CHAPTER 4

The Final Countdown

MARK

I was lead back to the room outside the locked door. I glanced around for Blaze and Knuckles, but I didn't see them. Where were they?

"How'd you get here?" The guard demanded. "Don't bother lying."

"I came back to help my friends." I hissed. "You know that this is wrong!"

"I'm not even suppost to be caught up in this business." The guard confessed. "But one thing lead to another, so here I am."

"Where are the other two that were in here?" I asked, pointing where Blaze and Knuckles' cage used to be.

"I don't know. All I know is that this is a lab and a lot of things can happen here." The guard said. "And a lot of bad things, depending on your point of view."

"What's the worst thing you can think of?" I demanded.

The guard thought for a second. "If you compare your friend's fate in there to this, then you start to realize he's lucky."

"What is it?" I screamed.

"When they dissect him, they're going to knock him unconscious. I've heard that sometimes they'll dissect something without killing it first, or even giving it any painkiller."

I thought the room suddenly got a lot darker. I sat down on the ground heavily. "When has this happened?"

"I don't know, about a year ago."

"Why'd they do it?"

"For their own sick pleasure." The guard shuddered. "They'll see how long something can live while in that sort of pain…how long it's heart will last before giving out…and then they dissect the heart."

I thought I was going to throw up. I began to rock back and fourth on the ground, trying to distract myself. But terrible images began to scroll though my mind…

"Mark…" The guard said sharply. "I know for a fact that that's not going to happen to anyone."

I took a deep breath. "It better not…" I gasped. "These scientists… they're so…emotionless…like a Vulcan."

"I heard it was because of a experiment gone wrong." The guard said. "Something about emotion control and most of them now have no sense of humor or any other feelings."

I sat there for a few seconds before I risked it all. "Can you help me?" I asked slowly and sincerely. "I won't be able to do this myself."

The guard stared down at me. "After talking to you, you've certainly changed my mind on how I saw things."

"Can you help?"

"I'll probably get fired…"

I got up and wrapped my arms around the guy. "Thanks so much. You have no idea what this is like; watching your friends go through this."

"Yeah…I can imagine." The guard mumbled. "My name's Leonard. Leonard Devin. Call me Leo."

"Ok, then, Leo. We need to free my friend in there. His name's Shadow. And also there was a purple cat who's name is Blaze, and a red echidna named Knuckles." I said. "Our main concern for right now is probably Shadow."

"Got it." Leo said. "How are we going to get him out of there?"

"I don't know." I shrugged. "But do you know when they plan the dissection?"

"At about noon tomorrow." Leo said after a pause. "But I'm not exacally sure."

"In that case, we have a bit of time." I said. "We'll look for Blaze and Knuckles in the meantime. If we run into anyone, say you're taking me somewhere."

Leo nodded. "This plan is actually a pretty ok plan." He said.

"Thanks, I work hard on them." I said sarcastically. "Oh, and Monica's here too, helping her group escape. So if you see a lost girl wondering around, it's probably her."

Leo nodded again. "I'll remember that."

"Come on. Do you have any idea where to start looking?" I asked.

"Probably in one of the smaller research rooms near the front of the building…" Leo started, but I was gone in a flash.

"Wait!" Leo ran after me. "I thought we were going to stay together!"

He caught up with me as we came to the front of the building. I randomly chose a door and tried the knob. It was locked. I tried looking into the frosted glass, but I couldn't see anything. Leo whispered, "Over here. I found one that's unlocked."

He opened the door and entered with me quickly following. Near the back wall in a cage that was too small for him was Tails. He glanced warily at us as we walked in but then instantly brightened up. "Mark!" He said, looking surprised. "How…did they get you too?"

"No, we're getting you out of here." I examined the lock on the cage and after a sharp twist, it fell away from the door, broken. Tails kicked the door open and stretched for a few seconds. "That was too small…" He muttered.

"Come on, we need to get out of here as fast as we can." Leo said from the doorway. "Someone may be coming."

"Do you know where the others are?" I asked.

