Lethal Mutation

Surprise! Ha, ha! It's me again! Some of you may have figured out by now that just because my last chapter was the climax, didn't mean that my story was over yet! If you had looked carefully (and a few of you did!), you would have noticed that I didn't mark my story as complete after last chapter! Also, visitors to my story's forum would have seen that I twice mentioned the completed work having 18 chapters, not 17. For those of you who got it and were expecting this, mondo huge bonus points! Everyone else is still a winner, however, because they still get to read how my story actually ends! Now, for my final shout out to all the reviewers I have ever had up until this final chapter was posted (Lord, please, don't let me forget anyone!): Shika Kev Prower, Koike, Kitsune-awesomeness, Zachary W, Nicend, Asher Tye, peterskywalker, Rae Logan, brave kid, Toko the Pikmin master, Super Dragon, ChibiRyou200, Kitsune-SuperFox, Dareth, Tailsfan007, danielle, carol, cari la fenix, Siran 774, Pokelad, Drandu, Deluxe489, Tai Sky, and Sara! Wow! I mean, seriously, Wow! Thank you so much for your dedication and kind words!

I need to send a very special thanks, though, to a few of you who went over and beyond by constantly reviewing and even taking time to chat with me off of my story as well: Asher Tye (truely an honor, keep in touch!), Zachary W (I will make sure to attend your next rave party!), Nicend (my first and everlasting reviewer!), Shika Kev Prower (thanks so much for caring as much about me as my story!), brave kid (can't wait to work on our story together more!), peterskywalker (reviewed every chapter, and much more than a sentence each time, too!), Drandu (Eggthrax, I've got to use that one someday!), Rae Logan (loved your comments on the characters!), ChibiRyou200 (you started my forum to life!), and lastly Pokelad and cari la fenix for being there ever since the start. Bonus points can't even describe my gratitude! Now, please, whether I mentioned your name or not, post a review on this last chapter with your thoughts, and come chat with me regularly on my forum. Who knows, if enough people stay in touch, I might be convinced to work on a sequel! (I already have been having a few ideas...)

Well, OK, sorry for the rambling so far. At long last, here it is. The REAL final chapter to my story! Pay close attention to the title, as it was probably the hardest one for me to get right as a description of this chapter on a whole. As you will see when you read the first few lines, everyone, minus Tails, has long since landed safely at the Thorndike's house. Now, only time can tell if their wounds will heal, both physically and emotionally. A very sad chapter, but it will definitely give you readers that sense of closure that I purposefully left out of last chapter. So, for the last time, read and enjoy the final conclusion of my first ever fanfic! Bye!

Chapter 18: Recovery Takes Time

Sunset had just finished at the Thorndike Mansion in Station Square as the last rays of light were reflected off of the abandoned X-Tornado in the driveway. It's outer hull was beginning to chill in the early night's air, having long since lost the heat from its earlier reentry to the Earth's atmosphere hours ago...

Everything was calm around the grounds of the Thorndike residence. Even the noisy crickets and other assorted insects were more silent than usual after the landing of the X-Tornado that evening. It had arrived to a joyous crowd of celebrators mobbing the mansion in an attempt to show their gratitude to the blue hedgehog that had once again saved them all from certain doom, but the crowd had instantly quieted down as Amy had dismounted the back of the X-Tornado with a battered and unconscious Sonic in her arms. The gasps from the mob of people were probably enough to suck in half the air around Station Square as Chris had helped to carry the hedgehog inside, away from the prying eyes of the media and news cameramen that all focused on the tragic shot. Mr. Tanaka, Ella, Cream, and Vanilla had ushered the wounded Sonic and his carriers to an upstairs bedroom where he could be treated and rest. No one, other than the returning group of heroes, learned about Tails' disappearance until Cream had noticed it a few minutes later. The media, despite many of the residence's members' best efforts, had found out just seconds later.

