AUTHOR'S NOTE: It's here! I'm kind of sad to say that this is the final chapter in the story. To say the least, writing this chapter felt like rubbing my forehead with sand paper for nine hours straight. I was so blocked on this chapter, I was banging my head on my desk out of frustration. But, it's done. Not my best chapter, but I think it's still good. It gets a little corny at certain parts and I'm not the best at writing funerals, so bear with me on those parts. So, read and enjoy!

Sonic had barely broken his skin when he stopped himself.

"Wait," said Sonic. Robotnik raised his eyebrows at the unexpected delay. "What happens to Shadow and Amy after I'm out?"

"Dragon, here, will slit their throats," said Robotnik. "It's not exactly painless, but a lot less painful than the alternative. And a lot faster."

"Okay, then," sighted Sonic. He looked at Amy. "Amy, I'm sorry, but he's beaten me. I hope you can forgive me for this. I let you all down."

"It's okay, Sonic," said Amy with tears in her eyes. "I knew what I was signing up for."

"And I'm sorry for dragging you into this, Shadow," said Sonic as he turned to Shadow. "I never meant to bring you into it. If I hadn't shot Griffon, you'd have never had to be here right now."

"It's not your fault, Sonic," said Shadow indifferently. "Robotnik would have gone for me anyway."

"Okay, you've said your last words to each other," said Robotnik. "Now get on with it, hedgehog!" Sonic looked down at the needle in his hands. He pushed it further into his arm and put his thumb on the button on the top that would push the drug into his bloodstream. He was about to push down when something black blasted through the syringe, shattering it and spraying the clear liquid inside it all over the floor.

Tails watched as Sonic took the needle in his hand and stuck it in his arm. He couldn't believe that Sonic was doing this. That he was giving up. He couldn't believe that Sonic was letting Robotnik do this. Tails couldn't stand watching his big brother, who had saved his hide over and over, who had defeated the large man in the throne more times than Tails could count, just give up and end it by sticking a needle in his arm. Tails took his left arm out of the sling. He knew he wasn't supposed to use it a lot, but desperate times call for desperate measures. And this definitely qualified as desperate.

He pulled out two knives, one in each hand, and took careful aim. He let one loose at the syringe in Sonic's hand and the other at the black dog that stood beside Shadow.

Sonic stared in stunned amazement at the knife in the ground.

"T- Tails?" stuttered Sonic absentmindedly. He took the needle out of his arm and looked up at where the knife came from. Tails stood at the rail of the balcony, eyes shining with rage.

"How's that for an answer, Dragon?" yelled Tails angrily. Everyone looked over to the dog, who was now holding his upper arm where the knife had cut him. He yelled loudly and flung his hand out at Tails. Tails dove backwards into the hallway behind him as the balcony was torn from the wall and forced into the ceiling.

The entire room was filled with the sound of gunfire as Nate, Unicorn, and Griffon opened fire at Robotnik and Dragon. Robotnik sat in his throne, shielded from the bullets by some sort of force field. Dragon had his injured arm out in front of him to hold a telekinetic shield out to protect him from the bullets while he tried to stop the bleeding from the cut with his other hand.

Tails jumped out of what was now a giant, rectangular hole in the wall and choppered down to the floor. He had his arm in the sling again. Sonic ran over to him and embraced him in a bear hug.

"Oh my god, I thought you were dead," he said to Tails. He sounded extremely relieved. "What happened?"

"Explaining that could take hours," said Tails as he was released from Sonic's hug. "Right now we need to focus on killing Robotnik."

"Gotcha," said Sonic. He pulled one of the holsters off his hip and handed it and a gun to Tails.

"A gun," said Tails. "You ride in a car, you use a gun. This whole mess has a bunch of firsts for you."

"Yeah," said Sonic. "Now, stay alive long enough so this can be the first time I cancel your funeral."

"Got it," said Tails, taking the gun in his good hand. He and Sonic separated and ran in opposite directions.

