Aftermath

"End of the road, Prower." The fennec's eyes narrowed. "Give my regards to Light Gaia in the afterlife."

Tails struggled for his life, as the mad Kitsunami gleefully tired to drown him with the water coming from his pack. Reaching out from the column of water he was trapped in, the two-tailed fox managed to hit a button on the sky patrol's computer console, that sent an electric shock tight through the spot Kitsune was standing on.

"AHHHHHHH!" The fennec cried out, as Tails manged to break free of the column of water. The two-tailed fox then spin-dashed at Kitsunami, sending him flying backwards.

"Still at it, eh Kit? " Tails snapped, as the fennec shot a blast of water at Miles Prower. "I can't believe you're still caught up in this life, long after your partner let go of her hatred, and gave it up!"

"Shut up! You and your blue buddy are the reason the original Surge left me!" The fennec wailed, slapping at Tails with two water tentacles from his control pack. "I had to make a new one, just so I wouldn't be alone!"

"She walked away from that life, Kit, not you!" Miles replied, flying around in circles to avoid the tentacles. "The original Surge wanted to take you with her, as a little brother! The G.U.N. scientists were going to remove your cybernetics, just like they did with hers! You could've gone back to your original life, but you threw it all away!"

"I didn't remember that original life, Surge was all I had!" Kitsunami wailed, launching at Tails with his own spin dash, which Miles Prower easily dodged. "Now, I'm gonna take away everything YOU hold dear, when the time is right!"

"You, Kit! What's taking you so long?!" Clutch voice came over Kit's communicator. "We got the princesses, and we're pulling out!"

"What about my mistress!" Kit wailed into the communicator. "You can't just leave her there!"

"We found her unconscious body in an alley, but we have to move fast!" The crime boss replied. "Hurry up, and met us at the rendezvous point!"

"Sorry, two-tailed freak, but I gotta run." Kitsune launched himself backwards towards the open hatch with a blast of water, then leapt off the Sky Patrol. "I'll have to beat kick your tail in some other time!"

Tails rushed to the hatch, but the fennec fox was gone.

"Damn..."

Rushing back to the console, Tails performed a scan on the city to get an idea of the situation below. "I sure hope Sonic is okay."

...

It was early in the morning, when Sonic finally came to amongst the rubble on the alley. Pulling himself back to his feet, the blue hedgehog look around at all of the shattered pieces of swatbots, and the debris from the buildings and cars. Looking around, he noticed that the body of Surge was gone, and he assumed that her allies had rescued her. Wandering out into the street, he saw damage and destruction everywhere, as medical and emergency first responders were helping to clear away rubble, and tend to the wounded. The blue blur was about to go see if the rescue teams needed help, when a voice cried out;

"SONIC!"

The still groggy blue blur turned, and was almost tackled to the ground by a rushing ball of pink quills in a red dress, with a concerned look on her face.

"Oh, Sonic! Thank Gaia I found you!" She sobbed, holding him tightly. "I thought that green electric bitch had killed you, for sure!"

"It's good to see you, blue boy." Cream snarked out, standing nearby and crossing her arms. "Tails would never forgive me if something happened to you."

"It' okay, Amy... Cream. I'm all right, I-" Sonic trailed off, as he saw a familiar green plane land nearby, just outside the debris field. "Wait... the Chaotix plane? What the heck are they doing here?"

The blue blur's question was soon answered, as Relic and Betty stepped off of the plane, helping a limp and wounded familiar red echidna.

"Knuckles!" Sonic called out, rushing over to his friend. "Are you all right, buddy?"

"Grandfather Athair said you and the others would be here." Knuckles coughed out, as the two girls tried to hold him up."Sonic, the swatbots attacked the island... they're were two many of them... with chaos's help, we protected the master emerald, but..." he coughed up a trickle of blood. "... Alucion. T-they took princess Alucion... I was so blind, why did I not see she was..."

Knuckles almost collapsed, and Sonic motion the girls to the sky patrol. "Get him on board! I'll ask one of the paramedics to come and look at him in our med bay!"

