The operation ended up a total success. It was later called the ‘takeover incident’. With Polanzo and his allies defeated, a new administration had taken hold. Kiryu was now the new president of SEGA. However, like many similar situations in Kiryu’s past, his presidency was very short-lived. He would resign from his post after just one day.
During that day, he made many sweeping changes. He repealed Polanzo’s law so that no one else from this point on could use violence to gain the presidency. He canceled the mean bean machine project, and banned the production and sale of any similar technology. He also amended the company statute, limiting the power of the president and making the position more transparent.
After his one-day presidency, he gave his resignation. Not long after Sonic, Tails… everyone involved gave their resignations as well. Company elections were called, and all of these empty positions needed to be filled. Many wished Kiryu would be a candidate but he had no interest in the presidency. He became busy trying to convince the Japanese government to ban similar technology to the Mean Bean Machine. He was also trying to convince them to revise the current copyright laws.
To the surprise of many, Vector the crocodile became the new president. With Charmy the bee as his vice president. He ended his inaugural speech with “No man should have all that power“, which resulted in a happy smile from Charmy. Vector pledged to be a very different president and that better new times were on the horizon.
The crocodile had used the take-over incident in his favor. He took all of the credit for the operation and was seen as the one who was the most instrumental in bringing Polanzo down. As a result, his popularity soared.
Despite being fairly unimportant in the fights, he made a big deal out of being the one who discovered Polanzo’s past and the one who planned the operation. Much too similar to what happened to Sonic in the past and what he did to his friends, everyone else but one person got the credit for a team effort. Sonic was very important and won a key fight, but the media barely mentioned him. His role, along with everyone except for Kiryu, got thrown to the sidelines. Vector and Kiryu were the only heroes as far as public opinion was concerned.
This didn’t bother Sonic too much. He had already made his peace before this operation that his days of fame were over. Part of him was bitter about how little credit he got, he understood how Knuckles felt all those years but there wasn’t much he could do. He wasn’t angry at the situation as much as he was angry at Vector.
Sonic felt that Vector’s goal was the presidency from the start. He felt that Vector used all of them just to climb to the top. He couldn’t confirm this but considering how aggressively Vector campaigned for president and how quickly he capitalized on the situation made Sonic very suspicious.
In the end, knowing his actions would remain uncredited, Sonic decided he was going to search for a day job until he found something fulfilling. He was unemployed and his savings were getting dried up. He wasn’t going to work forever at a day job, he was going to search for a better opportunity.
Shadow had sat the operation out and just watched TV at home. He continued his job as mayor of Kowareta Yume and Tails continued being his advisor. The two of them were preparing to introduce a public transportation system with buses in Kowareta Yume.
Polanzo was arrested after that night and extradited to the Netherlands where he is going to face the International Courts for his human rights abuses. The trial is still pending. Many of his goons were fired from the company and a general purge of all of his allies was brought in by Vector. The company needed to clean itself from the many gangsters and yakuza Polanzo hired. Knuckles, despite being allied to Polanzo was allowed to continue working for SEGA. He was put in a fairly unimportant managerial role.
Robotnik, despite being a big player in all of this, had nothing happen to him. His product was banned and now he was looking for a new job. Because of his old age and general tiredness from world domination scheming, he found a legitimate job as a software engineer. A job he plans to do until he can no longer work or dies.
And so the take-over incident came to a close and the company returned to business as usual.
***
Some time later Sonic found himself waiting in the lobby room in front of the SEGA presidential office. He was called in for a meeting by the new president. He wasn’t told what the meeting was about, just that Vector wanted to see him. He was called in by the secretary, this was a new secretary he hadn’t seen before and like every secretary she had comically large breasts.
The presidential office was completly transformed. No more the golden statutes, excess, and opulence. The office had a more utilitarian and clean look. Even the chair was less tacky, it looked like any regular chair.
“You wanted to see me?” Sonic said looking angry and frowning.
“Something wrong?” Vector said surprised.
“You know what you did.”
“Excuse me?”
“You used me. All of this was about that position you are sitting in right there. You couldn’t care less about anything else. You pretend to be a goofball to disarm people but you are in reality calculated and shrewd.”
Vector’s demeanor changed to serious. “Me wanting to replace Polanzo because he is a war criminal for moral reasons and me wanting the presidency for personal reasons are not mutually exclusive. You decided to go along with me of your own free will. I did no such manipulating.”
“You can keep denying it but I now know who you are and I won't forget.”
Vector shrugged. “Anyways I called you because of this.” Vector placed a piece of paper on the desk. It was the two-game contract Sonic signed with Polanzo. “We began fulfilling many contracts the previous administration had already signed and canceling the ones that were against the interests of the company. It has come to my attention that the second game stipulated in this contract was never fulfilled. I believe you should direct it and make it.”
