I'm afraid that time has come

I'm afraid that time has come. It's time for the closing chapter of my masterpiece. I just want to say thank you to all my supporters. At the time, I don't plan to do a sequel, but the good news is that I know what my next project is going to be. The wait won't be long. I promise.

Thanks for having patience enough to allow me to finish my story.

"Sonic, hurry up. You're going to be late for your own graduation," said Sonia. Sonia stood at the door with her purse in her right hand. She had on a buttoned shirt and a job skirt. Manic was laid back on the couch, fiddling with his hair. He was wearing a black blazer with matching pants.

"I'm sure that he'll be right down," said Tails.

He was right. Within seconds, Sonic was speeding his way down the stairs in his royal blue cap and gown. It blended in perfectly with his skin. When looking at him from behind, it's hard to tell who's in the cap and gown/

"How do I look?" asked Sonic.

"You look like a graduate," said Manic from the couch. The other three gave him a confused look, but he ignored it and continued playing with his hair.

"Never mind your brother. You look great," said Sonia with a smile. "Smile!" Sonia pulled out her camera and snapped Sonic's picture. He was unready, and the flash hurt his eyes.

Sonic shook off the effect. "Alright. Let me grab my wallet and I'll be ready," replied Sonic.

"I guess I better get the truck started," said Manic. He lazily got off of the couch and went outside.

"Tails, come on," said Sonia.

"I'm going to wait on Sonic," he said.

Sonia went outside to the truck with Manic. As soon as Sonia was outside, Sonic came through the living room.

"Hey, Sonic, can we talk?" asked Tails.

"We can talk in the car," replied Sonic.

"No. This has to be said before you graduate and I have to say it to you in private," said Tails.

"Is it about Cream?" asked Sonic.

"No. It's about you. Before you graduate, I just wanted to say thank you."

"For what?" Sonic was a little confused with the sudden gratitude.

"Sonic, ever since I came to live here with you, you've treated me like you've known me forever. Whenever I need something or someone, you always came through for me. You protected me just like your real little brother. I just wanted to say thank you for being the best foster brother ever," said Tails.

"Tails…" started Sonic. He couldn't find the right words; so instead of speaking, he gave Sonic his signature move followed by a small chuckle. Tails came closer and embraced Sonic. Sonic hugged him back and patted him on the back. They might have stayed like that forever if they hadn't heard Manic blowing the horn. They hurriedly went outside and got into Manic's Hummer H2.

At Knuckles' house he was coming down the stairs. Locke was standing down there with a long trench coat, hat, suit, and Stacy Adams shoes. In short, he looked something like an O.G.

"That's my boy," said Locke. "Why aren't you wearing your cap?"

"This hat is too damn small," said Knuckles.

"Didn't they measure your head when you filled out the order form?" asked Locke.

"Yeah. I measured an 18. This feels more like a 16," said Knuckles.

"Well, you have always had a big, swelled head. Even as a baby, your head was huge. Your mother and I used to watch you run around here with your head on your shoulder," said Locke with a chuckle.

He saw that Knuckles wasn't laughing and knew what was on his mind.

"Your mother would have loved to have been at your graduation, but…"

"Yeah, I know," said Knuckles. "Still, I'm still glad that you're here."

"I'm not going anywhere yet. There's still a few things I have to teach you," said Locke.

"I'm not ready to learn about constipation, rice pudding, and Gunsmoke yet, old man," said Knuckles with a smirk.

"Oh, so you got jokes."

"A couple."

"Well, let's stop joking around before they call your name and you miss it. Then, you'll have to go to high school for another four years," said Locke.

"So, now you want me to go back and finish up your years?" asked Knuckles.

"Okay, so I didn't finish high school. I didn't have a choice. I had duties to attend to that were more important than school, but you kids today don't have a thing to stop you from finishing school. That's why I kept pushing you. I want you to have a better education than I did. Son, I just want you to be a better man than I am," said Locke.

"I know and I will," said Knuckles. He dapped his father's fist. "Of course, that won't be hard to do. You'll soon have Alzheimer's Disease anyway."

"Very funny!" said Locke.

After their little talk, Locke and Knuckles left the house.

The graduation ceremony is being held in the school auditorium. The graduates would be sitting on the floor level of the auditorium while their families would sit up on the upper levels. As they all met up in the main hallway, the entire gang was there: Sonic, Shadow, Knuckles, Rouge, Silver, Amy, Tikal, Tails, Cream, and even Blaze had come out of a special request from Silver. The rest of their families had taken their seats.

"Well, the big day is finally here," said Silver.

"Only a few minutes more," said Cream.

