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Sonic and Sash: Tides of Chaos
Act 3

Epilogue: Reunion and Restoration

Darkness. Pain swirling around her entire head as Sash moaned in pain, her chest thumping as her heart was starting to regain its normal pace. Sash shot up, her eyes shooting open as her vision started to return, blurry at first. She blinked a couple of times, restoring her vision to find herself... naked, in a Life Petal spa in the Life Petal bath chambers of the Shang Tu palace. Initially this confused her a bit, last she remembered was that she was almost dying in a massive crater wile reaching for Sonic... at that point she had gasped. What had happened to him? Was he okay? Her answer would come soon as a groan came from beside her, she looked over to see none other than the blue blur himself slowly regaining consciousness, sitting up while holding his head in pain before he blinked his eyes a bit before looking around, finally seeing Sash right next to him. There was a moment of silence between the two... then Sash smiled, and the two met in a hug.

"Sonic..." She spoke lightly. "We did it..."

Sonic nodded, smiling. "We did it together Sash..."

The two held the hug for a while, until they came to the realization neither of them were wearing anything. They both let go of eachother and blushed heavily, Sonic rubbing the back of his head while Sash covered up her ample bust with her arms. Eventually the awkwardness passed and Sash looked back to Sonic, a concerned look on her face.

"Sonic..." Sash spoke. "Wh-what happened? The last thing I remember was us warping that giant station away after we..."

"...we stopped Tails and Carol." Sonic finished. "But the cores... neither of us got those, did we?"

Sash shook her head. "I blacked out..."

"We're lucky we found you two still alive." A voice said, turning out to be none other than Neera, entering her room with her staff at he side. "You two were a wreck when we found you."

"Wh-what about the Kingdom Vortex cores?" Sash asked.

"Recovered without any problems." Neera replied. "Needless to say, the kingdoms are in your debt for what you've done. You've kept Avalice safe again, Sash Lilac."

Sash merely nodded.

"Take the time you need you two." Neera said, turning to leave. "Zao should have one of his troops coming with the outfits you two are wearing for tonight's ceremony."

"Ceremony?" Sonic asked.

"We need to commemorate your heroism, of course." Neera answered, before walking out of the room, shutting the door behind her. Sash, turned back to Sonic, her arms lowered now since the two were alone.

"Well..." Sash spoke. "I wasn't expecting that to be perfectly honest..."

"Neither was I." Sonic said, looking up at the ceiling. "To be honest... I don't really care about that ceremony right now. What about Carol and Tails?"

"And Milla..." Sash spoke, looking worried. She flinched a bit as she felt the flesh of her tendrils regrowing because of the healing waters. "Neera and Gong got out of there safely, but I'm still worried..."

Sonic nodded. "We can check on it once we're done healing..."

"...right, so, Sonic, do I look okay?" Sash said as she stood in front of him, wearing the gold-trimmed red Chinese dress she had been provided, the crystals in her chargers now red to match with her dress, her hair having been done neatly with her tendrils curled fancily to look elegant and a small red flower in her hair. In her right hand she held a small red Chinese fan and was wearing sparkling red formal shoes. "I mean, this is what they provided, so..."

"I personally think you look fine Sash." Sonic, said, a smile on his face, now wearing a new red vest with a pair of dress shoes, his spines being combed back to look decent. "And hey, you know I wouldn't lie about your beauty."

Sash blushed a bit. "Thanks..." She answered as she walked over to Sonic, a light smile on her face. "So... shall we?"

Sonic nodded, taking her hand. "Let's." The two walked out of the spas and into the main palace room with the overlooking balcony, where the two massive robotic shells of Metal Tails and Metal Carol were still laying, the guards having issues trying to even move the gigantic shells out of the area. It was a funny sight honestly, but that wasn't what Sash and Sonic focused on. Standing nearby the shells were a familiar green wildcat, now wearing a strapped yellow knee-length dress and yellow shoes with a short red bandana around her neck and yellow formal shoes, a basset hound with orange hair wearing a green mid-thigh dress with a white jacket and formal green boots, and an orange kitsune wearing a closed green vest and formal shoes, his bangs combed back a bit. They froze up when they heard the footsteps walking in and the instant they saw the two, well...