Chuck sat in the sofa alone in his secret underground lab as he watched a report from Scarlet Garcia on the small television in the recreational corner of the lab. He let out a troubled sigh as he remembered how he and Tails used to sit there together when they needed a quick break from their intense mechanical tinkering. Luckily, Rouge had been able to get the government's help in clearing the masses from the Thorndike's property, but the welcome silence had also caused even more speculation in the media. He remembered G.U.N.'s debriefing of everyone that had come back from the trip, the President's personal invitation to a celebration gala at the White House itself, even the faces of the cheering fans that had not yet learned the truth about their so called 'successful' defeat of Eggman yet again.

"Tails, I know that this is how you wanted it to be. I know that you would rather give up your own life to save everyone rather than watch Eggman destroy either of our worlds. I… I just wish it could have been different," Chuck spoke to himself as his voice began to crack from his emotions that only pushed his volume higher to fill the empty laboratory. "I wish I could have gone with you when you faced Eggman! Why didn't you ask for help?! Maybe, if I had gone with you, we would both have found a way out in time! Why did you have to leave?! We've fought Eggman together for so long, so how come this time you didn't make it back with the rest of us like you always do?! I though you promised me a few weeks ago that you wouldn't put yourself in danger like that, remember?! Remember our promise, Tails?!" Chuck screamed at the high ceiling in the subterranean lab. His anguished voice echoed back to his ears several times as the older scientist broke down into sobs on the sofa, just as he felt a soft hand touch his shoulder.

Startled, Chuck quickly turned his head to find his grandson standing in front of the sofa at his feet. Before he could even think of what to say to the intruder, Chris also burst into tears as he fell to the floor in front of Chuck and stuck his head into his grandfather's lap. Chuck quickly understood what Chris was trying to tell him, other people cared for Tails just as much as he had, and it was now his turn to comfort someone else. "Don't cry, Chris," Chuck managed to get his voice back after several attempts to form the words in his mouth, "I was just upset, that's all. I know that Tails wouldn't want us to be this sad for him. He died doing the thing that was the most important to him, and I wouldn't wish for any other kind of way for Tails to go. He was… a good friend."

"I know, grandpa," Chris replied as he lifted his head from his grandfather's lap, still crying unabatedly. "It's just, why Tails?! I mean, Tails was always the smartest one, the nicest person who always did anything to help out no matter how busy he was; why did he have to be the one to die?! How come all the best people are the ones that have to leave so soon?!" Chris managed to finish his string of questions as he again resumed his crying into Chuck's lap.

"I don't know, Chris," Chuck truthfully answered as he stared blankly at a point beyond the ceiling above his head, "I don't know."

"How long do you think he's gonna stay like that?" Knuckles addressed the person next to him as he gazed up at the figure of a blue hedgehog sitting on the rooftop, staring blindly into the stars.

"Who knows," Rouge matter-of-factly replied from her spot standing next to Knuckles in the Thorndike's back yard. "That furry little guy meant a lot to him, so he may never come down from there."

"I just can't believe that the little squirt is really gone," Knuckles dejectedly stated as he shifted his gaze to the ground below him.

"Really?!" Rouge spoke up in genuine surprise. "You of all people should have seen this coming, what with your vision and all…"

"Yeah, I know," Knuckles interrupted the remorseless bat. "It's just, I never really let it sink in, you know? I didn't really think that the prophecy would come true, or, at least, I never really wanted it to."

"Hey, you big softy," Rouge unexpectedly put her arm around Knuckles as she decided for some unknown reason to comfort the grieving echidna instead of taking advantage of his weakness, "You did what you had to do. Tails did what he felt he had to do. It's not your fault that the little guy was still in there when the Egg Moon exploded."

"Heh, thanks, Rouge," Knuckles decided to accept the much needed comfort instead of pulling back like his impulse told him to. However, the moment didn't last long before Knuckles again let his true self shine through, "But if you think that this means that I like you now, then you really are batty."

"Ha, fair enough, Knuckie-poo," Rouge playfully shot right back.

"What did you call me?!" Knuckles quickly shifted back to his usual angry self.