"I don't know. We were all taken to separate rooms, and then this girl came in and asked me some questions but I didn't answer her. She said she was sorry that this had to happen to us…"

"She was against this place?" I asked as Leo, Tails and I ran down the hall and into a closet. Someone walked by outside.

"Very." Tails said. "She was wearing a name tag and it said her name was Olivia."

Leo poked his head outside the door. "No one's there." He informed us. We snuck into the halls again. "Mark, if you ask me, you should get him out of here." He pointed to Tails. "If anyone sees us, then they'll know I'm now working for you."

"Did Monica have a base anywhere in the city?" I asked Tails.

"There was an old abandoned place down the street…" Tails said.

"Then go there. Or if you want to, fly up to the roof and watch for anyone that may leave the building and lead them to the place." I said.

"I can do that." Tails said.

"Good." Leo said, opening a door and entering into a small room with a window. "Here's your way out." He shoved the window up and Tails flew out of it. "See you soon, Mark." He said before flying straight up.

"This is great, one person saved." Leo muttered. "How many left?"

"Five." I said. "What time is it?"

"About six in the morning."

We had six hours to save everyone and get Shadow away from the crazed scientists, or less once our parents noticed we were gone. We had six hours or less to save everyone and burn this place to the ground. We had six short, measly little hours.

This was gonna be great.

A/N: Wow, action. The name Olivia is a name I like a lot, and all the Olivias I know are really nice, so kudos to them. : ) Anyway, back to the story…

MONICA

I didn't know why the heck I didn't run into any people in the halls. By now I should have been dead. I mean, is it not suspicious when a scientist is running down the hall, wearing no ID, looking freaked out, and carrying a strange, unconscious creature in her arms? Not at all.

I had no idea where to go, or what to do. I knew that Mark was on the job too; trying to break the others out. But I could hardly do anything while Silver was unable to move.

Wait…what about the abandoned office place? I could dump him there and then continue with breaking the others out. It was a very risky plan, but I had to do something before the scientists caught me.

I tried a door and it opened to a small office. A window faced an alley. Perfect.

I opened the window and glanced around. To my right was the main street and to my left a brick wall. I gently set Silver on the floor and I climbed through the window. When my feet touched the street I reached back into the window and dragged him out.

Now I just had to get back to the building. I walked to the end of the alley and glanced around. Surprisingly, no one was there. I began to run.

I heard a strange flipping noise behind me. I sped up, no longer caring about stealth. Someone was chasing me, that was for sure. I wasn't about to give up Silver.

"Monica!"

I stopped so suddenly whoever it was slammed into my back and nearly shoved me over. I spun around to see Tails sprawled out on the sidewalk. "Owww…"

"Sorry, Tails! How'd you get out?" I asked quickly.

"Mark came. What happened to Silver?" Tails asked.

"It was terrible." I gasped. "I watched it happen. They were going to test something they invented on him. Nanobots."

"Is he ok?" Tails asked, wide eyed.

"I think so." I said. "I'm taking him to the place we spent the one night in."

"I was waiting on the roof to keep watch." Tails said. "If you want me too, I can take him up there. It's actually safer than the old office."

"Ok, but be careful." I said. We more or less ran back to the lab.

Tails gently flew Silver onto the roof and gave me a thumbs up. "Keep up the good work, Monica!" He whispered.

I made my way back to the alley and slipped back into the window. After waiting by the door for a few seconds to make sure no one was coming, I opened it and darted into the hall.

A bright yellow sticky note caught my eye. I glanced at it, noticing strange symbols and designs on it.

Elvish writing.

Mark and I had developed a secret code back when we were eight. Sense we loved the Lord of the Rings movies, we learned the Elvish alphabet. No one has been able to crack our code yet without the decoder, but once we both memorized the code we ripped the thing up.

Monica, deadline at 9:00. Get everyone out by then. We're going to light this place up. Found a store of rubbing alcohol; burns easily.

