Chapter 14: Sayonara

Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Ash, May, Eggman, Jessie, James, and Meowth stared down at the world below, now as far away from them as it should be. They all breathed a sigh of relief that knew no bounds. Down below, everyone rejoiced at seeing the ARK returned to the sky so that they were safe. But the heroes and villains onboard were anxious as to the fate of the two heroes.

The door leading in there opened, and there stood Sonic, returned to his normal state of being, a somber look on his face.

"Wh-where's Shadow?" Tails asked, fearing the worst. Sonic looked at him and shook his head.

"It can't be," Ash whispered. "Is he really –?"

"Yes," Sonic nodded, handing him a small, gold band that could fit on his wrist. "That fell off of him before he destroyed that monster once and for all."

Ash clutched it to his chest sadly. Pikachu looked at it, equally somber. "Poor Shadow," Amy sighed. "What a horrible existence he must've lived, knowing that his only reason for living was to destroy everything."

Sonic put a hand on her shoulder. "Why he was created doesn't matter. What he did defined who he was: a brave and heroic hedgehog who gave his life to save us all."

Ash smiled slightly, but the tears in his eyes could not be hidden. Tails smiled slightly as well, then it turned neutral when he saw Dr. Eggman looking out the window somberly. He walked up to him, slightly confused, as he never saw Eggman look anything but happy that an evil scheme worked, or angry that it failed. "Is everything okay, Eggman?" he asked.

"Yes," Eggman nodded, turning to face him. "I was just thinking about my grandfather. When I was a child, I always admired him as a role model. He was my hero. I wanted to grow up to be just like him: a great scientist who brought about magnificent change in this world." He smiled slightly as he reminisced on those days, but he turned neutral again as reality caressed him. "I never, in my wildest dreams, thought he meant to destroy us."

"He didn't," May interjected. "But when he lost everything he loved, he lost everything he was." She sighed sadly. "Such suffering should never be inflicted on anything."

"Even I, a scientist with dreams of ruling the world, would never seek to destroy everything," Eggman mused. "Even villains like me have standards, and I abide by them."

Knuckles looked at Team Rocket, the Master Emerald behind him. "So, what's next for you creeps?"

Jessie shrugged. "We'll take a break for a week."

"Frankly, I like that idea," James agreed. "After everything we've been through, we probably deserve it. Pikachu can stay safe a week, right?"

"Shut up, ya moron!" Meowth snapped. "Who the heck's talking about Pikachu? I just want to get me away from everything that happened here. This is more than anybody should experience in nine lifetimes."

"That's what I meant."

Meowth was surprised. "Oh. I didn't expect that."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Sonic smiled. "Let's go back home to the planet as cool and blue as me!" Everyone smiled and agreed to that. Soon, the room was vacant, save for one person: Ash. He stood there a moment, more, holding Shadow's wrist brace and looking out the window reflectively. Eventually, he followed the others, but just as he was leaving, he turned back to look at the room one last time.

"You did good out there," he smiled. "I won't forget you." His smile turned neutral as he turned away, whispering as the door closed behind him:

"Sayonara...Shadow the Hedgehog."

Well, that's the end. Ah, that last scene of the story was really well done; it always touches my emotions in some way. I don't think I did it much justice here, but I did try.

Thanks for reading. Feel free to rate and review, but please don't be a jerk about it (I believe that's called flames on FF; is that right?). Once again, I do not own Pokemon or Sonic, but you knew that already. This is my first fanfic on this site, and I hope it won't be my last.

See you next time!