About two months later…

"I'm not sure what Mephiles wants," Silver said, looking at Sonic, "I remember only a little from that time…"

"So what happened before is in this game, right?" Sonic looked at video game Silver had given him, "I wonder why I've never heard of it before…"

Silver shrugged, "Play it if you want. I haven't gotten very far in it myself."

"Maybe at some point," Sonic dropped the box onto his bed, "I just want to defeat Mephiles now."

"Are you sure he said Blaze and I would never go back to the future?" Silver went to the window and looked outside, "Not like I'd really want to go back…it seems pretty nice here."

"You can stay…you guys have been hanging around here for what, a month now?"

"A month and a half; it's almost September…that reminds me of something I was going to ask you. What's the Base?"

"Huh?" Sonic asked, looking up from the game cover. Silver had sat on the window sill and was looking at Sonic.

"The Base…Tails was talking about you going back there soon?"

"Oh, that…yeah…it's a place that hosts a fighting tournament and I was in it for a while."

"Why did you leave? Was it bad?"

"No; I loved it. It's just that…bad things happened to me."

"Oh." Silver slipped off the window sill and walked over to Sonic by the bed, "What kind of things?"

"Let's just say that Mephiles got his revenge on me there in a…disturbing way."

"He raped you, didn't he?"

"What?" Sonic looked up at Silver in shock, "How did you…?"

"Guess? Because he's raped me too."

Sonic couldn't help but stare at the silver hedgehog as he sat down on the bed, "Mephiles always used sex as his revenge tool. He would always rape young ones…after Blaze and I went back to the future some time ago, he came after her. I offered my body up instead because at least I couldn't get pregnant."

"What the fuck…you're joking." Silver shook his head. "I just can't believe it. He's the most disgusting person…" Sonic snarled, "I'm going to get him if it's the last thing I do!"

"Just be careful, Sonic. Mephiles doesn't go down so easily."

"I don't care! I'll get him…how many lives could he have possibly harmed because of his vile ways?"

"I'm not so sure about that, but I do know Mephiles considers you his latest and greatest prize."

"Well, I'd better be the last of his prizes! When do you think he'll be ready?"

"He takes a lot of time planning to make sure nothing can backfire…I wouldn't say until November."

"Hmm…" Sonic got off of the bed and began pacing, "I guess I could go Brawl a bit more before he returns…but what if he comes early and I'm not here?"

"With Blaze and me helping out, Shadow could run and fetch you in just a matter of minutes. We could hold him back until you arrive."

"I guess so…" Sonic looked at one of his shelves, filled with Super Smash Brothers trophies and photos, "I do kind of miss it…" Sonic turned back to Silver, "I hate to ask, but…when did Mephiles rape you?"

"A few years ago, my time…hard to say because of the whole time difference."

"But you stood in for Blaze…that was very brave of you."

"What about you? Why did you take it?"

Sonic shook his head, "I only did it for myself. Kind of selfish."

"At least nobody else was hurt, or being threatened."

"I guess so…" Sonic looked out the window, and then back at Silver, "Guess we have more in common than I thought."

"It's a horrible thing to have in common." Silver stood up, "Let's go outside, shall we? This is getting too depressing. It's over for both of us; I've healed and you're healing. Let's forget our pain and have some fun."

"Good idea." Sonic and Silver went outside of Tails' house and walked side by side down to the beach, where everyone else was currently enjoying the final rays of summer.

"What took you guys so long?" Amy called out to the two hedgehogs from where she was building a sandcastle with Cream.

"Just planning for the future, you could say," Sonic replied, walking over, "Hey, nice castle."

"Thank you," Cream replied, adding another tower, "Say, do you still have Galaxy?"

"Of course. He sleeps beside me every night."

"Hey Sonic, up for a swim?" Sonic looked out at the water to see Shadow waving at him, "Well?"

"You know I hate water!" Sonic called back.

"Come on, you coward! Are you scared that I'll beat you in a swimming race?"

"You probably will!"

"Aw, and you'll have your title taking away by me, the new fastest thing alive! Ha!"

"Ok, you're on!" Sonic dashed down to the water's edge, walked in until the water came up to his chest, then took a deep breath before letting his legs lift off the bottom and start kicking and paddling.