“Is this supposed to be some kind of bribe? Am I supposed to be happy now and close my eyes? Oh great a video game. Sweet. Well, I ain’t desperate like I used to be. I’m not selling myself to you because you’re dangling a video game deal in front of me.”
Vector crossed his arms. “Don’t play the hero. Surely it crossed your mind that if Polanzo was no longer president you wouldn’t be blacklisted anymore. You knew that if someone else was president you could be back to directing video games.”
Sonic stood up from his chair angry. “I never thought about that! I helped you because I thought it was the right thing to do. I never did it out of personal gain.”
“Doing something right is not mutually exclusive with doing something that is also personally beneficial.”
“I don’t want your dirty bribe.”
“It’s not a bribe. I am merely fulfilling SEGA’s legal obligations. We can cancel the contract of course if you don’t want to direct a video game. But that wouldn’t be wise for both of us. Your last game was quite profitable, so why wouldn’t we make another one. I know how much you love this job. I’m practically offering you a game, and you get to make it however you want.”
“I’m not falling for your tricks.”
“I get it. You think I am the same as Polanzo. I’m not. I do genuinely want this company to be better and I plan to be far more democratic than my predecessor. If you have issues with how I’m running the company, in 4 years there will be another election and you can vote me out. Hell, you could even run yourself as president. Or are you still the type of person who doesn’t care about politics?”
“We’re done.” Sonic stormed out of the office.
Vector shouted as Sonic was leaving: “I will give you time to think! Call me in a few days when you decide!”
The irony was not lost on Sonic. He had spent so long desperately clawing at every opportunity to get back into directing a video game. He obsessed over that idea and could never let go of his fleeting popularity. Now when the offer arrived on a silver platter, with almost no strings attached, he felt dirty accepting it. He was now suspect of Vector and he felt like if he accepted this he was closing his eyes to a potential danger like he did for all of these previous decades.
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Sonic didn’t want to be the same. He didn’t want to forsake himself just to get another shot at the spotlight.
As Sonic exited the building, outside Tails was waiting for him to drive him home in his red Saab. On the way back Sonic explained to Tails the situation with the contract.
“I think you should accept it,” Tails said as he drove slowly in the Tokyo traffic.
“What? Why?” Sonic turned in shock.
“I get how you feel but being moralistic for the sake of it isn’t going to help. Like yeah, we know he is a schemer. But he is better than Polanzo. In 4 years we will think about how to deal with him. If he says he is going to be more democratic, he will at least be replaceable peacefully. The contract was signed and you are just fulfilling it. You might feel uncomfortable working for someone shady, but what big corporation isn’t a little shady. All of them have had at least a few moments they would rather the public not know about and they all have or had a real shitty president or CEO. By that logic working for any company is terrible. You gotta find work somehow and somewhere.”
Sonic sighed. “I guess, but I still feel wrong accepting it. It feels like I am supposed to forget about him being a schemer through this offer and pretend like everything is okay.”
“Look. You don’t have to pretend anything. Like I said, we know who he is. We have 4 years to think of a way to take him down. We defeated Polanzo and we got Shadow to be the frickin’ mayor. Also maybe he does a really good job as president. What I am trying to say is accepting this offer doesn’t mean you need to forget anything. Just follow what he does and be prepared for another fight if he ends up being evil.”
Sonic laughed. “I thought I left this hero stuff behind but you can’t run away from some things can you?”
“One more thing.” Tails cleared his throat. “I know how miserable you will be if you don’t accept this game deal. Chances are no one will ever give you the position of game director if you don’t accept this. You are closing that career for good and I know how passionate you are about video games. Vector isn’t asking you to do anything evil. Just to make another video game. If he did ask you to do something dishonest then I’d be singing a different tune. I think you should accept, live out, and fulfill your dreams!”
“Thanks Tails,” Sonic smiled. “I think I will accept it.”
***
Sonic entered café Alps. Inside he was meeting up with Tails, Shadow, and Knuckles. He had called all of them there. It has been more than a decade since the last time they all sat together like this. The group may have been present at business meetings but after ‘Sonic Heroes(2003)’ they were never together informally or as friends. Tails and Knuckles drifted apart so much that they were almost like strangers. Shadow was never close with Knuckles in the first place but they got along nicely during the early 2000s until Shadow got his own game.
There was a bit of awkwardness and tension in the group, especially because the one who called them, Sonic, was the last one to arrive. Sonic sat at the table and with his cheerful demeanor relaxed the atmosphere.
“Okay,” Sonic said and clapped his hands. “Here’s the deal. I just finished my meeting with the president of SEGA. We reached an agreement about an upcoming new video game. As his way of ‘returning the favor’ for helping him become president, he has given me the power to basically make any kind of game I want. He also agreed to give it a very high budget.”
