Wrong or Right

Fragment 3 – The Decisions that were Made

DISCLAIMER: You know, the difference in character between the games and Underground for both Sonic and Knuckles is just... ridiculous. Seriously. Underground Knuckles is just so... cute. And pathetic. I am assuming that in my little canon world here, after being so stupid so many times, he gets grumpy. And sarcastic. And lots of fun to watch. Bear with me with Knuckles' Underground characterisation, though?

Before he'd started dealing with Robotnik and his robotic-encased slaves, Sonic had never really had a problem with water.

He hadn't liked it, or been able to swim, but he'd never had a problem with being in it. When he was a kid, he'd spent a lot of time splashing around in the shallows of the river by his parent's house.

But these days…

Tails stared down into the pink, toxic water that covered this zone, then back to where Sonic was leaning on the steps, taking breaths and reminding himself he'd gotten through the Labyrinth Zone just fine.

"I bet we can find another way around," Tails said helpfully. "There're some platforms floating along over the other side – I bet there's some around the way."

"No, it's okay," he said, and pushed himself upright to walk over beside Tails. They gazed down at the encased Mobians swimming below. "Okay, so, there is air down there. You see how the bubbles are coming up every few metres?"

"Yeah, but –"

"You just have to get your mouth right over them to catch the air. It'll feel weird, but you can do it."

"I'll do my best, but –"

"And remember, water pressure makes you move slower, and sink slow, too. So always be ready to dodge."

"I know, Sonic, I always am. But we –"

"You have got rings on you, right? Because water slows even me down, so I won't be able to –"

"Sonic!" he cried, and grabbed his arm to force his attention. "We don't have to go down there if you don't want."

He shut his mouth, then sighed and closed his eyes. "Sorry, little buddy, I know I'm acting a little whacked right now. I'll be fine."

"Are you sure? We can go another way."

"No, it's just…" He stepped a little closer to the water and stared down at it. The toxicity wasn't too bad – they'd tested it already. As long as they didn't drink it, they figured they'd be fine. But that wasn't what bothered him. "Water's the one thing I'm no good in. Even in the air, I'm okay, but down there… it slows me down, and it's tricky, y'know? Currents can kick serious butt, and you can't see them coming."

"Mm…" Tails took a deep breath, then stepped up and grabbed Sonic's hand in his. "But we'll be okay! I've heard South Island's got all sorts of water traps and you made it through there okay! This is just the same, only not really water! It's acid! That's totally different!"

Sonic gave him the look that deserved. "Was that supposed to make me feel better?"

"I think so," he said, blinking. "Did it?"

He rolled his eyes and ruffled Tails' hair, hard. "You idiot. C'mon, let's get going before I get cold feet."

"I'm pretty sure that's gonna happen anyway, what with us going in water and everything."

"Oh, shut up and get in there."

For a long time, they both just stared at the emerald, glinting quietly in the moonlight, before Sonic slowly reached down and picked it up. As he straightened, his quills shifted as they always did in a strong breeze, and it took Tails a second to realise he couldn't feel any wind.

But then they settled again, and the only unusual thing was the small, content smile on Sonic's lips. Sonic grinned maniacally a lot, and smirked, but his smiles were rare. He looked up at Tails, curling the emerald close to his chest. "That's it. That's the seventh emerald."

"Yup."

"We've got all seven… geez… do you feel that?" He looked around, his shoulders rolling back and ears standing straighter than they had since they'd first seen that robot monkey. "Just look at this place…"

Tails frowned, leaning back a little. "You cool, Sonic?"

"Way past. I'm so cool, I'm glacial," he said, then blinked and looked down at Tails, as if only just noticing he was there. "Let's keep going. The sooner we're away from all this oil, the better."

He nodded, but continued watching Sonic as they ran onward. His smile had become a smirk, and he bashed through bots faster than ever, barely glancing back to see if the captured people had gotten out okay before continuing.