As the Pika and the butterfly helped him to the ship, Sonic saw several of the wounded being brought from the hotel. He saw that coyote- Antoine, sitting on the edge of a stretcher with a bandaged head, while his rabbit wife stood nearby in her torn ballgown, holding his hand. Then he the bat King, Komometz, limping out of the building, wings shredded. He just couldn't believe the level of devastation he was witnessing.

"Sonic!" A voice called out. The blue blur turned to see a familiar green hedgehog with spiky hair limping towards him. "Bro, over here!"

"Manic!" Sonic zoomed over towards the green prince. "Manic how is everyone? Is our sister safe?"

"Sonic... they took her... they took Sonia, they took Lupe, they took all the princesses." Manic sputtered out, still in a daze. "We all fought back, but there were too many. Monkey Kahn, King Umberto... they're all getting they're wounds treated, but..."

"Where did they take her?!" Sonic demanded, taking his brother by the shoulders. "Please, where did they go?"

"Get your team assembled aboard the Sky Patrol, Sonic." Manic replied, shaking his head. "Prince Alfonzo wants to have a word with you all."

...

"His name, is Ixis Nagus." Alfozo told the gathered heroes, as a holographic image of a horrible looking being materialized on the screen. "He is a powerful sorcerer, and the one responsible for kidnapping the princesses."

Sonic, Tails, Amy, Cream, and the still-wounded but recovering knuckles were sitting in a circle of chairs in the Sky Patrol's briefing room, while Prince Alfonzo Ghianda was briefing them about the recent events, and what led up to them.

"In the time of my grandfather, King Lorenzo Ghianda, Nagus was the royal court mage of Sabato island. He had learned Chaos magic at the feet of his teacher, the previous court mage." The prince looked away from the image, and to the assembled heroes. "At first, he performed Chaos magic that was beneficial and useful to the people. But then, one day he began to delve into the energies of dark Gaia, which bubbled up from the planet core through a secret volcanic vent on the island he had found." Alfonzo closed his eyes. "The dark Gaia energy twisted and mutated his body, giving him the body parts of different islander animals, and drove him insane. He then used his dark magic to try and take over the island, but my ancestor defeated him. Nagus was then banished to the special zone- a twisting and turning maze of strobing lights and psychedelic colors. he remained imprisoned there... until recently."

Everyone looked back at the hologram of this hideous monster; who seemed to have the face of an ape, the sharp fangs of a tiger, a pair of bat-like ears, and a rhino horn on his head. He also had a short white beard, one claw-like hand, and purple robes that covered any other mutations over his his entire body- in other words, being fully clothed, something extremely physically uncomfortable to male islanders, due to the sensitivity of their fur and skin.

"That's a very interesting history lesson, your highness." Knuckles piped up respectfully. "But what does it have to do with the grabbing of the princesses?"

"Naugs continued to be imprisoned in the zone for centuries, until Eggman's takeover of the planet ten years ago. When he conquered our island, Robotnik banished Salvatrice and I's father, King Umberto, to the special zone. Sally let a team in to rescue our father, but apparently Nagus disguised himself as a team member, and hitched a free ride out of the zone with the rescue squad. We believe he's been laying low for the past ten years, using his magic to hire goons and build up his resources in the criminal underworld, until he was ready to make his move... which he has now done."

"Great Gaia, so that's it." Amy shook her head in disbelief. "But why kidnap the princesses? Why not take more valuable hostages, like the kings or queens?"

"I've talked to the other royals, before they were taken away. We don't think he was after hostages, e think he's after something far worse." Alfonzo stopped to take a breath. "I take it every one of you, being an islander, has heard the name of Mammoth Mogul?"

The utterance of that name aloud, made everyone in the room's blood run ice cold. There was silence for several minutes, before Sonic finally spoke up.

"I know of him, from the storybooks and legends Uncle Chuck gave me." The blue blur looked around the room. "Mammoth Mogul was the first great islander conqueror, from thousands of years ago, when the Ancients arrived on earth with the chaos emeralds. Mogul went to the Starfall Islands, and stole the emeralds from the ancients, using their power to turn the ancients into the harmless chao, and then used the power of the chaos emeralds to launch a war of conquest across the islands."

