AHH! Last Chapter! Can you believe it? I can't... Okay.
TheRealOTC: Thanks.
Christian Ape99: You'll have to see and it's not the next sequel, but the one after that.
DylanDamboise321: Thanks...I hope you enjoy the end and continue to read the stories.
Narrator's POV: (Because I can)
Nicole looked at her caretaker in shock and relief. "I'm so glad your not dead."
Martha smiled. "Me too...and guess who's also not dead?" The scientist stepped aside as Shadow walked into the room.
Several emotions played through everyone's mind. The main one was joy. Nicole jumped up and literally ran like the wind to her mentor. She threw her arms around him and gave him one of the tightest hugs of his life. After realizing what she was doing, Nikki stood up straight and awkwardly looked down at the floor.
"Um...sorry. I'm just glad your not dead..."
The ebony hedgehog looked down at his pupil. "I'm glad your not dead too...although if you had focused better than you wouldn't be in that cast."
Nicole attempted to punch her mentor, but he grabbed her and held her down. "Don't even think about it."
The girl tried to growl in anger, but it turned into laughter pretty quickly.
Anderson looked at the two in pure joy. "I made you to help others true, but I also made you to help someone who needs you just as much as you need them." Martha had uttered those words to Nicole only two years ago, but she had meant them for so much longer. Because even Shadow need a family...whether he knew it or wanted one.
While she was pondering the success of her experiment, Shadow had released Nicole and was having her explain anything that the other children may have held back from him. After finding nothing big or extraordinary, he motioned for her to sit down. "We need to talk." The hedgehog pointedly glared at Martha until she got the message.
Anderson nodded to Shadow then smiled at Nikki. "I'll see you later, okay?" She walked out of the room.
Silence followed after the doctor's exit. Nicole played with her watch awkwardly, waiting.
Finally, after what seemed like hours, Shadow began.
"I'm worried...about Arianna." He paused, and looked at Nicole. Rather rushed he continued, "And I'm a little worried about you. Mistress got in your heads and planted seeds in your heads. Some of those thoughts...are not things you want in your head. I've already started therapy with Arianna...and we've made little progress."
Nicole almost laughed at the idea of Shadow in a chair with a note book and helping people with physiological fears. Almost. "So...you want me to do therapy?"
The mentor shook his head. "No...I have something else in mind. But I need to think about it a little longer. But until then, I have to ask you to drop out of Team Sonic-"
"WHAT?"
"-for a few months at the most. Not permanently. You belong on that team...but I need you to heal a little from an experience like that."
Nicole calmed down a little. "So...it's not permanent?"
"No...it's temporary. Arianna on the other hand..." he trailed off. "I don't think she will be able to fight anymore. It's just too traumatizing."
Silence followed. Nicole took a breath. "So...no Team Sonic for a little while. Anything else?"
"First Generation is debating if they should cancel Second Gen."
"THEY CAN'T DO THAT!" Nikki jumped to her feet. "That team has changed lives. We saved the world and...we're older than when they started!"
Shadow smiled slightly. Maybe he and Nicole had more in common than he thought. All of those points were the exact ones he had thought up. "I know...and I'm against it, but it's up to the other teens to convince their parents."
Nicole pondered this fact for sometime. Then she slowly smiled. "Then I think we'll be okay..." She looked down at the cast. "Can I heal this now?"
Shadow groaned slightly. "If you want, but it's going to hurt-"
"-hurt like crazy I know. But it will leave after a few minutes." She gently pulled of the cast. "Do you have a chaos emerald?"
Very reluctantly, the hedgehog pulled out the red emerald. He watched very painfully Nicole quickly heal the bone. The girl screamed slightly, but a few seconds later she stopped. Moaning slightly, she leaned against her mentor. Shadow held her gently, not wanting to disturb the young girl. He thought about the journey he was about to send her on and winced slightly. The pain that would follow, was nothing compared to the pain she was feeling right then. But it had to be done...