"I can't wait to finally take off these heels. They hurt like hell," said Rouge.

"Don't you always wear heels?" asked Tikal.

"Yeah, but these feel weird. They wobble too much," replied Rouge.

"Poor baby," said Tikal.

"By the way, make sure to take plenty of pictures, Tikal," said Rouge.

"Don't worry. I will," she replied.

Amy giggled. "Well, we better get to our seats before we don't have any to get to," said Amy.

"Congratulations to all of you," said Blaze.

Then, all the nongraduate friends went into the auditorium. Tails, Cream, and Amy sat by Sonia and Manic. Silver, Tikal, and Blaze sat towards the front for the better view. Julie-Su and Mina were sitting in the middle row.

The audience began to quiet down as the graduate music was played. Sally was the third person to enter.

"That's my girl!" yelled Julie-Su as Sally entered the auditorium.

A little further down the line, Rouge entered the auditorium.

"That's MY girl!" yelled Tikal in the same fashion that Julie-Su had earlier.

Further down the line, Knuckles entered the auditorium, hoping that his cap didn't shoot off his head. It fit him like a skully. He could hear chants and uproar from all the underclass jocks that he played football with. Shadow was next. When he entered, nearly every female that was there that went to the school cheered. Mina looked a little pissed off by their response. She stood up after they had settled down.

"That's my baby's daddy!" she said very obnoxiously.

The rest of the people there looked at her funny. Embarrassed, Mina sat down.

Of all the Sonic crew, Sonic was the last to enter. They all took their places in front of their respective chairs. First, there was the pledge and the national anthem. Then, there was a small prayer. After that, all the graduates took their seat and the principal took the stand. He started rambling on and on about the class's achievements. (Keep reading and I'll mention some)

"Now, I have a brief announcement to make," said the principal. He signaled an egg-shaped human to stand up next to him. "This here is Dr. Ivo Robotnik. He will be taking over for me as head principal of Station Square High starting next year. I'm retiring." Everyone looked at the guy. The adolescents found it very hard to look at this man. There was something about him that was rotten. Shadow, Sonic, Rouge, and Knuckles were all snickering at the fact that the rest of them had to survive under his rule. Tails, Cream, Amy, Silver, and Tikal's faces all turned white. Dr. Robotnik took the stand.

"Citizens of Station Square, I hereby accept Principal Stroud's offer and will become the head principal of Station Square High for the following school years. I only ask that you all help me make a brighter future for all the young pupils that attend Station Square High." His voice made the audience's hair stand on ends. He only received a light applause.

The salutatorian and valedictorian addresses were made after the announcement.

"Without further ado, allow me to present the class of 2008 with their diplomas," said the principal. As he called each student's name, they shook hands with the superintendent of education and Principal Stroud and received their diplomas. All the cameras in the audience began to flash. Tikal, Amy, Cream, Mina, and Sonia pulled out their cameras as well.

Diamond the Aardvark

Umbra the Aardvark

Sally Acorn

Further down the list…

Aquamarine the Badger

George the Bat

Rouge the Bat

Further down the list…

Borais the Eagle

Derek the Echidna

Knuckles the Echidna

Further down the list…

Saint the Hedgehog

Shadow the Hedgehog

Shawnna the Hedgehog

Silkk the Hedgehog

Sonic the Hedgehog

Further down the list…

And Domino the Wolf

"Ladies and gentlemen, I wish these young adults a safe voyage into the real world to allow them to grow and show their true potential. We've taught them as best we can. Now, it's time for our seeds to blossom into the beautiful flowers that we want them to be. It's time to begin a new chapter in your lives. Take all that you've learned and put it to good use. Congratulations! Your high school years are over.

The students all took off their caps and tossed them into the air. Knuckles was more relieved than anybody. The cap was squeezing the blood out of his head.

So there you have it. They've graduated, but their lives and stories do not stop there. Let's take a look into the future and see how they all will turn out.

Sonic the Hedgehog goes off to college on an athletic scholarship for both football and track. He runs track on the global level. He also majored in music. After college, he and his brother was able to start a rock band, produce, sell, etc. In other words, all they saw were profits. He married Amy Rose, his high school sweetheart, at age 26. They had two spunky hedgehogs named Sondra and Ambient.

Miles Tails Prower kept his GPA up and graduated as the valedictorian of the class of 2011. He later goes off to college and becomes a very successful aeronautical engineer. His plane and jet designs earned him many Nobel prizes. Companies paid top dollar for his designs, which made him very wealthy. He married Cream the Rabbit when they were 28. Although they bore no children, Tails and Cream adopted a child named Branson Prower.