Really, Tails knew he should have been watching where he was going, rather than Sonic. So he only really had himself to blame when he slammed straight into a Aquis, losing his grip on his protective rings and then falling back, dazed, as the robotic seahorse lined up for a clear shot.

"Huh?" Sonic twisted around to look, but it was too late. The oil burst out and hit Tails square in the chest, sending him back and over the edge they had only just jumped onto, above several large, glistening spikes. "Tails!"

"Sonic!" he screamed, trying to scramble for balance, but it was too late. He didn't even have time to kick his tails into gear and save himself – he was going to get spiked and stabbed and – and then he stopped in mid-air, caught by a pair of strong arms, and all he could see was gold. He blinked, and the gold formed itself into a brilliant-furred hedgehog with glowing eyes, apparently perfectly balanced on the deathly spikes and holding Tails in his arms.

"S-Sonic?" he guessed, and the hedgehog narrowed his eyes a little before tossing Tails up over the ledge. He wasn't in the least surprised to see the Aquis destroyed, the little glow-worm that had been trapped inside staring back at him like he was the odd one, rather than the glowing hedgehog behind him that was… oh… levitating a good two inches off the ground.

He turned his back on the worm. "Sonic? Is that you?"

He didn't answer, just reached forward to check Tails for injuries in the same calm, slightly rough way that he always did. Finding himself satisfied, he pulled back with a soft smile and ruffled Tails' hair before gesturing for them to keep going.

"Sonic? Why aren't you talking?"

He stopped so suddenly that Tails almost ran into him, then turned faster than Tails could track. He frowned, then shrugged and leapt the six metres across the next gap like it was a wide step.

Tails blinked again and flew after him.

Power Rings had always affected Sonic differently than other people. Tails said he knew what Sonic meant when he said they gave him a tiny energy boost, and Mighty had hinted he might too, but for most people they were just pretty jewellery and money. But for Sonic, they really fitted their name: power.

And this… calling on the seven emeralds for help… this was like sixty bazillion Power Rings at once.

He could feel… everything. The wind, Tails' heartbeat, the vibration in the ground seventy metres below… it was all there. He could hear the Mobians in their robotic casings, and he knew exactly how far away Robotnik was.

It was so much power that he wasn't entirely sure he still had fingers. Things like that… fingers and toes and tongues and everything were all just so insignificant. Speaking was pointless. He was vaguely aware he was floating, and that was weird, but who really cared?

He looked back at Tails, and smiled. His little buddy. He liked Tails. He was a smart, good kid. He was totally gonna save everything some day, Sonic just knew it. In this form, with the emeralds filling him with power, it wasn't just something he believed – it was something he knew. Tails was going to change the whole world.

They both were.

After a few tries, it became easy to slip in and out of his super-powered form, dispersing the energy into their surroundings but not letting the emeralds leave. He realised now that it was a matter of not letting them think he didn't need them anymore – the minute they thought that, they would vanish.

Unfortunately, he wasn't in his super-powered form when they were on the bi-plane, almost to Robotnik's flying fortress. According to some plans Tails had found, he was calling it the Death Egg.

"What is it with Buttnik and eggs?" Tails had asked, and Sonic hadn't had an answer.

"Okay, this looks good, little buddy," he said now, pointing to a flatter part of the ship. "Set her down up – watch out, lasers!"

"Yeah, I – Sonic!" he yelped, as Sonic leapt up and off the wing, somersaulting to instead land on the platform, where he began taking out laser cannons with rapid-fire spindashes. But it was too late. One single blast smashed into the Tornado's hull, and Tails yelped as he saw fire. "Sonic! I'm going down!"

"Tails!" He rushed back, beginning to call on the emeralds' energy, but Tails quickly shook his head as the plane began to descend out of sight.

"Save it! I can get her down! Good luck!"

"TAILS!" he screamed, but the Tornado was already too far away and falling faster.

Hours later, chasing after the damaged Death Egg in his emerald-powered form, flying alongside the fixed bi-plane, Sonic turned his head to look at Tails, who grinned back.