The hedgehog stared out the GUN facility window and watched the sun begin to set.
A short time later, Team Sonic was in a heavy debate. Knuckles and Annie were against keeping 2nd generation, while Sonic and Rouge were supporting it. Tails just stood off to the side in a neutral stance. Shadow stood next to him in his normal brooding attitude.
"They're too young!"
"Most of them are 17 years old! I was 10 when I started fighting Egghead."
"That's different!"
"Is not!"
"Is too!"
"Is not!"
"Is too!"
Miley leaned over to Jr. "Sound familiar?"
The blue hedgehog blinked blankly back. "Um...no."
Rolling her eyes, Miley leaned back into her chair. All of second generation were in the room and all of them were extremely bored. When Nikki and Shadow had entered, all of them had hoped that their caretaker for the past two years would defend them, but were very disappointed when Shadow didn't do anything. That only meant one thing from the old hedgehog, "Your problem, not mine. You fix it, not me."
So there they were, sitting in a conference room and listening to Sonic and Amy yelling at each other for the past five minutes. Knuckles and Rouge were having a very hushed argument across the room, which no one was able to hear over the two fighting hedgehogs.
After another five minutes, Miley stood up and yelled at the top of her lungs. "QUIET! ALL OF YOU! STOP ARGUING AND COME TO AN AGREEMENT!" She sat down in a very huffed manner. Nicole chuckled under her breath when all of first gen looked confused and a bit surprised when the usual quiet and shy fox yelled at them.
Tails took that as his que. "Right! So...what are we going to do?"
No one said anything for quite sometime. Finally Shadow spoke up. "Why don't we let the teens decide their own futures?"
Everyone turned and stared at him. The black and red hedgehog squirmed slightly under all of the stares. "What? It only makes sense!"
Finally, Sonic nodded slightly. "That's actually not a bad idea Shads."
"Don't call me that."
Sonic ignored him and turned to his children. "What do you kids want?"
The twins exchanged a look, then Jr began. "Um...well...Me and Annie-"
"Annie and I."
"Whatever! Annie and I want to stay on board. We...um..."
Annie picked up the sentence from there. "We want to do this. Besides, someone has to make sure you six don't die again."
The girl got glare from first generation, but she didn't even flinch. "Sorry, but I've seen worse." The twins fell silent.
Cosmo spoke up next. "Sorry guys, but I've caused enough violence in my life time. No more robots for me. I'm going to medical school. You all really need a nurse." She smiled. "Besides...I'm not a very good pilot."
Miley nodded at that comment.
Slowly, Arnold stood up and faced his father. "I-I-I-...I am not going to be the guardian. I'm sorry! Really I am! Maybe one day I can do it, but right now I want adventure. I can't just waist my life on Angel Island. So...I'm staying here. GUN seems like the best place to start." The echidna looked over at Annie. "Among other reasons..."
Topaz smiled. "And I would be happy to volunteer in take Arnold's place. You know how much I love gems." The bat smiled and batted her eyes at her father and mother.
Knuckles pondered the proposition for a moment then nodded slowly. "I don't see why not..."
Topaz twirled in a circle then sat down.
"But..."
The bat frowned along with Arnold.
"Why didn't you tell me earlier?"
The siblings almost fell out of their chairs in shock.
While those two pulled their thoughts together, Shadow stepped forward. "Arianna will not be continuing in Team Sonic. Any questions?"
No one decided to ask anything.
Sonic rubbed his hands together. "So it's decided. Annie, Jr, Arnold, and partially Topaz will continue in second generation. Cosmo will be going to medical school and Ari will be...doing something peaceful. So if that's all, can I go-"
"um...Dad?" Annie looked at her father.
"What is it Annie?"
The pink hedgehog drew in a breath. "What about Miley and Nicole. I know they weren't originally included, but...I think they've proven themselves. Don't you all?" She aimed the question at the other teens. They immediately nodded and agreed.
Sonic, some what confused and surprised, shrugged. "Okay then. Miley, what do you want?"
