The final, conclusive list: (What? Final? This is the last chapter? What?)

Alyssacookie, Jacklethekitsue, poka, UltimateCCC, Novus Umbra, Mana the Cat Magician, The Writer's Freedom Project, IHeartSonAmy, HaosBlossom, KnuxandRouge4ever, Moonstone the Wolf, 01sonamy01, Bullet Nick, Crails123, SoNiCrOxMaIsOx, SpiraHedgehog, I White Raven I, Mike Prower the Fox, anglepie21, cheese15624, ferbrocks10, zeldaskeeper, robert james courtois, sparksthehedgehog26, SherryBlossom, kizziefoshnizzie, rugtugba, Amy Tikal the hedgehog, -StarblissSong-, Ember113, :), Ashley3, yeahsowhatever, falcoraqx, SonAmy Dreamer, Gamer Dude, daneliz', OXOXPoisonedAngelXOXO, Rachel-1994, anonymous, and to everyone who read but didn't review (shame on you! Just kidding...maybe...):

THANK YOU all so much for all of your reviews. You guys have no idea how much I love reading all your kind words; you all inspire me. Now, kick back, relax (or be on the edge of your seat, whatever) for the last chapter of my "epic" A Whole New World. It's been fun, guys and gals...

...xxx...

Chapter 26: A Whole New World

...xxx...

"Useless..."

The word escaped the echidna's lips with a sigh as studied the repeated, mesmerizing swirls of the dimensional void. Knuckles felt Rouge cuddle up closer to him and he put his arm around her firmly, trying to transfer some of his strength to the bat. She sunk her nose into his shoulder and kissed his neck lightly, and Knuckles rested his muzzle on her head. Was this a new feeling for her, feeling like the world was about to end and she could do nothing? There was probably no other way she would have let her walls down, let herself appear so vulnerable. But whatever...if she wanted to be comforted, and if all Knuckles could do at this point was to make Rouge feel better, he'd do it. Then at least he wouldn't feel so...

"Useless..."

"Knuckie..." Rouge said softly, and Knuckles' heart warmed at her pet name for him. Of course, he'd never admit it in a billion years, but he loved it. It brought out a softer side of him he didn't know existed.

"You're not useless. You're just letting the others do the dirty work for once."

He was about to protest, but her lovely teal eyes looking up at him and her delicate hand tracing his birthmark gave him pause. "It's about time," she continued, "after all you do and not get credit for."

Gah, why did she have to be so right all the time? It was frustrating - yet he loved that about her. She could see things, figure things out no one else could.

Knuckles pulled Rouge closer to him, enjoying whatever it was about her that made him feel so good, but kept his eyes on the void. Nothing interesting or new there, so he turned his attention to the other members of their split up team. Amy was on her back, still in a daze from Super Sonic kissing her, and Tails was fiddling with his wrist comm. The echidna was about to mutter the same word about them, but Rouge suddenly snapped out of his embrace.

"Eggman!" the bat yelled and pointed out a hovercraft floating nearby.

That made even Amy snap back to reality. "Huh? What was he doing here? I thought he was up there fighting Sonic and them..."

"Let's find out," Knuckles said, and, seeing his ticket to do something, leaped into a glide and soared over the ocean after the hovercraft, using his claws to latch onto it. The stunned doctor turned.

"Knuckles? How nice to see you here," Eggman said with a hint of nervousness and urgency.

"What are you doing here, Eggman?" the echindna asked, his claws still wedged into the hovercraft. "Why aren't you up there fighting?"

Eggman scowled. "Nega double crossed me."

"And you seem so surprised," Rogue said as she glided up next to them.

"Yes, I should have known," the doctor looked down at his gloves, but then his blue glasses flashed as he looked upwards. "But he hasn't heard the last of me. No one crosses Dr. Eggman and gets away with it!"

Knuckles raised an eyebrow. "So you have a plan?"

Eggman chuckled. "I have an airship I have been saving for such a time as this; it can withstand dimensional travel. There's just the problem of how we can power it."

"The Master Emerald," Knuckles and Rouge said simultaneously, and then locked eyes and smiled.

"Ho ho ho ho!" Eggman cackled. "Then there's no time to waste."

"Wait just one minute Eggman!" A suddenly furious pink hedgehog screamed at him from the broken X-Tornado. "So one minute you're trying to kill Sonic and now you're on our side? I don't think so! We've fallen for that before!"

"Ignore pinky..." Rouge muttered.

"Calm down, sweetheart," Eggman said, "If we don't do anything, than Nega will destroy both worlds. It's one thing to take over worlds, it's another to annihilate them."

"Only because you'll be destroyed as well," Rouge muttered.

"Doctor...we should be going..." Decoe reminded.

"You're right," Eggman sat up straighter. "If you two want to tag along-"

Knuckles huffed. "Tag along? We're letting you borrow the Master Emerald, now don't forget it!"

"Oh, sure, sure..." he said and started floating away, with Knuckles still latched on, and Rouge flying next to them.