"Yes Sonic, that's correct." Alfonzo nodded. "Using the power of the emeralds to enhance his chaos magic, Mammoth Mogul waged a war of conquest across the islands, in an attempt to unify all islanders under his tyrannical rule. It was only a small group of five heroes- a hedgehog, an echidna, a squirrel, a wolf, and a fish- who were able to steal back the emeralds, and discover the power to go super for the first time. These five champions were able to defeat his armies, and slay the tyrant. The freed islanders were so grateful, that they made the five champions their rulers. The first five royal houses among we islanders- The hedgehogs of South Island, house Ghianda of Sabato island, the chiefs of the wolf pack nation, the royal aquatic monarchy of Meropis, and the royal house of the echidnas- are the direct descendants of the five champions."

"So... he's going to sacrifice the princesses, the descendants of the ones who slew Mammoth Mogul, in an attempt to resurrect this ancient powerful being." Everyone in the room stared at him in surprise, and Tails just shrugged. "What? Sonic and I watch a lot of fantasy and action movies, this stuff happens all the time in them."

"How did you come by Mogul's plan, your majesty?" Cream asked suspiciously. "It seems awfully convenient that you're telling us this now."

"The royal houses have... a spy in Nagus's forces." The prince held up a communicator. "He only discovered the full nature of the Wizard's scheme after the princesses were abducted. We have 48 hours until Nagus begins the ritual, he won't harm the girls until then."

"We have to rescue the princesses, and stop Mogul's rebirth." Sonic declared, standing up. "Alfonzo, give tails the coordinates for the location of Nagus's hideout. Cream, go tell Relic and Betty to head back to the Chaotix mansion, and wait for us there. Knuckles-"

"I am over my wounds, so I am going with you." The proud echidna warrior declared. "I did not believe Alucion's claims that she was a princess, and that has contributed to this problem. I will not abandon her to that mad wizard's scheme."

"All right, if you feel up to it." Sonic hit his palm in his hand. "Okay, team! As Princess Salvatrice would say- 'let's do it to it!"

"Sonic, please don't quote that so flippantly." Alfonzo groaned, as everyone ran off to complete their tasks.

...

After having programmed in the coordinates, Tails had returned to his room to get some rest. There was a soft knock at the door, the fox hit the button to open it.

"Come in." The two-tailed fox hit the button, and the door slid open.

"Hello tails, I just got Cheese to sleep." The bunny girl sauntered over to Tails bed, and sat down beside him. "I thoguht I'd come see how you were doing."

"Oh, I''m okay, just got done making the preparations for tomorrow." Ttails looked away from her, and sighed. "Look. Cream... I'm sorry I called and snitched on you to Sonic and Amy, after you came back here. It's just, you weren't acting like you... the sweet and gentle Cream I know and..." He hesitated, his face turning a deep shade of red. "...and love."

Cream's eyes went wide, and for a brief moment, Miles Prower caught a glimpse of the sweet and innocent young woman he had come to love over the past decade. But it was gone in a flash, and the rebellious young rabbit was there before him again.

"It's okay Tails, you were just trying to look out for me, and I really appreciate that." Cream took his right hand in hers, and gently caressed his cheek with her left hand. "But my mom tried to protect me too, and it was a bit smothering. I'm a big girl, and I can look after myself."

"Yeah, you're mom was wrong to be so overprotective..." Tails hesitated."... but don't you think you might be going a little bit overbroad with the whole 'youth rebellion' thing?"

"I don't know Tails... but what I do know is, we're going on a mission tomorrow, we may not be coming back from." Cream reached over, and hit the switch to close and lock the door,. "I think we should enjoy what time we have left... "

"Uhhh, Cream? What are you doing?" He asked nervously, as Cream removed her tube top and miniskirt. "I don't think we-"

"Hey Tails, you're a genius..." She got closer to Tails, as the two-tailed fox's heart was now beating faster. "...want me to show you how rabbits multiply?"

