Author Note: Well, here is the grand finale. I'll admit i wasn't entirely satisfied with this chapter, but I don't think I currently could have done a better job. Please tell me what you think after reading it.

Having Fun Storming the Castle

Sally followed after Manic as they infiltrated further into the fortress. Unlike Sonic or his friends, they didn't have the power to storm through Eggman's myriad armies and traps without pause, so the two were forced to make their way in using stealth. Sally had been left with the gun, being the better shot and the worse infiltrator. That, and her mind was still too distracted. Why the heck had she... done That to Manic? She didn't even like him. At least, she never thought she had.

Physically he was fine, with taut but not over built muscles and a well shaped face, but that couldn't cover the fact that he was a cocky idiot with nearly zero respect for authority. A lot like her old boyfriend actually.

Manic motioned Sally back as another guard robot passed down the hallway.

"There's not enough." Manic said.

"They're all by the cells." Sally said, breaking out of her internal monologue. "We'll need more weapons before we approach that trap."

"But where?" Manic asked. "If we attack any robots we'll be found." Sally shook her head and muttered a curse. They couldn't make it this far and then just die still trying to make a plan.

"How fast can you run?" She asked.

"Pretty fast if I need to be." Manic said. "Not as fast as Sonic but-"

"Could you find somewhere to hide if you needed to?" Sally asked.

"Honestly-" Manic started and then paused as his thoughts ran full circle. Someone with as many enemies as Eggman was bound to riddle their bases with cameras and any other kind of detection device. His eyes widened as he looked Sally in the face. "We've been screwed since we walked in the door."

Maniacal laughter filled the hallways.

"How entertaining." Eggman's voice said. "I was wondering how long I could lead you on. Go! Skewer them!" A squadron of attack robots came from the hallway behind the pair of freedom fighters and Manic grabbed Sally's arm to pull her out into another hallway. Robots came from the intersecting pathways.

"He's trying to herd us." Sally yelled, reversing the grip so she could pull Manic with as she charged through the new squad of robots, taking them down with her gun.

"Man, couldn't they have had guns?" Manic said as they carried through into the next intersection. A pair of energy bolts flew an inch over their heads, and Sally turned to shoot down the robots responsible.

"Next time you think of something, just don't say it." She hissed. Manic scooped up the fallen machines' weapons as the pair passed over them, continuing their desperate run. A squad of lance-wielding robots dropped down in front of them, only to be mowed down by Sally.

The pair ran onward into a open circular room that extended upward until the roof was lost in darkness. A single figure stood in the center, illuminated by a spotlight that let its blue and silver features shine. Manic and Sally skidded to a stop as they both recognized the shape.

"Sonic?" Sally asked.

"Why thank you." The figure said in a grating metallic voice, turning on its cold red eyes. The figure raised a spiky metal arm to gesture at a door behind it. "The prisoners you seek are behind this door. You will not reach it." Manic dared a glance behind himself only to see another squad of attack robots coming down the hallway behind the pair of Freedom Fighters.

"No!" Suddenly Sally had grabbed Manic's arm and pulled him aside, letting him watch as a spinning blue buzzsaw flew past and cut through the attack robots like they were butter. Metal Sonic uncurled to slow himself on the ground, and Sally took the chance to open fire. The robot doppleganger didn't flinch as the energy bolts hit his armor and rebounded off, scorching the walls of the hallway.

"Of all people, what makes you two think you can fight me?" Metal Sonic said as he readied his jets. Manic shoved Sally aside and shouted a challenge.

"Let me show you." Manic tensed as Metal Sonic rocketed forward, sidestepping as the machine started to become a blur. As hard metal hit his reinforced shoe Manic grinned and pushed into it. Who does he think I practiced fighting with? Metal Sonic became unbalanced as his foot was pushed aside and he tried to twist around to attack, only for a spiked bracelet to hit his head and knock him to the ground. "Get him." Manic barked.

Sally spun around and took the split second to aim, hitting Metal Sonic in an eye. The robot let out an incoherent burst of static as a beam of energy lanced out of its chest, forcing Manic and Sally to jump apart. The machine flipped up vertical, looking back and forth between his two opponents. The eye that had been hit was not gone, but it was cracked and blackened by the bolt's impact. The Doctor's voice rang throughout the chamber, filled with petulant rage.