"Wait!" Amy yelled after them, but they didn't turn. "OOOOOH! You get back here, Eggman!"

Tails winced, hoping he wasn't going to be stuck alone with angry-Amy in the middle of the ocean...

"Tails, c'mon, we're going with them!" she demanded.

The fox just blinked at her, unsure of how they were going to...

"Oh, don't give me that! You've carried Sonic before, right?" Amy stood up and lifted her hands, and it clicked for Tails.

"Okay, Amy," he said and his namesakes propelled him up, and he took ahold of Amy's hands to lift her off the broken X-Tornado. With one forlorn look at his beloved plane, Tails flew after Eggman, Knuckles, and Rouge.

Okay...so maybe they did have a chance now. Tails may have a lot of faith in Sonic, Silver, and Blaze...but at the same time, this truly was for all the marbles this time. Whoever had the Jeweled Scepter essentially ruled the two realms. It was almost like back when they'd been fighting Dark Oak. He just hoped there weren't going to be any more costly sacrifices...

Shrugging off that thought easily enough, Tails turned his mind back to this whole mess of dimensions merging. Now that was just one thing that he couldn't wrap his brain around. Now...we're talking about a guy who could do differential equations in his head...and this was puzzling him. But what parts of the Chaos dimension would stay? Be replaced by the Sol Dimension? Besides, how could all that power by in such a small scepter anyway?

Determined to find answers, the little fox sped up his tails, knowing that Amy was used to going fast from being carried by Sonic. Certainly Eggman would know more about this - and Tails was humble enough to ask the doctor. He had basically caught up to the odd group when Amy's voice interrupted him.

"I'm not as heavy as Sonic, am I?"

The question was just so out of the blue that Tails couldn't answer at first. What...what in the world? Out of all the things happening right now...Amy was concerned about her weight? Why, she wasn't worried about Sonic? She must have complete confidence in the hedgehog at this point, but still...

"Why are you hesitating?" Amy snapped. "Are you trying to say I'm heavier than him?"

Tails was now afraid for his life. He clutched Amy's hands tighter, thankful that in this state, she couldn't pull out her hammer, but still didn't know what to say...

"TAILS!"

"No, Amy."

Oh thank goodness for Rouge, butting in and saving his skin there!

"Tails just means that Sonic is all skin and bones and it's pretty much impossible not to weigh more than he does."

Oh, could she have said anything worse? Tails had to close his eyes, as he could just see Amy about to go ballistic from hearing Rouge diss her boyfriend...

"As for me," Rouge continued, "I like my man to have some muscle on his bones..." she flirted and swooped down to wink at Knuckles.

The echidna blushed but growled, "Guys, there are much more important things to worry about..."

"It's good to know you're not after Sonic," Amy said in a shockingly calm tone.

Rouge laughed. "Oh hun, don't worry, the hedgie's all yours. I got my man right here..."

Tails was absolutely shocked that Rouge's diss hadn't ended in a girlfight, but just shook his head and realized that there were some things he would just never understand about girls. But while he could accept ignorance about the female sex, he couldn't accept it about the dimensions, and floated up closer to Eggman.

He cleared his throat. "Uh, Eggman?" the humble fox asked.

The doctor turned to him. "What is it, my furry friend?"

"Uh, do you understand exactly how the dimensions can overlap and merge?"

"But of course, don't you? Oh, that's right, someone like you could never understand such things...but let me put it this way. The Jeweled Scepter controls the very fabric of the space-time continuum, yes? So whoever is wielding it at the time can control what parts of the world will overlap."

Tails frowned. "But how could you do that? You'd have to know both worlds inside and out."

"Indeed, you would, but it seems that the Jeweled Scepter, much like both sets of Emeralds, is also powered by thoughts and feelings."

Tails tilted his head. "So..."

"So if the wielder has pure intentions, the good parts and features of both worlds will be placed together in perfect harmony. And conversely, evil intentions will throw the world into chaos, with landscapes that don't make sense, such as random bodies of water coming out of mountains or such. It all depends on who's wielding it."

It depended on the wielder? It was so...simple. It turned all the calculations Tails had done into pure dust. And that's when Tails realized, quite with a start that not everything in the world...could be figured out by a pencil and calculator. There was something more than the physical world, there were feelings, things unseen, things they just couldn't understand...And this insight couldn't have come from a more unlikely place.

"Eggman," he breathed, shocked. "Thanks."

"I've always told you he wasn't that bad of a guy," Knuckles muttered, and they all would have chuckled if Eggman wouldn't have continued.

"Oh, of course, I had nothing but the purest of intentions about using the Scepter. The Eggman Empire would have been nothing but a perfect paradise for both dimensions, I assure you...It's Nega that had all the evil intentions..."

"Cork it, Egghead," Knuckles growled. "Before I change my mind about the Master Emerald..."

"Yeah," Amy agreed, "We'll see if you're just tricking us again, and are planning on hurting Sonic!"

