Ch 16: Origins IV
"Blast!" Eggman snarled as his robots tended his injuries. "I can't believe those rotten Freedom Fighters forced me out of Castle Oblivion!"
"Hm…" Sleet mumbled thoughtfully. "Perhaps they know about the prophesy as well."
"I suppose I should have realized that sooner or later!"
It has been a year since Sonic was forced to abandon the Freedom Fighters. After Eggman realized about his origins, he sent bounty hunters, crooks, gangsters, whoever he could find to take Sonic and his siblings out of the picture. But even after all of that, the triples were still standing. Now they have finally found their mother and to make matters worse, the Freedom Fighters finally managed to force him out of Castle Oblivion. Luckily for him he made a base in the Central White Zone he calls the Final Egg. It would appear that the prophesy was coming true after all.
"So what's the plan now, boss?" Dingo asked.
"Now it would seem that now the revolution is inevitable! If my predictions are correct, Queen Aleena and her children are going to arrive here to take back the throne and those Freedom Fighters are sure to arrive here as well. All of you must now take command of my entire army and guard the Final Egg as much as you can. We cannot let the Resistance escape this time!" a sinister grin formed on his face, "But don't worry… should you fail, I have a surprise for them."
"What kind of surprise?" Whiplash asked uneasily.
"It's a secret! Now go! And do not fail me!"
"Yessir!" they nodded and left the throne room. Eggman turned back and grinned at the monitors.
"The final rebellion is near…"
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The three triplets, now a companied by Queen Aleena and a pack of dragons looked over the Final Egg on a hill. All of them knew that there was no turning back and it had to be done. "My family and I are still quite tired from the flight over here." The black dragon, Drako, said in an Australian accent. "We must find a place to rest, and then we attack tomorrow."
"Likewise." Aleena nodded. "It is going to be difficult to set up camp though; we don't have much…"
Sonia used her magic to find somewhere to keep hidden. Maybe a cave, one that isn't wet and not full of who-knows-what, she thought to herself. Then she found something unlikely.
"Look! There's a settlement there!"
"A settlement?!" Dulcy blinked. "What's a settlement doing all the way here?"
"Its better then sticking around here in this cold." Manic shrugged. "Let's check it out."
The group marched west to the settlement in the freezing cold weather. Luckily, it wasn't too far. Though when they reached the entrance…
"Hey! Who crosses here?!"
"Chill man." Sonic held out his hand in a calm manner. "We just need somewhere to crash for the night."
"What a minute… Sonic?!"
"?! Whoa! Mighty!?"
The red and black armadillo jumped from the tower and ran up to Sonic. "Man, am I glad to see you! It's been a while!" Mighty grinned as put him in a rather painful headlock.
"It sure has…!!"
"Oh hey. So you're Mighty, right?" Sonia asked as Mighty released her brother.
"Yeah, you must be Sonia, and the green dude must be Manic. And…?"
"Oh pardon me. I am Queen Aleena V."
"…THE Queen Aleena?!" Mighty swiftly keeled. "Uh… it's a real honor!"
"At ease. At ease," Aleena laughed. "Just talk to me as you would a friend."
"OK then. I'll let the others know that you made it here. They'll be really glad to see you!"
Whether it was by fate or mere coincidence, old friends reunited. Hours later into the night, the Freedom Fighters welcomed the royal family with opened arms. The dragon family was showed to a nice roomy cave for them to stay. Raphael, Aleena's childhood friend, was also among them. Ash told Sonic about how he and the rest of the gang managed to force Eggman out of Castle Oblivion and that it was ready for them when the war was over. With victory in obvious reach, everyone had a nice "Before the Final Bout" dinner.
"AHH! This is awesome!" Honey smiled widely as she patted her stomach.
"I'm stuffed! No more!" Tails added as he slumped down his seat.
"This shore feels like ol' times, don it?" Bunnie laughed.