"Lilac!"

"Sonic!"

Soon the five had met in a massive group hug, all thankful that eachother had survived what had happened. "Ohmigod, Lilac..." Carol cried, hugging her draconian friend tightly. "I'm so happy you're still alive..."

Sash cried a bit. "Same here Carol..." She spoke. "Same here..."

"Sonic..." Tails said. "I was so afraid that you had... had..." He hugged Sonic tighter, trying to hold back his tears.

Sonic smiled a bit. "Aw, come on buddy, you really think anything's gonna send me or Sash six feet under?" He said, ruffling his hair a bit.

"Lilac!" Miila said, hugging Sash, lightly whining. "Thank god you're alive..."

Sash held the basset tightly. "It's okay Milla... I'm here now..." She spoke softly, before looking over to Carol. "Hey, Carol, can you do something for me?"

Carol's ears perked up. "Hm? What's up Lilac?"

Sash shook her head. "Please, you don't need to call me by that anymore." She said, letting go of Milla. "Lilac was my family name... and an unrealistic ideal of what I wanted to be. You can call me by my actual name."

Carol looked confused. "Wait, why?"

Sash lightly smiled. "I've come to accept myself of who I am now. I don't need to hide my name behind an unrealistic goal of trying to be a 'hero'." She spoke.

Carol was silent for a second, then nodded. "Okay," She said, smiling. "...Sash."

Sash smiled a bit, then had asked, "So, where's Spade and Neige? They made it out, didn't they?"

Tails nodded. "Spade got called out for a bit and Neige went with him. He said they'd be back before the ceremony."

Sash nodded. "Alright then. So... everyone ready for it?"

Sonic nodded, taking Sash's hand. "I'm ready." He said, giving Sash a light kiss on her cheek. Sash blushed again, a light smile on her face as she turned towards the balcony.

"Alright," She said. "Let's go."

The mass of crowds outside of the Shang Tu palace were massive, Avalicians trying to squeeze in to see the palace balcony. People even lined the still metallic buildings and several floating airships from combined fleets of the three kingdoms. The crowds had soon quieted down as the Magister had stepped out onto the balcony, along with King Dail and Mayor Zao, followed by General Gong and Neera-Li, along with what looked like a half-dragon half-mongrel and a half-roboticized tengu, and finally Sonic, Sash, and the others. The three leaders each went up to their respective podiums, Zao needing a stepladder to be at the same height to speak into the microphone as the other two leaders. The Magister was the first to speak.

"Citizens of Shang Tu, Shang Mu, Suigang, and all Avalicians alike," The Magister spoke, his arms resting on the podium. "We are gathered here today to honor those who have been called upon to save our world once again. Over a year ago, our planet was wrought upon by an alien warlord bent on stealing our energy from the Kingdom Stone, now the Kingdom Vortex. It was thanks to the efforts of honor and courage shown by three young ones that had proven of our world having a future. Now, merely a week ago, we were brought under a threat again by a mad doctor from another world, threatening to terraform and roboticize all our worlds, and those individuals rose to the call again to help protect our world." The Magister rightened himself a bit before continuing. "Now then, if I may, I would like to hand off the speaking privilege to the two that had saved our world; you two, you may now step up to the podium." The Magister then backed off and let both Sonic and Sash walk up to the podium itself. Sash was the first to speak.

"...yes, hello everyone." Sash spoke into the microphone. "Of course, we all know why we are here today... I mean, it was something similar for over a year ago... but that isn't what I want to discuss to you about... I wish to discuss something I've learned over the past year, something that... I personally think is true, and I'd like to address it now." Sash cleared her throat before she continued. "People always view me as 'special' or 'different' because of what I am; a dragon, one of the major species that had shaped Avalice's history and granted us the power of the now Kingdom Vortex. But... to me, that's all it just is, a status; a species. To me, I don't need to be made a big deal of or be put into a special position because of my species. What I learned is that, it's not about what makes me special... it's about what I'm fighting for is special: my home, my friends... my family... and it's something we all share as Avalicians. We all have something special that we hold dear to our hearts that we don't ever want to lose; a close friend, a family member, a sibling, a loved one... they're all something none of us ever want to lose or let go. To me... that's what I feel is important. It's not a matter of being special, its a matter of having that something special to fight for." She said, bowing slightly. "I hope you all can understand as to what I mean from this... thank you." She said, before standing back up. Silence adorned the crowds before one person started clapping... and then another... and another... and soon the entire crowd was roaring in cheers and applause. Sash smiled as her cheeks blushed, a small tear running down her cheek as she stepped back, her heart filled with happiness. Sonic took a step up to the podium, and the crowd got quiet...