"Oh, well. So much for the moment," Rouge said to herself as she rolled her eyes at the echidna that she was now sure would never change.

Inside the Thorndike's mansion, everyone else was gathered in the living room in a group gathering of tears and weeping for the loss of Tails. Cream and Cheese were crying uncontrollably on the carpeted floor as Amy, Ella, and Vanilla found themselves too overcome with their own tears to assist the younger mourners for some time. Mr. Tanaka stood in the doorway of the room in his usual stance of attention, but tears also flowed down his face as well as he simply stood as still as a rock in a futile effort to act strong. No one talked as they all remembered old memories and the recent events that had concerned the missing yellow fox. Ella's celebration dinner sat unattended on the dining room table as nobody seemed to have any appetite, and everybody in the house found it impossible to keep their composure when they saw the happy decorations that Ella had used to decorate the room in anticipation of Tails' recovery due to Eggman's cure. The fact that the fox had recovered in the end did little to ease the pain of his death. The group of mourners simply sat together in the living room, crying until none of them had any tears left to shed. Cream and Cheese were the last of these people as they never did end their rivers of tears long after the others were cried out.

One of the room's occupants finally diverted her attention away from remembering the dead kitsune as she instead wondered about the one person that must have felt the most pain. Poor Sonic. I wonder if he's OK up there? Amy pondered as she stared at the roof above her. I know that he wouldn't do anything stupid like jump, but he really shouldn't be alone right now. Tails was his only family, even if I always wanted to be a part of that family. I just hope that Sonic can learn to deal with the heartache, or he might be broken like this forever. Despite the feeling that she had already shed every drop of tears from her body, Amy still felt one more single droplet twist its path down her face at the thought. I don't care if we ever get together or not, I just want him to be happy again, Amy wished in her mind to any unknown power that would grant her request.

He sat there in silence. He looked transfixed at the stars which were just starting to poke out of the darkening sky. He didn't know what he was looking for or why it was so important that he see it, but Sonic felt the uncontrollable urge to simply stare at the stars as his mind wandered aimlessly through paths of memories. Memories of him and his little brother played before his mind's eye for what had now seemed like days to the zen-like hedgehog. Some memories brought tears to the blue hedgehog's eyes but almost all of them were happy as Sonic found himself smiling despite the pain of his loss. This is the way you wanted it, right little bro? You would have wanted me to be happy for the good times we had instead of livin' the rest of my life as beat up as I am now. I just wish that I could have told you some things before you had to go, Tails. I wanted to tell you how much you really meant to me; how much I really cared for you.

So far the blue hedgehog's thoughts had been controlled and peaceful. However, the idea of the finality of Tails death struck the unstable hedgehog yet again as his composure once again disintegrated under the pressure of his grief. Now, I'll never get that chance to make you understand, just like Vanilla made me understand, that we need each other! How can I go on without you, little bro?! I can't be strong unless you're here with me! If only I had been faster, I could have gotten you out of there in time! Even if I hadn't been fast enough, at least we would have gone out together! Please, Tails, I can't go back to my life before I met you! I… I never really told you why I still liked to share a room with you, did I? Sonic tried to ask the absent fox as he almost half-expected an answer. But, of course, none came as the distraught blue hero finally managed to calm himself down for the umpteenth-millionth time in the last hour alone.

He let his mind wander back over his endless stream of memories of the young fox. Pictures of Tails' smiling face filled his head as the blue hedgehog finally seemed to understand what had been there all along. You always knew, Sonic finally concluded as he saw the world through his little brother's eyes. You understood all along, didn't ya, buddy? That's why you never left my side even when I just treated you like a sidekick. You knew all along that I cared for you and that's why you always worked so hard to help me and everyone else all the time instead of thinking about yourself. I don't know how I didn't ever see it before. You were just always there, so I took you for granted until things started going wrong a few weeks ago.