"Well if you want it to feel like old times, I could run around for a bit." Sonic joked with a grin. Everyone laughed at the comment, glad to have the livewire back with them… all but one that is.
"Ha ha." Fiona grumbled under her breath as she twirled her fork.
"He he, I was also playing big sister to watch over you, Sonic," Sally smiled as she rubbed her hand his head. "I always felt this connection between you and I. Who woulda thought that was being a guardian!"
Ash stood up and raised his glass. "To Sonic and his family. Who would have guessed that one of our own would be the key to ending Eggman's tyranny!"
"Here, here!" Everyone else shouted as they raised their glasses.
"You guys…" Sonic smiled honestly. "I could never ask for better friends like you. I'm so glad I met you guys!"
Out of the corner of Sally's eye, she noticed Fiona slipping out unnoticed. Even after a year, her opinion on Sonic did not change. She probably felt disgusted with what Sonic said. "Hey guys, I'll be back for a minute…" she excused herself and went after Fiona.
"Fiona…" she began as she caught up with her. "What was that all about?"
"I just don't understand that guy…" she said as she turned around. "He must be more then just a snob now that he found out his heritage. He must also feel like a huge rock star now that he and his sibs formed a band."
"You know that's not true," Sally frowned. "We've known each other since each other since we were kids and you knew me as a princess from then on. You never saw me acting like a snob."
"…"
"What is it about Sonic that you don't like, huh? Why do you always harass him?"
"Harass him?! He always harasses me! He's make jokes and pulling other nonsense! That's what I don't get! And besides… he's just an inconsiderate brat how cares for no one but himself! Everyone else may be oblivious to this but I see the truth!"
"Whatever gave you that idea?!"
"That time when we all found ourselves in Knothole. When we first met. As everyone else sadden that their parents were taken away by Eggman, Sonic was just running around smiling and laughing! Smiling and Laughing! What the hell is with that?! I knew from then on that he had no respect! I just can't stand it!"
"Fiona…"
"I'm going to bed…" she turned around and walked to her tent. "We have a long day ahead of us…"
At dawn, everyone was well refreshed and ready for the final showdown. Ash was explaining the strategy to everyone. "…OK, so Bark, Bunnie and Mighty will handle the robot and mech army. I don't think they'll have any problems. Fiona, Sally, Mina, Honey and I will lead the dragons to attack the fortress from the air. Tails and Raphael we'll lead in the Storm Raider. These attacks will distract the outside force long enough for the royal hedgehog family to sneak in and stop Eggman from the inside."
"OK, sound good." Bark nodded. "But we'll need a signal."
Raphael thought for a minute then snapped his fingers. "How bout, 'Holy crap it's the golden knight?'"
"Wait, you serious?" Manic rose and eyebrow.
"It's all I got."
"It works anyway." Ash shrugged. "Ok, guys. Time to crake that egg wide open!"
"Yeah!!!" the Freedom Fighters cheered as the left the tent to get set up. Raphael saw Aleena with an odd goofy smile. She was had on a gold gantlet on her right hand with a scabbard on her left hip, holding a sword.
"What?"
"'Holy crap it's the golden knight…!'" she snickered as she left.
"Come on! It's all I got!"
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Everyone met up at the rendezvous point found the Final Egg barricaded by an army of robots. "There's our target!" Ash shouted. "Mighty!"
"Got it!" Mighty nodded as he lifted a boulder.
"Holy crap it's the golden knight!"
Mighty threw the snow rock way far and it crashed right in the center of the opposing force.
"The hell-?!" Whiplash blinked as she saw it happen.
"It's begun at last…" Dingo frowned. "All robots open fire! The enemy has spotted us!"
Five minutes have passed and the robot army was rapidly decreasing. The sky was filled with dragons as the attack the fortress and destroyed any security guns. Only the Freedom Fighters knew that the Council of Four had snuck into the entrance. They made it through the main hall to find a large amount of destroyed robots on the ground.
