All characters mentioned in this book are Copyright of Sega of America, Archie comic publications, and DIC. The author allows the reader to print this story off of the web, but you can't sell it. According to me, this is my version of Project: Doomsday from the ABC Saturday morning Cartoon. No characters in this story are under copyright from other authors, however, any new characters I introduce are mine, and may not me used without saying so. It is a time of great military planning. The Freedom Fighters of Knothole have been undergoing many forms of training, and planning. Princess Sally Acorn has been in the briefing hut for hours on end, observing and planning the best points of attack on Project Doomsday. Even though he was presumed dead, Tails believes that Project Doomsday is a hoax, but he has also come to the conclusion, what else could Robotnik be doing? Right now he is undergoing extensive close-combat training with his girlfriend Snowflake. But some people think they might be doing more than just training. Sonic the Hedgehog has gone off on an errand, with Knuckles as his sidekick. This morning, they will all be ready. SONIC THE HEDGEHOG In PROJECT DOOMSDAY TERMINATED PART 3 OF A 3 PART SERIES Chapter 8 As the sun came up over the horizon, two figures shadowed parts of it as they came up a hill. The figures were about the same height, they both wore red bandannas on their head, a silver sash, and laser weapons. They also bore two tails. One of the figures was a reddish brown, the other was snowy white with a black ring of fur near the end of it's tail. They both stepped up to an 8 meter by 8 meter checkered board, lowered their weapons and their sash, walked up onto the board, took their places, and bowed to each other. In the next instant the were braced for a fight. The brownish figure made the first move, quite aggressively. The white figure staggered to block the oncoming onslaught by kneeling and raising it's forearm. It then grabbed it's opponents outstretched leg, and threw it furiously across the board, flinging it out of the ring. The white finger rose an arm into the air and shouted "Ring out!" the score was 1-0 for the white figure. The brown figure staggered onto the board and they both resumed positions and began again. This time the white figure made an impressive first attack. The brown figure just dodged away in time, but countered the attack with a left jab, then a right, and left, and finished with a short but powerful uppercut. Seeing another opportunity, the brown figure delivered a sharp kick to the stomach, then without putting it's foot on the ground, it brought it's foot up and kicked the white figure squarely in the face. The white figure fell from the impact, but rose again immediately. The brownish figure put it's feet together and leapt into the air. The white figure steadied for a kick, but was overcome with surprise when it felt it's ears being tugged. With a shocking truce it realized it was no longer on the ground, yet. It winced in pain as it discovered the surface it landed on was not a fighting ring. "Ring out!" Yelled the other. Now the score was 1-1. One more round, and one would be the loser, and the other would be the winner. They stood ready in there positions, both of them had adrenaline pumping exceedingly strong amounts. They were both tense. The white figure made the first move, jumping toward it's opponent with an outstretched fist, but it realized it wasn't close enough. The other grabbed it's fist and flung it as far as it could. But the white figure stopped short of the ring border. The brown figure jumped into the air, backwards, and seemed to throw itself off an invisible wall and come barreling down on it's opponent, however, the white figure was ready, it grabbed it's opponents outstretched foot, and spun around twice before flinging it into the air. The brown figure made a cry of distress as it crashed toward the ground, landing on it's shoulder. It staggered to get up, the white figure helped him to his feet and sat it down in a chair. "Cheer up Tails," said the white figure, "it's only your third loss in a row!" The brown figure, named Tails, sarcastically smiled and replied, "Bet you can't go for four Snowflake!" Snowflake laughed, "That's what you said last time! Man, you need to work on your speed, Tails, or I'll always kick your butt." "Hey, watch it. This time I actually won a round." As he said this he hesitated. Snowflake brought her hand to his face and made eye contact. "Someday you will beat me Tails. Someday." She finished the sentence with a kiss on his lips, but he pushed her away. "Snowflake, this is neither the time, nor the place." "Tails I don't even see the point of this training if you believe that Project Doomsday is a hoax." Snowflake argued, "If you think that it's a hoax then why do you even bother with the training?" "Because, I can prove to them it's a hoax when we destroy it, because it's probably going to be a cakewalk!" replied Tails. "Then why waste useless effort on something that will be easier than swimming in a pool?" Tails pondered the thought for a moment, then looked into Snowflake eyes. They were sparkling brighter than the Beta star at night. He believed that she was right, and she could sense it. She smiled at him, but he only kissed her, she kissed him and held him there, never wanting to let go of him, the only one in her life that meant more to her than planets. "Hey, hey. Sorry for disturbing the peace!" So much for never letting go. Snowflake thought to herself. They both turned and saw Knuckles about to leave them alone. Tails got up, "Knuckles wait!" Knuckles stopped short. "What is it Loverboy?" Tails didn't like that, so all he did was give Knuckles a beckoning gesture with his finger. Sonic could not believe his eyes, before his eyes he saw a bruised, beaten and bewildered Echidna stagger into Knothole. Behind him Sonic noticed Tails standing a fair distance away brushing himself off. Sonic chased after Knuckles. "What the hell happened man?" Knuckles turned and met Sonic's eyes, "I'll give you some really good advice. Number one, don't ever spoil Tails and Snowflake' moments. Number two, never call Tails a Loverboy!" Sonic could not believe his pointed ears, "He kicked your butt?!" Knuckles didn't answer. Sonic stared at Tails, who only pointed at him and gave him a look that said "Go ahead, make my day." Sonic just innocently raised his hands. "Boy, you must feel proud." Rotor remarked as Knuckles stepped out of the Bioreconstructor. "Spoiling a romantic moment!" Knuckles was still recovering from the shock. "Tails is no ordinary fox! I think I'm going to leave him alone for a while. By the way, what is that thing I was in?" Rotor motioned toward the Bioreconstructor, "Oh this? That is the Bioreconstructor." Knuckles scratched his head, "Reconstructingwhatsis?" "A Bioreconstructor. I use it to heal all battle wounds. It can't cure diseases, but it makes it's own gravy! Oh, just to let you know, the latest reports on the tournament between Snowflake and Tails is finished." Knuckles groaned. "In case you think of picking on them again, just remember. Tails' fighting ability is level ten, tied with Sally. Snowflake is rated twelve, the highest in Knothole. I estimate you to be around five, so be careful." Sonic walked in startling Knuckles. "Yo red-head! Did I scare you?" Knuckles nodded quickly. "Well, we got to go get more rings. Let's go!" Sonic strapped a backpack on Knuckles' back and yanked him out the door. That's it Snowflake come on! The score was again 1-1, and Tails was not prepared to lose this battle. He steadied for the incoming attack. He was determined not to lose this round, since he won the first, he felt at the advantage. He was running through many different moves in his head, then the unthinkable happened, he had been concentrating so much on winning that he wasn't watching the action. He woke up when Snowflake jump-kicked him in the head, and that ended the round, and the tournament. "Damn! I was sure I would be able to pull that round off and come back!" Snowflake just stood up, still in the ring. Then she jumped and steadied her landing by putting a foot on his chest. Tails got seriously winded with that one. "You're getting better Tails. If we have another one of these tournaments, you just might be able to bring it to bring the score as close as three and three. But that's next time." She helped him up, but didn't let his hands go. "But there's still one thing that you're better at than anyone I know. You're first place for love and respect towards women." She pulled him close and kissed him, long and passionately. He pulled her close and kept her lips on his, neither of them wanted to let go. Just then they both pulled away, and looked all around for spies. When none were spotted they locked eyes, Snowflake smiled, and pulled Tails down to the ground on top of her. There they kissed