-Chapter 284-

Tundra's Thaw

Station Square

The blizzard outside was raging harder than ever before. Windows rattled and snow was falling hard enough to white out everything around it. In the emergency shelter in Diamond Stadium, Tom Wachowski was doing his best to maintain order and keep everyone there safe despite the escalating situation.

"Everyone, remain calm!" he called out through the bullhorn he had. "Keep as much skin covered as possible and begin moving the vulnerable down to the locker rooms! Sick, elderly, pregnant women, and children all get priority!"

"Tom!" The officer turned toward the sound of his name to see a winded Wade rushing forward. "Tom, we got a situation!"

"What is it, Wade?" Tom asked, lowering the bullhorn.

"That giant, rainbow hole in the sky, above the middle school? I just received a report that it's getting bigger!"

"Fugg…" Tom rubbed his face, feeling his anxiety spike. He forced himself to take a breath, knowing freaking out would be counterproductive. "Okay… Okay. We need to recall the field teams. From there, batten down the hatches and top off the generators. Best we can do is brace ourselves and keep panic to a minimum."

"Right!"

Wade saluted and ran off, leaving Tom to contemplate his next move. He spotted Mr. Stewart aiding in the movement of the vulnerable and quickly pulled him aside.

"Have you heard anything from the Freedom Fighters or your agents in their team?"

Mr. Stewart shook his head. "Nothing, though I can't tell if it's the storm, or-"

Tom held up a hand. "Stopping you there. Sonic hasn't let us down and until I see a body, I'll have faith in him."

At that, Mr. Stewart smiled. "No wonder he speaks so highly of you."

He headed off to continue the evacuation efforts as Tom let his demeanor slip somewhat.

"Still, the fact that we haven't heard anything back is concerning..." He looked up at the ceiling, watching the emergency shutters shake violently. "Sonic, just what kind of monsters are you dealing with now?"

Valhalla

Sonic looked on in horror at the sight of Rotor's unmoving body. He rushed to his friend's side, quickly feeling for a pulse. He almost collapsed in relief when he felt a gentle beat beneath his fingers, but his demeanor took a shift toward the negative as he heard Tundra scoff.

"Pathetic even to the end. And he called himself my son."

Sonic glared at Tundra with nothing but hatred.

"You...! You bastard!" he growled. "Your own son! How could you?!"

"You're surprised?" Tundra replied. "It's as if you've remained ignorant for the past week."

"How can you do this!? How can you hurt and kill people and act like it doesn't even matter!?"

Tundra shrugged casually. "Simple. Because they don't. Because in this world, it's kill or be killed, eat or be eaten. Might makes right. Why can't you see it? With all that power at your disposal, you could be so much more than a sniveling "hero" to the pathetic peons too fragile to defend themselves. But instead, you waste your time on worthless rabble like him. Trash like him deserves to die. It's their purpose."

Sonic was seething in rage, lightning dancing across his body. "Purpose!?"

"Yes. The natural order of things." Tundra crossed his arms, looking down at Sonic. "Tell me, Hedgehog… What do you do when you find yourself unable to do something?"

Sonic was too furious to answer, so his opponent just continued.

"I'll tell you. You push through. You find strength. That is what separates predators from prey. It's what sets us apart from the weaklings like him. The ones who can't push through or find strength. Who refuse to. Who prop themselves up with false power such as machines or ideals. Banding together into herds that If left unchecked… grow and multiply… spreading their weakness like a plague. A plague that drags down and corrupts the strong. It makes them weak, perverts the natural order of the world, and eventually destroys it!"

Sonic gritted his teeth. "You're insane…"

"Wrong, Hedgehog. It is you who are insane. You cling to these ridiculous notions of 'protecting the innocent' and 'helping those who can't themselves' seeing such things as virtues. You may think it makes you a hero, but you're no hero. You are a slave, shackled down by maggots and worms!"

Tundra popped his neck, flexing his shoulders and making a show of popping his joints.

"So let me free you from your chains."

Tundra stepped over Rotor and took a deep breath, his body glowing icy blue. The air around him grew colder, ice crystals shimmering around him as Sonic assumed his own combat stance, Chaos lightning crackling around him.

"Alright then," he said in resignation. "If that's how this ends, then so be it."

The two stared each other down for a moment.

"TUNDRA!"

"HEDGEHOG!"

They charged at each other.

-X-

Inside the Egg-Drasil…

"Well now..."