"Wait... I...errr... mmmmmmmm." He was cut off, as Cream's lips pressed against his. Tails tried to think, but as the hormones and adrenaline rushed though both of their bodies, suddenly neither of the two young adults couldn't think.

Needless to say, neither Tails nor Cream got much sleep that night.

...

Later that evening, Sonic the Hedgehog was on the roof of the sky patrol, looking up at the stars, when he heard a pair of soft footsteps come up and stand beside him.

"A ring for your thoughts." A pink female hedgehog's voice spoke.

"Is that all they're worth?" He replied, looking over at her.

"A red ring, then." Amy gestured beside him. "Mind if I lay down here?"

The blue blur shrugged. "Suit yourself."

The two lay there for several minutes before Amy Rose spoke up. "You know, we've faced a lot of crazy things over the years; Chaos...the Timer Eater... the deadly six... the Metarex invasion... and even thoguh the stakes have been higher before, I've never been this scared we're not going to make it this time."

"We'll make it though just fine, Ames." Sonic just shrugged. "Always have, always will."

"Boy I wish the rest of us could have your confidence." She laughed. "I almost envy it sometimes."

Things were quiet for another minute, before Sonic drew a breath, and worked up his courage.

"Amy, just in case we don't make it this time, there's something I want to tell you, I lo-"

"Wait, is this the long awaited 'I love you' confession?" She laughed aloud. "Sonic I've known that for years. Thank you for finally stop pretending that you don't thoguh."

The blue blur's years perked up in shock. "What?! Wait, when did you-"

"It was back during the Starfall island incident, ten years ago, remember?" She looked over, smiling at him softly. "Don't you remember saying 'Amy, I wish I'd made up my mind sooner'? That was the moment I knew you loved me... the moment I knew we belonged to each other." She began softly running a gloved hand through his spiky quills. "Don't you remember all the times sense then? the dates at Twinkle park? The delicious meals at restaurants around the world- we didn't have to take a train or plane, you carried me there at super-sonic speed!" She laughed. "Don't you remember the time we watched the sun rise on highest peak at ice cap zone on New Years day together? Or the time you took me to meet your Uncle Chuck, who asked 'hey sonny boy, when you gonna put a ring on the finger of this little sweetie pie?' You don't even remember the weekend at casino night zone, when you and I had alcohol for the first and only time in our lives, and security caught us drunk and making out by the swimming pool?" Amy giggled at the memory. "Good thing they caught us before we went farther than that."

"Huh, I guess we have been dating this whole time, and I'm the only one who didn't know it." Sonic shook his head. Rolling over, he gently caressed the pink hedgehog's cheek."I'm sorry I let fear hold me back for so long, and kept me from being there for you fully."

"Sonic, you don't have to be afraid. The world will always change, and things and people will move on and cease to be..." She rolled over on her side, staring straight into his deep green eyes. "... but the one thing that will never ever change, is my love for you. I promise, no matter what happens, I will always be with you, in body in this life and in spirit in the next, throughout all of eternity. I love you, Sonic the Hedgehog, I always have, and I always will."

Sonic stared back into her deep green eyes for a moment, then pressed his lips against hers. For both of them, the moment was bliss; they drank of each other, Sonic tasting the sweet scent of roses and the fire of her passion, and Amy tasting speeding blue wind and his fierce desire from freedom. Both found a boundless joy in each other, but it ended as soon as their lips parted.

They stared at each other for a moment, both of their faces a deep burning red, before Amy finally spoke.

"Oh... uhhhh... I'd better get to bed... gotta get up early tomorrow, you know." She laughed nervously, getting up and practically running for the stairs. "You coming, Soni-" She cut herself off, using that name to address Sonic the Hedgehog for the last time "You coming, honey?"

"Nah, I think I'll stay up here for a little while longer." He laughed, as she went down the stairs. "See you tomorrow, Ames!"

As his girlfriend (damn, it felt good finally thinking that!) went back down the stairs, Sonic gazed up at the stars, sating at then in infinite wonder.

Next: Back to Chaotix Manor!