“And this concerns us how?” Knuckles said with skepticism. “I mean I am happy for you and all but did you call us all here just to say that? To gloat?”
“Of course not!!!! I called you all to ask if you guys would be willing to make that game together? To co-direct it with me. Not as me as your boss but to truly make something together like we always should have.”
“Are you serious?” Knuckles said.
“Dead serious.”
Shadow said: “Well I am quite busy with my work as mayor of Kowareta Yume and Tails has a lot of responsibility as my second in command. However, I think we could manage with our free time. I would love to do another video game.”
“You don’t have to tell me twice,” Tails said enthusiastically. “I would do anything as long as it was with you Sonic.”
“What about you Knuckles?” Sonic said.
Knuckles barely kept himself together. It was the offer he had been waiting his since they defeated Robotnik. Not only was he about to make a game, but he was also going to do it with Sonic as friends. A friendship that seemed to exist in the distant past was now healing. He might even manage to reconnect with Tails and get to know Shadow.
In a lot of ways, Knuckles’ journey mirrored Sonic. Both alienated everyone around them for the sake of their self-centered goals, and both of them were so prideful that they destroyed themselves. The difference is in Knuckles’ point of view, he was finally getting something that Sonic seemed to receive in abundance but wasn’t afforded to him, a chance. A true chance at success and redemption.
“I happily accept your offer,” Knuckles said.
“Geez you don’t need to be so formal,” Sonic said jokingly. “A simple yeah would have done the job.”
The group started laughing together.
Knuckles wasn’t the only one who was excited about this offer. Tails was also overjoyed. Looking at his best friend he hadn’t seen him this happy since he moved in with him. It seemed that Sonic had finally made peace with all of his demons. The two of them would get to be a duo together like they were when they made ‘Sonic 2(1992)’. The simple joy and creative spark without egos and business clashing.
Tails remembered the dinner during the time of ‘Sonic Heroes(2003)’ when Knuckles had walked off. That walkout was the end of everything. Up until that point, there had been an illusion of comradery between them. Tails believed that he would never be able to sit together with Knuckles like this again. He felt like the echidna he knew from the forest was long gone but sitting here and laughing with him had him believe that nothing really changed. There wasn’t any feeling of animosity or resentment, just a relief that everyone was together again.
“Have you got a name for the new game or an idea what type of game you think we should make?” Tails asked Sonic.
“I’m not sure about a name yet but I have an idea of what it could be. I was thinking about a kind of ‘new Sonic Heroes’. Something corny about teamwork and friendship with a feel to it like Sonic Heroes. What do you guys think? I think something like that would be really cool to do right now.”
The rest of the group approved and loved the idea. Everyone was already planning out the game in their heads. ‘Sonic Heroes(2003)’ was the game that brought them apart and now it was going to be the glue that pulled them back together as a team. It took many decades but the story’s themes of friendship finally came through Sonic’s head.
It was time to work on this new project.
***
ONE YEAR LATER
Inside the SEGA building was an anniversary celebration event. Polanzo was a name that evaporated from everyone’s memory as he was locked up in the Netherlands. Vector was sitting at a table surrounded by his associates and allies. The presidential table used to be filled with people who obviously looked like gangsters in flashy suits carrying weapons. Now they were all unremarkable-looking businessmen. The company was now truly a clean business.
One look at that presidential table in comparison to the previous anniversary event was enough to showcase just how much things had changed since the new regime came.
Near the presidential table, there was a table occupied by Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Shadow who were joined by Ulala and Kiryu. They were chatting about various topics. The whole conference room had a good atmosphere and an air of ease could be felt.
“So let me get this straight,” Shadow said raising his arms in disbelief. “All of you here, have met and worked with Michael Jackson?”
“Yup”
“Yes”
“That is correct.”
“How?!” Shadow demanded an explanation.
“The three of us,” Sonic pointed towards himself, Tails and Knuckles. “Got to work with him on ‘Sonic 3(1994)’, he did part of the soundtrack. Although, I knew him before that. I helped him with his Moonwalker video game for the SEGA Genesis. He was a big fan of my games and he had a close relationship with SEGA. I was a rising star in the early 90s so it felt really flattering knowing he loved my games.”
“My story is similar,” Ulala lit a cigarette and inhaled. “He loved ‘Space Channel 5(1999)’ so much that he asked SEGA to be a part of the game. He appears as basically himself in the game. He dances and sings with me. Pretty cool, huh? I was also quite star-struck by Michael Jackson being a fan of my work. It was a fun time. Ah, memories.”