"That's it! Come here, Sonic!" Shadow was about ten meters away, swimming slowly backwards and waving to Sonic.

Sonic doubled his pace and caught up to Shadow, who then switched around to a front crawl, "First one to that buoy over there wins, alright?"

"Fine…"

"Ready, set, go!"

The buoy wasn't that far from shore, only about fifty meters, but for someone swimming in a race and hating water it seemed like fifty miles. Once Sonic reached the buoy he held onto it for dear life, panting.

"It seems to be a tie," Shadow said, holding onto the buoy with one hand, "Shall we race back?"

"No! I'm done with swimming for today."

Shadow laughed, "Wimp."

"I'll be a wimp if it means that I don't have to swim again."

"I'm not carrying you back, buddy. You'll have to swim."

"I meant after this!"

"I know, I know…" Shadow let go of the buoy and began treading water, "Come on, it's not that far!"

Sonic sighed, let go and then began to swim back; Shadow easily keeping pace beside him. Amy and Cream cheered when Sonic came back onto the beach.

"And to just think that a year ago you would have run away from that challenge!" Tails waved to everyone, just returning from a test flight.

"I should run away more often…" Sonic panted, "Any towels around here?"

"Here you go," Silver walked over to Sonic and Shadow, handing each a towel and then joining Blaze again by the cooler.

Blaze was lying down on a towel with her eyes closed, and Silver sat down on another towel beside her. "Hey, where's that echidna? Wasn't he supposed to join us?" Blaze asked, opening her eyes and sitting up.

"Still guarding the rock of his, I'd guess. He's forgetful," Shadow replied.

"He's a knucklehead," Sonic corrected.

"Who are you calling a knucklehead?"

"Oh, shoot…" Sonic turned around and saw Knuckles walking towards him, "I didn't say anything!"

"Sure you did…" Knuckles smiled at Sonic, "And I know how to get revenge…" He grabbed Sonic and began to walk towards the ocean with the hedgehog in a fireman's carry.

"Put me down!" Sonic shouted, trying to kick Knuckles. Shadow wasn't any help; he just burst out laughing.

"I don't think so…" Knuckles ignored Sonic pounding at his back and walked into the water. Once he was deep enough he shifted Sonic to the front and threw the hedgehog into the ocean.

Sonic swam up to the surface, spitting out water, "That was mean!"

Knuckles started to laugh, "That was fair!" He walked back to the shore before Sonic could reach him.

"What took you so long to get here?" Shadow asked when Knuckles arrived. Shadow had decided to simply lie back on the sand and watch the show.

"I was busy, you know. I don't leave Angel Island all of the time, and now that Sonic has healed a lot I'm not needed around."

"Busy doing what? Guarding that emerald of yours? Or…did you listen to that fortune teller we saw at the fair and speak to Rouge?" Sonic had finally swum back to shore and came up behind Knuckles.

Knuckles blushed slightly before turning to Sonic, "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, so Knuckles is in love? Aw, how cute!" Sonic laughed and dashed away to Tails and Silver, who were building another castle next to Amy's and Cream's.

"Get back here! I'm going to toss you out to sea!" Knuckles chased Sonic around the two castles, while everyone just looked on, laughing.

XXXXXXXXX

Far away, in another time and place, Mephiles studied his crystal ball. You would think they were all just fakes and tricks, but no…some of these things actually worked. He nodded knowingly when he saw Silver and Blaze had already made friends with Sonic and the rest. He suspected as much, which was why he was planning around that.

The picture disappeared from the crystal ball, and Mephiles pushed his chair back and stood up. He walked out of the dark purple crystal castle to the balcony. From here he could see the strange purple sky and ash-covered ground for miles. Two-headed birds flew above, cawing and screeching. The only plants were a few blackened trees.

"Silver has got it…November…I should be ready by then." Mephiles looked down at his arm, the skin starting to wrinkle and the fur starting to dull. He was using too much magic…it was taking a toll on his body. He'd have to wait and rest before attacking.