"This... is a problem…"

Beau and Gunt were in the tower's foyer, face to face with a horde of Einherjar, all armed to the teeth and eager to fight.

"When Aggie said this place was crawlin' with Einherjar, she wudn't kiddin'."

"Starting to wish Sonic was here..." Guntiver said with a wince.

"Well, he ain't, and cryin' about it won't do bupkis," Beau drew and readied his guns. "So saddle up, kid, we got a war ta win."

"Right..."

Guntiver crouched down on all fours, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. When he opened them, his eyes had once again taken on a more vicious light as he bared his fangs.

"Let's rip 'em a one," he growled.

At that, the Einherjar let out a warcry and charged forward, the two Freedom Fighters letting out cries of their own.

"AWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

"YEEEEEHAW!"

Beau fired a few shots into the air before aiming as Guntiver pounced. The final battle had begun.

-X-

After a while, Tundra managed to overpower Sonic, lifting him by the collar.

"Pathetic," the walrus spat. "You're weak! Just like my worthless son! He did not deserve to exist in this world, in MY world! Prepare to join him! Prepare to DIE!"

"Just get it over with so I won't have to hear you preach or look at your fugly face anymore," Sonic spat in discontent.

Tundra scowled, making to crush Sonic's skull, only to feel something grab his shoulder.

"Huh?"

Tundra turned around to see Rotor, on his feet and glaring at him.

"Get your hands off my friend," he growled.

"Rotor!" Sonic cried in relief.

"Well, well. Seems you've still got some strength left," Tundra dropped Sonic, giving Rotor his full attention. "Let's see how long it'll last!"

Tundra threw a punch at Rotor. The younger walrus blocked it, sending him sliding back several feet. As soon as he stopped, the sound of energy charging greeted his ears. Looking up, he saw Tundra preparing to fire an ice beam from his mouth.

"Shit!"

With a roar, Tundra fired the beam. Rotor leaped out of the way, but the blast nicked his heel, causing him to fumble his landing. When Rotor checked, he found that his foot had become completely encased in ice up to his ankle. He had little time to dwell on this though, as the loud, quaking, and rapidly approaching footsteps reminded him that Tundra had more than one way to kill someone.

The elder walrus charged forward, his fist raised. As soon as he was close enough, he brought it down on Rotor, only for him to roll out of the way just before it could pulp his skull.

"Look at you!" Tundra shouted as he continued attempting to crush his son. "All you can do is dodge me!"

"It's called playing to my strengths!" Rotor countered as he continued dodging his father's attempts to crush him. "Something you never understood!"

Tundra readied another punch, slamming it hard into the ground. The resulting shockwave knocked him off his feet and sent him flying toward another part of the city.

"Rotor!" Sonic cried out.

"I've got you now…" Tundra said with a grin as he ran after him.

-X-

Rotor crashed through a window and into one of the abandoned buildings. He skidded across the floor until he hit a table, scattering its contents all over him.

"Owww…" Rotor groaned as he brushed them away and rubbed his head in pain. "Dammit, Dad, why do you have to be so strong?"

Once he had regained his bearings, he noticed what had fallen from the table. An assortment of tools. Wrenches and screwdrivers. A hammer and a pair of pliers. There were even the remains of a soldering pencil and some broken circuit boards.

But the thing that really caught his attention was the box that had been containing them. It was bright yellow and bore several stickers. They were mostly stock science stickers like rocket ships, satellites, and molecules, but there were also a few pictures of Sherman on them as well. Then there was the biggest: a strip of tape that had been stuck across the lid and bore the name of the owner in permanent marker.

"No way…" the young walrus breathed. "It can't be…"

Rotor was pulled out of his stupor by a loud crash and a pair of large, meaty hands grabbing him by the neck.

"Now I've got you!" Tundra shouted as he forced his son to face him and began to squeeze.

Rotor gasped for breath as he tried to break his father's grip, but no matter how hard he tried, the fingers wouldn't budge.

"Dad…please…"

"Save your breath, boy," Tundra barked. "It will be the last one you ever take. Now…prepare…to…"

As soon as Tundra saw where he was, he froze. The two walruses had ended up in what appeared to be a bedroom. The room was old, covered in frost and water damage. There was a hand-carved bed sitting flush to a wall, several woven quilts thrown haphazardly over it. Old shelves dotted the walls, holding several books ranging from Chaos Theory to basic machine manuals to comic books. Any space not dominated by these shelves was plastered with blueprints, long since faded and torn by the ravages of time and nature. A rickety worktable held rusted tools and an old lock box, one that seemed to have rusted shut. For some reason, this box was devoid of frost, the metal warm to the touch.