I sighed and then darted around to find the nearest clock. It read 6:34 AM. Not much time, if you ask me. I took off running down the hall, knowing that if things went smoothly, we'd be cutting it very close.

I stopped in my tracks as I heard a soft sound, like shoes shuffling across a carpet. I stood still and waited.

A door opened ahead of me, but no one exited. I took advantage of whoever was coming out of the door to hide in a doorway and wait for whoever it was to pass by. I didn't have to wait long. As quietly as he could, Knuckles crept down the hall past me.

"Knuckles…" I whispered.

He spun around but realized it was me. "Monica, don't ever do that again!" He hissed. "I almost attacked you!"

"Sorry, but if you want to get out of here without being spotted you'd better exit from this room." I pointed down the hall at the room I had entered and exited the building from. "Tails is on the roof with Silver, watching for anyone who escapes. How did you make it out, anyway?"

"The last person in the room must have forgotten to lock the door again. I had to wait a while until I thought everyone was gone." Knuckles said.

"Was her name Olivia?" I asked.

"I think so." Knuckles said, looking surprised. "Why, is she working for us?"

"I think so." I replied. "Now you'd better get out of here. At nine in the morning we're going to burn this place."

Knuckles nodded, and headed toward the door that would lead him out of the horrid lab. "Good luck." He muttered.

"Yeah, I'll probably need it." I replied.

MARK

Leo and I ran into two people in the halls, but they didn't give us a second glance. To them, I was being lead back away from all the horror.

Heh, they thought wrong.

"I honestly don't know where to look." Leo whispered to me as we tried a door, but it was locked. "If we just go door to door like this it could be a huge timewaster and people might get suspicious."

"We have to risk it." I sighed, trying another door. "Ugh, if there was a map I could look at… this might go a ton faster."

Leo opened a door and found another door, this one demanding an ID card swipe. I pulled the ID from my pocket. "Hopefully this person has access back here." I swiped the card.

The lock clicked and the door unlatched. We entered into a small dark room that, for light, had a computer monitor that was on the darkened setting.

"Um…hello?" Leo called softly.

"Who's there? Don't hurt me! I'm sorry! Go away!"

I nearly jumped out of my shoes when I heard the voice. Then another thought came to me. "Leo, shut the door!"

Leo and I quickly stepped into the room and he shut the door softly. We didn't move as we waited to see if anyone had heard.

After about thirty seconds of no movement in the halls we began to breathe again. I walked over to the computer and hit the a random key. A brighter light filled the room and I could finally look around.

The room had a small counter thing in one corner with a few cabinets over it. Nothing was on the counter except for a small stack of papers. The room was eerily bare besides the thing I just described, a desk, computer and chair, and a thick barred cage in another corner.

Leo knelt down and glanced into the cage. "Mark, I think I found another of your friends."

"Mark?" I was relieved to see that for the most part, Sonic was ok. "How'd you get back here?"

"Long story that I'll tell you later." I said, looking at the lock on his prison. "Leo, can you look in the cabinets over there for anything that could break this?"

Leo walked over to the counter and began looking around. "Are you ok?" I asked Sonic.

"Yeah, they didn't do anything to me…yet. They kept saying that I'd be perfect for something, but they never told me anything, and then you showed up."

"Ok, great." I glanced over to where Leo was rummaging. "Find anything yet?"

"Not yet." Leo muttered.

"Ok, you need to get out of here as soon as you can after you leave this room." I said. "Tails is on the roof, and he'll bring you up there. But as soon as everyone's rescued then we're going to burn this place to the ground."

"Good idea." Sonic said. "And then what?"

"No clue."

"Sounds like a plan to me."

"Here." Leo threw me a small hacksaw thing. I wondered and feared why it was in this room that wasn't a workshop in the first place. Oh, well. I wasn't complaining. Sonic was out of there in a matter of seconds.

"Your best bet is out a window somewhere. Don't take the main entrance or exit." I said.

"You're not coming with me?" Sonic asked.

"No, we're on a deadline on burning the place. You'll be fine, right?"

"You bet."