"At least I won't be bothered anymore by those blasted hedgehogs…I'll be harder to beat this time, Sonic." Mephiles closed his eyes, "I've already had fun with the blue hedgehog and the silver one…although it was different for Silver. Maybe the black one will be a nice addition to my list. Or better yet, all of them…I can see that now; being able to fuck around with a different angel every night…" Mephiles opened his eyes and grinned. Yes; once he conquered that world, he wouldn't kill them like he originally planned – he'd take them captive and have some fun.

"But then that means I won't be able to use that machine…" Mephiles sighed, and then walked back into the castle to revise his plans. He was used to doing so. He always made sure he would get what he wanted and that everything would go flawlessly.

Or at least, it would in theory.

XXXXXXXXX

"Careful Sonic, or you'll drop all of the ice cream!" Amy sighed as she watched Sonic try to balance all eight ice cream cones in his arms.

"I can do it…I can do it!" Amy quickly stepped close and grabbed two cones that were about to drop, "Ok, maybe I can't…"

"Let me take some," Amy said, and Sonic handed her two more cones. Together they began to walk back to the beach, having retrieved the frozen treats from Tails' freezer.

"Mm…I love rocky road ice cream," Sonic sighed, licking some of his cone.

Amy giggled, "If they made chili dog flavored, you'd be set for life!"

"Do you think they would? I wonder how that would taste…" Sonic pondered, "Probably not very good, though."

"I'll stick with regular flavors like chocolate. You can be the daring one."

Sonic laughed, "I think I will too…an ice cream flavor like that would be too good to be true!"

Amy smiled at seeing Sonic so happy again. From time to time he still had nightmares, but the pain was fading away. He managed to find the courage to fight again; Eggman had launched a minor attack to test out a new robot, and once Sonic defeated him the blue hedgehog ran up and gave the scientist a hug (confounding Eggman to no end) before running off again. At least Sonic was getting back to normal; not too soon considering Mephiles could attack at any time…

Sonic tipped his head to the side, looking at Amy, "Is there something wrong?"

"What? Oh, no…just thinking."

"About me?"

Amy lightly blushed, "Maybe…"

Sonic gave Amy a small smile, "I'm glad you're still my friend, Amy. I was afraid that after you found out what happened to me…"

Amy cut him off, "I would never abandon you when you need me the most. I'm just glad I was able to help you out."

"Yeah…you really have...that birthday party was awesome…"

By now the two hedgehogs had reached the beach, and Blaze came up to them, "It's about time you two got back! I couldn't wait for my ice cream!"

"Here you are," Sonic said, handing Blaze a strawberry cone, "I'll go hand the rest of mine out." He went back to the sandcastles to hand Tails his.

Amy didn't even realize she was watching Sonic until Blaze poked her shoulder, "He's kind of cute, isn't he?"

"Huh? You mean Sonic?"

"Of course I do! He's a real sweetheart…" Sonic was sitting next to Shadow now, both of them eating their ice cream and whispering about something.

"Everyone here has been so kind…although, it kind of makes me wonder why Mephiles wanted us to make friends with the rest of you…" Blaze thought for about a minute and then shrugged, "Ah, well, with all of us working together it should be easy for us to beat him. Say, if you're not going to hand those ice creams out, want me to?"

"Oh, sure…" Amy handed Silver's and Knuckles' ice creams over to Blaze, and then went over to Cream to hand the rabbit hers. Cream shared the treat with Cheese, while Amy started thinking about Sonic again, blushing slightly.

XXXXXXXXX

"Hey, do you guys think that Sonic will come back soon?" Pikachu asked, running up to three puffballs.

"It's only been a few weeks…it might take longer before he feels comfortable here again," Jigglypuff shrugged.

"I just hope he's forgiven Wario…that guy is taking it pretty hard," Meta Knight replied.

"But it wasn't Wario's fault…I guess that's why he's another Brawler in therapy," Kirby sighed.

"Whatever works, as long as everything gets back to normal," Jigglypuff said, "Just because you're in therapy doesn't make you crazy."

"It prevents you from going crazy," Kirby replied.

"Well, whenever Sonic decides to return I'm sure he'll let us know," Meta Knight said.