Amy's one track mind caused them all to roll their eyes, but the flash of the Master Emerald on the horizon reminded them that they were, indeed, actually on a mission here.

...xxx...

Light.

That was the only thing that crossed Sonic's mind upon plunging into the dimensional void. Or maybe it was just the only thing he saw, or the only thing illuminating what he saw. No matter. There were multicolored rays surrounding the three super powered heroes, and they couldn't tell if they were moving toward them, away from them, or just staying still.

But Sonic couldn't let himself be distracted by the rays; he had a mission here. So wherever this place was, be it the other dimension or the somewhere in between, this hedgehog would be busy trying to keep up with Eggman's Super Bot. Of course, since it was being powered by the Jeweled Scepter, the Super Bot could easily outrace the two hedgehogs and cat, but Nega seemed unaware that he was even being chased at all.

Good, we can surprise attack him, then.

"Do either of you know where we are?" Silver suddenly asked.

"Nega is looking for the door," Blaze answered.

"The door?"

"Yes, the place in the very center of the overlapping worlds. The place where the dimensional tear happened, and where the Jeweled Scepter can be used. The door for the key."

Between dimensions. "Well, we gotta stop Nega either way," Sonic said. "Any ideas? Silver, you got one?"

The hedgehogs met eyes. "We should use Chaos Control to get closer, and then both of you should summon as much power as you can, and then I'll hurl both of you right at the the Super Bot," Silver said.

"Sounds good to me," Sonic agreed.

Blaze nodded and then floated up to Silver to take his arm.

"Chaos..."

"Control!"

...xxx...

Okay, what the heck just happened?

One minute, Shadow had been contentedly listening to the Eggmans bicker and waiting to make his move to grab the Jeweled Scepter, and then all of a sudden he was being flung into the rapidly changing walls, where he must have passed out. And now...

Groaning and lifting himself up to his feet, Shadow tried to make sense of his surroundings. Okay...so he was still in some sort of...encasement, judging by the dull blue-gray metal walls. Though Shadow could sense that they were moving somehow, which meant that he was still in some sort of vehicle.

Realizing he had no more time to waste, he started skating down the long hallway. There wasn't much room to move around in here; it obviously wasn't built to hold a crew of any kind. Fine. Shadow would take himself in a fight against anyone. Now, if he only had a Chaos Emerald...

BANG!

The ship rocked violently, and once again Shadow found himself crashing into the side wall, the deadening impact bruising his skull.

Alright, that's it!

The black hedgehog dusted himself off and continued on through the labyrinth, trying to get some sort of clue about what was going on...

...xxx...

What? What were those little...rodents thinking, that the could stop his plans? Running into his ship? Why...why the nerve of these little soft creatures. The just didn't know who they were dealing with, surely.

"Greetings, my friends," Nega cackled over the loudspeaker, his voice echoing in the dimensional void. "It's always a pleasure for a ruler to get into contact with his soon to be subjects."

All three of them sneered.

"We're not your slaves," Sonic hissed.

"Oh no, you're not slaves. Forgive my rudeness," Nega said. "I'm much too civilized for that barbaric term. I much prefer the term...serf."

Hmph. "Don't think you'll get away with this!" Sonic continued.

"Oh, I'll enjoy watching you all be defeated very much," the evil scientist sneered, and then cackling like the mad man he was, started furiously entering commands on his keyboard. The Super Bot raised the Jewled Scepter and let lose an intense blast of energy towards them.

They managed to Chaos Control out of the way, but the energy beam suddenly split into threes and followed all three of them to their destination and made the zapping contact. Intense electric pain ravaged their bodies, and painful wails echoed through the void, clashing heavily with Nega's evil laughter.

"Oh ha ha ha ha ha! You all are useless to stop me! Your Emeralds are nothing against my power, and the Power of the Jeweled Scepter!"

Ow...ow...ow...

Trying to catch his breath and focus, Sonic turned to his comrades. "Guys..." he rasped, and they looked at him.

"We're...not...done..." Silver gasped, though he was clutching his chest in pain.

Blaze set her face like flint, shrugging off the lingering pain as best she could, and turned back to her boyfriend. "Silver, next time, we'll distract him and you try and reverse that energy beam at him..."

The hedgehog looked at her and nodded slightly, steeling himself for yet another round, which Nega seemed glad to deliver. This time the energy came in short but intense pulses, throwing the heroes for a loop as they tried to dodge the uncountable waves of energy. Silver tried to focus on them and send them heaving back at the Super Bot, but since they were traveling near the speed of light he just couldn't get a handle on any one of them. He turned to concentrate on one, but the momentary lapse made him put his guard down, and a nearby pulse slammed into him, electrocuting energy down his spine. If he hadn't been in his Super form, Silver would have been dead long ago...

A flash of yellow stole at his vision, and saw that Sonic himself was going through the same experience. The hedgehog cried out in agony, but summoned every ounce of strength he had to zoom out of the clutching fingers of pain. Free at last, but still hurting, Sonic had only a second to catch his breath as another wave of pulses came racing towards him, and he let his quick reflexes do all the work, and used his mind to just try and block out the pain.