"DAMN IT!" screamed Robotnik furiously. That was followed by a string of other profanities that he used to describe the "fox and hedgehog". "Time for plan B!" He pushed a button on the armrest of the throne and the walls below the platform retracted into the walls of the room. Behind them stood an army of robot drones. "I was saving these for after you were dead to send into the city to put it under siege, but I guess they'll do for killing you." The robots flooded the room and set to work fighting against the five warriors.

"Sonic! Help me! Untie me!" screamed Amy. Tails flew up to her and cut the ropes off of her arms and feet. "Oh, Tails. Why? I wanted Sonic to rescue me." Tails rolled his eyes and flew away to go free Shadow. Amy jumped down and dodged through the crowd of robots.

"Where's a gun I can use?" she asked Sonic when she found him.

"I got something better," he said reaching behind his back. He pulled out her hammer and handed it to her.

"Nice," she said somewhat evilly. "You are the best." She turned around and ran into the crowd of robots, swinging the hammer like a maniac. Meanwhile, Tails had just finished cutting Shadow free.

"Where'd Dragon go?" asked Tails as he sliced through the last rope.

"I don't know," said Shadow with a shrug. "He disappeared. Who knows what happened to him."

"Alright, fine," said Tails. He flew off and Shadow literally dove into the crowd of robots. He commenced throwing chaos spears, kicking, and punching at robots.

Sonic was busy fighting another robot when Nate came up to him and shot the robot for him.

"Sonic, we need to get outta here," said Nate.

"What about Robotnik?" asked Sonic. "I'm not leaving him here alive."

"There's a bomb in the van downstairs," said Nate. "It'll take out the whole building. We need to get everyone out."

"How long do we have?" asked Sonic.

"'Til Griffon flips the switch on his watch," said Nate. "I know you probably wanna kill him in person, but we're outnumbered."

"Right, let's leave," said Sonic. He ran over to the doors and pressed the button on the panel next to it. The door didn't open. Sonic tried pressing every button in the panel, but nothing happened.

"TAILS!" called Sonic. Tails dropped out of the air to his side.

"What?" asked Tails.

"Get this door open," said Sonic. "Give me your gun. I'll cover you."

"Got it," said Tails. He set to work on the panel with the screwdriver from his shoe.

After about two minutes, everyone had been cornered against the door by the robots. Tails was still working on it while everyone was covering him.

"Tails! Are you almost done?" shouted Griffon as he launched his last grenade at the crowd of robots.

"Yeah, just another sec and I can-" Tails was cut off by a bullet embedding itself into the circuitry of the panel. It sparked slightly and Tails looked inside it. "Damn it!"

"Can you fix it?" asked Sonic.

"No," said Tails.

"So what are our options?" asked Sonic.

"Well, right now, I think it best to defeat the army of killer robots first," said Nate as he blasted a robot with his shotgun.

"I agree," said Griffon excitedly as he pulled the assault rifle off his back and started shooting like mad into the crowd of robots. Unicorn did the same with hers and the robots started to recede slightly.

Dragon looked down on the battle from the giant hole in the wall that was left behind by the balcony that now was a part of the ceiling. He saw the seven warriors fighting the robots back. They were actually holding their own. Dragon could see, now, why Robotnik wanted these four Mobians out of the way. They didn't even need the three assassins that were assisting them. And if they could take on the robot army alone, then Robotnik had no chance against them.

Dragon knew he had to get out of there fast. As strong as he was with Telekinesis at his side, he knew he couldn't hold all seven off forever. He just wanted to get one more order of business out of the way. He kneeled down at the edge of the floor, leaned against the left wall, and positioned his hands in front of him as if he were holding a rifle. To anyone else, he would have looked insane, but he knew what he was doing. He took careful aim, concentrated hard, and fired, so to speak.

Tails was shooting down robots left and right when he heard the sickening noise of a bullet hitting flesh behind him. He turned around and saw Griffon with a large hole in his arm. It was gushing blood. The blood was flowing down his arm like a fountain.