lovingly for at least another hour. Then it was time to go on their last bit of training. The obstacle course. Chapter 9 "Geez, this looks lethal!" Sonic exclaimed. Knuckles and Sonic observed the four backpacks full of Golden Rings. Sonic had only consumed 3 during the gathering of the rings, and the Chaos Entity was barely detectable. Together, over 400 rings had been collected. A knock on the door stopped their concentration. Sally an Bunnie walked in and stopped short when they saw a floor covered with rings. "Hi Sal, bye Sal." Sonic & Knuckles were already ready to go get more rings, if Sally hadn't stopped them. "Where did you get all these? There's no way you could have got them from the lake!" Sonic looked at Knuckles, who only nodded. "You can never keep important things a secret Sonic." Sonic rolled his eyes and started to talk. "Deep in the heart of the great plains is a pit, a deep pit, and it's full of rings." As he finished, he gave a stern look in Knuckles' direction. He stared back in confusion. "Sonic, if you're referring to the Great Pit of Lazaar, then you're grossly mistaken. That thing is as empty as the great unknown." Sonic shook his head, "Then it's not the Great Pit of Lazaar, come on we'll show you." Knuckles gave him a look that said "We?" "Perfect, Rotor will come along too. Get ready to move out." As Sally left, Sonic snarled in her direction. "She's starting to sound just like my mother." Knuckles chuckled. Bunnie approached Sonic, "Sonic_" "Sorry Bunnie, I'm taken." Knuckles cracked up as Bunnie whacked Sonic across the face, with her robotic arm! Sonic seemed to become friends with the wall. "Sonic I was only trying to inform you that there is only one pit in the Great Plains, the Lazaar pit." Sonic stared, "But where else would we get all these rings?" Bunnie didn't answer, she just left. Once Sally, Rotor and Bunnie caught up with Sonic & Knuckles at the Great Pit of Lazaar, Sally asked the first question. "Okay Knuckles, how the hell were you able to catch up with Sonic?" Sonic turned to Knuckles, "Yeah, how are you able to keep up with me?" Knuckles held out his arms, "One at a time! One at a time!" "We have the same question." Knuckles replied, "If you were the guardian of a floating island, using your legs almost all the time, getting them strong, you get more endurance." Sally waved the subject away. "Now, Sonic. We're here. Where are all the rings?" Sonic and Knuckles both stared at her. "What are you talking about? The pit's full of `em!" Sally looked into the pit. "All I see is a dark pit. Dark, seemingly bottomless with sharp cliff faces." Knuckles stammered, "I can't believe it! How can you not see it?" Bunnie looked into the pit, looked hard and long. Finally she shook her head. She only saw a deep dark pit. Rotor spoke up, "An interesting problem. Sally, Bunnie and I can't see a pit full of rings, but Sonic and Knuckles can." He thought for a moment. Everyone turned to him when he reached into his backpack. "Whatcha doin' Rotor?" Sonic inquired. "I'm going to experiment." As he spoke, he tied a rubber rope to his waist and a large rock. He tied it securely. Everyone watched in confusion and tried to understand what he was doing. When Rotor walked to the edge, Sally realized that he was going to jump. She tried to stop him, but it was too late. He had jumped into that great below. But 10 seconds later he came up again, alive and well. "I've measured by distance of descent to one hundred feet under us. Now for part two of my experiment. Sonic, would you please jump into the pit?" Sonic was about to jump when Sally stopped him, "Sonic, put on the rope." Sonic only waved goodbye, and tilted his body to the right. Sally screamed as she Sonic plummet into blackness. But he didn't quite make it, instead he stopped in thin air. "Just as I predicted, but I don't have proper evidence. Knuckles, would you please jump?" Sally's heart became part of her throat as she saw Knuckles jump from the edge into nothingness, but he to stopped in mid-air beside Sonic. Sonic made sarcastically frantic gestures toward Sally, "Oh, oh Sally! I'm falling! Quick toss me a rope!" Sally ignored him. Rotor was deep in thought. "Hmmm. It seems that those who believe to see the rings in this pit prove that there is something keeping them suspended in air. Now we have to figure out why they can see it, and why we can't." Rotor scratched his huge chin, and rubbed his ivory tusks. Suddenly he snapped his fingers. "Knuckles, take off one of your gloves and pick up a ring, and show Sonic." Knuckles removed his left glove and picked up a ring. "Like this?" Sonic tapped Knuckles on the shoulder. "Not bad Knuckles, now where's the ring?" Knuckles looked at his hand, and sure enough, the ring wasn't there. "What the_" He paused and examined his hand from all directions. "What's up Knux?" He continued to survey his hand. "I'm not sure, but my arm tingled for an instant!" Sonic stared. He has to be lying. He can't feel a tingling sensation, unless_ "Eureka! Sonic, Knuckles, please come up here. Sally approached Rotor, and asked what he had discovered. "I believe that Sonic and Knuckles just might be related, in a way." Sally was about to ask what he meant, when Sonic and Knuckles popped their heads up from behind a cliff face and took the words out of her mouth. "What did you say?" Rotor motioned to Sally. "May I borrow Nicole?" Sally handed Rotor her miniature computer. Rotor used Nicole to scan the cliff, then he scanned both Sonic and Knuckles. "What is it Rotor?" Rotor closed Nicole and handed her back to Sally. "Both Sonic and Knuckles have ring radiation flowing inside them, which means they possess the Chaos Entity. And it must unlock the sight of limitless rings in this pit. The Chaos Entity does have a side effect when it is not unleashed though. I noticed Sonic's top speed increased by one hundredfold. I wonder. Knuckles, how long do the spikes on your gloves and dreadlocks length go in your family?" Knuckles shrugged, "My grandparents had `em, that's all I know." Rotor nodded. "Then that's it, the Chaos Entity seems to be a sexually transmitted life form, like a sickness. It's in your bloodstream, adrenaline, and water content. Any fluid transference will result in spreading the entity." Rotor removed a syringe from his backpack. He collected a blood sample from both Knuckles and Sonic. When he looked through them into the pit, he could see rings, piles of rings. "Yep, I was right." He handed the samples to Sally, and she too saw them. "So both Sonic and Knuckles have a Chaos Entity flowing through their blood?" Rotor nodded. Chapter 10 Tails was quite a bit ahead of Snowflake on the obstacle course. He had already reached the halfway part, now he had to launch himself into the air, and glide across a large pit. He knew it would be difficult to fly across the pit, as their was a wind pounding against him. Also, the pit was covered in a fog, so we wouldn't know if he was in the pit when he flew across. He was still thinking about how he would be able to do it when Snowflake caught up. "You seem stuck." Tails nodded. Snowflake examined the area, something caught her eye. "You know Snowflake, there's quite an updraft_" He stopped their, and then snapped his fingers. Snowflake was examining the bushes and discovered five hanggliders. "Shouldn't be to much trouble with these." She turned to meet her boyfriend, but didn't see him anywhere. She got scared. Strapping herself into the hangglider she ran off the edge of the pit and let the updraft carry her up. "Tails? Where are you? Tails, answer me!" She was almost in tears. Suddenly, she saw beams of light down toward the thickest part of the fog. She flew in closer. When she became level with the lights, she quickly identified them as laser triggered traps. She quickly came down, but with all the fog, she couldn't find the surface. She crashed, scraping both her legs. She cried out in pain, but it all went away when she heard a familiar voice. "Snowflake? Are you okay?" She was so relieved. "Tails? Where are you?" Before she could get an answer, she unstrapped herself and attempted to clear the laser lights. When she reached the peak in her jump she looked down and felt instantly sick. Below her was a spiders web of lasers. If she set one off, the others would go off and they'd explode. "SNOWFLAKE!" The next thing she felt was her arm yank up and skin tear mildly. She saw the lasers move slowly away from her feet. She began to hyperventilate, and get really scared. She felt her feet touch ground, far away from the lasers that would have killed her instantly. She began to cry at the near death memory crept into her skull and tormented her. Tails stood close and held her close to comfort her. It took her five minutes to get her senses back. She could hardly stand, so Tails carried her through the fog. I would be no better off if I were blind! He prayed that the fog would