Chapter Six

Ambrose crashed through a light pole after Sonic hit him with a powerful spin-dash, sending the light bulb at the top tumbling to the pavement. The exhausting battle was finally causing the grizzly bear's resolve to begin to run out. Irritated with the fact that their opponents were still keeping them from the nuke, Sonic and the others decided to throw it into full-gear. When Ambrose stood back up, his energy shield briefly flickered, and he nearly collapsed to the ground. Sonic immediately realized the their shields were providing them with added endurance, and NICOLE noticed as well. The small supercomputer suggested to Sally that if she could get close enough to place her within the shields' radii, she could emit a small electromagnetic pulse and short them out, leaving them vulnerable to debilitating attacks. Intrigued by the idea, she approached Rotor, who had just been thrown into a wall, and shared her thoughts on the subject.

"Alright, I'll try," said the beleaguered walrus, rubbing a bruise on his head. Pretty much any idea was a good idea for him, as long as it made the battle end sooner. Sally handed him NICOLE, and he prepared to go on the attack. He waited until Uri's back was turned before proceeding, and when the opportunity arose, he took it. Rotor leapt into the air and tackled Uri again, and pressed NICOLE against Uri's shield belt. The small computer immediately triggered her EMP mechanism, shorting out the belt in an instant. The binturong, again, threw Rotor off, but did so just in time for Knuckles' empowered fists to plow into his side and face. With a huff of fatigue, Uri collapsed, unable to sustain that kind of punishment. Ambrose witnessed Uri's defeat, and, knowing he was losing energy even with his shield, sprinted southward. He didn't even realize he was approaching Mighty's team until it was too late, and he was cut down in a hail of bullets by one of the operatives. Mighty congratulated the quick-thinking agent, then focused his attention back at the two cannon-wielding attackers.

With the threat that Ambrose and Uri posed gone, the Freedom Fighters raced down into the lower parking structure to assist Kaolin, terrified that she might already be dead. They were absolutely awestruck when they saw Kaolin embracing Tails.

"TAILS!" shouted an elated Sonic as he ran toward his injured pal, but he stopped when he noticed all of the fox's injuries. Furthermore, he knew it would have been rude to interrupt their sweet embrace.

Tails smiled warmly, and lightheartedly replied, "Hey there Sonic! Sorry, I'm a bit shorthanded, so you'll have to wait your turn."

"Glad to hear you still have your humor, friend," said Sonic with a chuckle.

The team glanced around at all the destruction, then at the nuke. Their expressions turned to fear when they saw that the timer had been activated. Antoine examined Big, then pointed to a blinking light on the large cat's belt. Big had activated the nuke seconds before being clubbed with the tire iron.

The battle continued to rage between Mighty's team and Big's henchmen. One of them had been hit in the leg, but they continued their relentless assault. Numerous craters dotted the alleyway, and broken glass and fragments of wall material were strewn about. After what seemed like hours of gunfire, one of Big's men was shot in the kneecap as he fired from around a corner, which caused him to stumble out into the open, and he was riddled with round after round of hot ammunition. His reflexes from being hit so many times caused him to fire his weapon at his associate, and both of them died on the spot. With their ancillary objective complete, they met up with the Freedom Fighters, eager to accomplish their main objective.

They, too, were in shock at Tails' return, and though pleased with the outcome, Mighty's group ran past them apace, understandably showing more interest in the nuke. The two primary nuclear technicians, who had survived the entire ordeal, hurried over to the warhead and unpacked their gear. A few minutes passed, and they determined that it was impossible to disarm it. Anything they could think of, whether it be cutting a wire, entering a computer virus, toasting it with an EMP, or simply diassembling it, would trigger the detonator.

As they began talking about simply leaving it there and flying outside of the blast zone, NICOLE scanned the weapon again, and commented, "Wait, attach me to the bomb. I have an idea." Reluctantly, they acquiesced. The small computer searched deep within the abyss of complex programming, and moments later, she said, "I detect something within the coding. We will not be able to disarm it, but I can lower the yield to two kilotons. Further coding is preventing it from going below that."