"Griffon!" yelled Tails in alarm. He got behind Griffon as he went into shock and collapsed. Tails caught him, holding him up as best he could with one good arm, and dragged him back to where the enemy fire was less concentrated.

"Tails," grunted Griffon quietly. Tails looked at him. He was acting like they had known each other for years.

"What is it?" asked Tails.

"Get.. (cough) Unicorn..." he whispered painfully through gritted teeth.

"UNICORN!" shouted Tails. She finished shooting up a robot and ran over to Tails.

"What is it, fox boy?" she asked. Then she saw the blood seeping from Griffon's arm. Her face immediately fell. "What happened?"

"I guess I was shot," said Griffon painfully.

"Well, we have to stop the bleeding," said Unicorn quickly, grabbing a small cloth out of her boot. Griffon stopped her.

"No, you can't," gasped Griffon. "It hit my brachial artery. It won't stop bleeding." Tails and Unicorn knew that he had only a minute or two.

"No," whispered Unicorn, her voice breaking slightly.

"I wanna tell you something," said Griffon quietly.

"What?" asked Unicorn.

"My name," said Griffon. "It's Alfred."

"Mine's Dana," said Unicorn.

"I'm sorry, Dana," Griffon smiled sadly at her. Then he did something that Tails never saw coming. He grabbed her around the neck, brought her closer, and met her lips in a kiss. They remained in the embrace for a couple seconds before Griffon went limp in her arms. She released him with a look that resembled someone who had just been hit in the stomach with a driver.

"I'm gonna kill them," she whispered angrily. She got up and ran into the army of robots, shooting like a maniac. Tails could hear her screaming fade away into the sound of the gunshots and bullets flying overhead. He never saw her again.

Dragon smiled as he walked down the hallway and away from his perch. He knew that Griffon wouldn't be getting up after that. Then he heard screaming over the gunshots. It was a female scream. It stopped abruptly after a few seconds and Dragon's smile widened.

"Two birds, one stone," he said with an evil chuckle.

"Tails, come and help!" Tails heard Sonic shout to him from somewhere nearby. Tails jumped up into flight to look for where Sonic went.

"Sonic!" yelled Tails as he landed beside the cobalt hedgehog. He pulled out his gun and started shooting at robots.

"Hey, little buddy," said Sonic. "Where are Unicorn and Griffon?"

"They're not coming," said Tails grimly. Sonic looked at him with a surprised look. "I couldn't do anything to save them."

"It's alright," said Sonic as he turned back to the robot army. "Spoils of war." Tails and Sonic continued fighting against the army. They had no idea where Nate, Amy, or Shadow were. And Tails didn't care. This was what he had been missing for the last year of silence from Robotnik. Fighting side-by-side with his best friend. Secretly, some part of him wished that this would never end. That the robots would keep coming. He loved the fighting. Him and the hedgehog against all odds, doing anything that seemed impossible, but they managed to achieve unscathed somehow.

They kept fighting. They went on for another ten minutes, and Tails enjoyed every bit of it. But then the robots started to diminish. The crowd started thinning slowly. They were winning. By a long shot. Tails could see Amy knocking down robot after robot with her hammer and Shadow was spearing, kicking, and punching down several at a time. Nate was shooting robots with a pistol. After another five minutes, Tails shot down the last robot.

"Alright, Robotnik," said Sonic triumphantly. "We beat your little army down. Now give up. If you let us take you in, you don't have to die here. You might not even have to die at all. Life in prison sounds possible if you cooperate."

"Never, Sonic," said Robotnik with a cruel smile. "I've got more than a syringe, a couple hostages, and a robot army up my sleeves."

"Well, if you're talking about your dog, I think he's run away," said Tails with a laugh.