Knuckles the Echidna goes off to college on a football scholarship. He leads his team to win the National Conference three straight years. He gets drafted by the Central City Warriors and goes off to play pro ball. At the age of twenty-five, he marries Rouge the Bat. The following year, Knuckles had his first hybrid son. Unfortunately at the age of thirty-four, Knuckles suffered a career-ending injury to his knee. Fortunately because of his great talent and endorsements, Knuckles was grossly overpaid; so he had more than enough money to last him. He invested in a night club, which he renamed Club Rouge in honor of his sweet wife. He let her run everything there, and it was a place of much profit. He also used his money to purchase many investments such as sporting goods stores and health spas.

Silver the Hedgehog becomes a wealthy economist and stockbroker. Working on the Central City Stock Market, Silver quickly becomes a very successful person. He was a millionaire at age 29. He greatly helped the economy by buying and selling some of the biggest stocks on the market. His trademark was his fresh pack of breath mints that he would have with him everyday. He restored faith in the stock market and even managed to lower the price of gas. When asked about all his success, he said that he owed it all to his trust in his friends, his wife, and people in general.

Rouge the Bat joined the CIA Agency. Possessing great skill and flexibility from her dancing in high school, she easily worked her way up to head agent. Soon, GUN began to notice her skill and offered her a job with a better pay. Rouge could not disagree. She accepted GUN's offer and became an elite agent that worked strictly for the President of the United Federation. Rouge, however, being the kind of girl that she was, needed nightlife. After Knuckles' injury, she persuaded him to purchase a night club. She uses the night club as a huge source of revenue as well as entertainment. Even while doing all this, she still finds time to be a loving mother to her hybrid son, King, and her hybrid daughter, Crystal.

Cream the Rabbit discovers a love for animals and children. She goes off to college and becomes a veterinarian. As an added bonus, she also volunteers her time now at a local daycare.

Tikal the Echidna quickly discovered that college was not for her and dropped out. Still, she was able to support herself until she married Silver at age 27. Then, Silver persuades her to stop working by saying "No wife of mine will ever have to worry about working." Still, she felt pampered and like she served no purpose. To fill this void, she started many organizations to help preserve wildlife and many charities that benefited children. She used her other time to raise her two children, Destiny and Brooke, and teaching a dance class at the community rec center

Shadow the Hedgehog's first child was born two months after graduation. A beautiful female mongoose with pink fur and red highlights named Maria. As time progresses, Mina and Shadow grow distant and apart. Soon, they broke up. At age 30, Shadow actually meets up with an old childhood friend, Breezy the Hedgehog. Soon, the two began to fall in love and are married. They have three children: Shade, Midnight, and Malik. At that time, Shadow enlists with GUN and becomes a Black-Ops agent. Whilst doing all this, he becomes somewhat of a hedgehog Hitch, helping many loveless men in their quest for the ancient art of wooing.

Amy Rose went to culinary school, where she trained with the best chefs on how to make gourmet meals and cook like a pro. For a while, she worked as an understudy to Puck the Wolf. When she and Sonic got married, Sonic bought her her own gourmet restaurant.

Sally became the host of her own show. Her dream was to be the next Tyra Banks, but she only managed to be as popular as Donahue. Her show was called the Sally Acorn Show. It was soon cancelled due to lack of ratings and an audience. She goes upon American Idol only to get kicked off during the first round.

Julie-Su married a pro athlete and now lives the sweet life. She forgot about her past and soon lost contact with all her childhood friends.

Because of Maria, Mina was not able to go to college. She took up a job at a boutique. After 30 long years, she had worked her way up to head buyer for JC Penny's. She and Sally are still close friends.

Other facts that I might not have mentioned before about the teens.

Sally was voted as 'Most Popular' in the Who's Who awards.

Knuckles was voted as 'Most Athletic' in the Who's Who awards.

Shadow and Sally were voted as 'Mr. and Mrs. Station Square' in the Who's Who awards.

Sonic ran varsity track during his last year at Station Square High.

Silver played basketball during both of his years at Station Square High. He had incredible leaping ability.

Even though she had many admirers in high school, Tails was the only interest of Cream ever.

Shadow and Knuckles were arrested with DUI charges after one of Flame's parties.

Amy was voted as Prom Queen in her senior year.

Cream was on the Homecoming court for her sophomore and junior years.

Tails maintained a 4.2 GPA for his entire high school career.

Rouge and Tikal lived with each other for a year after college before Rouge married Knuckles.

Many things happened during the courses of their lifetimes. The mostly became successful people, changing the world as they lived in it. Even when things seemed their darkest, they would always receive comfort in remembering their high school years.

Done!