Leo opened the door and stopped suddenly. "What's that smell?"

I inhaled deeply and nearly gagged. I said 9:00 for the fire, right? Then why did I smell and see small wisps of smoke floating in the hall?

An alarm screamed. Something fell.

"Oh, crap!" I muttered. I darted into the hall. "What's going on?"

"No time for that now! We've got to get out of here!" Leo pointed down the hall. "It's the main lobby, but it's the only way as far as I know right now!"

We darted through the lobby, but no one was there. We ran onto the streets and that was where we ran into the probablem.

Nearly all the scientists and people that worked in the building were there, loudly exclaiming how the fire wasn't their fault and that there were still people in the place.

There were still people in the place!

"MONICA!" I shouted. "I think she's still in there!" I glanced to the roof but I couldn't see my friends. I hoped that they had gone to the old office building.

"Hey!" Leo, Sonic and I spun around to see the scientists closing in around us. "How'd he escape?" They demanded, glaring at Sonic.

"Sonic, there's an old abandoned office building down the street a little ways. Go there, because I think that's where everyone else is." I said quickly. "Don't argue, just go."

Sonic gave me a thumbs-up. "See you soon, Mark." He was off.

"He got away!" Someone yelled angrily.

I turned to face the building again. Something told me that Monica was in there. I shouldn't just be sitting here doing nothing! She was my twin!

"Mark…!" Leo yelled, but I was darting into the building.

MONICA

I found another quiet hall. No one was down there. It was eerie.

I tried the first door. Locked.

Same with the second, third and fourth, not to mention the fifth on down. I hoped Mark had some luck getting everyone out. I just wanted everyone able to run out of here when the 9:00 hour came, both my friends and the scientists that worked here.

The tenth door wasn't locked and it took me slightly by surprise. I slowly pulled it open and entered into a large, cold room. Was it just me, or was there blood on the floor? I sure hoped I was overreacting.

I began to glance around, but nothing seemed to be of importance until I found another door. Thinking it was just a storage closet, I opened it anyway.

There were three short steps leading down to another hallway. I quietly and anxiously followed the hall to another door. I tried the handle…

…Locked.

I swore under my breath. All that for this? I shoved my hands in my pockets and my left hand brushed something.

I pulled out the Chaos Emerald I had completely forgotten about.

"Right…" I turned to look at the door again. "Maybe this thing can let me in…"

The door clicked suddenly. I tried the handle and it opened into a very small room consisting an operating table, some huge stacks of paper, and a cage on top of the table.

Curled in the cage, fast asleep, was Blaze.

"Yes!" I hissed. "This is going great!"

I used the Emerald to break the lock away from the cage. I nudged Blaze. "Hey, wake up!"

She didn't do anything. I nudged her harder. "Blaze!"

"AAARRGH!"

I fell backwards onto my butt. Fire flashed around me, catching the stacks of paper. They burned quickly, but then found another source of fuel…the plaster.

"Monica!" Blaze said in disbelief. "How'd you get here?"

"No time for that now! This place's on fire!" I scrambled up. Blaze hopped down to the floor and we both ran out of there as fast as we could.

A few scientists did double takes as we ran through and then followed us. Good thing they did too. When I glanced back down the hall, I thought I saw the flames getting through the door.

We burst onto the street. "There's an old abandoned building down the street. Go there! That's where everyone is!" I shouted.

"Wha-?" Blaze started, but I was already running back into the building. I hoped against hope that she listened to me and turned back.

The hallway was quickly filling with smoke. I found myself running down the nearest hall until I came to an unlocked door. I opened it, ran into another room, and found a door requesting a code.

"What's the code? What's the code?" I screamed. I held the Emerald out in front of me. "Come on, break the lock!"

The lock and the Emerald didn't do anything. I thought back to what Mark had told me about the lock at the end of the hall…something about Shadow…

I thought I heard someone whispering to me. I tried to drone out the noise in the hall outside the door as people realized the place was on fire and listen.