Meanwhile, Blaze had been lucky enough to slip around the energy pulses, trying to get close enough to the Jeweled Scepter. However, Nega soon spotted her and sent a blast her way as well. The cat dodged it easily enough, but the wave doubled back on itself and stunned the cat from behind, slamming into her body and knocking out whatever wind she had left in her.

A momentary break in the action was an immense relief, but the heroes didn't allow themselves to relax too much. After all, they were losing here, and had only managed to make one measly dent in the side of the Super Bot. It had opened up a small hole, surely, but it still couldn't be enough to do anything...

Silver and Blaze locked eyes, both harboring the same thoughts. This was the end...the end. They were honestly, truly, going to die. Or at the very least, Nega would make them into his...serfs. They would rather be dead than be under that tyrant. As they stared at each other though, a love so deep suddenly passed between them, unspoken and yet still there. They just knew it.

I love you..Suddenly they just wanted to fly together and hold each other for one more time...but Sonic's cry caused them both to whip their heads to face him.

"GUYS!" The desperate golden hedgehog pointed.

Nega's Super Bot had stopped, and was now poised right in front of a swirling tornado-shaped mess of energy, indicating that they'd reached the very center of the void...and the place where the Jeweled Scepter was most powerful.

"Yes! Ultimate power is now ALL MINE!" Nega cackled, and extended the Powerful Scepter towards the vortex of energy, eager, impatient, feeling the ecstasy of the knowledge that his moment of triumph had finally come...

"NO!" Sonic, Silver, and Blaze all yelled simultaneously, and they all zoomed after the Super Bot, knowing that this was a battle they simply could NOT lose... All the while, desperate thoughts flooded their minds, thoughts of loved ones, friends...would this really be the end for them? No, it couldn't be...the good guys just had to win, right? Had to...

Oh, Amy...you know I love you...I tried...so hard, gave it everything...I love you...

Silver...I...love you...

Blaze...you're my strength, my everything, forgive me for not being able to save us this time...

...xxx...

"I can't believe we're working with Eggman."

Amy spouted the last word with such contempt that Rouge looked from outside the window and the lovely glowing lights to Amy's pout.

"You get used to it," the bat quipped casually.

"Maybe you and Knuckles will, but I won't," Amy said stubbornly and looked to Tails for support, but he was still fiddling with his wrist comm.

"Hey Tails, you sending Cream a love letter?"

Tails snapped up immediately. "Wha - how did - I mean, NO!" he protested, but his blush betrayed his lie.

Amy smiled, but Knuckles' voice over the intercom silenced all of them.

"Guys, I see Nega up ahead," he stern voice echoed from the engine room where the Master Emerald was.

They all turned their attention back to the window, and indeed, saw evidence of a ferocious battle underway. Rays of intense energy were shooting back and forth between the Super Bot and the three powered up heroes, but it was obvious that Nega was winning. Amy gasped as she saw electric sparks flying off of Sonic's super powered body.

"SONIC!" she cried and pressed her face up against the glass, getting it wet with her tears.

"Knuckles, speed this thing up!" Rouge yelled at him.

All she got in response was the familiar Chaos Chant... "The 7 Chaos Emeralds are the servers...the controller serves to unify the chaos...chaos is the power, enriched by the heart..."

The ship leaped forward at twice the original speed, racing into the fray, hoping that this cavalry wasn't too late...

...xxx...

A hole! Finally!

Shadow burst out of it, eager to find out where he was, but was greeted by the harsh vaccuum of pure space and blinding energy racing out of the Super Bot he was in. Blinking in surprise and knowing that in this form he wouldn't last long out here, Shadow reached for his rings. The one on his left wrist was half way off his hand when another, more familiar form of energy raced through his body.

Ah. That must mean...faker was out here too? It didn't matter; the only thing that did was that he was now in his Super Form, and in that case, he was now the Ultimate Life Form on steroids. Or atleast just the Chaos Emeralds.

His now golden fur creating a streak across the sky, Super Shadow curved his way around the Super Bot, trying to survey the situation. No, there really wasn't time for that, now was there? A quick glance, however, told him that faker along with Silver and Blaze in their own powered up forms were being badly beaten by this Super Bot.

My time.

The Super Bot slowly lost velocity, and Shadow turned only to see the massive vortex of pure energy swirling around, seemingly inviting Nega's Jeweled Scepter to enter it and use it's power. Shadow heard the doctor cackle and saw him eagerly extend that blasted scepter forward.

Chaos Control.