Sonic merely nodded. "Hello everyone..." He said calmly. "Of course, I can't really top what Sash had said... but I at least have something to add. If you're wanting to be the best you can be, it's about accepting who you really are, not about trying to overexaggerate yourself and trying to be something because you hate what you normally see inside you. Accepting yourself and any of your past failures is okay as long as you're willing to move on from those experiences for the better. That's something I truly think is important; its looking at yourself and accepting who you really are... that's something I think we can all look at." He finished, before giving a small bow. "Thank you." He said, backing away from the podium. The crowd cheered in acceptance of Sonic's words before the Magister came back to the podium, raising a hand to silence the crowd.

"Thank you, you two." The Magister said, before turning his attention back to the crowd before him. "Now, it is my honor to bestow upon these seven a gift; one that will last them for a lifetime." He said, before holding up a pendant in one of his hands, a small, glistening orb at the bottom of it. "This medal replica of the original Kingdom Stone is bestowed upon those who show their acts of courage, bravery, and honor. This gift is meant to show that of the very dragons that created the Stone itself, living on within the hearts of these seven warriors until the end of time." When the Magister had finished that sentence, Neera had stepped forward, presenting the pendants to the main seven and putting them around each of their necks, finally finishing with Sash and Sonic. With that completed, Neera gave a slight bow to the two before stepping back to her original position. Gong then had stepped forward, holding both of the cores before handing one off one to Sonic and the other to Sash. He then lightly nodded to the two before returning back to his position. "Now..." The Magister spoke. "Sonic, Sash, please step forward together with the retrieved cores." Both the hedgehog and the dragoness stepped forward, holding the cores. "Now, release the Kingdom Vortex back into the skies of Avalice. Restore our planet to its former glory!" Sonic and Sash both nodded and backed up, then, with smirks on both their faces, ran forward and jumped, kicking the cores away from the balcony before landing on it. The cores curved outwards before spinning back in the air and crashing into eachother, shattering the casings and releasing the energy into the skies of Avalice. The blue crystal-like energy swirled and pulsated before it exploded outward, resulting in the crystaline blue swirl above the three kingdoms. The crowd cheered in a roaring applause as the Vortex now swirled in the sky, Avalice now restored to its full glory.

The Magister cleared his throat before speaking. "Citizens of Avalice... this brings our ceremony... to a close." He said. "Thank you for your attendence today... and for the crowning of Avalice's heroes..."

Things grew quiet around the three kingdoms once the ceremony was over... for Shang Tu and Shuigang, at least. Shang Mu, however, was still brightly lit in celebration of the heroes and the upcoming Dragon festival. Needless to say, things were over the top to begin with; neon lights flashing all over the place, food and souveniers being served at every corner, live music, and just all around excitement. For a certain group of five, it was no different. The five of Sash, Sonic, Tails, Carol and Milla were at an outdoor table, several plates of sushi, chilidogs, fries and fruit spread about it like a feast. Needless to say, it was a pleasant feast for the five.

"MmmmMMMMMH!" Milla squealed, the fur around her mouth stained pink from eating a watermelon wedge with some of the juices running down her chin. "This is so GOOD!"

"Yeah," Sonic said, taking a bite out of one of his chilidogs. "Rather nice of Zao to provide all this for us. I mean, I know we saved the world, but still..."

"Eh, with how much he has from sales in his own mall, he can afford to blow some money on us." Carol said, taking another bite of her sushi. " 'sides, wouldn't be the first time he put a lot of money into feeding us."

Tails chuckled a bit and rolled his eyes. "Right... so, what are we gonna do about Avalice? I mean, it's next to impossible to even move it back to... whatever solar system it originally came from."

Sash nodded. "Good point... though, I personally wouldn't mind if Avalice stayed within range of your world."