thin out. His arms were getting weak after carrying Snowflake for thirty minutes, and the fog showed no sign of thinning. He let her down gently, but she wouldn't let go of his neck, for if she did, she might never see him again. Sonic was right when he said this thing was bloody hard, but we've got no time to be rescued. He steadied Snowflake on her feet, then put her arm around his shoulder and continued on. Snowflake had gotten some strength back into her feet, but still wanted to be steadied. Tails looked hard in front of him, and if by some unknown coincidence, or a miracle, the fog began to clear up. Tails expression went from happiness to dismay as a large wall suddenly appeared in front of both of them. He felt the wall. It was flat, and slippery. He sighed. "Well, looks like the only way to get over it is to fly over it." Snowflake groaned. "All the hanggliders are back there." She pointed through the fog. "We've got no hope now." Tails just stared at her. "What do you mean no hope? We just have to fly over it." Snowflake nodded. "Exactly, we're stuck here." Tails opened his mouth to say something incredibly sarcastic, when he understood. "You mean, you don't know how to fly?" Snowflake looked at her companion, "Oh and I suppose you do right." Tails ran thoughts back through his head. Come to think of it, he had never shown Snowflake how to fly. He had thought it was a Double-Tail secret. As he stared at Snowflake, he realized he was wrong. "Okay Snowflake, how to be airborne in one easy lesson. First, twist your tails together." She followed his instruction. "Now, make a knot with the tips of your tails." She did, after a few tries. "Now Snowflake, try to pull your tails out of the knot." She pulled, and her tails began to rotate. She was startled with the fact that she was soon airborne. She followed Tails up to the top of the wall. But it was higher than they expected. And they slowly began to get tired, and fall cautiously to the ground. They rested for a while and thought of an easier way to get up. Snowflake made a suggestion. "We could grip climb our way up." They tried it. Tails was determined to make it to the top of this blasted wall. He felt much like Snowflake did. When he felt like he had nothing left, his hand touched nothing. He laughed gleefully and pulled himself up. He could see clearly now, and it was an utterly beautiful sight. He helped Snowflake up and showed her the wondrous view in front of their eyes. For miles into the horizon, it was lush and green, filled with vegetation. Off to the left of the area was a small lake, perfect for swimming in. Snowflake and Tails then held each other, and just stared into the incredible beauty of the tropical rainforest in front of them. "It's wonderful Tails! It's just so peaceful, and beautiful. Full of tranquillity. But best of all, it's in perfect solitude." Tails and Snowflake locked eyes for a moment, and for as long as they stood there, time seemed to freeze. "Snowflake, what do you feel, in and around you?" She replied, never taking her eyes of his, "I feel, strong, yet weak. I feel alone, yet I'm here with you. I feel warm, but I also feel cold. What do you feel?" Tails responded never taking his eyes off hers, "I feel a cool breeze. It brings beautiful feelings into my head. I smell trees, full of life and strength. I also smell the water, cool and fresh. But I feel one more thing. I feel, as though time has stopped. Time has stopped, and it is frozen as we speak, like this moment was meant for us, and we for it." Snowflake got closer, and whispered, "let's not waste it." She brought him closer to kiss him, but millimeters away, he stopped. "Wait, I feel something else. I feel_ I feel_" He looked as though he had trouble figuring out what it was, but she knew what it was. "Is it love?" Tails stared deep into her eyes, and once again saw that twinkle. He silently whispered, "Yes, that must be it. I love you Snowflake." She smiled back at him. "I love you Tails, and I will never let you go." With that they embraced, and kissed, long, passionate, and sweetly. The wind rustled through their hair, and the feeling they called love seemed to spread, strengthen, and glow inside them. It felt like a fire encased in a hot pan near explosion. It felt strong enough to level the oldest mountains. It felt bright enough to light a world for eternity, and they possessed it. And they both knew, that the only thing that could part them now was death. Chapter 11 How they got back to Knothole, nobody knows. But nonetheless, they were back. And it was finally time to launch the first and final attack on Project Doomsday. They were all crammed inside the briefing hut, murmuring anonymous things to each other. Princess Sally approached the stage and everyone was silent. "Fellow freedom fighters, we are gathered here today for instructions on the assault on Project Doomsday." Nicole generated a 3-d holographic image of Project Doomsday. "Thanks to the information passed on to us through Sir Charles," She motioned to the only robot who possessed his free will. "that Robotnik has made a critical error in the construction of Project Doomsday. Even though the station is not yet fully operational, the only way to get inside are through the shuttle bay doors. Our air units, using stolen technology, will pilot through the air, and launch a dummy diversion. While the security will be shooting at the dummies, our ground units will enter the building and place detonators at their assigned locations. The ground units assigned are Sonic and Knuckles, Dylan, Penelope, and Arlo, Bunnie with Vector, Espio, and Mighty, and Snowflake and Tails. Sonic and Knuckles will direct their bombs in the heating system, Dylan's team will destroy the ships, Bunnie's team will back up Dylan's team. Tails and Snowflake, you must destroy the power generator. The rest of you will man the turrets on the ships and attempt to destroy all the security. Dismissed." Everyone got up and began talking amongst themselves. Some were heading for the hover units, the others were putting insulated gloves on, as the laser turrets were supposed to get extremely hot. The ground units got all equipment they figured necessary for their job. Sonic and Knuckles only strapped on some strong backpacks, and each carried two hundred rings. Snowflake and Tails armed themselves with two laser pistols, their detonators and ran off. The tower known as Project Doomsday would hardly be classified as dangerous from just looking at it, but everyone was cautious. The ground units, were ready to penetrate security, they just needed to see the dummy diversion start. A laser fired. Tails and Snowflake watched it fly through the air and nick a hover unit, which returned fire. They both went in, not wanting any trouble pointing in their direction. Everyone else however, waited until the dummies were launched. When they went in, they were all met by some form of interference. "Tails, where are we?" Tails observed the room. It was full of Doomsday machines not yet operational. There were two doors, not anyone of them had a sign indicating where it led, since it had been programmed into the Swat bots' neural network. Instead, he pointed to a pipe. "In their. We go in their, and go in either direction until one of us gets to the generator." Snowflake grabbed his arm, "I won't be separated from you again!" she nearly screamed. Tails pulled her up into the pipe along with himself. "Now we listen. Listen for electricity." He put his ear to the bottom of the inner pipe and listened. He could hear a faint humming running through the pipe. He moved in the direction he was facing and felt it get stronger. "Come on this way." "Go without me Knuckles! I'll be with you shortly!" Sonic was trying to throw off a few Swatbots who had gotten in their way, Knuckles ran off into the building. A figure had spotted an unfriendly target. Switching to infrared, he attempted to identify it. He identified the figure as Knuckles the Echidna, and considered him extremely hostile. Knuckles carefully walked through the shuttle bay without making a sound. He sensed something was not right. His dreadlocks began to twitch, it was like a sixth sense. He stood there and listened. As the sense got stronger, he said with a voice mixed with fear and disbelief. "No." he almost whispered it. From the shadows, the figure never took his auditory sensors off Knuckles, positioning himself correctly, he prepared the attack. Knuckles turned to leave the bay, but before he reached the door, something jumped in front of him, and stood there. Knuckles stopped short and turned his mouth into a snarl. "Mecha-Sonic." Mecha-Sonic's auditory sensors picked up a voice, because of it's tone he managed to identify it as someone identifying him. Before his eyes, a list of phrases appeared. He chose one. YES THAT'S ME CORRECT IN THE ALLOY DUH NO, I'M SONIC IN DISGUISE. Knuckles felt a chill go down