Super Shadow transported squarely next to the Jeweled Scepter, and clutched it with both hands, trying to fend off the might of the Super Bot...Shadow grunted under the effort of trying to hold back the steadily advancing Jeweled Scepter, but felt himself being pushed backwards, closer and closer into the vortex. All bets were off now. Using the Scepter itself as leverage, Shadow brought his wrists down against it, peeling off his wrist rings and letting their energy power him up even more. This sudden burst jolted the Scepter backwards, gaining Shadow a few more yards of room. But still, once that surge was gone, Shadow felt himself fading again and losing hope, for he'd used up his last supply of energy. Still...he wouldn't let go of the scepter...

...xxx...

Laughter would be entirely inappropriate at this moment, but Sonic simply couldn't help himself. "Shadz?" Sonic would've never thought he'd be so happy to see his rival as he was right then. "Where did you come from?"

Silver and Blaze both glared at him, amazed that Sonic was laughing at this point, but focused the rest of their attention on getting close enough to help out their reinforcement. Soon enough, they were there, and Sonic clutched onto the scepter with all of his might, pushing it back, back, away from the vortex...Two more sets of hands were now on the staff, pushing against the might...

Pure, unbridled energy like neither world had ever seen before was now in the heroes' hands, and they focused and worked together to turn the tide and wrestle it out of Nega's grip. The doctor cried out in alarm and sent an array of claws out of the Super Bot to take a hold of the Scepter again.

"You haven't won yet, you pathetic creatures!"

They all steeled themselves and dug deep, a plan forming in their minds.

"You wanted to go in there, so here you go!" Sonic yelled, and with the help of his friends, used the Jeweled Scepter as a baseball bat-type lever to swing the doctor and his blasted Super Bot into the vortex, it's energy swirls swallowing the doctor up along with his yells and vows, signaling that, at least for now, both worlds would be rid of Eggman Nega.

Silence.

Except for the labored breathing of three hedgehogs and a cat. The four of them just stood there for a minute, taking in the victory and still clutching onto the Scepter.

"We did it..." Sonic muttered, then looked to Shadow. "Hey, you saved our bacon back there."

Shadow merely grunted and looked away. "Don't expect any other favors, hero..."

Sonic just let out a small grin.

Meanwhile, Blaze had somehow found her way next to Silver, and snuggled up to him after dousing her flames. The hedgehog let go of the Scepter to let Sonic and Shadow fight over it, and gathered Blaze in his arms. Yes...they had won, in the sense that they had stopped Nega...and yet...

"Hey guys!"

Tails' young and enthusiastic voice seemed so out of place up here, and the four powered up heroes glanced in his direction, only to see a very large craft heading their way.

"Tails?" Sonic said incredulously. "How did..." Where were all these people coming from?

"The cavalry's here," Eggman's unmistakable voice boomed.

"Late..." Shadow muttered.

Eggman scoffed at the hedgehog, and would have made a witty reply if "SONIC!" wouldn't have cut him off.

Sonic made a quick search of the windows, but it took him less than a second to see her. She was safe. "Amy..." he said softly, and wanted to glide up to her to reassure her that he was okay, but there was no way he was going to let Shadow have the Scepter to himself. Who knew what the hedgehog would do with it.

Still...Sonic winked at his girl, glad that she and everyone else was alright. "I told you we'd win, didn't I?"

Amy grinned at him, though tears were still running down her muzzle.

"Enough of the mushiness, though it really is touching," Eggman sneered.

Sonic frowned. "What are you doing out here, anyway, Eggbutt?" he sneered right back.

"Oh Sonic, you're too kind to me. Don't you know that Nega was the true villain? I've been working behind the scenes to try and stop him, but he was just too crazy and ended up taking over. But," the doctor stood up straighter. "I'm pleased to announce that I am now completely reformed. This has taught me a true lesson-"

"Yeah, yeah, can it Egghead," Sonic said and rolled his eyes. "How many times have we heard that?"

"It doesn't matter," Blaze suddenly said urgently, and pulled herself out of Silver's warm embrace to float over to the Scepter and take hold of it along with the two hedgehogs. "We need to use that Scepter."

"For what?" Sonic asked.

Blaze didn't hesitate. "To merge the two worlds."

Sonic regarded her for a second. "Is that...the best thing to do?"

"Actually," Tails piped up, "Eggman and I have figured out that the best way to fix the dimensional tear is to do just that. Because...otherwise time will stop as the dimensions overlap completely."

Not fully understanding but trusting the little genius' words, Sonic blinked, and looked up at Shadow, but the hedgehog's expression was just as unreadable as ever. Blaze seemed adamant about doing it, as did Silver, who'd just now glided up to take hold of the Scepter as well.

Merging the two worlds. How much would change? Would Mobius still be Mobius? Sonic had no idea...but to him, it sounded like an adventure. And this guy was always up for one of those.

"Alright," he gave his trademark grin. "I'm game. Shadz?"

To everyone's shock, the Ultimate Life Form simply let go of the Scepter and drifted over to Eggman's ship without another word. When he collapsed aboard, though, everyone knew that he'd given up every ounce of energy that he had. And it'd saved them all.

Locking eyes with Silver and Blaze, Sonic headed towards the swirling vortex, the Jeweled Scepter in tow, ready to discover this whole new world...