"I got no complaints either." Carol said. "After all, I wouldn't mind staying with a certain cutie for a while..." She said, brushing her tail up against Tails' arm, elicting a blush on the kitsune's face. Sash giggled at Carol's advance on Tails, and Sonic couldn't help but chuckle at the sight.

"Uhhh..." Tails stuttered, failing to have the words come out of his mouth.

"Oh come on now!" Carol said. "Tell me at least you LIKED that feel you coped of me back in Shuigang!"

"Say what now?!" Sash asked, before looking at the kitsune.

"I-it was an accident, I swear!" Tails stuttered. "We fell out of a vent and I landed on top of her!"

"Oh come on Tailsy!" Carol said, punching him lightly in the arm. "I'm just messin' with ya!"

Sash giggled, finishing off one of her pieces of sushi before looking over to Sonic. "Hey, you wanna try some sushi Sonic?"

Sonic smirked. "Sure... if you wanna try one of these chilidogs." He answered. Sash nodded, and she grabbed a chilidog while Sonic grabbed a piece of sushi. Sash was the first to take a bite of the chilidog. Her eyes widened before she smiled.

"MMMMmmmh!" She exclaimed. "This is pretty good! I like this!" Sonic smirked before taking a bite of the sushi.

"MMmmh! Not bad!" Sonic said. "This is pretty good actually!"

"Heh, you two seem like a perfect match for eachother!" Carol commented. Milla giggled with watermelon in her mouth and Tails couldn't help but chuckle a bit. Both Sonic and Sash had a huge blush on their faces, clearly embarrassed from the situation. Though, the tension broke when a familar figure had came up to the table that Sash had recognized...

"Oh, Spade!" Sash said. "I was wondering where you had went off to. I thought you and Neige had gone back to the Scarves Hideout."

"Well, we did..." Spade started. "Until I got an order from the Head Scarf. She wishes to speak with you and Carol."

Carol groaned. "Look, if this is about trying to get us back into the Scarves, tell her we-"

"It's about your sister." Spade said bluntly. Both Sash and Carol froze at the statement of what Spade had just spoken of. "She told me... it's time you learned the truth."

Sash slowly nodded, getting up. Carol did the same, before looking over to Tails. "We'll be back in a bit." She said, before she and Sash headed off with Spade.

"Hey..." Milla said worriedly, the juices from the melon still running down her chin. "Are you guys sure they're gonna be okay?"

Sonic shrugged. "If I know anything about Sash, she's tough, so she should be fine..."

"I hope..." Milla whimpered.

"...I'll still never get used to how unnerving this place is..." Carol muttered, her and Sash following behind Spade down one of the corridors of the hideout. Several other scarves were discussing among themselves about what other contracts they were getting, status on several of the groups in separate locations of the kingdom, update on certain missions and heists, and so on. The three remained in silence as they continued... until a familiar voice spoke.

"Well well, is that a familiar dragon girl I see in here?" A female voice from behind Sash and Carol. Sash sighed a bit, a small smirk appearing on her face.

"You haven't changed a bit, have you Hanna?" Sash commented, the fiery vixen standing behind her as she turned around to face the fox. "Still fighting?"

"And still winning." The vixen answered. "You've certainly changed in the past few years since you left the Scarves. Stopping an alien warlord and now what had just went down... you're certainly gained a reputation around here, that's for sure. You and the Tea right next to you."

"Yeah," Carol said. "By the way, how's Rob doin'? He still holdin' up?"

"Ah, Rob's doing fine." Hanna remarked. "Still having to moderate things around the scarves ever since the Head Scarf wanted to make sure we didn't have a repeat incident of last years fighting tournament."

"Clawed out someone's eyes again?" Carol said.

"More like one of my roundhouse kicks cracked the guy's skull." Hanna said. "Gotta admit, still impressed I was able to do that myself." She spoke, her tail slowly swishing behind her. "Enough about me though, I'm more surprised to see you two back here now. What's the deal with that? Finally had a change of heart and wanted to join back?"

"Well, not exactly..." Sash said. "Spade said the Head Scarf wanted to speak to us. So, he's taking us to her right now."