"Yes, it seems that my ace in the hole has run away from the fight," said Robotnik. "But just I because don't have an ace doesn't mean I still don't have a good hand." He pressed another button on his armrest and his entire throne transformed, before their eyes, into a giant turret gun. He turned the gun directly on Sonic and opened fire. Sonic bolted and dodged the fire.

"Shadow! Nate! Get Tails and Amy out!" yelled Sonic as he ran for his life. Shadow grabbed Amy and ran her to the wall.

"No! Shadow! Let me go!" she screamed.

"CHOAS-!" screamed Shadow. He disappeared and reappeared above her head in the hole in the wall. "-CONTROL!" He threw a rope down to Amy. "Amy! Grab the rope! Climb up here!"

"No way!" she said determinedly, turning back to the room. "I'm helping Sonic!"

"Amy! Get outta here!" yelled Sonic as he ran from the bullets. "It's not safe!"

"I'm not leaving you!" said Amy angrily. Nate ran up to her and stuck a needle in her arm. She slowly lost consciousness and Nate wrapped the rope around her.

"Get her up there!" Nate yelled to Shadow. Shadow hoisted her up and carried her to safety. Nate ran over to Tails.

"Alright, your turn," said Nate. He grabbed Tails' arm and tried to pull him to the wall, but Tails jerked free.

"Not a chance," said Tails sternly.

"Tails, your injured," said Nate. "You shouldn't be here in the first place."

"I'm gonna go take out the force field," said Tails.

"We don't need to," said Nate. He held up Griffon's watch. "I've got this."

"You have a watch off a dead body," said Tails with a confused look.

"I've got the detonator to a bomb in the van we came in downstairs," said Nate.

"Then I'm definitely not leaving Sonic behind if you're gonna blow him up," said Tails.

"He's gonna come after us," said Nate. "He wants us all out first. Let's go!" He pulled out another syringe. "Or you're next."

"Fine," said Tails reluctantly. He flew up to the hole found the rope that Shadow had used to hoist Amy up. He saw Shadow standing over Amy, who was slumped up against a wall, unconscious. "Where'd you get a rope?"

"It was up here when I got here," said Shadow with a shrug. Tails threw the rope down to Nate, who climbed up to him.

"C'mon," said Nate. He ran down the hallway and they followed, Shadow carrying Amy. They heard a whooshing sound as a cobalt blur sped past them. Sonic stopped somewhere ahead. They caught up to him and he ran alongside them. They came to the staircase that Tails had found earlier and ran down it. They past the floor Tails had come from and continued down until they arrived at a closed door at the bottom of the stairwell. They all stopped there to catch their breath. Well, Tails and Nate did. Sonic and Shadow just stopped with them.

"Glad we got away from him," said Sonic. "I'm glad I'm finally ending this. I mean, this kinda stuff will always be fun, but I want it stopped. We already lost Knuckles, I don't wanna keep playing with others' lives. Let's get outta here and end this." He opened the door and everyone walked into the next room. They were back where they started. Well, Nate and Sonic anyway. They saw the two metal doors on the ground, the scorch marks from the bomb, and the white van in the middle of the room. They all started walking to the doors when a scream rang out and stopped them all in their tracks.

"AUGHH!" They all turned to where Tails' scream came from. They saw Tails in the arm of Dragon, who was holding his other hand to Tails' head like a finger gun.

"Nobody move, or I blow his brains all over the wall," said Dragon quickly.

"How? You don't have a gun," said Sonic, immediately wishing he hadn't asked, gun now trained on Dragon's head. Dragon pointed his finger gun at Shadow and fired. There was no muzzle fire, no kickback, no sign that anything had happened, aside from an explosion of blood from Shadow's arm.

"Shadow!" yelled Sonic in surprise. "Get yourself and Amy out of here. Go back to the apartment!"

"Yeah, I'll just go there later and finish the job," said Dragon maliciously as Shadow carried Amy out.

"No, you're not gonna leave here alive," said Sonic angrily.

"If I don't, then neither does he," Dragon dug his finger gun into Tails' head.