For a second, he considered asking why Tails had come back. But, in the end, it was easier to just flip himself around to stand on the Tornado's wing and let the emerald energy fade away. He had a feeling he already knew why.

They flew in silence for almost twenty minutes, before a cloud bank up ahead began to clear, and Sonic felt his shoulders slump, eyes widening at what he was seeing.

"Is that – is that an island?" Tails squeaked. "In the sky?"

Sonic grinned. "Yeah, buddy, I think it is."

"That is so cool."

"It is way past cool," he corrected, and his smile turned vicious as he noticed the Egg dropping down behind it. "Even better – that's exactly where we're headed!"

"Alright!" Tails shouted. "Full speed ahead! To the Floating Island!"

It wasn't that Knuckles forgot his conversation with the queen, so much as he didn't really connect three heroic, royal children with the blue menace Robotnik showed him. Let alone a blue menace that could turn gold and glow like fire when coupled with seven miniature versions of his Master Emerald.

And the idiot was always around when bad stuff happened to the island. The bombings, the grenades, the crazy robots, and he was running around that weird launch bay that had just sprung up out of nowhere, these last few months. And he flew the scary metal hover-thingy that Knuckles had seen above the bombs all over that launch bay.

And it wasn't like Aleena had ever said that Robotnik was the bad guy!

Really, it was all her fault. It all could have been avoided if she had just darn well explained herself.

"You're an idiot," Sonic informed him, as they stood in the sacred chamber, under the tapestry that showed the Legendary One battling what Knuckles now knew was Robotnik.

Knuckles scowled and wondered if he could get away with punching him one more time, just in case. "And you're psychotic! Who goes up against a whack job like Robotnik on his own? He's got lasers and robots and huge missile-shooting space ships!"

Sonic just raised an eyebrow, folding his arms, and Knuckles realised that was everything he'd thought Sonic was, a few minutes ago.

"I… shut up! I've got weapons and traps and – and this is my island! I'm mystically and morally bound to protect it!" he snapped, then glanced around. "Where's that little fox brat that follows you around, anyway?"

That stopped him, and he grimaced, glancing away. "When the launch bay went up, he didn't catch the boat in time. I think he's fixing our plane. Somewhere."

Knuckles just looked at him for a long moment, then nodded and jerked his thumb over his shoulder. "If he got hurt, my friends will have him. We can find him later. In the meantime, I've got an egg to fry."

"Not without me, you don't," he snapped, and ran past him, out after Robotnik's robot.

Darn hedgehogs.

Sonic shoved his hands back over his quills and took a deep breath, staring out at the horizon. He didn't look around as Knuckles stepped up beside him, but instead willed forth the Super Emeralds he'd been holding.

"Go home," he told them, and they vanished. Then he pulled out the ordinary Chaos Emeralds and wished them away too. Far away, where Robotnik wouldn't find them.

He and Knuckles watched as they flew off into the sunset, then looked around at each other.

"Thanks," Knuckles said awkwardly. "You know. For saving my island and all. And bringing me back up here with the Master Emerald."

"Whatever," he replied with a casual shrug. "It's what I do, man."

"Right." He frowned at him, trying to remember what Aleena had told him, and whether this blue-come-gold-come-multicoloured hedgehog had anything to do with it. "So what're you going to do now?"

"Dunno. I'm thinking maybe it's time to go back to Robotropolis."

"Where?"

"My hometown," he said, pointing down at the mainland below. "Robotnik's base of operations."

"You've never gone after him there before?"

He shook his head. "I always figured that if I stayed on the islands, I could forget him. That he'd never get off the mainland."

"But this is the Floating Island, about as far off the mainland as you can get, and he had a base here," Knuckles surmised, and Sonic nodded.

"He's not going away. So I'm goin' after him!" he said triumphantly, then turned and held out a fist. "Yo, Rad Red, you can always come along. Pay me back for some of that butt-whupping we gave each other."