"What is…?"

A metal clunk greeted Tundra's ears. Looking down, he saw the toolbox at his feet. At first, he paid it no mind, until he too saw the name on the lid: ROTOR.

"It's your room... "

In shock, he dropped Rotor, eyes locked on the room.

Rotor gasped for breath as Tundra looked around, hands shaking.

"It's…" Tundra reached out shakily, feeling the worn wood of the bed frame. "I... I carved this bed… Those shelves… Georgette, she… She made those quilts... she made them for... for our boy."

Rotor remained on the floor, catching his breath before his eyes fell on the lockbox. Moving slowly, he scooted over to it.

"My boy…" Tundra said, his voice shaky and on the verge of breaking. "I'm…I'm killing my boy… Georgette... I'm killing our boy. Your greatest gift to me, and I'm killing him…" Tears fell from Tundra's eyes. "I..."

Rotor reached the box, digging his gauntlets into the metal and tearing it open. Inside were several tiny, glowing gems, the remnants of his Power Gem collection.

"I really am...a monster."

Rotor spared a glance at his father, who slowly removed his glasses. For the first time since their reunion, Rotor saw his father's eyes. They were red with black sclerae, just like Robotnik's, but there was more. Hidden by the glasses were black veins that trailed across the walrus' face and originated somewhere on the top right side of his head. Seeing that, Rotor steeled his resolve. He grabbed the biggest shard from the box, gripping it tight as he pulled himself to his feet. With a mighty bellow, he charged at Tundra, who, still lost in everything, could only turn as Rotor leaped at him. Grabbing him by the collar, he slammed the shard into the origin point of the veins, watching the gem glow.

"Come on, WORK!"

Flashback

Icehole

"Alright, now comes the hard part..." Eggatha brought up some screens showing the Dark Ring. "The Dark Ring. A concentration of Dark Chaos Energy. Think Dark Super Sonic in the form of a Power Ring."

"If that's the case, why hasn't Tundra been completely corrupted yet?" Sonic asked.

"His natural Chaos energy. It negates most of the more harmful physical effects. However, his mind, which the ring has direct contact with, is much more vulnerable."

"I don't know about the rest of you, but I don't think we have the time or power to do brain surgery," Sticks said.

"You shouldn't have to," Eggatha assured. "The ring is nothing but a solid mass of dark Chaos energy. And if my theory is correct, we should be able to draw it out, like when a Lake of Rings spits out a ring."

"Hold on, Aggie." Sonic made a time-out gesture. "We're gonna need more than a theory."

Aggie sighed. "Tell me, Sonic. You've experienced Dark Chaos before. How was it cured?"

"Power Ring energy exposure. It stops and reverses the corruption."

"And when you yourself were corrupted, how was it reversed?"

Sonic raised an eyebrow. "Reckless allies?"

"Chaos-positive allies," Eggatha clarified. "Allies who inadvertently took on that negative chaos and cleansed you enough for your own energy to finish the job."

"She's got a point," Tails realized. "Plus, Kat dunked you in the Lake of Rings that one time. The Chaos-rich waters must have helped with the cleansing process."

"Exactly!"

Sonic nodded. "Alright, that tracks."

"So, if my theory is correct, we can draw out the negative Chaos of the ring. All we need is a powerful enough source of pure Chaos energy. Something to draw the ring out of Tundra."

"Couldn't I use my powers to do it?" Sonic asked.

Eggatha shook her head. "No. If a person does it. then they would just take on the ring, and we'd have to deal with an evil them. You're strong, Sonic, but your mental fortitude is... well..."

"Hey, I resisted Badnik reprogramming with that Mecha Sonic bit!" Sonic objected, offended. "Does that sound mentally weak to you?"

"But you also corrupted twice and nearly killed someone each time," Sally pointed out.

Sonic winced. "Right..."

"What about this?" Kat held out her Chaos Shard necklace.

"Nice idea, but it's too small," Eggatha answered. "It would crumble before it finishes the job. We need something powerful."

"Like a Power Gem?" Rotor offered.

"It would have to be a big one. Otherwise, it won't be able to draw it out all the way."

"But where will we get one big enough?" Amy questioned.