"Yeah…I just hope it's soon. I know he's talked to us and all, but I'd like to have him back again…" Pikachu pondered, "I wonder if he's even thought about returning yet?"

XXXXXXXXX

"So you've decided…you're leaving the day after tomorrow." Sonic looked at his new lover. The two of them had said goodnight to everyone else and walked a little ways down the beach before sitting on the sand to stargaze. It had taken some time for Sonic to sort out his feelings…but once he did, Dr. Nam said it should be ok for him to tell everyone how he felt. That was two weeks ago…and so far, everything was going smoothly.

"I know you'll do alright there. You're a good fighter." The other hedgehog kissed Sonic on the cheek.

"Thanks…" Sonic grabbed his lover's hand, "I'll be back soon, though, when Mephiles comes. He's going to pay for everything he's done…"

"Is revenge really what you're going after him for?"

"Partly that…and partly because he wants to take over the world. It's my job to save it, you know?"

"Hopefully part of you wants him gone so he'll never hurt anyone ever again."

"Of course," Sonic replied, "Mephiles has hurt too many people…it's going to end." Sonic's eyes were flashing with rage.

"Hey now…don't get too upset. I have a little departing gift for you…" Sonic's anger was replaced by passion as his lover drew him in for a long kiss.

XXXXXXXXX

Master Hand was working late at night on his computer when a little icon popped up, saying he just received a new email. He minimized the project he was currently working on and checked the new message.

Hey Master Hand!

Things are going pretty well for me at home, so I decided I'd come back to Brawl again for a while. I have some things to sort out first, so it'll take me two days to come, and because of Mephiles' threat, I'll need to return home when he attacks. But it's going to take him a long while to plan out everything, so I have a few free months and I want to spend them at the Base. I'm looking forward to Brawling again!

Pass this on to everyone else, will you? And tell them to sign me up for a few Brawls as a surprise. I haven't lost my skill from a few weeks' rest, so they'd better be ready for me!

I'll see you all soon!

Sonic the Hedgehog

P.S. I'm alright with Wario now. Tell him I don't hate him anymore – he doesn't deserve to be blamed any more than I do for what happened.

"Sonic's coming back?" Master Hand rubbed Ian's ears, not caring that the cat had somehow gotten into his office, "Hear that, kitty? Sonic's coming back!"

Master Hand left the message on screen in his excitement and went to wake Crazy Hand to tell him the good news. The Brawlers could be told in the morning, and he was sure they'd be just as excited as he was.

XXXXXXXXX

Sonic's smile was lit up by the glowing screen of his laptop, the only light in his dark bedroom. He had sent off an email to Master Hand after his lovemaking session. Dr. Nam had warned him that having sex this soon may not be a good idea – he could have flashbacks of being raped or nightmares afterwards. But the two hedgehogs had already done it three times now, and Sonic didn't feel a sting of pain after they were through. It was a nice change; now he actually felt clean again, and not used.

Sonic looked over at his sleeping lover, who was turned away from him. Sonic ran his hand through his love's quills and softly sighed. Then he shut down the laptop and placed it on the side table before going under the covers again and moving closer to his sweetheart. He kissed his lover's cheek and whispered, "I love you."

Sonic laid his head down on the pillow and closed his eyes. He smiled to himself when he heard his lover roll over and whisper into his ear, "I love you too."

Sonic let himself be pulled close and kissed again, no longer scared of such actions. No matter what dark deed Mephiles tried to commit, they would be ready to fight alongside everyone else and defend their home when the time came. But for now, the two hedgehogs simply cuddled together and fell asleep.

That's it! It's done! And I still don't know what Mephiles is really up to!

And don't you all just love (sarcasm highly intended) how I managed to write those last few paragraphs without mentioning if it was Amy or Shadow? I don't care who you think it is. Use your imagination!

Thank you everyone for reading and following along with my first fanfiction. Just because it's over doesn't mean I don't love reviews! I have continued this story in the form of Return the Darkness, but it's taking place in the Sonic area. Now it's between Sonic and Mephiles, and not Tabuu. I don't know what's happened to Tabuu either. Nobody cares about him anymore.

Anyways, I hope you liked it! Farewell!

StarryKirby