"Why don't you kill him then?" asked Nate.

"Don't provoke him," hissed Sonic in a frustrated voice.

"No, think about it," said Nate. "Why hasn't he killed him? He wants something. With his power, he could kill us all without a thought. But he hasn't. He wants something and Tails is his leverage. What do you want, Dragon?"

"I want the fox," said Dragon.

"Why?" asked Sonic nervously.

"He wants an apprentice," said Tails. "He wants to teach me the 'art of telekinesis'."

"Well, that's not happening," said Sonic. "Especially if you kill him."

"If I can't have him, neither can you," said Dragon evilly. "I have no intention of killing you. However, if you surrender and walk away, I promise he'll live. But if you try to fight, you might kill me, but he will definitely die. Your choice, hedgehog."

"Nate, get outta here," said Sonic. "And don't forget your briefcase in the van. We don't want it being blown up."

Nate walk to the van and grabbed a briefcase out of it.

"Are we leaving him, Sonic?" asked Nate.

"No, I'm not leaving him," said Sonic quietly. "But you need to leave. Go back to the apartment and tend to Shadow's wound."

"Got it, Sonic," said Nate. "Good luck." He walked out the door, leaving Sonic, Tails, and Dragon alone.

"Leave, hedgehog," said Dragon. "Leave and he can live. Neither of us want him to die. But I'm not afraid to go there if I have to. But you are. Leaving is the best choice."

"He's right, Sonic," Tails told Sonic. "Let me go. If he gets me, you guys are safe. He won't bother you. But if you don't let me go, I'm not the only one that dies. He'll go for Shadow, Amy, Nate, and even you. And if you kill him, I still die."

"I'm not leaving you, Tails," said Sonic, his gun still trained on the canine's head. "I've already lost you twice today. I'm not losing you again."

"But if you don't leave me, you will lose me again," said Tails pleadingly. "Leave, and everyone lives. Stay, and I or everyone dies."

"Tails, usually, you're the know-it-all who had to explain everything to me," said Sonic with a sad smile. "But I'm the one who knows something you don't, Tails."

"Okay, I've had enough of this," said the dog angrily. The dog cocked his head, there was a small pop, a short, whistling sound, and blood spattered across the dog's face.

Nate was set up about two hundred meters away. He was lying on the ground with his rifle. It wasn't his most comfortable position, but it would do. He didn't think that the dog was paying attention to anything outside. He trained his gun right on the dog's forehead. He knew he could hit the dog easily, but he still took very careful aim. If he messed this up, it could mean Tails' life and possibly Sonic's, too.

The sniper chuckled at this. A few days ago, the sniper had been trying to hit the small, fox kit in the dog's arms, and in the hopes of killing Sonic, no less. Now he was trying to protect them.

He jerked his attention back to the target. He took aim and pulled the trigger.

Everything started going in slow motion for Sonic. He heard the small pop that was the gunshot from Nate and bolted towards Tails. He had Tails in his arms when the bullet hit the dog. He grabbed Tails and ran out the door with the fox in his arms. He didn't look back until he was at Nate's side.

"Damn," swore Nate after Sonic arrived.

"What?" asked Sonic.

"I must be cursed," said Nate. "It happened again. Dragon moved his head at the last second and I only hit his ear."

"Well detonate the bomb," said Sonic. "It's got a thirty second delay, but he won't be out of range by then."

"Right," said Nate as he pushed a button on the watch. Then Sonic took Nate by the hand and Tails under his arm and bolted for the city. They were in the city limits when they heard the bomb go off. They heard the building crumbling and they felt a slight shockwave as the strong, sonic pulse from the bomb rocketed through the city. Robotnik was dead.

"And that's when I saved you from killing yourself," said Tails later that night in the apartment when he had finished explaining everything that had happened.

"Wow, you're gonna need to visit the doctor to check up on your shoulder after that," said Sonic.