6045

I had no idea why a little voice was whispering numbers at me, but I listened to it and punched it into the keypad.

The lock clicked and opened. I quickly ran into the small operating room.

Shadow looked awful. He was deathly pale and a thick bandage circled his head. He was lying strapped to the table, but I thought that that wouldn't be needed. I began to unlatch the restraints.

"What are you doing?"

I nearly screamed. I spun around to see Ice, standing erect by the door like he owned the place. It was a possibility he did. "Weren't you the one who knocked me out?"

"Yes, and I'll do it again." I drew out the dart gun from my pocket. "What are you doing here?"

"You have one guess."

As if on cue, about twenty guards came pouring into the room, guns at the ready. "Monica, come with us."

"In case you haven't noticed, this place is on fire!" I yelled. "We all need to get out of here!"

"I don't know, I like the sound of you dying in here, trying to save one of the cruel, terrible creatures that had stolen you away from your life." Ice's eyes gleamed dangerously. "What do you think?"

"I think you're a quack and should get out of here." I said, keeping the gun aimed at him. I forced my arm to not shake. "Because if I die, I'm taking you with me."

"We don't have all day." Ice sneered. "The fire' ll reach here eventually."

"True."

We stared at each other for what seemed like a full twenty minuets. I could now smell the smoke as it burned its way through the building. We would either have to leave now or die.

Unfortunately, Ice seemed to be thinking that exact same thing. "Barricade the door." He told one of the guards. "They'll both die here."

I quickly took aim and fired the dart gun.

Ice seemed to be ready for that and ducked behind the door. The dart stuck where his head would have been a second ago. He sneered evilly at me. "Good try, but not good enough."

With that, his group left.

I threw the gun to the floor and turned my attention to Shadow. I began unlocking his restraints and ripping the wires off his chest. "Shadow!" I yelled. "Wake up!"

He didn't react in the slightest. I could see smoke beginning to flow into the room around the edges of the door. The fire was incredibly close, but how did it spread so fast…?

It had to be the rubbing alcohol stash that Mark had found. I thought when he said that he found a stash, he meant about three bottles, not three gallons!

I lifted the Chaos Emerald out in front of me. "Get us out of here." I whispered. "Please, or we'll die."

The smoke was beginning to cancel out the lights in the room. I gently picked Shadow up and got as close to the floor as I could, trying not to cough. I thought I wouldn't make it out of here alive.

Sorry, Mom.

Sorry, Dad.

Sorry, Mark.

I love you.

MARK

I dodged falling debris from the roof and sidestepped a beam that was flaming. I had no idea where Monica could be, but something seemed to be leading me.

"Monica!" I screamed over the roar of the flames. "MONICA!"

I spun around, glancing for any indication that she was nearby. I saw nothing. I continued to make my way further and further back into the burning building, never stopping once.

By now the smoke was so thick I could barely breathe. I began to cough and my eyes watered. I squinted through the flames and saw something that looked like a pinprick of blue light.

What was that…?

I made my way to the light and found that a door was half closed in front of it. I pushed the door open to be greeted by six different colored lights, all sitting in a perfect circle in a glass case.

I smashed the case and put them all in my pockets, coughing the entire time. I didn't know if I could last much longer.

The Emeralds seemed to know what to do. I felt them tugging me in a direction I had to trust was the way either out or to Monica. Before long I came to the locked door that needed the key code.

6045

The door was blocked by a burning beam, but I shoved it out of the way and got the door open. Thick smoke came from the room, but the Emeralds lead me further on.

I tripped over something.

I hit the ground and then realized how tired I was. The smoke was using all the oxygen in the air…

Monica…

The six Emeralds drifted out of my pockets and reunited with another small light. There was a small spark of light…

And then a blinding flash.

I covered my eyes and waited for it to be all over. Instead, I began to breathe clean air. I coughed the smoke from my lungs and slowly glanced up.

The Seven Chaos Emeralds were circling a small portion of the room, drawing the smoke out and providing me with fresh air. Standing in the middle of the circle was Shadow.