"Then I suppose we have no choice. Men, prepare to leave," ordered Mighty to his unit. NICOLE lowered the explosive yield, and Sally called their ship back from the stratosphere. A few eyes turned toward Big, wondering what was to become of him. Despite his horrific actions, they wanted to put him on trial instead of letting him die in atomic fire. The stronger group members dragged the heavy cat outside, but as the weaker members approached Fiona's position, they noticed she wasn't there. With his left arm around her, Tails helped Kaolin limp out and to the waiting ship.

Once outside, they checked Uri as well, but left him there after discovering that he had died from internal trauma. The two groups boarded the ship, and with a hiss, the doors closed, and the ship roared off into the sky. A few minutes later, another bright flash was seen. A few city blocks of downtown Station Square were completely destroyed, and other buildings outside of the blast radius were scorched by the intense heat. Tails and Kaolin had an arm around one another as they watched the second mushroom cloud of that terrible day rise into the blue expanse.

The following day, Tails awakened to the sounds of humming medical equipment. He was lying on a cushy white hospital bed, and Kaolin was on a similar bed adjacent to his, sitting up and eating a bowl of cereal. Sonic was asleep on a chair, having stayed there to oversee the success of the operations, and indeed, both of the foxes had received ample overnight medical treatment for their wounds. The bone fragments in Kaolin's ankle had been reassembled, and a large cast had been applied. Though the hole in her ear could have been fixed easily, she decided to leave it alone as a symbol of having survived the day that would live in infamy. Tails' severed nerve had been reconnected, and he was expected to regain full functionality in that arm within a month.

"Good to see you awake, Tails. How are you feeling?" asked the smiling Kaolin as she lovingly gazed into Tails' eyes.

Happy to see his girlfriend in safety and good spirits, Tails returned the smile and answered, "I feel pretty good, though I'm more concerned for you. You took, eh, quite a beating back there."

Kaolin replied, "They patched the wound in my upper leg very well, and my ankle should be back to full functional capacity within weeks! My shoulder still hurts a little, though, even with the painkillers." She ate another spoonful of cereal, then looked at her boyfriend again, but with a more solemn countenance, and asked, "Hey, uh, what...what was it like?"

"What was what like?"

"Not being alive."

"Oh, the roof thing. It was...strange, to say the least. When my heart stopped beating, I was met by a flash of white light, and what happened immediately after was...I felt like I stepped off a train and into an...an absolutely incredible place. I was surrounded by a feeling of pure comfort and joy, and what I saw in that realm was beautiful far beyond anything anyone has ever described or probably could ever describe. I saw people I had met in the past who are no longer alive, and they were all smiling and talking amongst themselves. I tried to get close, but when they saw me, they had astonished expressions. One of them asked me what I was doing there, and said that it wasn't my time yet. They told me I had to go back and save Kaolin, and told me exactly where to go. More and more people appeared around me, apparently trying to keep me from seeing what was there, and I was lightly pushed backwards. I saw another flash, and the next thing I knew, I was gasping for air. I was paralyzed for what felt like hours, and when I regained my ability to move, I went as fast as I could to rescue you."

Deeply moved by Tails' delineation, Kaolin responded, "Oh wow. That's amazing," and couldn't find anymore words. Things got quiet for a few minutes. The subject of the roof incident caused Kaolin to remember the engagement ring. Simultaneously, Tails was thinking about it as well. Finally, the silence was broken.

"Okay, I'm tired of waiting. I doubt this is the most romantic place to ask, but at the risk of another yesterday occurring, better now than later. Kaolin, will y-..."

"Yes."

"You'll marr-..."

"Yes...yes...YES! I will. I definately will, without any second thought."

They both immediately got off their beds and kissed passionately, completely ignoring the blaring heart monitors and other devices.

Author's notes -

Well, after week upon week of procrastination, Hover Beyond finally done. Each of the previous chapters have been updated as well. I'll probably write another sequel instead of ending the series here, but before that, I plan to write an inbetween story covering the events at Mercia. If you read this story, please leave a review!

For a link to a song that I'd possibly choose for the closing credits if this was (for whatever reason) turned into an animated film, please visit my profile.

Canon Sonic characters and places © Sonic Team, Sega
Kaolin, story, original characters, etc © NuclearCookout