Sonic felt even more tears welling up in his eyes as he continued thinking about what he and Tails had gone through in the last three weeks. He made no effort to stop them as his mind wandered yet again into the realm of despair. Maybe I lost you because I am the one who killed you in the first place, Sonic thought as his mind compared his faults to his seemingly infallible late brother. Twice I almost destroyed the whole world just because I was selfish and wanted to save you, so we could be together. Both times, you had to save me from certain death and set things right again on your own. If I hadn't of been so selfish, if I hadn't of tried to hold on to you so much, maybe you would still be here right now. Even the way you died wasn't selfish, bro. Those people that you died to save are the very same ones that ridiculed you and despised you so much as a little kid. They are the reason for all the pain you went through before you met me! How could anyone but you have a heart so big that they would die for their enemies? And the worst part is that they will never know what you did for them, Sonic finished his train of thought as he realized that Tails would never be remembered for all his heroic deeds. Sure, Sonic would always be known as a hero in whatever universe he appeared in, but only the fox's closest friends would ever know how much Tails had contributed to fighting Eggman and all other sorts of evil monsters as well, or how great a sacrifice he paid in the end to save not one, but two whole worlds.

After all that we went through to save you, you knew what was the most important, little bro. You never once put your own life in front of anyone else's. You were even stronger and braver than I am, buddy. You're more of a hero than I'll ever be. Not even I have saved two whole planets at the same time! I just wish you would have known it before you had to go. I wish I would have been brave enough to make you realize how important you really were, to me and everyone else. Sonic's mind once again stopped its depressing monologue as the blue hedgehog again resumed his stargazing. He saw the sky slowly fill with brightly burning debris from the small pieces of the Egg Moon that had been blown off by the huge explosion as they incinerated on their reentry to the Earth's atmosphere. He tried to keep his mind off the fact that any one of those quick streaks of light could have been the body of his dead brother. Heh, being cremated in mid-air, Sonic almost laughed as he realized the probable fate of Tails' body, that's exactly what he would have wanted, to be scattered out into the sky he loved so much. At least now I know that wherever I go, a part of my little bro will be there with me.

Sonic's morbid, but oddly comforting, revelry was interrupted just then by a loud sound coming from the sky above him. As he quickly craned his neck to see, a bright streak of light fell towards the mansion on a path to collide with an unoccupied section of the backyard. Wow! This one's gonna hit! the alarmed hedgehog noticed as he managed to stand up again, despite his extensive injuries, and climb back into the house to tell the others as he heard the loud thump of the object's impact. However, he found everyone else already outside as they all started to gather around a smoking, somewhat spherical chunk of debris that had landed upright directly behind the mansion. Sonic quickly walked up to the strange object as the rest of the household and its guests stood in a semi-circle behind him to get a better view of the thing. Carefully touching the hot metal with his gloved hands, Sonic proceeded to clear a small patch of soot off the object's clearly defined front. What he saw underneath the thin layer of ash was a sight that he should have expected, but still didn't want to see at the moment.

"That's Eggman's symbol!" Chris blurted out as Sonic's hand moved to reveal the red outline of the Doctor's smiling face and moustache.

"Hey, that's right!" Rouge confirmed the trademark logo of the evil genius. "And this thing looks like it's Eggy's chair!" she also observed.

"Hrrrrr! Eggman, come out of there right now!! I've got a few things I want to do to you for killing my brother!!" Sonic shouted in rage at the pod. Indeed the burnt device was Eggman's chair, but the top was sealed shut by a large, metal shield that kept anyone from looking inside to see the occupants of the one man craft.

A low groaning noise was heard coming from the normally floating chair as its occupant no doubt began to awaken from the impact of reentry to the loud shouting of the irate blue hedgehog. However, no movement was apparent inside the sealed off chair itself as everyone waited for the solid metal canopy to open up.

"Let me crack that egg open for ya, Sonic!" Knuckles shouted as he brought back one of his fists for a mighty blow that would probably shatter the extremely durable pod. He checked his fist just moments before it made impact by a sudden voice that called out from inside the metal cocoon.