...xxx...

Her wrist comm buzzed, and Cream opened it immediately. She'd been waiting with baited breath for Tails to send her some sort of message like he promised, and here it was. Her brown eyes squinted at the small monitor.

Cream...things aren't going so well...but I have faith that Sonic will come through for us like always. If not, Cream, I just wanted to tell you...

The message cut off there, and Cream frowned. Did that mean they were in deeper trouble now? Biting her lip, Cream just had to stand up to burn some nervous energy. Vanilla, who'd been sitting on the other couch reading, glanced at her daughter.

"What is it Cream?"

"Tails sent me a message," the little rabbit said softly, "but it was cut off at the end. I...really hope that he's alright."

"I'm sure he is, dear. He's probably just busy."

Busy. That's what Cream could hope for. She wanted to send him a message, but Tails never showed her how to do that. She'd have to ask him...when he got back. Yes, he and the others would be perfectly fine. After all, they had the Chaos Emeralds and they were on the good side.

"Chao chao chao?"

"You're right Cheese," Cream said and hugged the little blue pet closer to her for comfort. Yep...any second now she'd get the second half of the message.

15 minutes of silence from the wrist comm passed, and Cream found she just couldn't focus on her book. Oh...what if something bad was really happening? What if...tears filled her eyes, and Cream wiped at them aimlessly, knowing that more were to come. Vanilla got up from her seat to go and hug her daughter.

"Sh, Cream, don't worry. Tails is fine."

Cream sobbed softly into her mother's arms, willing to believe her, but her over active imagination was getting the best of her...

A buzz!

Cream snapped out of her mother's arms and desperately opened her wrist comm.

Sorry about the cut off message. Things are going better now, as we somehow got Eggman to help us. Right now Sonic, Silver and Blaze are fighting Nega. But Cream...what I was trying to say was...I...I love you Cream. I don't know if I'll ever get a chance to say it to you again, but just know that I care for you deeply...and I hope that if anything happens, you won't forget me. Remember our song: '

There's a place for us

Where the sun meets the moon

There's a place for us

Where the wind blows over the dunes

There will always be a place for you in my heart, Cream. I'll see you soon...

She read the message over and over until her happy tears made the monitor blurry. Oh Tails, I love you too...she thought, and was about to collapse onto the couch when a violent shaking whipped her off her feet.

"Momma!"

"Cream!"

The mother and daughter clutched each other tightly for support, trying to wait out this violent earthquake.

"What's happening?" Cream cried out.

"Don't worry honey, just hang on..."

After a few more minutes (though they felt like hours) of the earthquake, all was suddenly very still. Vanilla cautiously opened one eye and looked around. Of course, her living room was now a mess, with all her old trinkets spread across the ground, and the flower pots tipped over and leaking potting soil, but for some reason, the older rabbit felt a strange sense of...calmness. It was as if...everything was right now. Vanilla felt Cream wiggling in her arms, and she let her daughter climb to her feet so she could check, yet again, another message from Tails.

We won, Cream! Now we're just about to merge both dimensions. Hang on, because we don't know what is going to happen down there. Whatever it is, I'm sure you'll make it. I'll be over to see you as soon as we get back.

Love, Tails.

PS. I meant everything that I said, from the bottom of my heart.

Grinning from ear to ear, Cream raced out of her house and started flapping her ears, hoping that she'd be able to beat Tails back to his workshop and hear all about their adventure...

...xxx..

The end.

A/N: The lyrics of that song Tails gave Cream are written by me, and they come from all the way back in Chapter 14, if you remember.

But...this...story...just...won't...die. I'm going to make an epilogue, BUT before you freak, I'm not making you wait any longer for another chapter because dang it, I need to finish this story!

Lyrics (in bold below) to A Whole New World belong to Disney and are copyrighted. I decided to go with a songfic because the lyrics fit this story and these couples almost too perfectly. Plus it's the freaking title of the story! Enjoy people!

...xxx...

Epilogue

...xxx...

I can show you the world
Shining, shimmering, splendid

"Blaze..."

"Yes Silver?"

The cat gripped his hand tighter and studied the landscape below them. Yes, her fear of heights might be catching up with her, but Blaze felt safe with Silver right by her side. Besides, who wouldn't want to take in all the new sights of the brand new dimension? Blaze was letting herself give into Silver for once, and just enjoy his presence.

Tell me, princess, now when did
You last let your heart decide?

"Do you really believe that we not only managed to stay together...but we never have to go back to our world again? Isn't that just..unbelievable?"

Blaze smiled. "Yes, Silver...but this is our world, too."

He smiled back. "I don't recognize any of it."

"I think...that's because when we used the Jeweled Scepter, it took our pure thoughts and restored how our dimension used to be, before the wars and my family was killed off."

The hedgehog frowned a little at that thought. "Are you saying it was used to travel through time?"

"That's the only explanation that makes sense to me. Otherwise, why don't we see all the burnt, broken, tarnished landscapes that we're used to?"