his spine as the robot spoke to him, "In the alloy." Knuckles remembered the last time he confronted one of these monsters. It was when he first met the Chaotix. Now, he met him again, but he was alone. Alone with a metallic maniac. "I thought I destroyed you back on the Floating Island." The robot pondered this, and replied, "Negative, I had become fully operational five hours ago. I am M-S, model three zero one, unit three. And you are terminated." The robot raised his arm with a metallic whine and fired a laser, singing Knuckles arm. "OUCH!" The monster fired again. Knuckles managed to escape the attack by hiding behind a stationary ship. Mecha-Sonic called into the air, "Code seven five two. Intruder alert, intruder alert." Snowflake was rubbing her head frantically. "Snowflake, are you all right?" She nodded. Apparently, the sound of the intruder alarm startled her so much that she shot her head up and smashed it on the top of the pipe. "Tails," She said warily, "we've failed, they know we're here." Tails spoke softly, "That doesn't mean we give up, we must go on." He led her down the pipe. He came to a grate and kicked it open. As he poked his head through, he heard sounds of lasers charge up. He didn't have to look up to see that they were surrounded. "Tails? What's going on?" He looked at Snowflake' eyes and could only come up with one word. "oops." Knuckles had to attack. He couldn't stand the possibility of running. Not only would Mecha-Sonic lose him, but he would lose Mecha-Sonic, and then he'd round a corner, and come face to face with it's laser because it's reaction time was ten times better than his own. On the other hand, he could come up behind it, and_ No, he had to face him now, ready for anything. He came out from behind his hiding place, and immediately ducked as a laser blast came flying over his head. He countered the attack by sweeping Mecha- Sonic's feet off the ground. The only problem was Mecha- Sonic's feet didn't come off the ground. Seeing his attempt was unsuccessful, he fired his leg at Mecha-Sonic's arm, destroying the laser. Knuckles backflipped quite a distance from Mecha-Sonic. He steadied, and braced himself for an oncoming attack. When none was coming, he attacked instead. He attempted to punch the robot's head, but the robot blocked and punched him in the stomach. Winded, Knuckles fell to the ground. Mecha-Sonic delivered a hard kick to Knuckles lower jaw, sending Knuckles flying. Knuckles crashed to the ground. He stood up again, and ran For Mecha- Sonic head on. When it looked like Knuckles was going to send Mecha-Sonic back to the maker, Mecha-Sonic caught Knuckles by the throat, and lifted him into the air. Knuckles tried to get the evil hand away from his throat, but it seemed to lock in place and no matter how much strength he put in, the grip would not loosen. He gasped for air, and he knew it was his final breath as Mecha-Sonic's grip tightened on his windpipe. "I should kill you echidna, but the master has a use for you." He threw Knuckles high into the air. Knuckles bounced off a small ship, and fell to the ground. Because of the impact, his backpack opened and two rings leaked out. "Raise your hands in the air." The metallic voice ordered. Tails and Snowflake did as they were told. Their weapons were confiscated, and they were put in shackles. Then a Swatbot came by and picked up Snowflake by the throat. Tails became enraged. "Drop her, tin can." He was thrown to the ground by a large, cold, not to mention strong fist. Geez, she must be scared out of her skin! "Tails, don't attempt to resist, there's nothing you can do." His head swung in her direction. He was stunned. She was calm, unafraid, and had a look of guilt on her face. The Swatbot that suspended her in the air had turned his head to another, "Inform Robotnik we have found Automaton one-oh-one, and have taken her into custody for re-submission." Tails heart skipped a beat as the sentence he just heard echoed through his mind. No, it couldn't be! It just couldn't be! Snowflake eyes fixed on his. Tears gleamed down her cheek. I'm in love with a robot?! He blinked, and felt tears roll down his eyes. Betrayed and hurt, he took his eyes away from the ones that he had sworn never to lose sight of. He wept. Mecha-Sonic was cautiously approaching the site where he had thrown Knuckles into a ship. Braced for an impounding attack, Mecha-Sonic approached the ship. His auditory sensors went wild as a blinding light consumed his total vision. Shielding his head from a possible attack, Mecha- Sonic stood his ground. When the light disappeared, Mecha- Sonic switched to thermal vision. He didn't need it. He was consumed by a powerful blow across the head, destroying his thermal vision, and replacing it with infrared. "Poor, poor Mecha-Sonic. Poor, poor Mecha-Sonic." Setting the direction of vision to face the last message, Mecha-Sonic's memory banks went beserk. WARNING: TARGET KNOWN AS KNUCKLES THE ECHIDNA HAS MORPHED INTO AN UNIDENTIFIED UNFRIENDLY. IGNORE. TARGET SUBMISSION PRIORITY ONE. OVERRIDE. NEW PRIORITY, NEUTRALIZE AND TERMINATE. Mecha-Sonic launched himself into the air, and flung himself toward the unfriendly, but was thrown with such force against the wall, his jetpack was destroyed. "Foolish robot, you're no match for HYPER KNUCKLES!" Hyper Knuckles was floating in the air, no longer red, but pink. His spikes on his gloves were now five inches long, and instead of two spikes, there were three on each glove. His dreadlocks were no longer five inches long, they were a foot long, and flowing with electricity. Mecha-Sonic ran under, jumped and pulled Hyper Knuckles to the ground. In exchange, Hyper Knuckles flung Mecha-Sonic into the air. Mecha-Sonic countered by flipping and landing on his feet. Now! Thought Knuckles. While he's off his guard! Hyper Knuckles kicked Mecha-Sonic square in the head. Mecha-Sonic stood his ground. Looking at Mecha-Sonic's feet, Knuckles noticed that Mecha-Sonic had ramset himself into the ground. Mecha-Sonic punched Hyper Knuckles in the stomach. Hyper Knuckles felt an impact but no pain. He grabbed Mecha-Sonic's arm, and pulled on it, ripping it out of the socket. He did the same with the other arm. Then he laid a vicious uppercut, tearing Mecha-Sonic apart from the waste up. Hyper Knuckles caught Mecha-Sonic's chest, uppercut it, and sent Mecha-Sonic's head flying into the air. Next he caught Mecha-Sonic's head, pulled it apart, and stomped it to oblivion. "Terminated." He noticed he was getting applause. Looking to his right he noticed eight figures, applauding and whistling. Vector, Espio, Mighty, Dylan, Penelope, Arlo, and Super Sonic. Hyper Knuckles approached Super Sonic, and spoke. "We meet again, Super Sonic." Super Sonic nodded. "Indeed we do, but now, our intentions are peaceful towards each other, and warlike to Robotnik." He held out his hand, and Hyper Knuckles accepted the peace treaty. "Now, we must hurry, friends of ours are in grave danger." Tails sat in a corner of the cell staring at a wall. It was better than staring at a traitor. Snowflake felt only guilt. She didn't want it to happen this way. She was hoping they would be together for all time. But with Tails attitude now, she must accept one thing, the truth hurts. All she could do now was try to convince him. "Tails?" He did not stir. "You don't have to answer me Tails, you don't even have to look at me. All I ask is that you listen." Tails sat as still as death. "It's true, I am a robot." She paused, she caught Tails shaking. She continued, "I was originally constructed by Robotnik to infiltrate your base, once I found it, and just wait until Robotnik's forces came to `rescue' me. It went wrong. By throwing living tissue over a metallic Mobian skeleton, he gave me life, again. I remember the time when our colony was invaded by robots. I was killed, and brought to life again by Robotnik's foolishness. I had my own free will, I had all the emotions of a true Mobian, and I was three times better than I was when I was killed. The first thing I felt was fear, and I ran from Robotnik before he could install the seeker chip in my skeleton. I hid for two years, wondering why he had not attempted to make another one like me. Probably because he knew it wouldn't work. So, I ran and hid like a fugitive. Until one day, I saw another Mobian. I couldn't tell whether or not he was another creation or not, so I considered him hostile until proven friendly. We got in a mix-up, until one of us had to lose. I did. I woke up, and found myself in a sturdy, strong, straw hut, with that same Mobian on the other side of the room. He looked familiar, his name sounded familiar, and he sounded familiar. By looking at his two tail markings I realized that he was a descendant from a family known throughout the colony as great warriors. He was a descendant of that family, and we knew each other from a long time back, when I was about four years