"What? You destroyed half my island! You deserved me beating the daylights out of you!" he cried, but then stopped and grinned, bumping his fist against Sonic's. "Besides, my place is here. Gotta take care of my people, y'know."

"I hear that. But hey, maybe I'll see you around some time."

"Sure. Hey, since you're going on ahead, you want I should tell the fox kit where you went? He can catch you up."

Sonic stopped before he could take the step that would launch him off the island. "Ah, about that, Knuckles. Could y'not? Not that I don't want the kid around, but uh… this isn't so much on the adventure scale as the goin' to war thing," he said, then shrugged helplessly. "I don't want him gettin' hurt."

Knuckles smiled and nodded. "I get it. Hey, good luck with it all."

"No problemo, Knux. This'll be a piece of cake!" he said, and waved once more before spin dashing off the island.

As he'd told Knuckles, Sonic went back to the Resistance, and his Uncle, who bowled him over when he walked in the front door, and wouldn't let him out of the house again.

"We'd heard the rumours, Sonny-boy, but – I never dreamed they'd be true! You're really alive!" he kept saying, and hugged him every chance he got. Sonic started to think it was kind of a drag, really.

But by the third day of his house-arrest, Sonic was literally vibrating with cabin fever, and started bugging his uncle about letting him join the Resistance. Uncle Chuck said no, at first, but was 'strongly advised' to change his mind by some higher-ranking members of the Resistance.

What no one ever said, of course, was that they knew Robotnik had lots of files on Sonic the Hedgehog. He was a dangerous threat to Robotnik's security, and for some reason the files kept reassuring the reader that he didn't work with other hedgehogs, or seem to care about the Resistance, or Robotropolis. The files pointed out that Sonic had once said Robotnik killed his parents. They didn't know why any of it mattered, but they knew it meant one thing: Robotnik was scared of Sonic. If he knew Sonic was in Robotropolis, he would panic, and declare war on the Resistance.

But really, it was only a matter of time before Robotnik found out.

Luckily, the Resistance said later, the Oracle was waiting, and moved fast.

They stood, alone for the first time in a month, on opposite sides of the computer terminal. Sonic clutched his guitar awkwardly, no longer certain how to hold it, and Robotnik's fingers twitched for the controls of a hovercraft he never used inside the boundaries of Mobius.

"I knew it. All along, I knew it," Robotnik sneered. "There was no coincidence big enough for there to be a hedgehog brat causing trouble for me that wasn't Aleena's."

"Thanks for the heads up," Sonic drawled. "Can I blast you now?"

"Can you?" he asked, raising an eyebrow with a smirk. "In all our battles together, you've never once aimed for me specifically. My craft, my robots… but never me. You can't kill."

Sonic's eye twitched just a little, but he didn't otherwise respond. Robotnik's sneer grew.

"I doubt you can even use that guitar properly. You don't like guns."

On pure pig-headed reaction, Sonic spun the guitar around and slammed through a chord that blasted a hole in the floor at Robotnik's feet.

"D'yargh!"

"Don't mean I can't use them," he snarled. "This is a warning, Buttnik. My sibs and I are gonna crush you and take back our Mom's throne. And there's nothing you can throw at us to stop us!"

"Oh? Then shoot me now, be done with it!"

For a long time, Sonic just stared at him, guitar raised but hand nowhere near the strings. Then he took a step back. "I wouldn't want my sibs to miss out on the fun."

And then he turned and ran, because he really didn't know what else to do.

"Decisions are what carve our path, young hedgehog," the Oracle said with a sly smile. He enjoyed frustrating Sonic, if only because he reacted so very visibly. It made him much more fun than Aleena. "Whether you act or not, you make a decision, of which there shall be consequences!"

Sonic drummed his fingers against the table. "Uh huh. And so that means… what, exactly?"

"You wish to know whether you should destroy Robotnik in both power and… body, correct?"

"That's a real nice way of putting it, but yeah," he said, and folded his arms, tapping his foot impatiently. "Sonia and the others all think that's the master plan. But it gives me the heebie-jeebies. Who're we to say who lives and who dies?"