"This place is crawling with Chaos mines, and I'm certain the Egg-Drasil is sitting on a goldmine of them," Rotor replied. "We'll find them"

"In that case..." Eggatha smiled. "We have our teams. We have a plan. All we need to do now is put it into action!"

Flashback Over

Tundra screamed in pain as the shard began to draw out the Dark Ring. The entire time, the room was illuminated by black lightning like a storm had erupted. Then, through the violent light show, Rotor could see the ridge of the ring beginning to emerge from his father's skull.

"Yes!" Rotor cheered. "It's working!"

The Dark Ring rose from the bleeding wound in Tundra's head, the veins retreating with every centimeter. However, just as it reached the halfway point, Rotor saw the gem in his hands begin to dim and crumble near the tip. As the light faded, the ring began to sink back into Tundra's body, causing the veins to spread once again.

"No!"

Without thinking, Rotor grabbed the Dark Ring with both hands. He yelled as the corruption began to crawl up his fingers, but gritted his teeth and pulled with all his might. He pulled and pulled, both he and Tundra screaming. Then finally, it came free with a bloody rip, Tundra crumbling to the ground. Rotor stumbled backward, veins crawling up his arm and eroding his suit.

-X-

Eggdrasil

Back at the Eggdrasil, Guntiver and Beauregard had fought their way up to the throne room and had just finished taking down the last of the Einherjar.

"Whew!" Beau said as he wiped the sweat from his brow. "I think we got 'em all."

"Good…" Guntiver took a deep breath, calming down. "C'mon, let's shut this place down."

The pair headed for the back of the room, where Tundra's throne lay unattended.

"This throne's making my fur stand on end," Guntiver said with a grimace. "I think this is where he's keeping them."

"I think yer right," Beau replied. "A literal seat of power. Sherman never was subtle. And look what's at the top."

He pointed to the top of the throne, which bore the image of a Nordic braid with seven slots carved evenly throughout the pattern. Embedded within these slots were the seven Ice Diamonds, all of them thrumming with power and glowing like fluorescent lightbulbs.

"Seriously!?" Guntiver uttered in disbelief. "He just left them out there for everyone to see!?"

"Like I toldja, not subtle." Beauregard shook his head before walking toward the throne and reached out for them with his prosthetic arm. "Now, let's pry these lil' doggies lose and get outta-"

As soon as his hand touched one of the diamonds, an electrical feedback akin to a literal lightning strike coursed through the limb. The metal warped and exploded, the force of it all sending Beau flying into the opposing wall.

"Mr. Rabbot!"

Guntiver ran over to Beau, the rabbit clutching the broken stub of his arm.

"Dadgum sunnuva no good dirty…" he took a slow, shuddering breath. "What the hell was that!?"

"The Rule of Seven," Guntiver explained. "When seven gems come together, their energy resonates, increasing their power tenfold!"

"Thank Aurora that was the metal arm. If I touched that with the good one…" Beau couldn't help but shudder. "Whatever. What's plan B? How do we stop this thing?"

"I…" Guntiver thought. "I…I…I don't know."

"What do you mean, you don't know!?"

"I mean, I don't know how to remove the Ice Diamonds!" Guntiver snapped. "We touch them, we're dead! We can't contain their power, and we don't have time to make anything! We're screwed!"

He was panting as he said this, his eyes drifting back up to the diamonds.

"We're all screwed…"

-X‐

Rotor stumbled out of his old house, leaning heavily on the doorframe. He was clutching the Dark Ring in his right hand, the corruption eating away at his suit. Everything hurt, but he didn't let it show. Instead, he focused his gaze upward toward the Eggdrasil.

"Dammit…" he grunted, struggling to put one foot in front of the other. "Gotta get there..."

With every step he took, his vision swam and swirled around him, whispers tickling the back of his head

"It's your fault..."

"You did this..."

Rotor kept walking. "Get out of my head…"

"None of this would've happened if you had been better."

"If you had been stronger."

"And you're supposed to be Sherman Walrus' son?"

"You're nothing but a weak... pathetic… coward."

Rotor paused for a moment, letting those words sink in. Then… he began to laugh. It was a mirthless thing, low and cold.

"You know… Hearing it from you… I can finally see the truth."

He laughed harder, a loud, almost manic laugh that echoed through the shattered streets.