old. He told me his name was Miles "Tails" Prower." She looked back at Tails, who still stared at the wall. She was about to turn away when he spoke. "I had another girlfriend before you Snowflake. I found her on an uncharted island. Her name was Fiona. She was absolutely beautiful. It was love at first sight. Then she betrayed me, nearly got me roboticized, and when she failed, she attacked me. She was a robot too, programmed to seduce me so that I wouldn't expect it. Then, bang, attempted murder. It seems like when I think that I've found the perfect woman, it backfires." Snowflake was pondering what Tails had said. "Did she love you Tails?" Tails paused, "No." "Did she say she loved you?" "Yes." "Think about that." Tails thought about what Snowflake meant. Somehow it went through his mind. Comparison. He compared Snowflake to Fiona and realized a difference. Snowflake had said she loved him, but did she? She said she did, and she didn't get Tails into this mess, he did. In fact, Tails realized that she had no intentions of betraying him, and that all this was accidental. He had been whining over Snowflake, when he should have been whining over his own foolishness. He can't be prejudiced to someone who said she loved him, turned out to be a robot, and when the truth finally came out, it didn't come out through betrayal. He stared into Snowflake eyes. They did not seem robotic, she did not seem robotic, hey, it was one hell of a good disguise. "Snowflake," he paused, thinking that he wasn't going to get a straight or true answer, "Do you love me?" She smiled, "With all my heart." Tails knew that was a figure of speech. She leaned forward to kiss him but he hesitated, "I've never really kissed a robot before." She smiled at him, "Sure you have, just that when you did, you didn't know it." As they drew themselves closer, an alarm sounded. They were startled for a second or two, but then their eyes locked together again. Mind as well make my last few minutes enjoyable. They embraced and kissed for what they thought would be the last time. "Oh Tails, Snowflake, I'm really sorry but we have to do this now or never." Turning their heads, they saw Super Sonic kick the cell door down. "Come on! This buckets gonna blow!" Chapter 12 When everyone was a safe distance away, the Freedom Fighters stood and watched the final seconds of the countdown, Sally yelled to them all, "All right, altogether now. Six_" It chimed in like wedding bells in action. "Five_ Four_ Three_ Two_ One_" An explosion came up from under Project Doomsday, and it slowly began to topple. Cheers ran up from every Mobian standing gracefully on the hill. The war was finally over. Tails and Snowflake stayed quiet and just watched it fall while romantically holding each other. Something though, was wrong, and Tails was the first to notice. "Look at that!" Everyone stopped cheering and looked at Project Doomsday, or what was happening to Project Doomsday. The cheers suddenly turned into confused awes as Project Doomsday split through the center and fell apart, unleashing a new threat. A new unknown threat. The normal sound you would hear on occasion to occasion was drowned out by igniting thrust engines, and the egg-shaped threat started off into the sky, being pushed with immense force. You could tell it was immense because all the bystanders went crazy trying to keep the sound from getting to their ears. When it got quiet enough, they just watched the machine shrink into the sky. Immediately, unanswerable questions rose up from the ground. "Is he escaping?" "What the hell is that?" "Could it be?" "I knew it! I knew Project Doomsday was a hoax!" Everyone just stared at Tails, who had spoken the last statement. "He's right, Project Doomsday was a hoax, but the objective isn't." Everyone turned toward the voice. It was Sir Charles, metallic spy for the Freedom Fighters. "The objective? What do you mean Charles?" Sally asked. She was tense. Nervous and frightened when the thought crossed her mind that they had failed. "Project Doomsday was both a building, and an experiment. Robotnik had constructed Project Doomsday as a means of a slow destruction on Mobius. If that had failed, he would launch the Death Egg from Project Doomsday like a bird hatching from an eggshell. The Death Egg is armed with a super laser, powered by a Super Chaos Emerald. The laser would be used to drain almost all the power from the Emerald, and fire it on Mobius, terminating all forms of life!" Murmurs rose up from the crowd. Sally could tell they were nervous. Sally asked a question that she had to force from her throat because she was so uneasy. "How long do we have until the laser fires?" Charles expression went dead at the question. "Three hours." Sally's shoulders slumped. "Well, that's more than enough time to say our prayers." Sonic, who had just seconds ago lost his ring radiation, spoke up with confidence. "Sally, we've come so far! You can't give up on us! We'll fight Robotnik to the death if we have to! Won't we?" The crowd, who had seemed to have just regained their enthusiasm, agreed to Sonic's statement. "A fat lot of good it's going to do us if we're trying to attack from the planet, Sonic. Did it ever occur to you that we don't have Space Flight technology? And that Robotnik probably removed that from his base?" Sonic stood there, frozen in position, full of surprise. Rotor had been thinking during Sonic's and Sally's argument. Thinking furiously. They must have had Space Flight technology or else he and Sonic wouldn't have been able to escape from the Sky Spy a year ago in a_ That's when the light bulb exploded. "Eureka!" He shouted. Startled everyone looked at him. "Sally, we do have Space Flight technology! Do you remember last year when Sonic and I destroyed Sky Spy? We got off on a hover unit! No doubt Robotnik has taken the rest of his, but we still have stolen technology from way back! The hover units we possess are capable of space flight! All we need to do is equip them with heavy lasers and we'll be able to destroy that thing in no time!" Sally slowly advanced up to Rotor and stood still. "Rotor," Rotor felt a lump in his neck, "you are a GENIUS!" Rotor sighed with relief imaginably. "How many fighters can you make in two hours?" "I believe I can make forty-five." Sally nodded. "That's perfect! Start to work immediately, get volunteers to help you. Sir Charles and I have plans to work over. Chapter 13 After about two hours, Sally had called all the Freedom Fighters to the briefing hut. A total of 75 fighters had been made, which was more than Rotor expected. Everyone took their seats, and Sally stepped up to the platform. "Freedom Fighters, Mobius needs our help." The lights disappeared, and Nicole projected a 3-d image of the Death Egg. "This massive battle station known as the Death Egg is to large to be destroyed by laser fire. It must be destroyed by destroying the things which hold it together." She paused as Nicole zoomed in on the Death Egg, and began flying down a split in the middle of the station. "What Nicole is flying down now is a trench in the Death Egg. This trench is the very thing that holds the entire station in one piece. Their are structures in it called T bars. They are welded into the station from three sides, but, they can be easily be destroyed. A total of twenty-five of these T bars exist. Once they have been destroyed, priority two will be to destroy the last piece. The Thermal Power Plant. By destroying that, the Death Egg will fall in pieces, and be consumed by flames hopefully. Lights please." The lights returned. "Only seventy five pilots will be up there in space, and only volunteers are selected. If there are not enough volunteers, we will choose randomly. You will be divided into three squadrons. Blue squadron, led by Sonic. Red squadron, led by Knuckles. And Gold squadron, led by Tails. Would those three please come up." Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails stood up to the stage. Applause rang out from every other seat in the hut. "Blue squadron will make their run first. If they fail, Red squadron will follow. If they fail, Gold squadron will come in as a last resort. The three leaders will now choose their Wingman. Sonic?" Sonic pointed toward an individual. "My uncle Chuck will be my wing." Sir Charles walked up to the stage, and stood by his nephew. Knuckles chose Vector. "I choose Snowflake as my wing." Spoke Tails. Snowflake stood proudly by the one she loved. "Now," began Sally, "we will begin taking volunteers. Raise your hands if you want to join Blue squadron." 31 hands shot up. The first twenty five were given to Sonic, and the rest went to Knuckles. "All those for Red squadron." 16 hands went up in the air. After the last volunteer for Red squadron went up, another raised their hand reluctantly. "All those for Gold squadron." 