Sonic couldn't hold his surprise. "Radical…"
"It looks like someone has beaten us on this," Sonia observed. "This person seems to have a formidable fighting strength. This is almost… impossible…"
"So what should we do?" Manic asked.
"The sun is approaching and this is the only path to Eggman's chamber." Aleena explained. "We must tread with caution, my children. Whoever cause this much destruction must be very dangerous."
"Gotcha," Her children nodded.
The four hedgehogs carefully followed the track of the mysterious trespasser through the base; they encountered very little resistance, it seemed that he hadn't just forced his way in, he leveled it. They continued deeper into the base and arrived at a large room, in which strange contraptions could be seen. They soon began to hear loud footsteps heading toward the room; the footsteps became louder and louder as a large thing approached. Manic quickly led his family to hide on the wall above the entrance. Much to their surprise, they saw Alastor bursting inside the room with his dark green mech armor.
"This is too easy… I expected far more from you, Eggman." Alastor huffed. What was he doing here?
The Council of Four quickly jumped from the wall and confronted him from behind. "Where do you think you're going?" Manic demanded.
"You've caused quite a lot of trouble, Alastor…" Sonia added.
The mysterious bounty hunter turned around and stared at them. "Yeah? I was just taking care of a few loose ends."
"What do ya mean 'a few loose ends?'" Sonic asked. "So then you and Eggman aren't allies?"
"Allies? I don't have any. Not now… not ever. I only know one thing for sure, Sonic… You are my enemy!"
"This is as far as you go, Alastor!"
"You're definitely not running away from me this time!"
Alastor jumped with his mech armor toward the blue hedgehog and attempted to knock him out with the massive fists of his war machine. But the machine was way too slow and he zipped out of the way. Sonic attempted to crush the mech with a Homing Spin, but while it lacked speed, it had endurance. All the Homing Spin did was dent it. Sonia jumped into the air and fired magic shots that made little damage on the state-of-the-art armor. Alastor made two electric orbs and fired them. The hedgehogs became trapped inside.
"Made ya look!" Manic shouted as he threw a lighting disk to freeze the mech.
"Why do you have to be such a pest, Manic?! There's no way that you three can best me in this mech!"
"Forgot someone!?" Aleena shouted as she dashed forward with her sword shimmering in a lethal glow. She wasn't as fast as Sonic, but she was very agile, even in that royal gown she wore. Two slashes cut through the air. As Aleena came to a sudden halt, she traced the edge of her sword on the ground. As if on command, the right arm and left leg of the mech fell off, leaving clean gashes.
"Damn it! They said the armor was impenetrable!"
"Nivas Tempestas Obscurans!" Aleena chanted as she stretched out her other arm and made her hand glow in growing dark energy. Her hand released a powerful dark blizzard blast right for the mech armor.
"…Bastards!" Alastor activated his thrusters and flew safely away from the mech armor, which exploded from the impact of the powerful magic attack.
"Give up, Alastor!" Sonic shouted as he landed. "You've lost already!"
"Ha ha ha ha ha… you rodents don't understand a thing, do you?… You're worried about Eggman when you should've been worried about me!" Alastor shouted as he aimed his cannon at them. Before he could fire, a sharp blast knocked him off guard.
"This isn't you're calling, Alastor!" a robotic blue hedgehog said as he hovered down. "No one will kill Sonic but me!"
"Metal Sonic?!" Sonic gasped.
"Sonic… Eggman is close. You have something to get done, don't you?"
"I hate to say it Metal, but it looks like I owe you one!"
"Humph! Don't be so modest. Once this is all over, I'm coming after you next!" Metal charged at Alastor and blasted him into a wall.
"Let's go. Before they decide to team up or something…" Sonia said.
They continued their way through the base and encounter much more resistance. Nothing for them not to handle though. The finally made it to the final door and went though. They found Eggman grinning at them.
"Welcome! I had no doubt that you wouldn't make it."