"So what are you gonna do now that Robotnik's not here to fight you anymore, Sonic?" asked Amy. "Have time for a personal life now?" She winked at him and smiled.

"Sorry, Amy, not happening," said Sonic as he leaned back in the recliner in the living room.

"Aww," moaned Amy sadly.

"You think you'll find another job?" asked Shadow. "Maybe one at G.U.N.?"

"And have to take orders from you?" asked Sonic with a smile. "I'd sooner date Amy. Hey, did you call G.U.N. and tell them about the bomb and Robotnik?"

"I explained everything to them," said Shadow. "I tried to keep your name out of it, Nate. Told them you died in the building with Griffon and Unicorn."

"What about freelancing?" asked Nate, changing the subject. "It works for me. Doing little odd-jobs here and there. I've even done some work for G.U.N. from time to time."

"Really?" asked Shadow. "I looked you up on the database and I never saw anything about any kind of jobs you've done for us."

"Like I'd actually let you guys know my name while I'm looking for you," said Nate. "I work under aliases when I do jobs."

"Like 'Jason Smith'?" asked Tails with a mocking smile.

"Like 'Tails'?" retorted Nate.

"Nickname, way different," said Tails dismissively.

"So, Knuckles' funeral's tomorrow?" asked Shadow.

"Yeah," said Sonic quietly, face falling slightly. He took a swig of the soda on the side table.

"You cancel Amy and Tails' ceremonies?" asked Nate.

"Yep," said Sonic shortly. He leaned back again and closed his eyes. "And I think freelancing sounds like a good idea, but what jobs would I do? I think staying a vigilante would be best. It's like freelancing, just without being hired to do a specific job."

"Good idea," said Tails as he sipped his soda.

"You're gonna have a lot of free time, now that Robotnik's gone," said Shadow.

"Yeah," said Sonic quietly. "Eh, I need it. Usually, I never wanna stay still, but after the last few days, I just wanna settle down for a while. Just relax here for a bit."

"Really?" asked Tails.

"Yeah," said Sonic. "Why not? I've never stayed still a second in my life. Why not try it once? It's not forever. Just until I feel like moving again."

"That sounds kinda nice," said Tails. He lay back in the couch and rested his head in his good hand. He yawned loudly and got up. "I'm going to bed." He walked down the hallway. They heard the door open and close and silence flooded the room. Then Sonic got up and walked into the kitchen. He grabbed some things out of the fridge and walked out a couple minutes later with a chili dog.

"I'm hittin' the sack, guys," he said after he finished. "Amy, feel free to stay in Tails' room. He's got a cot in the closet. It's actually really comfortable. I sometimes sleep on it if my back hurts for one reason or another. Shadow, you know where to go. Nate, you get the couch." They all nodded to him and continued to sit in silence. Sonic walked down the hallway and into his bedroom. As soon as he tumbled onto the bed and his head hit the pillow, he was out.

Sonic woke up the next morning feeling good. He felt more relaxed than he had in years. He didn't want to move. He wanted the indolent bliss to continue. He never wanted it to end. But he knew that it had to end at some point. He sat up in his bed and looked at the mirror opposite him hanging on the door. He was smiling. It was a relaxed smile. He imagined that this was how someone who just finished a very expensive massage felt. He saw Shadow's reflection in the mirror where he was sleeping on the floor under a single blanket. He was smiling, too. Sonic quietly walked out of the room, so as not to disturb Shadow, and walked down the hallway. He saw Nate on the couch, still sleeping. He walked into the kitchen and saw Tails quietly eating cereal at the table. Sonic glanced at the clock on the microwave. 5:45. The sun hadn't risen yet.

"What are you doing up?" Sonic whispered to Tails quietly.

"Got up early," whispered Tails with a shrug.

"Okay then," whispered Sonic, shrugging back. He quietly poured himself a bowl of cereal.

"So, you gonna make a speech or something today?" asked Tails.

"Maybe," said Sonic. He hadn't really thought about what he was going to do about that at Knuckles' funeral. He knew he was going to be expected to say something. But he didn't think he'd be able to. He was never good at public speaking.