24 hands went up. After the last volunteer joined Tails group, Tails surveyed the room for any more hands. There were none. He blindly pointed in a direction and said, "You, you've just become Gold bee-four, (meaning 24) let's move." While Red and Gold squadron were getting set up, Blue squadron lunched from Mobius into deep space. It was time. "Blue squadron, this is blue leader. I'm beginning my run. Blue wing, blue two, cover me." Sonic began his run. He slowly started to descend into the trench, but he was coming in to fast, and he could tell. "Blue wing, blue two, I can't keep up. I'll try again. Continue mission." Sonic began to turn back to return to the trench from a farther distance. "It's okay Sonic, we're starting our run, and we've got two T bars down." Sonic felt relieved. As he began his run, he heard an unfamiliar voice on the intercom. "Blue leader, this is blue two. I've got some trouble down here, it seems as though I've been hit, or something. I can't tell. My shields show increasing damage, but there's no one behind us." Sonic raised an eyebrow. "I'll keep an eye out for anything suspicious." He sped up his craft, something about this didn't feel right. Up ahead, he saw two other hover crafts firing down the trench. "Well Blue two, it looks like you're all right." His response was Blue two crashing against the side of the trench wall. Sonic's uncle Chuck got on the communicator. "Fighters! Robotnik has deployed fighters! Sonic call for reinforcements, I'll see what I can_" He was cut off. A lump of fear gripped Sonic's throat. "I'm hit, I'm hit, and I can't hold her, I can't_" This time he couldn't finish the sentence, because Sir Charles' ship had been vaporized. Sonic was now very tense because he had just seen one of his squadron crash into the trench, and the other, his uncle, get vaporized out of the fight forever. Sonic pulled out of the trench, and he could see there we're fighters trailing him, Robotnik had created defenses. "Blue squad, report in." In synchronization, people spoke back to him. "Blue three standing by." There was a pause, then, "Blue five standing by." "Blue six standing by." "Blue nine standing by." "Blue aythree standing by." "Blue ayfive standing by." "Blue aynine standing by." "Blue beethree standing by." It ended there. Sonic realized that his back- ups were under attack as well. "Home one, this is Blue leader, we need reinforcements. Robotnik has deployed fighters, and I've only got six pilots behind me out of twenty four." Sally picked up the microphone to the intercom, and directed orders. "Red squadron and gold squadron, launch immediately, blue squadron is in need of assistance." When she finished, she watched tensely as the other fighters began hovering over the ground and flying up into the sky, slowly disappearing from sight. Tails entered deep space. Below him, a blue-green planet capable of supporting life. In front of him, a deadly doomsday machine. He entered the battle when a laser blast smacked his shields, shaking the fighter. He drilled through space in a corkscrew maneuver, dodging repeated laser blasts, and skimming a small piece of debris. Tails caught the debris in his field of vision just before he dodged it, and was instantly sick. Metal arm. "Blue leader, this is gold leader. When I'm clear of this bogey, I'll cover you down the trench. Begin your run." Tails then banked left and threw his ship into reverse. This movement caused the trailing ship to fall forward, right into the laser cannon fire of Tails. Tails reset his engines to forward thrust and started toward the trench. In the trench he saw Sonic in front followed by blue 3 and blue a5. Flying overhead, Tails slowly slowed his ship down to 2000 km/h he got ready to fire upon any enemy that would sneak up behind them. Heavy laser fire put an end to that, as two enemy fighters hit Tails with such force that his laser cannon went off-line. His ship was thrown off course and he had to break free. As he moved away, one of the attacking fighters changed it's target, and directed laser fire towards Sonic's ship. Sonic knew that he could not take anymore pounding, but there were at least ten fighters covering his run, and he was expecting no resistance. Expecting being the operative word. Ahead in his field of vision was the thermal power plant. A feeling of overwhelming proportions seeped into his body. He switched weapons from laser to homing projectile, and steadied to fire. His communicator buzzed, it was Blue 3. "Blue Leader! Watch your head, watch your head!" Sonic's mind raced. In an instant his ship was rocked by heavy fire. When the fire ceased, Sonic found that one of his systems was smoking and the internal alarm had sounded. Flipping some dials, the damage report screen showed that the only systems damaged were the torpedo tubes. In fact they weren't damaged, they had ignited. Shit! He turned on his communicator and spoke to the only one he could. "Red leader, this is blue leader, I have to pull out, my torpedo tubes have ignited, and they are going to blow!" Knuckles returned the call with an angry one of his own. "Bull! You are going to fire those torpedoes and you will_" He was cut off by a voice that rang through his communicator. "Oh f_" Knuckles looked into the trench. An explosion had lit up his cockpit so bad he had to shield his eyes, but it didn't take a blind man to see that Sonic, blue 3, and blue a5 were consumed in an enormous ball of fire. "Red squad this is red leader. I'm beginning my run. Cover me." He switched some comm. dials and spoke to Tails. "Gold leader, I'm making my run, provide me with as much cover as you can." A static full response came through. "No can do. I need five minutes to get my cannons up and running again." Knuckles replied softly, "That's okay, I've_ Wait." Something had caught Knuckles' eyes. In the distance, he could see an escape pod hovering over the trench. "Tails, I've got a new target, start your run." Knuckles course had changed from into the trench to escape pod. Looking to his right, he saw the gold leader start down the trench, followed by gold wing, who had stuck with him since the start. "Tails, I've got a new target, start your run." Tails had to make a decision. Fast. Looking to his left he saw the trench. To his right, the exchange of laser fire between friendly and unfriendly forces. His cannons were still inoperable. He stared out in front of him, and silently made a decision. He made his way toward the trench. Tails was determined to stay in the trench until the power plant had been destroyed. He had to concentrate right now, and he couldn't let anything stand in his way. He entered the trench, behind Red wing, who had taken over after Knuckles did not start his run. "Glad you could join me Gold leader." Tails did not reply. He just followed behind him, staring coldly down the trench. He had been flying for about five seconds when they were hit from above. Tails was not hit hard, but Red wing had been thrown minorly off course, and his navigational controls had been destroyed. He was slowly driving toward the side of the trench. Tails sped up to pass Red wing. And after he did so, two things happened. Red wing had scraped the side of the trench, and was ripped apart, piece by piece. Also, the fighter that had hit them from overhead, had plunged headlong into the surface of the trench. After the unfriendly fighter crashed, Snowflake closed in behind Tails. From within her cockpit, she smiled. Tails, however, had different thoughts. This is it. You've got no bogeys behind you, your ship is running five by five, and the thermal power plant is just seconds away! You've got this nailed. Tails tensed up. Stay with it! Sweat poured down his neck. Stay on course! His hands shook with adrenaline. Stay on target! He activated his torpedo cannons. It's yours! He lined his target window up with the power plant. Fire! He launched a torpedo and flew up out of the trench. "Home one, this is gold leader! Torpedo away." There was a pause. "Gold leader were you successful?" Looking behind him Tails watched the power plant. An explosion emitted from the side, but that was not right. No. It wasn't supposed to explode. No! It was supposed to rip it half apart. He had_ You MISSED! "CRAP, HOW COULD I MISS such an easy shot?" He slammed his fist into the controls, twice, three times, and cursed. "Relax Tails, I'm on it." His head shot up to face the communicator, then back to the trench. Snowflake was still in the trench. Tails watched as she pulled out, and watched the thermal power plant shoot up in flames. He instinctively threw his ship full thrust away from the station. Space debris flew past his cockpit, and a fighter flew past his own. Something was not right. It was Snowflake who flew past him, but he was a league ahead of her when he put his ship into full thrust. He checked his engine stat, and nearly blacked out. His on-board computer had told him that his engines were running 35% below the norm. That was maximum efficiency for