"You don't have to resist, Dr. Eggman," Aleena said sternly as the room shook from an explosion. "You can surrender in peace and repent for your sins."
"I can't do that! I have already archived so much and I'm not ready to give it all up! I have prepared something just for you!" A huge rumbling shook the room. The floor opened up to reveal a large green robotic tortoise with deadly missiles and lasers erupted. "Meet my newest anti-hedgehog weapon; the Egg Tortoise!"
"Eggman! Get it together!" Sonic shouted.
"Too late!" Sonia told him. "He's attack! It's now or never!"
The Council of Four ran towards the machine as it fired missiles, bombs and lasers. The blasts erupted dangerously close to them, but they didn't stop moving. Sonic dashed ahead in a blur and took out the guns.
"Dios Chucos!" Sonia shouted as she summoned two axes of lighting and slammed them into the Egg Tortoise. Aleena slashed at the machine several times to add to the damage as Manic dove underneath and attached a buzz bomb. It went off and began to erupt with electricity.
"What?! No!! Don't fall apart on me now!"
Sonic took the chance to run around the Egg Tortoise to create a blue tornado that carried it up and made it crash. Like a turtle on its shell… well it IS a turtle on its shell… it was helpless.
"Come my children! Let's end this!" Aleena shouted as the triplets went to her. "Sonia, have you practiced the necessary spell?" she nodded. "Boys! You know what to do!" Sonia and Aleena stood in front each other with Sonic and Manic on ether side. The triplets' medallions began to flash wildly as Aleena tiara glowed pink. Aleena began chanting.
"La Lla Lillc Ca… La Lla Lallc Ca… Upon our pact, do my bidding, O Master of Element. Come forth from the never-ending light and darkness, bring death to all that hast life. You are the place of eternal rest… LOST GALAXY!"
Blasts of light and dark energy erupted everywhere and tore up the whole room. Nothing withstood the destructive magic power the Council of Four. Especially not the Egg Tortoise.
"NO! All my life work! NNNOOOOOOO!!!"
The machine exploded and Eggman was thrown into what was left of his seat. As the attack faded, Aleena and Sonia slumped to the floor while Sonic and Manic helped them up.
"Sonia! Mom!" Manic gasped.
"Don't worry," Aleena smiled weakly. "The Lost Galaxy requires a lot of magic to be used. We are just tired."
"Good news is that we finally defeated Eggman!" Sonia cheered.
"Oh yeah!" Sonic grinned with a thumbs up.
The other Freedom Fighters came through the door and ran up to them. "Looks like you guys put up a real show here," Bark whistled.
"Hey, what happened to the three amigos?" Sonic asked.
"As soon as we trashed the last robot, they bailed," Ash said. "Don't think while be hearing from them for awhile."
"So did you beat Eggman?" Mina smiled.
"Better believe it!" Manic grinned as he helped Sonia up.
Sally stormed up to Eggman and grabbed him by the collar. "You've lost, Eggman! Now free your slaves and release my father!"
"I'm… not done yet!" Eggman grunted as he held up a small radio signaler and pressed the button. The room made a short rumble before a computer voice spoke and warning sirens blared.
DOOMSDAY WEAPON ACTIVATED. FIFTEEN MINUTES TO DETONATION.
"What the?!" Sally gasped before Eggman knocked her aside. He called his Egg Mobile and got on.
"I had a feeling that my plans would crumble like this! So I created a doomsday weapon to destroy the entire world!"
"WHAT?" Everyone gasped.
"To be honest, I never wanted to do this… but you have left me no other option! If I can't rule the world, no one will!" He pressed the button again and made another secret passage way appear and went through it.
"This is really unexpected…" Sonia grimaced.
"What should we do now?!" Mina panicked.
Sonic looked at the pathway Eggman went through. Oddly, he felt that this was his fault as well…. time to fix it! "You guys go! I'll disarm the doomsday weapon."