"Wait! It's not what you think, guys!" a voice called out to the gathered crowd. The large metal canopy surrounding Eggman's chair made the sound almost inaudible, but it was clear to everyone that it didn't belong to Dr. Robotnik. Suddenly the large dome of metal that encompassed the rider's portion of the levitating chair split in half and fell apart, leaving the sole occupant of the device to finally see the stunned faces of everyone around him.

"No, it can't be…" Chuck muttered to himself as everyone's jaw dropped to the ground, or at least as close as they could get.

Climbing out of the crashed pod in front of them, was a sight none of the people gathered around had ever thought that they would see again. Twin, bushy, yellow appendages wagging slowly behind him, came out of the wreckage the welcome figure of Tails.

"Bro! You're real, you're really here!" Sonic shouted as he rushed over to the fox and gripped him in a tight bear hug to ensure that it wasn't an illusion.

"Aaaahh! Sonic! Sonic! Yes, it's me! Now let go, you're crushing me!" the yellow fox almost screamed in a mixture of excitement and pain from the hedgehog's grip. After the blue hedgehog finally released him from the constricting hold, Tails managed to get a close look at his older brother for the first time since the Egg Moon hours ago. "Oh No! Sonic, what happened to you! You look like you can barely stand up!" Tails commented on the beat up hedgehog.

"You don't look the world's best yourself, bro!" Sonic playfully joked back at the concerned fox.

He was right, however. Tails' body was almost as mutilated as Sonic's from the pounding he had received during the explosion from ricocheting off the burning walls of Eggman's chair after he had sealed himself inside. The kit had been extremely lucky that, instead of staying in the epicenter of the blast where his safety shield of Eggman's chair would have surely disintegrated in seconds, his makeshift lifeboat had been blown with one of the larger plumes of fire out of the Egg Moon entirely and on a course for reentry to Earth. However, Tails didn't for one moment believe that he had just gotten lucky as he quietly thanked his mother and father for their protection yet again.

"But, how did you know to use Eggman's chair to survive the explosion, Tails?!" Chris asked in disbelief of the incredible odds that the fox must have beaten just to survive, let alone land safely in his backyard.

"It was simple, really," Tails explained to everyone around him, "No matter how many times we attack him and his robots, Eggman's chair always seems to be his only creation that ever survives, no matter what! So, I figured that if it worked for Eggman, it could also work for me!"

The whole crowd burst into fits of laughter as they finally let their sorrows from a minute ago escape at the illogical, yet rational observation coupled with the sight of the yellow and white fox standing before them. Even those who thought that they had no more tears left to cry began shedding tears of joy at the unexpected return of the kitsune that had been presumed dead ever since the Egg Moon explosion. No one dared to move as they all seemed to wish that the happiness of that moment would never end. Finally, one person decided to ask a question that had just started bothering them at the sight of the fox alive again.

"But, what about the prophecy?" Knuckles spoke up in a puzzled tone. "I mean, how could you still be alive, Tails, unless the Master Emerald was wrong?!"

"I actually thought about that for a little while when I woke up while floating through space," Tails quickly answered. "You and Rouge were right about me being the one mentioned in the prophecy, but I think you got the wrong world and the wrong destiny! You see, I think that my destiny was to stop Eggman from infecting everyone on Mobius with my father's virus that he was able to recreate through my DNA, and, if I had failed, everyone on Mobius would share the same fate as I have in being turned into a mutant like me! So, you see, according to your vision, I never really had to die at all!" Tails concluded his explanation of the misinterpreted prophecy.

"Well, I guess we were both wrong then, right, Knuckie?" Rouge taunted the relieved echidna.

"For the first time ever, I'm glad that I was wrong!" Knuckles responded as everyone else once again chuckled at the comical expression and unusual words from the prideful echidna. Another moment of silence followed as everyone wondered what to do next.

"So, now what?" Chris spoke up as everyone just stood staring at Tails and he, in turn, looked at everyone else.

"Well, I've gotta fly pretty soon, kiddies," Rouge told the assembled group. "Topaz and the President say that they want me to give them a detailed report on what happened as soon as possible."