"Ah, ol' Head Scarf gonna tell you somethin' huh?" Hanna remarked. "Well, you two go ahead then. I personally am going back to do some training. Be seeing you two around." She said, before walking off.

"Yeah, sure..." Carol muttered. "Miss walking internet browser..."

"I heard that Tea!"

Soon enough, the three had reached the main doors to the chambers of the Head Scarf, two ornate lanterns on the sides of the doors, the doors themselves looking very ornate and somewhat menacing. Spade sighed before lightly knocking on the large doors.

"Head Scarf?" Spade asked. "I have the two like you wanted."

"...yes, thank you Spade." A female voice said from behind the door, stern and affirmative. "You are dismissed." Spade nodded before leaving the two at the door. There was a lapse of silence before the female voice spoke again. "You can come in you two."

Sash jumped a bit, then hesitantly nodded. Carol's tail twitched a bit in anticipation and a bit of fear as Sash opened the door and the two walked inside, the large door closing behind them. Traditional chinese lanterns on poles were in the corners of the room, four ornate columns holding the ceiling up. On the far wall was a rack holding a long pole-like weapon; a naginata, with another one rack above it meant to hold a large sword, but was empty instead. A small rock fountain rested in the right side of the room, trailing down water to run across a small river rut in the middle of the room, underneath a platform in the center of the room. Two separate mats laid on the platform near Sash and Carol, and a third at the opposite end of the platform. A figure was sitting on it's knees on the other mat, her back turned to the door, almost as if she was meditating. The long black coat she wore hid most of her figure, but underneath was a pair of black combat boots, form fitting black pants and a black tanktop. A long, worn red scarf was around her neck, trailing down her back. The major noticable feature was the large golden helmet the figure wore, several parts molded into horns and a hole at the back, a long, dark lavender tendril coming out of the back of the helmet, with a bit of dark lavender hair wrapped around the base of it. The front of the helmet had a single round opening, tinted black so it was impossible to see into it. There was a small moment of tension before the figure spoke.

"You two can take a seat you know..." The female figure said, stern but soft, snapping Sash and Carol out of their frozen state. Sash nodded before she and Carol stepped forward and sat on their knees on the mat on the platform. A small chill wafted through the room as slowly the Head Scarf got up, turning to face the two and looking down on them.

"You two have quite come of age since you've left the Scarves, haven't you?" The Head Scarf spoke calmly to the two. "Despite the fact of your abandoning of the Scarves... I'm quite proud of you two for what you've done. You've managed to keep the kingdoms safe through your own efforts and wits. Coral would be proud of you two..."

Carol seemed to cringe a bit at the mention, trying to hold back her tears, before she spoke up. "Please, Head Scarf-" She started, before the Head Scarf raised a hand.

"At ease, young Tea." She spoke firmly. "You're not needing to call me that since you two are not technically in the Scarves anymore. You can call me by the true name you know me by."

Sash nodded. "Yes... Natalya" She spoke calmly. Head Scarf Natalya was smirking beneath her helmet with what Sash had said, but that smirk had went away when the more pressing issue came up.

"Right then... you both probably know why you two are here." Natalya said. looking down at the two. "I feel... it's time you two know the truth." She said turning away and walking back to the mat on the other side of the platform, before sitting down on her knees, facing the two. "...it's time you learned the truth about what happened to your sister Carol..."

Carol nodded. "I'm ready..." She spoke, a small tear in her eye. "Just... I want to know the truth of what happened..."

Natalya had nodded. "You both will know what happened. But I must stress this; do not, I repeat, do not tell anyone outside these doors. If this had ever gotten out, it would cause an outrage between all the origin kingdoms of Avalice. Do I make myself clear?"

Both Sash and Carol nodded. "Understood Natalya." The two said.

Natalya nodded back. "Good. Now... give me a moment to remove this helmet..." She said, unhooking something from the back of the helmet. "I wish to speak to you about this... face to face. So you know I have nothing to hide..." She said, grabbing the sides of the helmet and lifting it off of her head, setting it down in front of her. Both Carol and Sash were quite shocked when they saw Natalya's true face...

"Natalya..." Sash breathed. "You're... you're a... a dragon?!"