"Been better? Been stronger?! There's nothing I can be but me! I was never going to be a warrior of old! That was never who I was! And- and this?!" He gestured wildly to the shattered remnants of his childhood home with his uncorrupted arm. "Look at this! What could I have done to prevent this?! I would have just died like everyone else! This wasn't my-!"

He stopped as if struck by an epiphany. He lowered his arm, his voice losing its manic edge. He looked stunned, a clarity in his eyes that had been absent for the past week.

"This wasn't my fault… It was never my fault… Nothing I did or didn't do could've prevented this."

As he said this, Sonic rounded a corner, looking frantic until he laid eyes on Rotor. He called out his name and then sped forward, skidding to a stop just in front of him.

"Rotor! Thank Aurora I finally found-... Oh…" His gaze fell on Rotor's corrupted arm. Slowly, that gaze drifted upward to his friend's face. "Rotor? Is… is that still you?"

"Yeah…" Rotor grunted, grimacing in pain.

"The Ring… why do you…"

"The Power Gem I found wasn't big enough… I had to act fast…"

Rotor then cried out as more corruption erupted across his arm, more pieces of his armor decaying by the minute. Sonic went to try and help him, but the walrus held up his good arm.

"Don't… You'll just be corrupted too."

"Rotor, you're dying! Your Chaos levels aren't strong enough to hold off all that Dark Chaos! If you keep this up, you'll die!"

"I know…" His eyes then drifted off into the distance where he could see the Eggdrasil. His gaze hardened at the sight and his resolve steeled. "But if I'm going down… I'm taking that damn thing with me."

He activated the rockets in his decaying suit, forcing Sonic to stand back.

"C'mon, Tundra...it's time for you to do something good for once."

Sonic watched him take off then quickly rushed to follow him. Unbeknownst to the hedgehog, a massive figure lurked in the shadows, watching the two of them with an unreadable expression.

-X-

Rotor crash-landed inside of the throne room, the rockets sputtering as they died on his feet. Up ahead, both Gunt and Beau heard the commotion and turned, shocked to see him there.

"Rotor!" Gunt rushed to his side, stopping when he saw the corruption overtaking half of his friend's body. "By the Norns… Rote…"

"Get…" Rotor wheezed, the veins crawling on his neck making it difficult to breathe. "Get… back."

He struggled to his feet, Guntiver taking a tentative step back. About that time, Sonic came skidding in.

"Rotor, what are you doing?" His eyes then fell on the Ice Diamonds still embedded in the throne. "And why is this thing still active!?"

"The Diamonds are too strong, Blue," Beau explained, limping over and waving the broken stump of his metal arm. "We can't remove them to shut down this thang without killin' ourselves. Hell, we can't even touch the damn things."

"We won't… need to…" Rotor gasped.

Everyone turned to him, watching as the walrus stumbled over to the throne, gripping the Dark Ring tightly in his hands. Realizing his plan, Guntiver immediately began to protest.

"Rotor, are you insane?! Look what it did to Beau's arm! If you touch that thing-!"

"I KNOW!" The force of the shout made the wolf stumble slightly. "I know Gunt…But it's our only chance."

"Are you sure this will work?" Sonic asked, nervous and concerned.

"The Dark Ring… it's pure Dark Chaos. It corrupts… and destroys… everything." His eyes fell on the seven ice diamonds, his gaze hardening. "Even the Ice Diamonds."

Before anyone could stop him, Rotor slapped the Dark Ring right in the middle of the Nordic braid, letting it seep into the stone. The results were immediate, corruption spreading right to the Ice Diamonds and throughout the entire tower. Everything began to blacken and rot, crumbling to dust in a matter of moments.

Rotor grinned at this, then pain lanced through his body as he clutched his chest. He fell to his knees, trying desperately to breathe before completely keeling over.

"Rotor!"

"Aww, hell!"

Sonic ripped the decaying pieces of his suit off, revealing the corruption reaching all the way across his chest, clearly affecting his heart.

"Dammit! It's spread too far!" Sonic cursed.

The tower began to shake and smoke.

"The tower's going to blow!" Guntiver said desperately. "Sonic, throw the Warp Ring! We need to get out of here!"

Sonic reached for the pocket of his coat, only to find that the lower half of it had been torn to shreds, including the pocket that had been holding his Warp Ring pouch.

"No!" he cursed. "They must've fallen out when Tundra clobbered me!

"Dammit, what are we gonna do!?" Beau shouted.