"You're right Blaze." Just like always.

The couple kept floating along, still taking in the wonderful landscapes.

I can open your eyes
Take you wonder by wonder

"Hey Blaze?" the silver hedgehog blushed a little at the thought he might be bothering her, but Blaze's glowing eyes, and that smile that only he could bring out, calmed his fears.

"Yes?"

"We've...come a long way, haven't we?"

She knew exactly what he meant. "Yes, we have. But...you're still my best friend, Silver. But now... much more than that."

The hedgehog brought them both to a halt and he took her other hand, but Blaze had other ideas and brought her hands up to his neck. Silver blushed a little, not sure if he would ever get used to her contact. Blaze ran her fingers through his soft fur, and then gripped it to pull herself closer to him. Silver met her halfway, letting their lips meet, and trying to keep his mind on the fact that they were still far above the ground, and Blaze would never forgive him if he let them fall.

But that thought passed quickly, and Silver let himself go and drift off into the magic that was Blaze kissing him and purring.

Over, sideways and under
On a magic carpet ride

...xxx...

A whole new world
A new fantastic point of view

"Tails...you've been locked up in here all day..."

Her sugary sweet voice caught the fox in question's large ears, ad he perked up. Tails peeled off his welding mask and wiped at the sweat that had gathered on his forehead. His bangs bounced in protest.

"Hi Cream. What is it?"

"Oh Tails," the little bunny skipped over to him to give him a hug. "There's a whole new world out there. The dimensions have overlapped, and it'll be a lot of fun to go see how everything's been rearranged and the places from the other world. Do you wanna come?"

No one to tell us no
Or where to go
Or say we're only dreaming

"I know, Cream...but I was hoping to take us both in the new Hyper Tornado, but it's nowhere near being complete yet."

Cream looked over the X-Tornado's replacement. It sure looked far enough along considering Tails had only been working on it for about a day. But if he said it wasn't air worthy...

"Why don't we take the original Tornado?"she suggested.

Tails frowned. "Oh, that old thing?" He blushed as he looked at the old, but still trusty bright red plane. "I haven't flown that for...almost a year now. You wouldn't want to ride in there..."

"I wouldn't mind," Cream assured him with her sweet smile.

"Alright then," the fox said and organized his work area. He walked over to the old plane, and just then a ton of memories surfaced, of the places he'd already gone in the Tornado. And now...he was about to do some more exploring. With Cream.

A whole new world
A dazzling place I never knew

After some dusting and a quick check up to make sure the plane still worked, Tails and Cream jumped into the old Tornado. The propeller in front spun rapidly around, and then the two zoomed into the sky. Cream peeked over the edge of the plane and down at the perfect harmony of landscapes: mountains with crystal lakes and stunning forests, deserts with secret oases, the ocean and the gleaming beaches...

"Oh Tails, it's so...pretty!" she gushed, looking down on the world from a bird's eye view.

But when I'm way up here
It's crystal clear

"Hey Tails?"

"Yes Cream?" he responded, trying to keep his focus on the sky and not keep glancing back down at the amazing lake they were flying over.

"Turn around."

His brow furrowed at the odd request, but knew there must be some good reason Cream was asking for it, so he obliged. As soon as he turned his head, though, his face was met with Cream's lips pressing firmly against his. Shocked, Tails let go of the controls, but the old trusty Tornado kept the course, and allowed the young couple to keep lip locking.

That now I'm in a whole new world with you
Now I'm in a whole new world with you

...xxx...

Unbelievable sights
Indescribable feeling

"Oh Knuckie, I simply cannot believe you!"

The echidna woke up from his nap to eye his enraged girlfriend. "What did I do?"

She put her hands on her hips. "I'll pretend I didn't hear that. You know exactly what you did!"

Rolling his eyes, Knuckles sat upright and yawned. "I was just having a good nap here..."

"Exactly!" Rouge spat. "You're napping. I just can't believe...there's all this treasure, lying around for the taking, and what is the first thing you do? You go and find your freaking Master Emerald and take a nap!"

"What's wrong with that?"

The next thing Knuckles knew, he was...

Soaring, tumbling, freewheeling
Through an endless diamond sky

"Hey! What was that for?" He demanded, brushing himself off and slightly humiliated that she had almost knocked the wind out of him with one of those kicks of hers.

"To knock some sense into you," Rouge said as she closed her eyes and folded her arms across her chest.

The echidna glared back at her, but then she opened those absolutely stunning teal eyes of hers, and it gave him pause.

"What I mean is, you have to get a life, Knuckie. You can't sit and guard that Emerald all day...besides," she purred and walked up closer to him, reaching her hand out to touch his face much more lightly, "We haven't finished our treasure hunt."

A whole new world
Don't you dare close your eyes

"Oh?" Knuckles reached his hands up to bring her closer to him and studied her eyes. "I've finished mine, Rouge."

She blinked. "What?"

"I've found you, haven't I?"

