CHAPTER 12

Ginny could only gasp in horror as the main building exploded in a brilliant burst of flame. That had been one in a chain reaction…she had tapped into the self-destruct sequences and devices imbedded in the facility's wall. If one went…the others were close to follow.

Sure enough, another explosion shook the island as a huge fireball threw itself into the sky. Another…and another…

"GET TO THE SHORE!" She screamed. "THE SHORE! QUICKLY!"

The group quickly hightailed it to the water, many of the GUN soldiers following them; not to fight, but out of fear. Ginny herself was about to follow them when a hand caught her shoulder.

"Sonic and Shadow! Where are they?" Bandit demanded. Her white fur and gray suit was soot-stained and dark.

"They were…" Ginny trailed off. "Shadow…" she couldn't say it. No way…he had been caught in the first explosion…

"We have to find them." Bandit said, almost calmly.

Ginny could only nod and begin following the other guinea pig through the burned and burning forest, coming to the glowing remains of the first building. They quickly began searching the area, coughing and eyes watering from the smoke.

"They're not here!" Ginny shouted. "Bandit!"

"They have to be!" Bandit responded. She stopped and knelt down, retrieving a jewel that was glowing slightly in the light of the fires.

"A Chaos Emerald…" Ginny whispered to herself. She found herself running towards Bandit and tearing the jewel away from her, holding it out in front of the burning trees and pleading, "Point me in the right way! Track Shadow's Chaos Energy! Anything!"

To her amazement, the jewel began to glow brighter. Ginny turned it to the side, where it dimmed. She brought it back around, and it glowed brighter than the flames surrounding them. She began running in that direction, Bandit right behind her. Only when the jewel became too intense to look at did she lower it and search frantically.

There…in the undergrowth…was that a scrap of blue fur?

Ginny knelt next to it, feeling tears fall down her muzzle as she realized it was more than a scrap of fur…it was Sonic. Burned terribly and most likely dead. But she refused to believe it and lifted him from the hot ground, handing him to Bandit. "Get him to the others! Quickly! I'll be ok!"

Bandit nodded and rushed off. Ginny squinted at the Chaos Emerald and followed its burning light a bit further until she found a gloved hand sticking out of a patch of weeds. She knelt next to Shadow's side, turning him onto his back and searching frantically for a pulse.

There was a creak and crack of wood and the bone jarring crash of a tree nearby. Ginny stood and picked Shadow up in a fireman's carry, trying to find her way out of the forest that was alight with fire. Every direction was the same…every tree duplicated in flames and smoke…

"This way!" Bandit shouted. Ginny saw her outline against the flames and struggled blindly forward, tripping over a fallen log but refusing to drop Shadow. She gritted her teeth and ran through the blaze, shutting her eyes. She didn't know if she would make it, but if she did…

Ginny only stopped when her feet met cool sand. She dropped to her knees and pitched forward, Shadow falling from her shoulders and lying limply on the sand. Footsteps were nearby, and then two strong hands were pulling Ginny up onto her back.

"Wh…who?" She asked softly, coughing up soot-stained bile.

"Ginny! It's me, Tails! Come on, Knuckles has the boat! We're getting out of here!"

"But…Bandit… she's in the woods…" Ginny could hardly see. Tails was a smear of yellow and the fire in the background was nothing but orange.

Tails didn't say anything. Ginny stood, forcing herself to focus. Her vision cleared a bit and she began to head back to the woods. "I saw her not a minuet ago! Come on!"

"Ginny…" Tails said. Ginny turned to see his big blue eyes filled with tears. "Ginny…Bandit didn't make it. She went back to find you…everyone saw it…the tree that fell..."

Ginny halted in her tracks as the remembered the tree falling. But…Bandit had called for her after the crash. There was no way…

An explosion bigger than all the others combined knocked Ginny off her feet. The very ground was buckling and threatening to split as the island shook. The final self-destruct sequence.

"GET SHADOW TO THE BOAT!" Ginny cried, tears coming freely. Together, she and Tails managed to make it to the boat, Shadow supported between them. Blaze and Rouge took him below deck and Ginny leaned over the edge of the boat, staring at the island as Knuckles gunned it forward back towards stable land.

"Bandit…" Ginny whispered as the Island exploded in an deafening bang, bits of land showering the boat even at their distance. The fires were extinguished as the island sunk beneath the waves…forever lost.

XxXxXxXx

Blaze, Rouge and Silver had found a supply of bandages and healing ointments in a supply closet under deck. They then went to work bandaging and treating Sonic and Shadow's wounds, not stopping once until both hedgehogs were pulled from the brink of death and resting as comfortably as they could on two small couches.

"Will they …live?" Tails asked softly.

"I think they'll pull through. Although…those were some of the most severe burns I've ever seen." Rouge said. "We'll get to mainland and get them treated further there."

Ginny, who was sitting on the bottom step of the cabin, said, "Before I was captured by the corrupted GUN soldiers…I learned that most of their information and recruits were on Prison Island. I think we just crushed the revolution."

"Thank Chaos." Blaze whispered. "I can't imagine the horror or the death that would have resulted in that."

Ginny handed the Chaos Emerald to her. "I've kept this for a while…I almost forgot about it. I don't want nor need it." She headed up above deck.

"Almost forgot about this." Blaze admitted quietly. "After all that…and we still have it. Amazing."

XxXxXxXx

2 MONTHS LATER…

"…and the rest of the corrupted GUN soldiers were taken away!" Tails finished explaining to Sonic what had happened since the rescue.

"Really? That's a relief…what about Mephiles? Did he go down with the island?"

"We think so… no one's seen or heard of him since. Good thing, too." Ginny smiled sadly. "That guy really scared me."

"How's Shadow doing?" Sonic asked. "I mean, if I ended up like this, he's bound to be a lot worse."

"He's recovering a bit faster than you, actually." Silver said. "Which I suppose is good. He got most of the hit in that explosion."

Sonic just nodded, staring out the hospital window and sighing. "So…Bandit's-"

"Yes." Ginny said curtly. "She died protecting you."

"She died a bit more than just protecting us, I think." Sonic said. "She died a friend…didn't she?"

Ginny stared at the floor, not responding for a long time. "Yes," She whispered. "A friend. The most brave friend I could have ever asked for. Now dead, just like my family."

Silence reigned over the room for a long while, not breaking until Tails said quite timidly, "She died a hero."

XxXxXxXx

This chapter came so close to killing me. I spent five days staring at a bunch of 'XxXxXxXx', trying to end this chapter. And this is what I came up with. My guinea pig, dead in both real life and this story. Also I want to thank my top reviewers, DIM666-Insane Leader and CharlieTheHedgehog! You're awesome!...Oh, and on short notice, Theanimorpherz!

Miss ya, Bandit. Hope you have all the celery you can eat.

Hasta la Vista, Readers!

Lordoftheghostking28

BUT WAIT!

...one more chapter to go!