"Well, it's not 'til later tonight," said Tails quietly. "You'll be able to think of something."

"Right," said Sonic quietly and absentmindedly.

"Did you tell Amy she could sleep in my room?" asked Tails.

"Yeah," said Sonic. "Do I owe you an apology?"

"No, I owe you a thanks," said Tails. "One of the most entertaining nights I've had in a while." Sonic choked on his cereal at the sound of this. He started coughing loudly.

"What?" asked Sonic loudly in a panic after he coughed up the cereal.

"What?" asked Tails looking slightly confused. Then a look of realization appeared on Tails' face, followed by a look of slight disgust. "Ugh! No way! God, Sonic, get your mind out of the gutter! That's sick! Me and Amy? GOD, NO!"

"Oh, phew," said Sonic looking relieved. "Wait, what was so entertaining about it?"

"She talks in her sleep," said Tails. "It was hilarious. There's no way she would have done anything with me, she was whispering your name all night."

"Wow, I feel sorry for you now," said Sonic.

"It was so funny," said Tails with a chuckle. "I kinda wanted of whisper in her ear as you to see where she'd go with it."

"If she'd woken up, she would've killed you," said Sonic with a laugh.

"That's why I didn't do it," said Tails. Then they heard a yawn from the couch.

"Oh, sorry, Nate," whispered Tails. "Did we wake you up?"

"Yeah, it's okay," said Nate from the couch. "I don't care. I'm gonna hit the shower."

"Cool," said Sonic absentmindedly. Nate walked down the hallway. The rest of the day went by quietly. Amy went home after she got up to go find a good outfit for the funeral. Sonic and Tails both dug up a good suit to wear. Shadow went home in the afternoon. Nate went to go get a suit for himself. Tails, Sonic, and Nate left for the funeral at around five.

Sonic stared into the open casket, looking over Knuckles. He actually looked a little happy, in Sonic's opinion. Sonic hoped that, wherever he was right now, he was happy. Tails walked up to Sonic's side and put an arm around him. Sonic felt a single tear run down his cheek.

"Wow, I hate funerals," Sonic said quietly to Tails.

"I know, right?" agreed Tails quietly. They both sat down together and waited for everyone else to view the casket. "They're so depressing."

"So, do you have any idea what you're gonna say up there?" asked Tails.

"Oh, probably the usual eulogy speech," said Sonic quietly. "Like, 'We're here to celebrate his memory', 'Knuckles was my best friend for years', and other stuff like that."

"Gee, that's thoughtful," whispered Tails sarcastically.

"Well, sorry," said Sonic defensively. "Honestly, I think Knuckles would appreciate really any eulogy at all from me. Ten bucks says he's here somewhere purely to watch me give it. God knows he'd get a kick out of it."

"What, like Tom Sawyer?" asked Tails confusedly.

"No, not like Tom Sawyer," said Sonic. "Like a ghost. I dare you to walk around while I'm talking, looking for cold spots and amused laughter from nowhere."

"That is so not gonna happen," said Tails with a chuckle.

"Alright, I'm just saying it'd be a good chance to experiment with the existence of ghosts," said Sonic.

"Don't try and tempt me," said Tails.

"Fine," said Sonic submissively. They both quieted down as a priest made his way up to the podium.

"Hello there," he started. "If all the mourners could please find a seat, we are about to begin the service." He waited a few minutes for everyone to be seated. Sonic looked around. They were in a very large church. There weren't a lot of people there, though. Just some friends and family. Knuckles was a quiet person. Sonic thought that he would want just a small, quiet ceremony. Sonic turned his attention back to the priest as he cleared his throat. "Now that we're all seated, I would like to start by saying that we're all here to celebrate the memory and passing of a great hero. We are here to say our final goodbyes to our dear friend, Knuckles, and celebrate here as his noble soul is accepted into the open arms of God. I think we'll start with a few words from his friends. First, let's welcome another great hero that was very close friends with our friend, Knuckles. Sonic The Hedgehog." No one made a noise. Everything was dead silent as Sonic made his way up to the podium.