"What??" Fiona's eyes widen.
"Sonic….!!" Tails stammered.
"I won't ask again! Get out of here!" Without another word, Sonic jumped through.
"Hey Sonic! Wait for me!" Tails yelled as he flew in after him.
"Looks like we have no choice!" Ash frowned. "Let's move!"
Everyone began to head out. As they were running through the flashing lights, Fiona made a gruff response, "Why would he do something like that?! I knew he was selfish but I never thought he was stupid!"
Finally fed up, Sally skidded to a halt and jumped in front of Fiona with an angry glare. "I've had it! All this time you've belittled Sonic with out getting to know him!"
"Know him?! I said he's-"
"Have you ever got a chance to talk to him?"
"Uh… no."
"You see? Don't you get it? You're the ignorant one! Everything you say about Sonic is wrong! He's sweet and shy over his cheeky exterior and you would have known that!"
"Erm…"
"He's also very brave and never wants to lose his friends… he said he lost a friend when he was a kid…"
"…"
"And he really likes you too."
"He likes me?"
"Yes. He doesn't like to see anyone cry. Especially you. That's why he's always fooling around; just so he could see you smile."
"Sally! Fiona!" Ash called. "What are you two doing?!"
"Sorry!" Sally yelled back as she continued on. Fiona looked back with worry, finally realizing her errors.
"Sonic… I…"
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Sonic continued his way through the hidden path with incredible speed. The blazing lights and loud sirens were not enough to deter him. He made a mistake and this time he was going to fix it for sure. Suddenly, a voice stopped him.
"Sonic!"
"Tails?" Sonic gasped as the twin tailed fox flew up to him. "What are you doing here?"
"Sonic! I wanna help you bring your friend back!"
"It's too dangerous! You have to-"
"Don't argue with me! Let me help this time!"
Sonic looked at his kid brother with wonder, and then smiled as he ruffled his hair. "You've grown up a lot. OK let's go!"
"Yeah!"
Sonic sped down the road, Tails right on his heels, both ready for anything. The side of the road jutted out, forming a curve. Sonic use the curve to launch himself over the huge gap, where he picked up so much speed he seemed to disappear. They went deeper into the base. Sonic and Tails sped through with incredible fluidity and grace, but before long they came across some spike traps. Not a problem for Azure Wind, who leapt over each one with ease, destroying a few in the process. The next obstacle was a strip of jagged edges that rose up to meet the dynamic duo. Tails could simply fly over them, but for Sonic, the method of overcoming the giant rocks was a little more difficult. He sprung from left to right, bouncing off the flat sides when he spotted a Catterkiller flying to his right, just up ahead. Sonic simply smashed it into scarp metal.
"Yeah! Just like old times!" Sonic grinned.
"I almost forgot how fun this was!" Tails added.
"Hang ten, little bro! The hidden chamber just up ahead!"
In a loud blast of sound, Sonic and Tails blazed their trail crushed any other obstacle made to halt them. The last one was a metal door. But can you stop a sonic boom like that? No way!
Eggman turned around as he stopped walking on the bridge and looked at them with a frown. The two opposing sides stared at one another as the red flashing lights blazed and the sirens blared. "You? Good grief, no matter what I do, I can never shake you off! Well now, your efforts will be fruitless! In the next five minutes, we will all blow up together!"
Sonic just walked forward. "Eggman… no, Ovi! This is pointless. I'm sorry about turning you into this… but you can stop it! Just disengage the doomsday weapon and come with us."
"Why? So I can be looked up for the rest of my days? I don't think so! And do you think that saying sorry is going to take away the last seven years that I've been like this?! I can't stop thinking about world domination… the joy of taking over everything that I see before me… this is your entire fault that we are here today!"
"It was an accident!" Tails protested. "Sonic tripped by accident! It happens to everyone! And who knows? Maybe we can reverse whatever happened to you! Don't you want become the kindly doctor you used to be?"