"Who, indeed?" he asked. And to think, this was the boy Aleena had feared so terribly. He pulled a pile of tea leaves toward himself and began chopping them. "Robotnik has done a great many terrible things, young prince."

"Hey, you don't have to tell me that. He's a certifiable nut job, no question," he agreed, slashing his hand through the air. "And I bet that he'll keep doing them, even if we do manage to kick him out of Robotropolis."

"Yet you have concerns?"

"Well… yeah," he said, and sat down opposite the Oracle, only to stand up again a moment later. "I mean, I… that is… I mean… I don't want to do that. Or let other people do it. It's just… it's…"

"You think killing is wrong, no matter who is on either side of the knife."

"Yeah." He began zipping around the room, eyeing off all the bottled specimens. "So, I'm wondering, y'know, what'll happen. What if I get the chance and I don't take it?"

"Then such a decision will have consequences," he said, and smiled at Sonic's irritable look. "And yet, if you do follow through, there shall be consequences therein, also. The question, young hedgehog, is which you can live with."

The second time Sonic came up onto the Floating Island, Knuckles knew he didn't really have much excuse not to recognise him, except that the talk he'd had with Aleena had been over a year ago, and he still wasn't really sure he believed her. Not to mention that the holo-projection Sleet and Dingo showed him did a really good job of making the triplets look evil. And it wasn't exactly unlike Sonic to want an emerald, after all.

And… okay… maybe he didn't… exactly… remember what Sonic looked like…

"Why'd you save me?" Knuckles asked, as Sonic dragged him back up onto the cliff he'd fallen off after setting off his own stupid trap.

Sonic slung an arm around his shoulders with a nasty smile that was all too much teeth. "Let's talk, bud," he said, and then used his free hand to punch Knuckles in the head. "You idiot!"

"Hey, what! What was that?" he demanded, shoving the hedgehog off. "You save me, ask to talk, and then slug me? Who the heck are you, anyway?"

"What? Okay, so I know your brain is only working at half-strength on a good day, but seriously, I am like, way too cool for even someone like you to forget!" he cried, waving his arms. "Hello? Sonic the Hedgehog? Coolest guy on Mobius? Saviour of your butt only like, six months ago?"

That was when it clicked, and Knuckles cringed. Granted, Sonic looked a lot different when his siblings were around (shorter… much shorter, and kinda flabby), and there was something… off about him, when he was wearing that necklace, but when he looked properly…

"Oh, shut up and get over yourself," snapped Knuckles. "Sleet and Dingo said you were coming to steal my emerald! Old alliances mean nothing when the Chaos Emerald is involved!"

"Sleet and… wait, those idiots are here?" Sonic groaned and slapped a hand to his head. "Okay, Knucklehead, maybe we oughta get the whole story sorted out, first."

Later, as they watched Sonia and Manic daring each other to eat Knuckles' 'echidna delicacy', Knuckles leaned back beside Sonic and asked, "So how come you weren't travelling with these guys before?"

Sonic blanched, checked to make sure they hadn't heard, then punched him. "Keep it down, wouldja? They don't know I've been up here before!"

"Wha…? They don't? Why not?"

"Because I don't want them knowing what an idiot you are!" he hissed, and ignored Knuckles' look by watching the dinosaur rumbling around the bushes. "They don't know about any of that stuff. As far as they know, I've always been Resistance. And that's how it's gonna stay, okay?"

"Hey, whatever, it's your lie to your siblings," he said, but he met Sonic's glare with a smirk. "Doesn't answer my question, though."

"I didn't know about them," he said simply. "We only met a few months back."

"Seriously? Heavy, man… did you know about your mom?"

"Nope. Tell you the truth, I thought I really was related to my Uncle Chuck, and it was just that no one wanted to tell me," he said with a grin, then looked back at his siblings. "I wanna find Mom, sure, but this whole prince thing is weird. Not sure I like it."