"I can help…"

The group turned to the entrance and saw the last person they wanted to see.

"Tundra!?" Sonic shouted in disbelief.

"Dammit, not now!" Guntiver cursed as Beauregard readied his guns.

"Wait, don't shoot!" the walrus cried out, raising his hands defensively.

"Gimme one reason not to!"

"The rings of Saturn!"

The rabbit paused. "Wh-What?"

"You asked Tundra when the rings of Saturn shine the brightest?" The walrus met Beau's eyes, his own soft and blue. "They shine the brightest… when they spin together."

Beau gasped, covering his mouth with his remaining hand as his eyes began to water.

"...Sh-Sherm?" he nearly dropped his pistols. "Sherman…is that you?"

He nodded. "Yeah, it's me. But now is not the time for reunions. We need to get out of here before this thing sends the lot of you to the real Valhalla!"

"Gah! Right!"

Sherman looked down at Rotor, pain etched into his face.

"My boy..." He leaned over and picked him up. "I have so much to apologize for."

After arranging his son on his back, Sherman reached into his pocket and pulled out a Bifrost Stone.

"Get us out of here!" he shouted, the stone beginning to flow as a rainbow portal opened up. "Go! Go! Go!"

Everyone quickly jumped through the portal with Sherman taking the rear. As it closed behind them all, the corruption finally consumed the throne completely. One by one, the Ice Diamonds began to blacken and dim before finally shattering altogether. Without their power, the Ragnium's energy had nothing to contain it. As such, it surged forth and exploded, tearing through the ruined city of Iceborough and granting it its second and final death.

The Icehole

Sally paced around the room, practically strangling Nicole's handheld as she bit divots into her lower lip.

"Come on," she whispered. "Come on, Sonic, pick up!"

"Princess, please, calm down," Nicole soothed.

"The blizzard in Station Square is worsening, Nicole!" Sally snapped. "Something's gone wrong on Sonic's end. They could be in danger or…"

She shook her head.

"No…don't go there." she took a breath. "He's fine. Just fine. He…"

Suddenly, a rainbow portal opened up, dropping Sonic and his team on the floor.

"Sonic! Guys, you're…by Aurora!"

"Sal!" Sonic shouted. "We need a Power Ring! The Medi-Bot! A Chaos Emerald! Something!"

"Right!" Sally nodded. "Keith! Tails!"

"Here!"

Keith and Tails ran over and immediately got to work on treating Rotor's corruption. Keith cracked open his stash of Power Ring capsules and Tails set up his Medi-Bot. Unfortunately, while it was healing the corruption, it wasn't near fast enough.

"C'mon, why ain't it workin'!?" Beauregard demanded. "Give it more juice!"

"It's set to full power!" Tails explained desperately. "The corruption is just too deep!"

"No…"

"Stand aside."

Everyone turned to see Sherman step forward.

"Hold up, Tundra!?" Keith shouted.

"No…" Flip pointed out. "It's…holy fugg, it's Sherman!"

Ignoring the commotion, Sherman reached down and held his son, only wincing slightly as the corruption spread to him.

"Son, can you hear me?"

Rotor could only moan in pain.

"Son, please, I know this hurts, but you have to pull through. Fight it… please."

He grabbed Rotor's hand, squeezing it desperately.

"Come on, Boomer. You've got so many 'I told you so's and achievements to throw at me. You need to rub it in my face how I… how I was wrong. How strong you've become… strong in a way I could never be. So please…" he began to tear up. "Please..."

Finally, Rotor gasped loudly. The rings flashed, fully dispelling the corruption.

"Holy..." Rotor slowly began to catch his breath, looking around. "Guys… Did...Did we do it? Did we win?"

Suddenly, Sherman pulled him into a crushing hug.

"Boomer… Thank the Norns…"

Rotor turned to see his father's face, tears building in his eyes.

"Da...Dad? Dad...is that you?"

"It's me, Boomer…" Sherman caressed his son's face, openly sobbing. "You did it… You freed me. I'm home…"

Hearing that, Rotor broke down, clinging to his father as they both cried. For the first time in years, they could both begin to properly heal.

Author's Note:

And thus, the icy saga of Tundra and his Einherjar comes to a close. Of course, this story is far from over. After all, one doesn't recover from a blizzard overnight, and a shattered family has a lot of catching up to do. Tune in next time for the Artik Aftermath to see how the story plays out for our icy heroes.

Please R&R. Until next time!