Rouge blinked again, unsure if...Knuckles...Knuckles the Echinda, the guardian of the Master Emerald, had just said something so...romantic, so tender...

"What else do I need?" he asked before pulling her into his lips.

Oh my...her eyes teared up involuntarily, but Rouge didn't bother to wipe at them, for the feel of his lips on hers was enough for her at the moment.

A hundred thousand things to see
Hold your breath - it gets better

Their need for air caught up with them, and the two broke apart, but still held each other closely.

"You want to go look for some jewels, Knuckie?" Rouge purred as her eyes glittered.

Knuckles smirked. "Not yet," he said and pulled Rouge back into his lips.

I'm like a shooting star
I've come so far
I can't go back to where I used to be

...xxx...

A whole new world
Every turn a surprise

"Aw, Amy, c'mon...please, yer killing me here!"

The pink hedgehog rolled her eyes, but had to smile at Sonic's quirkiness. "I'm almost ready, Sonic..."

"But Amy, you said that 3 whole minutes ago!"

She giggled and pictured the pout on Sonic's face. He was probably tapping his foot, too, eager to go out and explore this new world of theirs. This must be a dream come true for him, Amy realized. Sonic absolutely lived for exploring and adventuring.

"AMY!"

"Sonic, will you be patient for once in your life?" the girl snapped back at him in typical fussy Amy fashion.

Sonic's ears drooped. "Amy...c'mon, you'll look pretty no matter what I just...it's all so cool," he gushed. "Ya gotta see it!"

With new horizons to pursue
Every moment red-letter

After one more glance in her mirror and deciding that she looked good enough, Amy finally opened the door on the way too antsy hedgehog. His face lit up considerably, but he couldn't help but blush that Amy had taken the time to look even more stunning than usual. Still, he wasted no more time and scooped the girl into his arms, ready to take her on a tour of all the new places he'd seen.

I'll chase them anywhere
There's time to spare
Let me share
This whole new world with you

Amy settled into Sonic's firm grip and nuzzled into his chest, but kept her eyes on their surroundings. Sonic was going at a jog (for him, a jog was around 100 mph) so Amy could actually see everything that they were passing.

"Do you know how much has changed?" she asked Sonic.

He frowned a little, indicating he hadn't a clue. "No, but it's cool, because you see a place, and try to remember if it's from the original Mobius or Silver and Blaze's world."

"Oh, that's cool," Amy said. "So that tree we just passed could be from either one?"

Sonic was about to respond, when a rumble of thunder interrupted him. Amy frowned, realizing that Sonic wouldn't want to run in the rain, considering what happened last time. But when she looked up at Sonic, the hedgehog was just grinning.

"Sonic, what is it?"

He chuckled, and started heading towards the thunderstorm, and not away from it. Amy looked up at him quizzically.

"Amy..." he looked down at her, and gave her a winning grin, his green eyes shining like emeralds. "It's about time I finally took you racing thunder, huh?"

Her eyes lit up in remembrance of that day when all of this had started, and was thrilled to think that Sonic was going to keep his promise to her.

"Oh Sonic...just...don't drop me in the mud again, okay?"

He grinned bigger. "Don't worry, Amy. I got ya," Sonic said, and then took off at the speed of sound, ready to chase down the rolls of thunder, this time with Amy nestled in his arms to make it that much more thrilling.

A whole new world
That's where we'll be
A thrilling chase
A wondrous place
For you and me

...xxx...

Ah, yes...sad to say, this story is...over. Woah, almost gotta say that again. It's been nearly...4 months since I started this sucker. Wow. A lot has happened in those 4 months, since I randomly got the idea of Sonic running in the rain and dropping Amy in the mud from Chapter 1. And this story, in more ways than one, did not turn out like I expected or planned. I always outline my stories, but this one just sorta...happened.

I'd like to than some people:

Alyssacookie: I know I've already said this, but I want to reinforce it: if it wasn't for you, this story would be collecting dust. I might have stopped writing all together. (And this is for everyone: Guys, don't ever underestimate the power of kind words of encouragement.)

Jacklethekitsune, SherryBlossom, The Writer's Freedom Project: For your never ending support of not only this fic, but all my other projects as well.

Bullet Nick, who won't read this for a while, but when you do, my friend, know you have my eternal gratitude for your behind the scenes reviews.

And it may be a little, whatever, but, God: He's the one who blessed me with writing skills, anyway.

And the rest of you, don't feel left out - thanks for reading and reviewing and faving and subscribing! I love all you guys and hope to see you in my other projects as well!

Speaking of which, check my profile to see what's upcoming from this chick...

Now please, do your thing in the reviews, okay? And uh, tell me just what you liked about this chapter, I know it was long, but if you could point out a particular part you liked or your favorite part or whatever, I'd appreciate it. Thanks.

And okay, that may have been a little over the top, but hey, I'm proud of this story, it's helped me grow as a writer. So...sayonara, everyone...Thanks once again, and I'll catch ya on the flip side, guys and gals...