Knuckles just watched him for a moment, then shrugged and followed his gaze. "So how come you don't want to tell them about before?"

"Because they already get mondo upset when I save the day now," he said, rolling his eyes. "It's all of us or none of us. I'm not about to go telling them I brought down Robotnik's footholds on the islands with just me and a fox kit."

"And no music."

"Or weapons."

"And I think you were better at the whole saving the day thing back then," he added, and Sonic nodded.

"Totally."

They sat in silence for almost a minute. Manic had finally surrendered the game – by shoving a handful of food into Sonia's mouth, only for her to discover it tasted quite good. They were now chowing down without complaint.

"So. Prophecy, huh?" Knuckles finally prompted, and Sonic grimaced.

"How's that Guardian thing goin', Knuc'?"

"Point taken," he said, and they went back to sitting in silence.

The war continued, and heated up. With the Sonic Underground leading the charge and inspiring the populace, the Resistance became larger and more effective. Factories were brought down every other night. SWATbots now had to travel in packs of three, and were still destroyed every day. Music was played loudly in defiance of the law, and some of the braver aristocrats had even begun refusing to pay extra tributes to Robotnik's schemes.

Sonic lay back in the shadows of their safe house, strumming his guitar as he listened to the Resistance talks. The time was coming – Robotnik would fall soon.

And then someone – maybe not his siblings, or even Cyrus, but someone would kill him. Sonia called for it often enough. She'd even used the words 'remove the head', last week. It was playing in song form through Sonic's head, on repeat. He knew that it would end up being the song that inspired the Resistance to make their final stand. He would probably sing a lot of it. It made him sick.

"A thought, young hedgehog," the Oracle had murmured, on one of his solo trips up to see the old hermit. He wasn't sure why he kept going there. Maybe because he kept hoping someone would give him permission to leave his siblings the way their mother had. The Oracle seemed to know what he was thinking. "More often than not, you are the one who ends up rescuing your family from mortal peril, correct?"

"Yeah. I'm faster than they are."

"You are also the one most often leading the charge, going deeper into territory than others to ensure their safety before they follow," he said, and raised a knowing eyebrow. "Would that not then logically follow that you shall be the first to meet Robotnik at his end?"

He gripped the second neck of his guitar and pulled it close to his body. He didn't know what that meant… he wasn't sure he wanted to, either.

The charge happened on what was only supposed to be a routine night, heading into the palace to further weaken their defences. But then they were followed by an army of riled up citizens, and their mother appeared in the middle of one of the battles. It had all begun.

Sonic ran ahead, as planned, still slamming through chords to match the drums, melody and vocals that he could still hear from his family, back in the main battle. He spin dashed and blasted through SWATbots, clearing a path right through to the control room, where he slid to a stop in front of Robotnik.

The soon-to-be-toppled dictator was in an Egg-o-Matic, and sneered at Sonic's panting. "Tired, young princeling? Now that's not like you."

He didn't bother to reply, just lifted his guitar to point at Robotnik's nose. He wasn't panting from exertion or weariness. He just couldn't breathe, knowing what was about to happen.

"Ah, Sonic," Robotnik murmured, eyeing the glowing guitar heads. "After all we've been through, these last three years. You really think you can shoot me?"

"No, but my sister can," he said quietly. "And I can make sure you don't leave before she gets here."

Robotnik's smile faded, his hands twitching on the controls. "I suppose that is something you could do, yes." His eyes narrowed. "This city means enough to you now."

"City? Nah," he said. "Nah, Robotropolis is a big, stinkin' dump and I don't care what happens to it."

"Then what –"

"But it matters to Mom. It matters to Sonia and Manic." His fingers never stopped moving, still strumming along with the music he could hear in his head and heart, if not his ears. "Their kingdom matters to them, and if I can, I'm sure as heck gonna give it to 'em."