His normally jet black fur and quills were now golden. He was radiating a glow similar to what I thought was the sun. He knelt down and picked something up. No wait…

Monica!

I wanted to get up and demand to know what happened, but I didn't have the energy. And the slight amount of energy I originally had was taken away in the bright flash.

And then the sound of fire eating away at the building was gone.

I cracked open my eyes to find myself looking up at dark clouds. And as I watched, they began to rain down fat drops of rain.

"Mark."

I glanced at Shadow, who was holding his hand out to me. I took it and he hauled me to my feet.

"Where's Monica?" I demanded, strength flooding through me.

Monica lay curled on the sidewalk nearby. I ran to her side. "Monica! MONICA!"

The burning lab nearby had a group of people standing around it; most of them witnesses to the fire but didn't work for the lab. Once they heard me yell they all came running over.

"Someone call an ambulance!" Someone shouted.

"Someone grab that creature!"

"No!" I shouted. "He's the reason we're alive!"

Shadow, still in his Super form, glared at the crowd like he dared them to come closer.

"Monica!" I shouted again, shaking my twin roughly. "Come on! You have to wake up!"

The crowd suddenly parted to allow two people to run onto the scene. Before I knew it, I was surrounded by my Mom and Dad, who were both crying, thanking God that I was safe, and demanding to know what happened.

Shadow began to stray from us, his golden glow fading back to black. The Chaos Emeralds suddenly lay glinting off to the side of the group.

"Mark, why did you sneak off?" My mom cried. "We were so worried!"

"We had to, mom! We had to prove that they weren't who those guys said they were!"

The rain was really beginning to come down now. It prevented the fire from catching the buildings next to it, saving them. My other friends were nowhere in sight, except for Leo. He smiled at me sadly and mouthed, "Is she ok?"

"Monica…" My dad broke off and dropped next to her side. "Monica, speak to me!"

Shadow clasped an Emerald in her hand and a soft red glow surrounded her. Within seconds, she coughed, opened her eyes, and stared at everyone like she didn't expect to ever see them again. "Dad…"

My dad scooped Monica into his arms and cried. I had never seen him cry before like that, and it was stunning to see how much he really cared for us.

A cheer broke out in the crowd. My mom threw her arms around my dad's waist and laughed and cried. I stood up and cheered along with the crowd until Monica said quite clearly:

"Dad, let go of me. This is very weird…"

The crowd laughed as hard as my parents had. I brushed my wet hair out of my eyes and turned to look back at the building. Part of the roof had collapsed but other than that nothing seemed worse in any way. I heard fire trucks in the distance.

"Wait!" Monica yelled, pointing. "Get them! They tried to kill us!"

I turned to see a guy with piercing blue eyes stare at us like he wanted us to burn. Instantly, Leo parted from the group and grabbed him before he could make a run.

"He tried to kill me and Shadow, and if it wasn't for Mark, then we'd probably be dead!" Monica continued.

"I didn't do anything! That child is crazy!" The man screamed, but his eyes said otherwise.

Luckily the crowd didn't believe him in the slightest.

Police and fire trucks began to pull up at the corner. A couple scientists tried to run, but they were caught and handcuffed.

Once again with the police business…

MONICA

We were back at the police station. Mom and Dad were busy telling their side of the story and Mark and I were telling ours. We explained (To a limit) who Shadow was and how he saved us. We tried to leave everyone else out of it because we didn't want the news to go out there and hunt them down just so they could get an interview.

Leo and Mark struck up a conversation, but it was quickly drawn to a close when he was pulled aside for questioning. I wondered if we would ever see him again…

Eventually the news and police left us and went back to our parents. I turned to Mark and Shadow. "We probably should go back and get everyone else." I said.

"Probably." Mark agreed.

We managed to sneak out of the station and run down the street to the abandoned office. Shadow literally tore the door down in his haste to get in the building.

We were greeted by Knuckles, who looked about ready to punch our lights out. "Oh, it's you." He said.

"Where's everyone else?" I asked.