Indeed the face that was under the helmet was not what either of the two expected; a familiar muzzle lighter in color to the normal color with darker scales coming up to the tip of where the nose was. A familiar scarlet set of eyes, the curved horns, the tied-back dark lavender hair... it was all too familiar.

"Indeed Sash." Natalya spoke, moving her helmet aside. "I was waiting for an appropriate time to reveal it to you and Carol, and I figured the time was now. But enough about that... about what happened to your sister Carol..." She took a deep sigh before continuing on.

"It began about two years ago, when you two were still in the Scarves. The Magister had been concerned with tensions increasing with the outside Kingdoms and their jealousy towards the Origin Kingdoms using the Kingdom Stone for themselves and not sharing the energy with them. He had devised a project of a creation to originally give the outer Kingdoms... a replica Kingdom Stone to help power their kingdoms. The project had taken over several months to work on, and while the Scarves had made sure it was kept under wraps. No one, no one was allowed to know about the project outside of those involved, myself included. Needless to say, the project was... completed... but it was there when the Magister had learned a deadly effect of the replica, being that it could be used as a weapon that could wipe any of the Origin Kingdoms off of the face of Avalice." Both Sash and Carol tensed up. A Kingdom Stone replica that could be used as a weapon of mass destruction... no wonder the Magister didn't want it getting out. Something like that could cause a riot...

"Without hesitation, the project was cancelled and the files classified. The information was made sure it was never to be released to ensure that the trust between the Origin Kingdoms would remain stable. However, things... didn't quite go as planned. One of the scientists wasn't too pleased with the fact the project had been canned and made off with duplicates of the original documents and had planned to sell them off to the highest bidder, as well as create one for himself and threaten the three kingdoms with their destruction. Needless to say, the Magister was distressed about the entire situation, so there was only one answer he had left. He came to me. I had lent him the two top Scarves of our group, which at the time were Spade and Coral, with Coral being the highest rank, to be the perfect candidates for the mission. Their objectives were to locate and either retrieve or destroy the documents, as well as capture the rogue scientist, dead or alive. The mission was successfull... but as you know, Coral had never returned..."

Carol felt tense as Natalya continued to speak. "Coral had ended up fighting the mad doctor on a station above Avalice... and ended up destroying the Stone replica, and causing the entire station to come crashing down..." Carol's breathing became sharp, her eyes starting to fill with tears, as well as Sash's. "Carol... I'm sorry... but she didn't survive..."

That broke Carol, and she burst into tears, covering her face in her hands, sobs wracking her entire body. Sash soon went over to her side and hugged her friend, trying to calm her down while Natalya sighed. "Needless to say, Spade had came back, the mission was classified... and then you girls left the group. The Scarves held a private ceremony for putting Coral to rest... and then we had moved on. Carol... I'm sorry you had to hear about this with what happened to your sister..." Carol didn't look up from her hands, still crying her poor heart out while Sash tried to comfort her. Soon enough Carol's tears died down, looking back at Natalya with the same tear-stained cheeks, with Sash also looking back to Natalya.

"...at least we have some vindiction of what actually happened..." Sash spoke, a few tears running down her cheeks. "Coral... may your soul rest in peace..." She said, starting to get up.

"Hold on you two." Natalya spoke, getting up. "I'm not done with you two yet. There's something I wish to give you two." She then walked to the back of the room, opening a compartment with a long box inside it, bringing it back to the center of the room. "Your sister wished to reserve these until you were Crimson S++... and with your actions of what you did to save Avalice... I think this is the best time to give these out now." She then opened the box, showing inside two long worn crimson scarfs. She removed the scarves from the box and handed the scarves to Sash and Carol. "Wear these with honor you two..."

Sash nodded, wrapping the scarf around her neck, feeling the fabric brush up against her skin, causing her to shiver a bit. Carol removed her original bandanna, letting it fall to the floor before she wrapped the new scarf around her neck, her once sad eyes now filled with confidence. Both she and Sash nodded, their once tense muscles now relaxed as they stood up. Natalya nodded.

"I would offer you two if you would want to come back to the Scarves... but I know for a fact you would deny it. The decision to come back or not is up to you two..." Natalya spoke. Both Sash and Carol nodded, before Natalya walked past the two and opened the door. "You are dismissed now." Sash and Carol nodded before the two walked out of the room. Natalya closed the door behind her, sighing. "I only hope your sister can do your bloodline justice Coral... and that Sash is still able to continue the dragon legacy..."