“In my case, he was never a part of my games,” Kiryu started talking. “I met him back in 1988. when he was in Japan. Back when I was just a yakuza. We danced together a lot in those times. He did a lot of HE HE-s and SHAMONE-s. There’s a whole sub story in ‘Yakuza 0(2016)’ about it but we had to call him Miracle Johnson in the game because he was dead at that point and legal reasons.”
“Now the ultimate question for Ulala,” Tails raised his hand. “Who would win in a fight, Michael Jackson or Lupin the 3rd?”
“A no-brainer. Lupin the 3rd, of course. He is unbelievably powerful.”
The rest of the table agreed with Ulala.
“Why does everyone say that?”
“You just don’t get it Tails,” Sonic said with an I told you so grin. “Lupin is unstoppable.”
“To change the subject,” Kiryu said. “I saw the new Sonic game. Congratulations! The reviews and sales are excellent.”
Sonic modestly accepted the compliment. “I know SONIC is in the title but this was very much a team effort. I am not the only one who is responsible for the success. We had to call it a Sonic game due to marketing. But it is not really ‘my’ game,” Sonic looked towards Tails, Knuckles and Shadow. “It’s our game.”
Each of them contributed in their own way towards the project and they received the credit that they should. No one was sidelined and they were a true team. Knuckles also became close to them throughout the game development and considering the great sales and reviews they will probably continue working together.
“Thank you for giving me the advice to be better,” Sonic said to Kiryu. “Also, congratulations to you too for successfully petitioning the government.”
“The copyright laws have been finally changed to be more fair and mean bean machine technology has been officially banned in the country. I see all of have been quite busy this year.” Kiryu turned to Shadow and Tails. “Good job Tails on finishing college! And I’ve read that the sewer system of Kowareta Yume has finished its renovation. No more flooded toilets.”
Shadow and Tails proudly nodded. “We introduced a public transportation system with buses in the area too. Me and Tails have many more ideas on how to make our town better.”
Their chatter was interrupted by Vector. He stood up on a podium to give a speech about the company. While he was giving his speech Sonic looked towards him frowning the entire time.
“What’s gotten you upset?” Tails asked Sonic.
“I don’t like him. He has done a good job as president so far, I’ve been following his work closely. However, he is still a schemer and I don’t trust him.”
“You used to dismiss any talk on this subject before.”
“I know. I understand why it’s important now.”
Tails sighed. “Well, whatever we think of Vector at least he is replaceable. He doesn’t seem to be entrenching himself to be lifetime president like Polazo.”
“That’s true. You know maybe someday I might try my hand at being the company president.”
“Really? I’d like to see that. I can’t imagine you as president of SEGA.”
“Well, not anytime soon. Maybe in the future when I finally get sick of making video games,” Sonic cleared his throat. “By the way don’t forget about tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?”
“I knew you would forget. Tomorrow is a very big day. Possibly the last time you will be driving me.”
“Oh yeah! Honestly, I will miss driving you around but I wish you luck tomorrow!”
The anniversary event went along after the Vector’s speech. The group continued to talk and everyone was having a great time.
***
Tomorrow morning Tails drove Sonic to the local court in Kowareta Yume. Sonic was going to trial to have his driver’s license returned. His drunk driving was the reason he ended up living with Tails and why Tails was driving him around. It was finally time to reevaluate his behavior.
Sonic made his case in front of the court. How much his lifestyle has changed and how different of a person he was. He was unrecognizable to who he was when he was in this same room when his license was taken away.
After listening to his appeal, the court decided to return to him his license. Sonic exited the courthouse where Tails was waiting for him with his red Saab 900.
“How’d it go?” Tails said.
Sonic simply showed him the driver’s license smiling and asked: “Can I?”
“Yes. You can drive my car.” Tails gave Sonic the keys. “Make sure you don’t crash it. I will see you back home, I will take the bus.”
Sonic entered the car, placed the key into the ignition, and took off. With his hands on the wheel, he was finally in the driver’s seat. He was finally about to do something he had dreamed of for a long time. He turned on the speakers of the song ‘Across the 110th Street’, the opening and closing song from ‘Jackie Brown(1997)’.
Sonic had reached his Jackie Brown ending that he believed would be impossible to reach. Driving around as the song played in the background he reflected upon his journey. He was at a point in his life where he could say was truly happy. Surrounded by friends and doing work he loves doing.
As he drove on the roads of Kowareta Yume he noticed how perfect the weather was outside. Sunny with a clear blue sky. Tears of joy swelled in his eyes. Everything was just perfect. It was his happy ending. As much as he wanted this to be the end, life kept on going. There were many new projects he wanted to work on. He was still full of dreams of the future, the possibility of new adventures even in his relatively older age was still not something out of reach. The world seemed like it was full with endless possibilities.
Sonic continued driving his car, smiling and crying, listening to music.
THE END