Eggman just laughed. "Never! I will never change back! This is my new ambition in life! I have never felt so ecstatic in a long time!" Another rumble was felt; only now a metal red serpent came up from the wall above him. Eggman took an amazing leap, amazing for a fat guy anyway, into the cockpit. "Before we all die, how about a little entertainment to kill time?"
"Ovi, stop!" Sonic retorted. "It doesn't have to go down like this!"
The Egg Viper just fired cluster bombs, causing Sonic and Tails to jump around. "It's no use, Sonic! He's not going to listen!"
"But… but…" Sonic was all shaken. Was this all for real? Was his friend now his nemesis? Sonic slowly collected himself as he closed his eyes. "The Ovi I knew is long gone…" His eyes opened as he took a step forward and readied himself to fight. "Fine, I see how it is."
"Good, Good!" Eggman laughed. "Now you get the picture!"
"Look's that way. Okay then, let's party!" Sonic said as he smirked. In a sonic second, he used a Homing Spin to knock the Egg Viper back.
"Gah!"
"Come on, Eggman! You should know by now that you're too slow for me!"
"I'll show you slow!" Eggman shouted as he used the tail of the Egg Viper to smash through a bridge. Tails easily hovered from the danger, but Sonic was holding on to the rails. "What's the matter, Sonic? Why are you leaving me hanging?" Eggman taunted.
Sonic jumped to the air and used his sidekick for an extra air boost. The Azure Wind came down on the Egg Viper with a powerful kick, making the machine crash into the support beams. With that action, the other support beams began to crumble and debris started to fall everywhere. Sonic jump from trash to trash while Tails flew out of falling junks' reach as the Egg Viper tumbled down and crashed to the floor. The shaking ground and falling trash only added to the tension. Sonic and Tails landed nearby and saw a complex looking computer.
"So that's the doomsday machine," Sonic spoke.
"The only best chance we have to stop the countdown is to destroy it!" Tails said.
"Like you'll ever get that chance!" Eggman yelled as the Egg Viper got back up and fired lasers. Sonic cartwheeled away as Tails flew out of reach.
"Eat this!" Sonic shouted as he jumped on a wall and jumped off with a Homing Spin. The attack was clear and true as it made contact.
"Why you… get a load of this!" Eggman yelled as he fired more lasers around the battlefield. Sonic and Tails were still to fast for him as the jumped around the arena. Sonic made another Homing Spin to the head.
"Too slow! WAY too slow."
"Sonic, don't forget! We need to deactivate the doomsday machine or else everybody's done for!"
"Don't sweat it, little bro! I got that covered!"
Sonic raced up to the giant computer, ready to smash it to bits. But Eggman quickly fired more lasers at the speedy blue hedgehog. One of the shrapnel from the lasers struck the chain of his sapphire medallion, causing it to fall. He soon noticed it was missing but didn't have the time to look for it as he dodged a spinning disk.
"It's no use, give up! There is only t-minus ten seconds left until this stupid planet is blown to smithereens! Even you two pests aren't fast enough to stop it!"
"Wanna bet?" Sonic growled, "Tails, you ready?" His sidekick nodded and the two began to bounce off the walls of the unstable, flashing battlefield. Eggman tried to lock in on them, but their speed was too great. The blue and yellow wacky pinballs finally crashed into the Egg Viper.
"NOOOOOOO!!!" Eggman yelled as he and his weapon got thrown into the computer. There was a huge explosion that forced Sonic and Tails to advert their eyes, signaling that the doomsday weapon, the Egg Viper and most likely Eggman were now destroyed. However, because doomsday weapon was the core of the Final Egg, the fortress was giving way. The sirens were blaring much louder than before.
Sonic could only stare at the trash that his one time friend was buried under. "You left me no choice…" he muttered sadly.
Around them, explosions erupted everywhere. Parts of the base began falling off and the ground was giving way.