Tails' engines, as they had been hit hard down in the trench. "Gold wing, this is gold leader, acknowledge." He waited, but what he expected didn't come. The death egg exploded. The explosion sent a heat wave outward in a spherical burst. Red two was in there when it happened, and when he saw the heat wave advance toward his face, he realized he would never be able to tell his children how daddy survived the death egg destruction. The heat wave mercilessly ate up red two's fighter, like a white blood cell running down bacteria. When Tails saw red two being enveloped in the heat wave, he knew, he was next. Chapter 14 "This is gold wing, standing by." Startled, Tails hastily responded. "Snowflake, I'm in trouble. My engines have a maximum output of thirty five percent below the norm, and I can't get them to do_" What happened next shocked both Tails and his girlfriend. The last thing she wanted to see was her boyfriend get eaten up by perfect logic. The heat wave had caught up with Tails' ship, and made contact with the engines, somehow destroying his communications, and igniting his engines. He was on his own. His ship was not getting hotter anymore. In fact, his ride was getting bumpier. Looking out the right window he saw a red wave slowly dissipate in color, and turn white. Shockwave! He raced through his mind, and thought. How would me manage to survive a class twelve Shockwave? As he opened his eyes, he hoped that his shields would take him through, but could it work? His life was at risk. If he didn't do anything, he'd be dead. If he ejected he'd be dead because the pods are non powered, and can be easily torn up by flying debris. If he transferred power from his now operational lasers to forward shields, he might be able to pass head on through the Shockwave, and have only his shields eaten up. It's worth a shot. He flipped two dials and pressed a button. Nothing. He tried again, And the forward shield hummed to life. Tails kept his eyes open as he turned the ship into the Shockwave. For five seconds there was only a mild hum, but then his ship started rocking violently, and the noise that Tails heard sounded thousands of tiny pebbles smashing against the sides of the fighter. He closed his eyes and grit his teeth. He could feel the Shockwave passing through the ship and pass through his head. He screamed. Nothing there. It all stopped. When Tails found the strength to open his eyes, he saw his home planet under him. He was only a few meters away from being caught in the planets pull of gravity, but not yet. He fell back in his chair and sighed with relief. He rubbed his face and sank down into darkness. He fell asleep. But it wasn't over yet. He fell out of his seat when he heard the explosion. And that noisy alarm told him that things weren't better, they were worse. Viewing his engine status, he saw that he had fifteen seconds before the ship's engines would overload, explode, and send Tails to that Place in the Sky, as Sally called it. Tails shoved his engine power to the max. Very risky at a time like this. Just before the engine destruction countdown struck one, Tails cut his engines, and prepared for a crash landing. Snowflake was frantic. If watching a heatwave scratch the back end of Tails' ship made her crazy, then watching him go headlong into a shockwave would make her go to extreme measures. Watching to see if Tails would survive, she was able watch and witness one of the bravest actions known to Mobius be done by a ten-year old. Not only was it one of the bravest, but when Tails went into the shockwave, Snowflake witnessed something scientifically rare. She saw four different ships appear alongside Tails' own. They were perfectly identical every one of them. She soon lost sight of Tails' ship among the others, and that was what scared her. It scared her because one of the ships was ripped apart while trying to follow the others. Because she would never tell anyone what she saw, you wouldn't know what happened, so I'll tell you. The shockwave happened in many multiples of realities, but yet there was only one shockwave. In other realities, the shockwave never occurred, meaning that something beyond imagination happened. But the five ships were in different realities, and brought together by the shockwave. How? The five ships, and their contents are composed of matter, but the shockwave is anti-matter. It would take to long to describe the differences of the two, so I'll just tell you the most important difference in this situation. Matter is clonable. That means that it can be multiplied many times. But for some reason, anti-matter is not. And in five different realities, five Tails' flew into the anti- matter shockwave at the same time it brought them all together, because the shockwave had happened all at the same time for each of the five. But everyone of those five had their own unique ways to try to pass through the shockwave, and that way when it was over, they would all return to their different realities, supposing they survived. The first one to die as mentioned before, died because he did not turn his shields on, and was ripped apart. The second neglected to turn his engines on. The third could not maintain a straight enough course and was flung out of existence. The remaining two still managed to hold themselves together, until one of them got rocked violently and accidentally turned his ship into reverse, and flew with the shockwave, but only for two seconds. The last one, (Hopefully Tails, Snowflake thought. Passed safely through, on the verge of destruction. Snowflake did not know jack about matter and anti-matter, but she believed in multiple realities, she knew that the other ships were from other realities, she knew that the ships that she had seen destroyed belonged to those of many other Tails' who knew a Snowflake where they came from, and she knew that somewhere in those other realities, her counterparts would mourn the death of those who did not survive. Chapter 15 Tails waited as he drifted into Mobius' atmosphere, to be pulled down by the gravitational pull. He didn't have to wait long. His ship was gently jerked, and Tails realized he was falling. Falling down onto the surface of Mobius with a forward thrust of 80 knots. Although his computerized systems weren't operational, his onboard compass and altitude indicator were working five-by-five working order despite all the damage he had sustained. He was currently at 90000 feet and descending. All he had to do was keep his ship level, not turn on his engines, and when he came to land, make sure the nose would not touch the ground. As he descended down to 89000 feet, the friction of his ship meeting with the atmosphere was generating a natural source of heat. There was a little turbulence, but nothing fatal. He was extremely nervous, tense, worried calm. He was not going to give in to natural logic the little voices inside his head telling him that he would be found in the ruins of the ship would be found quite dead injured. Perhaps even decapitated dead. 87000 feet to Soon those numbers will be going up surface. He started to sweat. They'll go up because your ghost will be flying up. No. Yes, Tails. Accept it, you won't survive No! Yes! NO! YES! "GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" The voices were louder now, louder because of greater tone amplification, and because of greater numbers. Voices discouraging him. Telling him it was useless to play the odds. Voices, laughing maniacally, insanely, and comically. They're laughing because they Voices crying. think it's funny that you tried to beat death. The crying voices seemed to be the most noticeable. You can't beat death, Tails One crying voice seemed to stand out among Mourners the rest, after listening for a while he recognized it immediately. Snowflake Tails screamed, and covered his ears. He was panicking, now. The voices were now all he could hear. Not going to You can't win. Death has you in survive, it's impossible. it's cold, icy grip. Fighting the voices, the sweat, the tears and the fear, he managed to break out a bloodcurdling shriek. Nothing. The voices were gone. 2000 feet to go. Where did time go? He grabbed the throttle and pulled, attempting to bring the nose up. 1500 feet. The throttle was to deep forward. 1000 feet. He looked ahead, and was somewhat relieved. He was going to crash on rough, barren, flat land. Easy to be spotted by rescue searchers. 