"Hello, everybody," started Sonic, somewhat awkwardly. "Well, like the priest said, we are all gathered today to celebrate the memory of our friend, Knuckles, who was cruelly taken from us before his time. Actually, again, seeing as he died once before." Sonic stopped to take a quiet breath. He had no idea what to say.

"Anyway, Knuckles was one of my best friends," continued Sonic. "He was strong, focused, and stubborn as a mule. I'm gonna miss him a lot. He was like a brother to me. I just hope that wherever he is now, it's a better place than here." Sonic paused again and looked over the crowd. He saw Tails in the front row, staring up at him. He looked sad, but he watched Sonic with a sad sort of amusement in his eyes. Sonic suspected that Knuckles would be having the same amusement if he were here watching. Sonic also took a quick glance at Nate, who was standing in the back, leaning against the back wall and watching with an expressionless face. Sonic took another breath and continued. "Sorry, I'm not very good at this. Anyway, one last thing that I wanna say is that Knuckles was a great guy, a great friend, and a great hero to the planet." He looked at the open casket and saw Knuckles' smiling face. "Godspeed, Knuckles." Sonic got down from the podium and sat down next to Tails.

"That was good," said Tails. "I think Knuckles would have liked it."

"Thanks," replied Sonic quietly with a sigh of relief. The rest of the funeral was normal. Tails got up and said a few things, as did Shadow. Sonic ran into Sally Acorn after the ceremony. He had no idea she had shown up. He hadn't seen her in years. They talked for a while, made a lunch date for the next day, and parted ways.

Sonic walked home alone. Tails had already flown home and Sonic knew that Nate would go wherever. Sonic didn't feel like running right now. He wanted to give himself time to think before he got home. He decided that he would give himself some more time to think with a good run tomorrow morning. But right now, he felt like he did in the hospital after he saw Knuckles under the white sheet.

Tails was sitting on his bed in the apartment alone, thinking. He was thinking about Dragon's offer to him. He was thinking about what would have happened if he had taken it.

"Sonic, Amy, and everyone else would be dead right now," Tails told himself aloud. But he was curious about what he gave up. Was it worth it? Definitely. But Tails thought that if a psycho dog assassin could do it, so could he. He knew that this could take years and that this was probably going to be his biggest project yet. He also knew that he had to keep it totally secret. But if he kept progressing, the possibilities were beyond imagination. Almost beyond it anyway. He walked over to his computer and began doing research.

"Tails! I'm home!" Sonic yelled into the hallway when he walked in the door. When he heard no reply, he assumed that Tails had fallen asleep. Sonic walked into the room to make sure he had actually come back and found him on the computer.

"Hey, Sonic," said Tails absentmindedly, gaze transfixed on the screen.

"Okay, time for bed, buddy," said Sonic. "Long day, no need to exhaust yourself more by staying up all might on the computer."

"Yeah," said Tails. He shut the computer down and climbed into bed. Sonic left him alone and went to his room. Sonic was asleep as soon as he hit the pillow. He slept happily knowing that Robotnik was dead and this whole mess was over with.

THE END

AUTHOR'S NOTE: So, was the ending good? I'm kinda sad it's over. Oh, wait. It might not be. I'm thinking of writing a sequel to it, but I'm not making any promises. And if I do, it may not be for a little while because I think my life is about to get real crazy again and I'm not posting anything until I write a few of the first chapters, just to see how it works. So keep an eye out for it. Anyway, time to leave you with my usual, same-ol', same-ol' message. Review, favorite, alert (Well, at least author's alert), tell friends, and remember to knock on the doors of every blue, police box you see on the street, for any whovians out there who are also big Sonic fans. Haha! So, 'til next time! Maybe! Remember, no promises.