"Second floor. We all thought that that would be safer."

We all trooped up the stairs to find Tails sitting in front of a doorway. Once he saw us he leaped up. "YOU'RE ALIVE! WE ALL THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD!"

"Well, we aren't." I said. "Sorry."

"I can't believe we all managed to survive that place, though…" Sonic came to stand beside us. "I thought for sure we were all going to die."

"So did I." I shivered. "Where's Silver?"

"We found a room with a dusty old couch thing, so that's where he is. Blaze is with him, trying to get him to tell her what happened." Tails said.

"I saw what happened." I sighed. "I don't know why I waited that long to take the creepy guy I called Ice out, I don't know. I guess I was waiting for a chance to strike…"

"I'll go tell them that you're here." Tails ran down the hall and into a room.

"Now that we're all together and still in one piece, we need to focus on the next part of our story." Mark muttered.

"What's that?" Sonic asked.

"Tracking Eggman down and sending you all back."

"Ah." Everyone sighed at the exact same time. "Well, that may be a probablem."

"And how the heck do we send you all back? I mean, we've got the Chaos Emeralds, but I don't think that that'll be enough." I said.

"He did have these red things on the side of the clearing we were all in before we came here." Shadow said. "Once I think about it, I'm pretty sure those were some kind of…mirrors or generators."

"To bounce around or magnify the power of the Emeralds, no doubt." Knuckles said.

"How the heck are we going to get a bunch of mirrors or generators?" Mark asked. "I mean, they're not cheap."

"I think we'll manage." I said.

Tails came back. "Ok, Silver wants to see you, but he doesn't want to go anywhere because he's still freaking out."

"All right. After what he went through, I don't blame him." Everyone followed me to the back room.

Silver was lying on his side, clutching a pillow so tightly I was surprised that it's stuffing didn't poof out. Blaze was sitting on the ground, giving Silver a pitiful look.

"Hi, Monica." Silver squeaked. "Are they coming back?"

"Nope, we got them all taken off to jail." Mark said proudly. "We're safe now. All we need to do is find Eggman and send you all back."

"Oh, good." Blaze said. "I like your planet and all, but this place is a bit creepy."

"Sorry about the first bad experience." I said. "usually this place is so nice."

"Except to me." Silver squeezed the pillow tighter, sending up a cloud of dust. He sneezed. "Everyone hates me."

Blaze rolled her eyes.

"Um, ok, then. We need to find Eggman. Where should we start?" I asked brightly.

"I dunno." Everyone said at the same time.

"Great, we're doomed."

"Well, we have the Emeralds." Mark held up an Emerald. "So if he wants them he'll have to come get them."

"So in the meantime we need to find a clearing and set up some mirrors or something." I said.

"Come to think of it, I was pretty sure they were red mirrors." Tails said, deep in thought. "I think it's because the color red somehow boosts the Emerald's power…so he used a few red mirrors…"

"Great! Now we need to find a red mirror!" I said.

"I'm pretty sure I can do that." Tails said. "But I'll need a lot of mirrors, some equipment, and liquid ruby."

"I have a ruby necklace." I said. "I never wear it. How much do you need?"

"A little goes a long way." Tails said.

MARK

We went back to the police station this time accompanied by Tails. Our parents were only too happy to agree to help him. Within a few hours, we were at our house and Tails had gathered up every mirror in the house while we explained to our parents.

"All right. This is going to take a few minuets, but…" Tails grabbed all the stuff and went out to the yard.

Within ten minuets he had coated one of the mirrors in a thin layer of ruby. It was still as smooth as a normal mirror, just red. Pretty soon we had four mirrors to match the first.

"Do you think this is enough?" I asked.

"I think so." Tails said.

Our parents were a little surprised when we asked them to drive us back to Lansing when we practically just reached our house, but they didn't argue. They knew that our other friends were there anyway.

Pretty soon we were all, including Mom and Dad, gathered in the building, plotting.

"There's a small clearing in the woods." I said. "We can set it up there."