500 feet. Rough ground? Contact. The belly of the ship scraped across the ground, causing major momentum. That was when Tails realized he was not strapped in his seat. He flew out the forward window, back first, and hit the ground at 50 mph. Rolling continuously along the ground, scraping his skin along the sharp rocks. Then all of a sudden, nothing. Chapter 16 Two hours after Tails had crash landed, the search parties had been dispatched. Three hours later, he had been found, by Snowflake. He required medical attention immediately, and they got him down to the Knothole medical center within fifteen minutes. "He's got two very deep cuts in his right shoulder, they'll require a little time to heal. About 2 weeks. Then there's his left leg, he fractured it quite severely, and that will require 4 weeks attention. Plus, he was hit quite hard on the head, and is temporarily unconscious, possibly in a coma. But he'll be out of that in two or three days." Sally nodded and looked over the report which Rotor had handed her. The x-ray scan showed the fracture in Tail's left leg, and it was quite bad. Tail's physical appearance also stated that. Snowflake was standing beside the bed that Tails was in, softly stroking his head, careful not to come within five centimeters of the bandage. His eyes were shut, his breathing was below the norm, but stable, and his pulse was around 55 to 60 beats per minute. He seemed almost asleep, in a deep, dark, painless sleep. He would have quite a shock when he awoke. He was there at the victory ceremony though, even though he did not receive a medal. There was a special medal of bravery given to Knuckles for his saving Sonic's life. There was applause from everyone in the open air ceremony. Some Mobians whistled their compliments toward him. Yet he wasn't pleased. After he had risked his butt to save Sonic's, Sonic did not show at the ceremony. Or Knuckles just couldn't see him. Knuckles sat down, and listened to the ceremonies further. Sally began another speech. "Our next and last award goes to a special person here in Knothole. Even though she (many male voices groaned knowing now that they would not get the medal.) is quite new here, she has shown an immense amount of bravery, spunk, and affection for Tails." Hoots, howls, and whistles rose into the crowd. Snowflake nor Tails stirred with embarrassment. There is nothing embarrassing about love. "She had followed him everywhere he went, and would not take her eyes off him. Because of that, she had corrected Tails minor aiming error, and had destroyed the Death Egg which belonged to phase 2 of Project_" She was drowned out by the cheers of the crowd, such an uproar was not heard since John F. Kennedy's moon mission speech. Sally waited until the applause died down, but she did not continue her speech. Instead she presented Snowflake with her medal. More cheers arose from the crowd, but Sally stopped it with a motion of silence. "Fellow Mobians. We must never forget that day. We must never forget that day because that day had eaten up the memories of Robotnik's betrayal. That was the day that the war between good and evil had ended. That was the day that seventy-five brave Mobians went up into space and fought for their planet, yet of those seventy-five, fifteen returned. We will never forget them. We will never forget the day the forces of good prevailed over the more powerful and fierce forces of evil. Therefore that day shall be known as the day of the rising sun, meaning a new beginning for the planet of Mobius, a rebirth, a reincarnation, a life after death!" Everyone cheered again, much louder than the first time. Everyone, but one Echidna. He was very disappointed with Sonic. He began to wonder now why he had even saved his life in the first place. What was it, craziness? Instinct? Paranoia? Affection? Stupidity? Friendship? Yes, that was it, Stupidity. He was stupid to save that hedgehogs life, when all he got from him was hatred, unwelcomeness, unacceptance. He stared out into the sky, and was able to see the outline of the floating Home island. "It's beautiful isn't it." Said a familiar voice behind Knuckles. It was Sonic. Knuckles faced him, and turned his head back to look at his home. "I know what you're feeling Knuckles, and to be honest, I can't blame you, that vase was important." How did he know about the vase? "But that's not it, you're also thinking, `Why did I save his life.' Why did you save my life? I haven't treated you like a companion at all. I look back at the memories of you and I, and I always see conflict. I also see that it was me who started the conflict. You probably think I treated you like that because you though I thought you were beneath me. It is I who am beneath you Knuckles. I am grateful that you saved my life when you could have just left me there, hovering in that trench waiting for something to destroy my escape pod. I am in your debt." Knuckles looked at Sonic. Did he really say that? Or was that Sally's voice on a cassette manipulated to sound like Sonic's. But then Knuckles saw Sonic's outstretched hand. He took it his own and shook it. Then they hugged each other for a brief while. "Thank you Rad Red." It was Tails' lucky day. He was being released from the medical center on the same day that Snowflake would be deroboticized, His 11th birthday. He watched as she entered the chamber. They made eye contact, and neither of them, wanted to break it. The chamber glowed, and Snowflake started to glow. A small hum got louder. Snowflake turned from a snowy white to a black as the deroboticization process was nearly finished. When it did finish, she stepped out of the chamber, she didn't look much different, in fact she hadn't changed. "Are you sure it worked Rotor? I don't feel any different." Rotor looked up at her. "You sure?" "Positive." Rotor checked his console. There were no reported errors. "You should feel something according to logic. Oh well, only time will tell." Snowflake, not knowing whether to feel happy or disappointed, walked off the console and up to Tails. She could feel the love between them. Did that make a difference? When she was a robot she could. She shrugged it off and accepted what Rotor had said. Only time will tell. Snowflake and Tails had come to the Close Combat ring, the score was 1-0 in Snowflake' favor. They were standing a fair distance apart, and each of them waiting for the other to attack. Tails made up his mind. He ran at Snowflake placing an underhook to her gut, and repeated jabs to the chest. Snowflake was dazed. Tails tried again, but Snowflake was ready. She stopped his fist with her hand, and sweeped his leg out from underneath him. 2nd knockdown, one more and she would win. She prepared to bring her fist down into his gut to wind him, but Tails was quicker. He brought his feet up, and kicked Snowflake off the ring. The score was tied 1-1. They prepared for the final fight. Tails quickly knocked Snowflake down, but she got up and placed a rather mean combo on him. He stood his ground though. Snowflake got ready to give a high kick to Tails head, somehow Tails managed to duck, and he pulled Snowflake leg out from under her, knockdown two. When she got up she saw an open spot and began throwing some quick but weak punches. Tails blocked them all but the last one, and that caused him to fall. He got up and started throwing some punches at Snowflake, but she got out of the way quickly. They both stood their ground, five feet away from each other. They were both very tense. Suddenly Snowflake attention was directed at something else. Tails could not have had a better opportunity, he ran at Snowflake, grasped her head, and flung her down to the ground he had won. He had never been so happy in his life. He had lost all control. He ran off into the woods, whooping joyfully at his victory. Snowflake was still lying down in the ring. She put her hand to chest and felt something she never felt before, she was very confused. That night Tails had come to his hut after being in the forest running and flying all around. He was very tired. "Snowflake?" No answer. "Snowflake? Where are you?" Still no answer. "Where could she be?" He walked into the bedroom and noticed a note on the bed. Tails, Come to the Canyon, hurry. Snowflake. When he reached the canyon everything turned lush and green. He found Snowflake in the lake, swimming. She had a pink bikini on with a heart in the middle of the top part. She saw him and beckoned for him to follow her. She went behind the waterfall. Odd place to go. When he entered, he could not see much, but when his eyes adapted to the darkness, he saw Snowflake sitting in a corner, He looked at her sitting there, smiling at him. "Snowflake, I want to congratulate you with your medal." There was a pause. "Is that it?" Tails felt uneasy. "Let's pretend you won that medal shall we?" Tails shrugged. "Tails, I want to congratulate you with your medal." She stood up, approached Tails, put her hands to his face, pulled him close and kissed him. A long kiss, a sweet kiss. When she pulled away, she looked him deep in the eyes. The sound of the waterfall echoing through this little cave was very romantic for this moment. "But I do have to congratulate you. Today is your birthday. I have a present for you. Do you feel it?" Then she placed his hand on her chest, he felt her heart. He understood. The deroboticization process was successful. "Happy Birthday Tails." THE END