sonic in turn went red too, albeit a deeper shade than Amy. "It… It's my way of saying 'sorry' for what I did last night. I know it's not eno—." He finished that thought before being cut off in the least-expected way possible.

SMOOCH!

A sudden peck on his cheek was enough to shut him up and make his grassy green eyes go wide. It may have been quick, but the shock of it all made his brain stop in a heartbeat as he turned around to find her comforting eyes.

"It was more than enough," Amy assured before she softly hugged him from the side. Just like before, it wasn't a possessive kind of hug, but a kind one that told him everything was going to be okay, something he would surely always need. "I-I'm sorry that I didn't tell you about Fiona earlier," she said solemnly. "I shouldn't have kept it from you."

That… That was very appreciated. Her acts and words made him a little less tense as he smiled and put an arm around her back. Now it was her turn to look at him with her guilty eyes. The small smile she got was him returning the favor.

"And I shouldn't have left you, Tails, and CREAM like that," he replied with regret. "H-How's about from now on, we're completely open with each other? No more secrets? And… I dunno… spend time together? Maybe just the two of us? Dinner or lunch?"

Her smile got a little bit bigger. She had been waiting so long for him to say something like that. "I can do that. How about you?"

He gave her an incredulous and flustered. look. "Me? I suggested it!"

Seeing him so wound up and nervous made her laugh as she her hug tightened. "I'm joking. I think both of us could use something to lighten the mood."

The hero's face lessened its defensiveness eventually easing into a smirk.

DING!

The doors opened to the 9th floor as the two hedgehogs resumed their short journey.

"What's the room number?" he asked.

"934."

They needed to make a left at the 9th floor receptionist's desk and then a right to get to the northwest section of the floor, but they were getting close. 926, 927, 928, 929, 930, 931, 932, 933, and then 934. In case the room number wasn't a dead giveaway, the two police officers guarding it were the icing on the cake. The same crocodile from the AMG and his purple-scaled, chameleon partner were the ones on duty and immediately let the two through.

The room itself was a dead-on match for the one Sonic was in less than 24 hours prior (no surprise, it was the same hospital), but the only difference in the layout was it was mirror-flipped. The two beds resided on the left side of the room with the farther of the beds housing what Sonic presumed to be Tails. The fox wasn't seen given that something metallic was blocking the view. Sonic could guess who that was.

Ken, Alicia, and Sally were also still in the room on the right side. Alicia looked like hell. From all the commotion and stress from Max, that was understandable. Ken was sitting between the Acorn ladies, though he was comforting Sally more who was on his right. The AMG's princess was simply nodding to whatever Ken was telling her. Unfortunately, she stuck out the most due to her arm being in a sling. Sonic must've missed what happened with her.

The trio on the right side looked up when they heard footsteps coming into the room. Alicia and Ken smiled while Sally saluted her godbrother with her good arm as the look of embarrassment was plastered on her face. Sonic didn't pay it any mind as his attention turned to the other corner of the room.

The moving piece of metal on the other end of the room looked over her shoulder and smiled warmly. It was the first time her "son" was seeing her like this. Sonic nodded as he walked to her, his eyes going up and down to survey hers and Tails's handiwork. They had absolutely outdone themselves. She still needed a paintjob, but she looked every bit a Mobian as everyone else.

"How is he?" Sonic asked.

CREAM lightly shrugged as she tried to stay positive which wasn't easy to do given recent events. "He was beaten pretty bad, but there's a very good chance he'll make a full recovery." She then got up as the two gave each other a big hug, their first in months. It should've been a weird feeling for Sonic to hold something metal, but to be fair, Sonic was used to hugging a metallic body for years on the oil rig. It was just great to have her back at full capacity.

"Welcome back, CREAM," Sonic said honestly. "And thank you for saving him."

Now that he was in close, he finally got a good look at his best friend. His head was bandaged up, but he looked peaceful as he recovered. The medics probably had him hooked up to an IV with a steady dose of drugs to make sure he was healing and resting.

She nodded. "I understand now," CREAM said. "I get why you get so emotional when one of us in danger. I get it now." He nodded, but her words reminded him of how he wasn't there in time for Max. "Sonic, I know what you're thinking. Don't you dare dwell on that for another second." Her stern eyes met his. "If it weren't for you, they city would've seen Max die. He'll be okay, just like Tails. You got that?"