"What are you doing? Destroy these scum."

Metal Sonic answered with a scream of static and the roar of his turbine as he rocketed forward. He became a blazing fireball that Sally barely managed to dodge, racing past her and crashing into the far wall. Sally watched as the wall caved in where Metal Sonic hit it, and began working out a plan to stop the war machine. Sally began running towards a patch of blinking lights on the wall, daring Metal Sonic to attack.

"You're too slow." She yelled. Metal Sonic groaned out each word of its response as it pulled its head out of the wall.

"I will rend the flesh from your joints and grind your bones to dust!" The blue machine charged at her recklessly, and Sally didn't even realize it had attacked until Manic had pulled her to the ground and she felt the shrapnel from Metal Sonic's collision with the wall.

"Are you crazy?" Manic hissed, already standing up to protect her. Before Sally could answer more screams came from Metal Sonic as electrical current meant for the whole building flooded through his frame to reach the other end of the wires he had cut through.

"Hot-wire the cartridge." Sally said as she began to push herself off the ground. Manic nodded and picked up her gun and detached the circular energy cartridge, taking out wires from his pack. Walking over to the still entrapped Metal Sonic, Manic knocked him down with a single blow from a spiked cuff. Manic put the last wire into place and shoved the modified cartridge into Metal Sonic's chest. He joined Sally and they walked to the door to the prison. The energy inside the cartridge was conducted into the wire only to be routed back into the cartridge, causing it to start destabilizing. Metal Sonic desperately tried to recover his internal systems from the electrical overload, unaware of the danger he was in. The cartridge finally overloaded and burst, cracking Metal Sonic's own, more powerful internal reactor.

Sally and Manic didn't look back as Metal Sonic exploded in a cloud of blue plasma. Eggman would rebuild him eventually, but for today they had won.

The door opened immediately for them, and they were greeted to the welcome sight of unguarded prison capsules. The pair quickly opened up the occupied capsules and helped the prisoners back onto their feet.

"Oh thank god." A cat said as Sally helped her to her feet. "I thought we were all goners."

"We're not out yet." Sally said as she moved on to helping the next prisoner.

"Who are we kidding?" Manic said cheerfully as he helped a pangolin regain his balance. "Eggman probably put all his planning into leading us to Metal Sonic. Compared to that it will be a cakewalk to get out."

OOOOOOOOOO

In between the flurry of organization and commands that was expected of rebel leaders, Sally and Manic found themselves sitting together on a bench in one of the few remaining parks in the world. In the end all but two of the freedom fights were able to return home, along with many other prisoners brought to safety, and no one was subjected to the roboticizer. Death was a part of war, and the mourning for their fallen comrades was over and done. Now there were less important things to discuss.

"Sally," Manic began hesitantly, unsure whether he'd keep his head for this. "why did you kiss me?"

"Adrenaline." She replied briskly, turning away to hide her blush. "Besides, I think I have more right to ask that than you do."

"Is 'you're hot' too simple?" Manic asked.

"Yes!" Sally said sharply. She'd given him a little more credit than that.

"Well..." Manic paused, unsure of his own answer. Finally he decided to say what he thought of first. "It's kind of nice to have someone take things seriously, you know? If it's a war I want to fight beside people who act like it's a war. People who get why an army needs to be organized. That, and you really are good looking." Manic said the last line with a smirk, to show he wasn't being philosophical anymore.

Sally blushed in return, surprised at how highly Manic thought of her. She'd never admit it, but she always wanted someone to lighten the mood when she couldn't, someone who didn't take the fighting seriously.

"I... kind of like you too." She admitted, seeing no point in ignoring it anymore. Manic looked dumbfounded more than anything else.

"What?" He finally asked, never thinking she would say such a thing.

"I guess I just like bad boys." She said, leaning her head on his shoulder.

"Really?" Manic asked, not entirely sure he was awake.

"We can try at least." Sally said. "Besides, I'm the princess of Acorn, you're the prince of Mobodoon. Our parents probably have the wedding planned already."