Soon enough Sash and Carol had returned to the others. Sonic had seemed relieved that the two were okay.

"So, everything go okay?" Sonic asked.

Sash nodded. "Everything's fine..." She said, smiling a bit.

"That's a nice scarf you're wearing. Where'd you get that from?"

"Well... from someone I haven't talked to in a long time..."

The five had continued their buffet for a while longer before they had decided to head back for the treehouse. Sonic and Sash had hopped into the back of Tails' buggy, while Milla got on the back of Carol's motorcycle when they had started the drive back. Sash couldn't help but smile as she leaned on Sonic a bit as they made their way home...

In a small hovercraft flying back to Mobius, a certain mad doctor was grumbling on his failed conquering of Avalice, with none other than Metal Sonic. Without looking even twice, it was easy to tell he was frustrated.

"I can't believe this..." Eggman growled to himself. "Everything was going so well... I would have had that entire planet under my grasp if it wasn't for that damn lizard..."

"Ehm, dragon, sir." Orbot said. "That girl wasn't a lizard, she wa-"

"I know what I said!" Eggman growled, slamming his fists on the console of his ship. "The point is if she hadn't interfered with that hedgehog, I would be ruling right now! Ruling!"

"Hmph, your own fault for not taking the dragon into account." Metal Sonic commented. "Should have just taken every little part into consideration..."

"Oh shut up Metal!" Eggman growled. "I swear, you become more and more like that hedgehog every time..."

However, high above the skies of Avalice, a massive airship hid in the clouds, sleek in design, had been monitoring over the entire events that had happened on Avalice. A figure sat in her lavish pilot chair, shrouded in the darkness of the interior cabin, looking over the video feeds she had captured of the entire events that had occurred. It was nearly impossible to hell her species from the dimness of the cabin, but it was clear enough to see she was a wildcat, into her earlier twenties. She smirked as she watched the video feeds, snickering a bit.

"Well... this is amusing... so they managed to stop that big egg-shaped oaf with whatever he was doing..." The figure spoke to herself, rubbing her chin in a mix of amusement and malicious thought. "Hmph." She said, before hitting a button on the side of her pilot's chair. "Greasemonkey, status report. How goes the tracking on part one of our massive weapon?"

"N-n-no dice there boss!" A jittery voice came from the transmission being routed, the voice sounding like the one on the other end was crazy. "There's no sign of the d-d-damn thing anywhere from what I'm looking!"

"Just keep looking greasemonkey." The feline spoke. "The sooner we can find that first piece, the sooner the plan can be pulled out. Keep looking."

"Y-y-you got it boss!" The voice on the transmission said before the transmission cut out. The feline figure smirked to herself as she continued watching the video feeds. Hopefully enough her two other agents would have their objectives completed and then everything would be set up for the monitoring the leaders of Shang Mu and Shang Tu, and once her greasemonkey located the first part of her plan... everything would fall into place. She snickered to herself as she hit a button on her seat, bringing up a glass care with a mechanical-looking robotic sword next to her chair. She looked over to the sword, her whiskers twitching.

"Don't worry my sister..." The feline said. "Your lack of recognition and our family being overshadowed will soon be vindicted. The dragons will fall..." She said before standing up and outstretching her arms.

"...and the Tea bloodline will return as the shapers of Avalice's history once again!"

The... End?

Ho boy, this was a hell of a story to write, but I have to say, I am damn proud of how this turned out. I feel like I branched this off into it's own continuity rather well. However, as you see, it seems like there's someone else that had viewed the entirity of the story. Who is this mysterious figure and what relation does she have to the Tea bloodline? Questions will be answered eventually... but for now, rest easy heroes...

Hanna Skarlett and Rob Stiil are owned by RaceProUK.

Head Scarf Natalya Belongs to Mixedfan8643.

Neige Taicho belongs to R-No.71.

All other characters belong to their respective copyright owners and so on and so forth.

But, with that, Sonic and Lilac (or Sonic and Sash if you want to get technical now): Tides of Chaos now comes to a close. I'm SonicChaosEmerald, signing out.