"I've got to get going soon, too!" Knuckles shouted as he suddenly remembered his earlier arrangement with a friend. "I told Hawk that I would go and help him find some ancient map for some scientist studying a lost island!"

"Well, thanks for helping us out, guys," Tails thanked the two freelance creatures that had come to his and his friend's aid.

"Anytime, kiddo!" Knuckles nodded his head in response. "But, we don't have to leave just yet. Why don't we all go inside and celebrate together?"

"That sounds like fun!" Cream exclaimed, clearly excited at the idea.

"Chao! Chao, chao!" Cheese agreed.

For a while, nobody moved, even after the motion to return to the mansion was agreed on by everyone. The shock of Tails being alive after everyone had just started to think of him as dead still kept everyone rooted in place. Finally, Chuck broke the spell-like stillness and stepped forward to the yellow fox and gave him a gentle squeeze in front of everyone.

"Welcome back, Tails," the elderly scientist greeted his partner that he had almost lost forever. "Things wouldn't have been the same without you."

"(cough) Thanks, Chuck," the yellow kit replied.

"What was that?" Chuck asked Tails in surprise at the unexpected noise the fox had made just before his last sentence.

"Huh? What do you mean, Chuck?" Tails wondered why his friend had suddenly gotten so worried.

"Just a second ago, I swear I heard you…" Chuck's next sentence was interrupted by a quick series of coughs from the two-tailed fox standing in front of him as Tails quickly covered his mouth with his fist.

"Oh my!" Ella broke in from her spot in the rear of the assembled crowd.

"Indeed," Mr. Tanaka also spoke from his spot next to Ella in the back of the group, "I do believe that Master Tails may not be feeling well at the moment."

"What?! No! I… I feel fine!" Tails interjected as he was quickly forced to turn his head for a loud sneeze.

"It sure doesn't look that way to me," Amy unhelpfully pressed the issue as she grinned a half comforting and half sadistic smile towards the fox.

"No, really, guys! I'm fine, see! I'm… Ooooooohh!" the poor kit futilely tried to convince the others as he suddenly clutched his stomach in pain and almost doubled over.

"I guess that Eggman's cure may have stopped your body's production of the neurotoxins, Tails, but it will probably be a while before your immune system gets back to full strength again," Chuck broke in as he saw Vanilla walk up and put a hand on the fox's forehead in a crude test of his health. A single nod from the motherly rabbit told everyone the results of her experiment.

"But, (cough) how did I get sick this time?" Tails asked as he gave up on trying to prove that he was healthy when even he could plainly tell that he was not. "It's not like I was buried under an avalanche like last time!"

"Outer space is pretty cold, bro!" Sonic said as he gently patted his sick brother on the back. "Believe me, I know!"

"But, I just got out of bed before I left with you guys for the Egg Moon! You can't tell me that (cough) now I have to go right back!" Tails shouted in protest to once again being confined to his comfortable prison.

"Come on, Tails," Cream spoke as she and Cheese grabbed both of the fox's hands and started to pull him towards the house, "Cheese and I will take you to Chris's room, where Ella can get you some nice warm soup and my mom and I can help fix up all your bruises!" the young bunny finished in a happy and almost excited tone.

Tails tried planting his feet to resist being dragged off by the overly helpful bunny and chao, but his injuries and the surprisingly strong tug from both of his captors still allowed him to be pulled towards the mansion at a good pace. He glanced over his shoulder to the rest of the assembled household, plus Knuckles and Rouge, as he worked up the most pitiful facial expression he could muster in hopes of convincing someone to assist him in breaking free from the duo's grip, but no one moved as the poor fox was dragged farther away towards the back door of the Thorndike's house. "(cough) Not again…" Tails half muttered, half moaned as he gave up on fighting and instead cooperated with Cream and Cheese in escorting him to his sick bed once more. Behind him, he could still hear the soft laughter of the others in the backyard as they overheard his final complaint and pitied the once again bedridden fox that had saved them all, in more ways then he would ever know.