The fox immediately jumped up and almost screamed. "I want to stay!" She then realized what she'd done and shrunk back a little. "If that's okay with you..." she mumbled.
Jr ran over and slung his arm over her shoulder. "Well, I think I can handle a mini fox."
"Hey!"
The whole team burst out laughing as Miley jumped on Jr and began to tickle him. He yelped and ran away from the girl. After everyone had calmed down, every hedgehog, bat, echidna, and fox in the room turned and stared at Nicole.
She looked over at Shadow, then took a deep breath. "I will not be joining you for a little bit."
All of second gen stared at her in shock. "What?" Miley cried.
"It's just temporary. I'll come back, really I promise, but I need to...clear my head, I guess you could say."
Shadow jumped in before anyone else could comment. "Okay, so there's the plan. Now who want's to be the overseer of these trouble makers?"
Very slowly, Sonic gave his signature smirk. "Well...I was thinking since you have connections in GUN and you've actually handled them for the past two years that you should do it."
"Absolutely-"
The hedgehog stopped with one look at the teens. They were staring at him expectantly and almost...hopeful. Nicole just smiled and summoned her chaotic energy.
"You've grown on them. Take the job, or I will never forgive you."
Shadow remained in his mood on the outside, but unbeknownst to everyone, he was smiling on the inside. The joy he felt was indescribable, but it was perfect. But on the outside, he just folded his arms and grumbled, "-Fine."
Sonic looked a bit surprised, but he was also pleased. "Okay then...anything else?"
After a few seconds the hedgehog sighed. "Good, because I owe someone a run." Jr glanced at his Dad.
"Oh you are so on!" The two speedsters raced out.
Amy and Annie rolled their eyes in unison, then left with the two bats to go make a picnic dinner.
Arnold and Knuckles went to have a private chat...on Angel Island.
Cosmo, Miley, and Tails left without a word. No doubt they were going to check on the old machine shop.
Nicole and Shadow were left in the room all alone.
After a few minutes of awkward silence, Nikki finally spoke up. "So...what do I do?"
Shadow looked at her and felt his joy begin to fade. "You...are going on a trip."
"A trip? To where?"
"The question isn't where-" he pulled out the chaos emerald and held it out. "Remember, you can't change the past, but you can impact the future."
"Umm...what?"
"You'll figure it out. CHAOS CONTROL!"
"WAI-" Nicole's shout of protest was cut off by the flash of light. When the light cleared, Shadow stood alone in the room.
He stared at where Nikki had just stood seconds before. "I'm sorry..."
Arianna crept in quietly, "Who are you talking too?"
"No one...no one..." Shadow turned to the clone. "How are you?"
The girl looked at the floor. "How do you think?"
Shadow sighed softly. "Get some sleep. We'll talk tomorrow." He walked out of the door leaving the broken girl alone.
Arianna sighed sadly, then sat on the table. She hummed the chorus to a song that Nicole had sang to her years ago.
Song: Hurry up and Save me
Artist: Tiffany Giardina
Hurry Up and Save Me
Hurry Up and Save Me
Hurry Up and Save Me
Hurry Up and Save Me
I just want to feel alive
And I do when I'm-
She cut off and looked at the floor...then promptly burst to tears.
OH MY CHAOS! I finished! I finished! AHHHHH! I am so happy!
DW: Well I'm not! Ari! *almost starts crying*
Me: She'll be fine, don't worry. Okay, final reviews for this story... I can't wait to see your reactions. Tell me what you liked and what you didn't like. I hope you all enjoyed it and I'll start on the sequel ASAP. Thank you all! I hope you continue the story! AHHHHHHH!
DW: What's the sequel again?
Me: It's about what happened to Nicole and where Shadow sent her.
DW: Where?
Me: Not exactly where...now stop spoiling everything! Thanks y'all! The sequel is already being posted. It's called 'Shadows of the Past." Just click on my profile link, and you'll find it pretty quick. Hope you all read it!