"And so you will kill me—or, at least, you will do nothing to save me from certain death—just to give them that kingdom?" he asked, and a nasty smirk began spreading over his lips again. "And here I thought you fought for freedom, Hedgehog. But it turns out you're just a bloody-minded soldier like the rest of us."

Sonic's fingers fell from the strings, and for a long time, they just stared at each other, before Sonic leapt up to stand on the hovercraft. Robotnik leaned back, but Sonic didn't reach out, just looked over at the window. Robotnik followed his gaze with a heavy frown.

"Or are you more than that?" he wondered quietly, glancing back at Sonic in confusion. "Are you the high-minded hero the echidna texts say you are…?"

Sonic's eyes snapped back to him, and faster than Robotnik could even blink, slugged him in the eye, so hard that the momentum actually sent the whole hovercraft back against the throne. Then Sonic snatched up a fistful of that terrible bodysuit and dragged him halfway out of the egg.

"To heck with prophecies," he snarled against Robotnik's moustache. "I don't care about good and evil, Buttnik. The good thing to do would be keep you here, locked in prison, to rot like the rotten egg you are. That won't happen. Too many people want to see you bleed dry. The evil thing would be to let you go, and let you ruin Mobius again."

He shoved Robotnik back into his seat and swung his guitar up again, pointing it between the old man's eyes. Then he yanked it up and blasted the window instead, before returning it to Robotnik's face.

"I'm letting you go, Robotnik. But you ever try something like Robotropolis again and I will come after you – I promise you that. And if you ever touch any of the Mobian territories again—ever—I will bring the worst of the Resistance to you and I won't stop them from doing what they've wanted to do for years."

Robotnik managed a weak smirk only by tilting his head back. "This is Mobotropolis' Heir to the Throne? Such a flippant prince, making idle threats?"

He flipped off the craft and pulled his guitar back into his medallion, meeting Robotnik's gaze with a direct look. "You really think I'm threatening you, fatman?"

They continued staring at each other for several long minutes, until the music began to filter out through the hallway, bolstered by a chorus of furious voices.

"I figure you've got two minutes to get out of the city. That's prolly when they'll get here, and ask if I saw you go," Sonic said coldly. "I'll prolly catch you if Mom tells me to."

"Probably," he agreed, and inclined his head. "Your mother was right about you, after all, Son of Chaos. You will cause your world's destruction! I accept your terms, Sonic the Hedgehog. And I will see you on the battlefield across the ocean."

"Can't wait, Robuttnik," he said with a grin.

And he let Robotnik fly away… because he could.

It felt like the best thing he'd done all year.

Two months later, Tails was flying the Tornado, now painted blue for the one who'd left it to him and saved his life, when he felt an odd sort of nudge.

He tried to explain it later, but that was the best way to describe it. A nudge. It made him tilt the Tornado and peer over the side of the cockpit to the ground below.

A streak of blue.

"No way…"

He tilted the plane further, diving down until he could fly alongside the cliff the streak of blue was travelling along. And then he stared at it.

Sonic stared back.

Then a grin snapped into place.

"Hey Tails! Long time, no see!"

He couldn't recover so quickly, but after a few seconds, he began to smile. "Hey, Sonic!"

"Slammin' colour," he said, pointing to the plane, and Tails shrugged.

"I like it. Hey, I found this island a little while ago – lots of speeding pads and loops. Heaps of magic rings, too, but you know how I am at keeping hold of them!"

Without even breaking stride, Sonic leapt up, twisting through the air to land on the wing, where he set a hand on his hip and twisted around to give Tails a thumbs-up. "Let's go check it out then!"

And back at the palace, Aleena pushed her hands against her mouth, staring at the medallion Sonic had left behind.

It seemed that no matter what she did, her terrible visions would come to pass.

If she only knew.

Welp. This is it. Full circle and all that. Thanks for reading, and please let me know what you thought - it was mainly for fun (and to get rid of a bigger idea in my head - didn't work, but you probably don't need to know about that), but I'd still like to hear what you guys thought. Thanks for letting me play in your sandbox!