He nodded but said, "I still should've been faster." He then smiled weakly before turning to the Acorns. "I'm sorry. I know I keep saying that, but I'm sorry I wasn't fast enough." He hung his head in shame as his fists tightened. "I'm sorry."

Alicia was about to get up, but Sally reached across and nodded her away. She'd be the one to take this one. The lead news anchor got up and made her way to Sonic. She let out a pained sigh and brought her hand to his chin, lifting it up to meet him face-to-face. The level of shame his eyes exuded was hard to look at, especially for someone as confident as Sonic usually was.

"I saw the 'Opening Statements,'" Sonic said. "You were right. I should've brought him in earlier. And now—."

She put her fingers to his lips, thus shutting him up. "Sonic… I don't want to hear excuses. I know you've been under a ton of stress. And what I said… it's what the people have been saying."

"And they're right about me."

"Hey!" she said before lightly tapping his face. "Let me finish. The company's been getting a lot of flack for us not being as critical on you as other news outlets, so I felt we had to address it. I didn't want to, but I felt at the very least that I had to. I know that it really… really sucks that dad had to… well, y'know, but you still saved him! I'm sure he'd be thankful you saved him. You say you should've been faster? For something no one could've predicted? Because of you, I still have him. We still have him." Then she poked his chest with her good hand. "You still have him too. I'm sorry for what I said. Even if the people might not agree with this, but I'm still willing to forgive you."

His face turned. To call it "stunned" was not doing it justice.

"You what?" he asked with surprise in his voice.

"But please, I don't care if he's my godbrother and your blood-brother." Then Sally got up in his face. "I want you to bring him down." Then her face softened. "I need to know he won't terrorize any of us again. Do you have any idea what it's done to us?!" Then… she thought back on her words. "Oh, umm, okay, maybe you do know."

He put his hands on her shoulders and gave her a healthy and powerful stare. "I get what you're trying to say, Sal. Believe me, I won't let him get away again." Then his eyes wandered off as his face softened. "Chaos knows too many terrible things have happened because I let him get away."

Sally then, very lightly, slapped Sonic's cheek twice to his eyes back to her. "Then find him."

Find him.

Sonic sighed. "Yeah… that's going to be a fun task," he said with regrettable honesty. "Where would I even start?"

Suddenly, a familiar and bossy voice came ringing out from the doorway. A certain bat had gotten their attention, though her left arm was out of the group's line-of-sight.

"Well, we'd better start right away, because we have until midnight."

Sonic furrowed his eyebrow and looked at the nearest clock. 9:05. "Just under three hours? Rouge, what are you talking about?! What's with the deadline?"

"I'll explain in a minute," then the bat hauled in what, or rather who, she was holding onto. Needless to say, the entire room went on the defensive. Amy's eyes became as big as saucers as she held her hands over her slacked jaw. Sonic… oh, Sonic was ready to kill a bitch.

And I do mean "bitch."

"Rouge…," Sonic blared as he gritted his teeth. "What is she doing here?!"

The bat smiled. "Fiona here might have a solution to our Scourge problem."

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Jesus, this isn't exactly what I was expecting with this chapter. For those of you who write stories and narratives, have you ever completed something and felt good about it only to remember that there was a big detail you forgot to put in? For me, that was the elevator scene with Sonic and Amy as well as the stuff with Sally. I didn't want the SonAmy subplot to be resolved at the end with not enough build-up, so I had to re-write and re-edit that whole scene. As for the Sally stuff, that was done because I've painted Sally in a more negative light than I intended, so her explaining herself is y way of trying to make her, at the very least, palatable again.

Still, those re-writes and additions shouldn't have taken as long as it did, and I do apologize for that, but things have somehow gotten even more hectic around the house. And its's not just my laptop nearly having a seizure this afternoon as I was finishing the editing for this chapter (I need a new computer like it's going out of style) or this being my busy season with football social media craziness. It was the shenanigans from a few days ago. Pull up a chair and grab a drink, because this is gonna be a story in and of itself.