"Sonic? Sonic!" Tails shouted as he shook his arm, "I know your upset but we gotta get out of here! The fortress is unstable!"
"What? Oh, sorry bout that," Sonic responded as he shock his head, "Right. Let's go!" The two ran for the exit, but before they could leave, some rubble closed in on them, "Damn!" Sonic swore, "We're stuck!"
Sonic and Tails looked at one another sadly. Now they were trapped and there was no way of getting out. At least… they did what they could… "Well… this is the end of the line, huh Sonic…?"
"Guess so… at least everyone is safe now… and that's what matters the most."
Tails soon saw some more rubble falling down, only this time it was falling on them, "Oh no!"
"Brace yourself!" Sonic yelled as he shielded Tails and himself with his Instashield. As the rubble impacted the shield, Tails saw the trash glow with the flashing lights.
"What is…?!"
Sonic saw this as well and as he did, two words entered his mind… C… C…
"Chaos Control?!"
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As everyone escaped the falling Final Egg, it gave a loud, guttural roaring sound and collapsed in on itself. A mountain of dust, snow and metal burst skyward and blotted out the rising sun.
"No way…." Ash's eyes widen in horror. "Sonic and Tails are still under there!"
"Sonic! Tails!" Mina cried.
"NO! Not let this!" Fiona screamed as she charged into the snowy cloud. She frantically looked around, but all she could see was dust, snow and rubble. Madly, she got down on her knees and started pulling the metal up, thinking only of finding her adoptive little brother and the boy she neglected for so long.
"What are you doing?" Honey asked as the rest of the Freedom Fighters ran up.
"Shut up and help me dig!"
After a horrible fifteen minutes, the party ripped out one last piece of metal. From there, something blue fell out of there. Aleena hesitantly moved forward to confirm her fears.
It was Sonic's medallion.
"No… no…" Tearing up, Aleena fell to her knees and began to cry. "He's taken them both! My son is gone!!!"
Everyone else went silent in respect. Raphael knelled next to his best friend and took her in his arms to comfort her. Sonia hugged the only brother she has left and Honey and Mighty hugged each other as well.
Fiona had the greatest reaction compared to them all, or mostly just the same as Aleena's. She was picked up the medallion and looked at it closely as he tears fell on it. All of her opinions of Sonic were false. And now it was too late for her too say how sorry she was.
"Sonic… Sonic…" she whispered as the waterworks came. "Why did this have to happen… why must always lose people that are dear to me…!"
The next day was to inform the planet of Sonic and Tails' demise. There were no parties. There were no happy go lucky walks in the park. There was just mourning. They had a funeral for Sonic and Tails, even though there were no recovered remains of them. Each Freedom Fighter made their eulogy about how the two changed them. Eventually, it was Fiona's turn.
"Tails was like my own bother, I was made sure that he stayed out of trouble no matter what… but he always wanted to reach the highest of all the heavens… and Sonic… to be honest, I always saw him as an obnoxious selfish brat. But thanks to a friend of mine… I find that he was a true hero. He had a heart of pure gold and he always cared for his friends and made sure that no one got hurt. He was willing to give his life to protect his friends… and he did just that." Fiona looked down at her chest to see his medallion as she held back her tears. "Sonic was a great ally… and a wonderful friend… I won't forget them both…"
After a week of mourning, the clean up began. Everyone that was ever robotosized was derobotosized thanks to the technology that Eggman left behind and Sally's father was freed from the Zone of Silence. Time must have stood still for him because he looked the same as he did when he was thrown in. As the prophesy said, Manic and Sonia became the new king and queen of Mobius. After the event, the newly appointed king and queen (though the still preferred to be called prince and princess), found Fiona sitting on a one of the swings of the Knothole Village.
"Hey Fiona, what's up?" Sonia asked.
"Hey… you two…" Fiona looked over her shoulder. "What was Sonic like?"