"And use the Emeralds to lure him?" My Dad asked, looking a bit confused.

"Yeah. Then Shadow uses Chaos Control, we get teleported back to our world, and hurray! We all live happily ever after." Knuckles said with a perfectly straight face.

"You'll be gone? Just like that?" I never thought about goodbyes until this moment. "Will we ever see each other again?"

"I don't think so." Blaze said sadly.

"Why don't you stay?" Monica suggested lamely. "I mean, we get snow. We can snowboard."

"I think it would be for the better if we all went back." Silver said. He still hadn't let go of the pillow. "This place scares me."

"It's beginning to scare me too." My mom said. "I can't believe those people were able to treat you like that."

"So when do we go and set this all up?" Sonic asked, changing the subject. "Now? Later? When?"

"The sooner the better." Shadow said.

"Then let's hit the road." My dad said, standing up. "We can seat seven people in all, but that's including all of the Clevelands."

"I can run there." Sonic said.

"I can fly." Tails said.

"I can teleport." Shadow countered.

"So that leaves…Blaze, Silver and Knuckles." I said. "Hey, it all worked out."

So about thirty seconds later we hit the road. The ride went smoothly until we pulled up into our driveway and Silver shoved his way out of the car so he could throw up.

"Oh, great." Monica groaned. "It just never ends with you, does it?"

"I had a bad day." Silver muttered.

The ten of us trooped out into the woods a little ways back.

"here." I said at last when there weren't too many trees in the way. "Right here's good."

Tails started setting up the mirrors around the small clearing. "So…after he shows up, we're gone, just like that." He said sadly. "I think this is goodbye…forever."

"I know." I said. "But at least everyone's not in danger."

"Yeah."

We didn't have to wait long. Within the hour Eggman showed up in that cheesy little hovercraft thing he's always in because he's too fat to walk anywhere.

"I should have known that you'd all escape." He hissed. "I should have taken care of things myself."

"You should, but you didn't." Blaze growled. "And now it's time for us to be heading back to where we belong."

"CHAOS CONTROL!" Shadow shouted.

The Emeralds swirling around the grove began to glow, along with the red mirrors. Eggman tried to turn away, but the power pulled him closer towards the mirrors.

My family and I stepped backwards from the glow that was steadily glowing brighter.

Sonic gave us a thumbs up. "Bye, guys. Thanks for saving us from creepy peoples."

"Yeah." I sighed.

"Thanks, Monica." Silver said. "If it wasn't for you, I'd be dead by now."

Monica beamed. "Bye, everyone."

"No! This can't be happening! NO! NOOO!" Eggman yelled, eventually hopping out of the hovercraft and just trying to run away.

The glow got almost too to intense to look at and I turned away. There was an almost high pitched squealing.

Then it was over.

I couldn't believe that just like that, the people that had changed my life, made me stronger and braver, and brought my family together again had just vanished. I owed them so much.

I glanced back at the clearing and saw only smoking mirrors…and something else…

Monica walked over to where something was folded neatly in the leaves. She picked it up slowly.

"It's my hoodie. How did it survive the fire?"

"Who knows." I smiled. "A lot of impossible things happened in the last 42 hours."

With that, we walked out of the woods back towards our house, planning our next family vacation.

END

So yeah, that's it. I really hoped you enjoyed this, because it took me forever to write. Gotta love the end here, it's one of my best yet, because it actually completed the story without needing a sequel or two. Or three.

JET: *Sniff* It was beautiful…*Sob*…

GHOSTKING: Thanks. So you forgive me for the bird jokes?

JET: *Sob*….no…

GHOSTKING: -_- *sigh…* so you're still an Angry Bird?

JET: :0

GHOSTKING: Ha-ha, just kidding. I like that game.

JET: *Sniff* but next time you write a Fan Fiction, can I be in it?

GHOSTKING: Suuuuure….*Plots all ways to kill him*

So anyway, review, favorite, PM me, NO FLAMES. I except criticism, NOT FLAMES!

Hasta la Vista, Readers!