This last weekend, my sister had her bridal shower at my house (she gets hitched in November), so about two dozen women flocked into the place on Sunday morning. Knowing I wasn't gonna get anything done with all those ladies around (even if I hid downstairs or my room), my dad and I drove two hours to a brewery that's been on the bucket list for a while now. We invited my future brother-in-law, but he was a brave soul and gutted through the bridal shower with my sis. Not only did he gain more of my respect for that, but it was a damn good thing he was there as support for my sister because 4.5 margaritas can only do so much for what I'm about to tell you. My dad and I thankfully didn't see this, but my alcoholic grandma got bent out of shape that my sister didn't say "Hi" to her or acknowledge her (which was a damn lie since she did wave to her) and threw a major fit. And it wasn't at just any old time. She decided to go nuts when her daughter, my mom, asked if she needed a water or something. I should add that grandma arrived early to the shower, so go figure my sister, mom, aunt, and future brother-in-law are running around like maniacs as they were putting on the last touches so the party could be ready by 11am. Still with me? Okay, so my grandma has had some real problems for years now that are deeper than simple booziness, but she won't listen to her two level-headed daughters (my mom and aunt) as they try to explain that this day was obviously not about her and her getting noticed especially since it was my sister's day in the sun, and suddenly now was the time to act like a damn 4-year-old. She's been like this for years now. Grandma then tells my aunt to take her home; she didn't want to be there anymore. Fine, whatever. Grandma's drunken boyfriend wasn't picking up his phone to tell him to get her out of there, so my aunt volunteered to do it. Normally, my aunt has more patience than anyone else I know, even my mom which is saying something. To continue, as my aunt tells everyone "Goodbye, see you in an hour," my grandma then tries to get out car, kicking and screaming, while my aunt has to hold her down, FROM THE GODDAMN DRIVER'S SEAT NO LESS, while my mom then has to throw grandma's legs back into the passenger seat, shuts the door, and then finally, my aunt has to haul ass down a city street so her irate passenger didn't try anything funny. The icing on the cake? My future brother-in-law's mother and grandma, who didn't know about any of my grandma's problems for the record, saw the whole thing clear as day. God bless my sis and mom for being able to calmly explain what the fuck had just happened. Again, I didn't see this nor did my dad (who absolutely hates his mother-in-law BTW). I heard this all secondhand. And it somehow gets even more ridiculous. What are normal bridal shower gifts? Shampoo? House equipment like a hose for the garden or a closet rack? Or in my sister's case, Home Depot and Menard's gift cards since she and her fiancé are in the middle of updating their house? Remember the grandma that went kicking and screaming? Her gift for my sister's bridal shower was... a single roll of toilet paper. One... roll... of toilet paper. Sweet, baby Jesus. I could not make up this story if I tried. Needless to say, because of recent antics, drunk grandma and her drunken boyfriend aren't invited to the wedding anymore. Wow. Just... wow. While I'm glad I didn't see any of this, I feel so bad that sister had to have her shower overshadowed by something so out-of-hand, but credit to her, my mom, and the future in-law for dealing with it and making the most out of it. Oh, and the aunt that took grandma home? She had to miss the entire shower because of it. Because of how close her, my uncle, and my cousins are to my family, my aunt was not amused with my grandma.

Anyway, how about the chapter, huh? ... Oh, don't give me that look. From the story I just got done telling, I think a segue was earned, even if it wasn't smooth or cohesive. This chapter serves as a set-up for the final few chapters. We're only a handful of chapters away from this story finally ending, so how about we start this last act? A lot of things are going to come to light as we wrap this up, and it starts with next time out with Fiona no less. Sorry to leave you on a cliffhanger... again... for the umpteenth time... because I'm God's greatest, idiotic asshole... but it's warranted.

Now... time for some thanks. Thanks again for bearing with me since this was initially scheduled to go live last Saturday, but tweaks I felt needed to do took priority. I feel obligated to give you a cohesive story that makes sense and has as little loose ends as possible. Oh, and a story that hopefully entertains you. That's important too. So again, thank you for waiting this out. I should be on schedule for next time which I'm tabbing for 9/11, hopefully some time that afternoon once I'm off of work. Thanks also go out to NeckBreak, jurassicdinodrew, 000Marie198, and FlameShadowFireDragon for leaving reviews. I'm glad to hear you guys enjoyed the action in the last chapter!

As always, the characters used in this story are the property of SEGA, Sonic Team, and Archie Comics. Everything in the story is being used strictly for entertainment purposes. And as always, I will talk to y'all later.