"Well… you could consider him like a sunny day. Always optimistic. He was always smiling a lot, but in his eyes, he looked sad. We always tried to ask what was bugging him, but he always said that it was nothing, or he would change the conversation."
"Really?"
"I guess you were too stuck up too speak with him, huh?" Manic inquired.
She nodded. "I was the few orphans here in Knothole. My parents gave their lives to let me escape while they refused to be made into slaves seven years ago. I felt really shook up so when I saw someone like him, I thought that he felt no heart at all."
"Well, lots of people have their ways to deal with grief ya know," He pointed out has he and his sister sat down on the adjacent swings.
"Uh huh." Fiona smiled sadly as she looked up at the blue moon. "I'll really miss him… the both of them."
"Yeah. Us too." Sonia nodded as a tear rolled down her cheek.
Fiona and the prince and princess of Mobius spent then night together in the moonlight. The three were still sadden by what happened to the two important people in their lives, but they where now ready for a new beginning. They just knew that Sonic and Tails were watching them from the heavens right now.
Eh, about that…
One week earlier…
"WAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"
The blue and yellow furballs fell from the sky and onto something hard with a heavy thud. Shaking the fogs out of their heads and nursing their faces, they looked around to find themselves on top of an altar.
"Sonic… where are we?" Tails asked his idol.
"No idea, little dude," Sonic answered. "Maybe it had something to do with that doomsday weapon…" He took a longer look around and found something very interesting. It was a green emerald as tall as he was and around it were seven smaller emeralds on pedestals; each one was a different color. "Yo check it out!" Sonic gasped as he went over there.
"Be careful, Sonic!" Tails warned.
"Don't worry Tails, I got this."
Sonic approached the giant emerald closer and gently place his hand over it. It felt warm and he felt as if it was observing him. Soon, his reflection shifted into an image of an orange female echidna wearing Aztec clothing. Before Sonic could step back in surprise, the emerald zapped him. Sonic was unable to let out a scream and was frozen where he stood. Soon, the other emeralds glowed in each respected color and zapped him also. Tails was forced to shield his eyes from the bright light. Finally, Sonic was thrown back onto the floor.
"Sonic!" Tails gasped as he ran over and helped him up. Sonic still had the energy that was forced inside him coursing in and out. As he slowly opened his eyes, they flashed in a blood red color before returning to his emerald greens. "Are you OK?"
"I'm cool… "
"What did those emeralds do to you?" Tails wondered as he went over to them. He placed his hand over the huge emerald.
It didn't react.
"That's weird…" Tails blinked as he removed his hand. "These emeralds don't seem to give off any negative effect… why did they only react to you?"
"How should I know? I don't even know where we are!"
"Hey!"
The two of them turned around to find a red echidna with a crescent shape on his chest and red and yellow sneakers. He didn't look to happy to find them here. "What are you two doing with my Emeralds?!"
"Your Emeralds?" Sonic arched an eyebrow. "Dude, isn't keeping these things here a bit selfish? Why not send them to a museum? Or better yet, the poor and elderly?"
"The Chaos and Master Emeralds are the ancient relics of my ancestors. More importantly, they the most powerful items in the world, and most possible, the universe! I don't approve of thieves sneaking onto my island to steal my Emeralds! Leave now!"
"Hold on! We aren't thieves! And we don't know were we are so… h-hey! What are you doing with that boulder! Put it down!!"
"I said GET OUT!" the echidna yelled as threw it at them. Sonic and Tails didn't need to be told twice as they quickly flew out of the island which, to their surprise, turned out to be floating. Sonic looked over at the new landscape as he hung onto Tails' leg. He had never seen such ruins before. They all looked so beautiful, as if they were left untouched by Eggman. As the two flew into a city, Tails made it all clear.
"Sonic… I don't think we're on Mobius anymore…"
A/N: If you want to hear what kind of music I used in the showdown between Sonic, Tails and Eggman, search "Time Crisis 4 - Epilogue music" on youtube.